This September Rakesh Rootsman Rak , one of the world's most popular permaculture instructors and experts, will be visiting Bulgaria, specifically for The Permaculture Design Certification Course in the gardens of Sharena Fabrika in the village of Golyama Zhelyazna, which he will be leading together with our head gardener and permaculture instructor Daniel Dimov.
A great opportunity to talk to him about permaculture, clean food, common sense, and developing systems that turn the world around us into a better place to live.
Note: You can find the video of the full interview a bit further down.
Rakesh's parents are from India, but he grew up in East London. From his father, who took part in numerous humanitarian missions around the world, Rakesh learned to help others.
“But we ourselves were quite poor. And so we had to work out a lot of strategies ourselves. We would grow our own food. We would make our own clothes. When something would break, we would work out how to fix it. If we needed furniture, we would build it.”
Later, Rakesh also began traveling the world, as part of various humanitarian missions. During one of them, he accidentally stumbled upon a permaculture course. After it ended, some of the participants shared that they had learned just as much from him as they had from the instructors. It turned out that most of the principles and models they were discussing and studying were topics he had already thought about and managed to find solutions for.
“My definition of permaculture is: it's just common sense, but in a world where sense is no longer common.”
Rakesh notes that permaculture isn't just a way of growing clean food. A key aspect of it is designing systems that work for the common good and, over time, become stronger, richer and more vibrant.
“Permaculture gives us the tools to meet our needs in a way that takes care of us, but also of others, including animals and insects – cleaning water and air, and contributing to improved biodiversity.”
Holistic thinking is key. Permaculture isn't just a collection of techniques, but a comprehensive concept of learning how to evaluate which techniques are appropriate for each specific situation to achieve real change but a holistic concept about learning to assess which techniques are appropriate for each specific situation to achieve real change. how to connect all ecosystems for the benefit of the whole.
“Many people come and say: 'Have a look at my permaculture raised bed'. Well, how is that permaculture? It's just a raised bed. It’s not even connected to the soil. Where are your nutrient cycles? Where are the natural cycles of how it interacts with your surroundings?”
According to Rakesh, modern ways of growing and consuming food create a serious imbalance. He points out that one of our biggest mistakes is the drive to prevent nature from doing what it wants.
“We're using pesticides to kill pests, herbicide to kill herbs, and all this deathly energy is brought to the food growing."
He is convinced that there is no way to produce something that gives life through death. Rakesh also raises the alarm about another serious problem.
“Our ancestors had access to food from 2000 different families of plants. And 80-90% of the food of modern humans in the so-called 'developed nations' comes from 6 families of plants.”
As a result, in order to obtain the minerals we need, we need a much larger amount of food today. This leads to obesity and puts additional strain on the body. Fortunately, however, this process is not irreversible.
“If we start producing and eating cleaner, richer food, our bodies will need smaller amounts. Therefore, you'll have more energy for living, for health and well-being."
Before he even knew what permaculture was, Rakesh designed a garden for his parents – in the way that made the most sense to him. 'They loved gardening, they loved growing food, they loved watching nature – the squirrels and the hedgehogs, and the birds, and what have you. I wondered how can I allow them to have that experience without them having to put in the work.'
After his parents passed away, there was no one left to look after the garden. Rakesh was rarely in London, as he traveled most of the time. When Covid hit, however, he returned to the family home. 'No one had stepped foot in the garden for seven years.' But soon, a large portion of the food he consumed was grown right there in that small backyard.
“It’s less than 100 square meters. And 80% of my food came from here, because of how it was designed to work with nature. You don't need a huge space or too much effort when you build your garden according to the permaculture principles.”
“There was a permaculture convergence in Bulgaria, I think it was in 2016 or 2014. I came to present our Children in Permaculture project. I met someone there who I just immediately resonated with, and they invited me to their eco-village.”
During this stay, Rakesh organized various workshops and a full permaculture course, during which participants designed a forest garden together. At the time, he told the students that the hardest decision they would have to make in 10 years would be what to do with all that food. His prediction came true.
“A few years ago, one of my Bulgarian students said those exact same words: ‘My problem is that I don't know enough people to give this amount of food away to. I just don’t know that many people.’ Once they start working, these systems are so productive.”
One of Rakesh's first students in Bulgaria was Daniel Dimov, who is now a permaculture instructor himself and is in charge of the 12-acre gardens at the Culinary Arts and Crafts School "Sharena Fabrika". Rakesh still remembers their first meeting:
"He was super inspired, a really beautiful character, a beautiful human being, he just lit up. And off he went and started doing things."
Rakesh says he teaches people to seek and find the answers themselves. He spends a lot of time talking to his students about systems, processes, and models. He believes that once they learn all these details about the life of a tree, for example, they will never look at it the same way again. For them, it ceases to be just a tree: “It's full. It's a character. It's a teacher. It's a guide. It's a guru. It's about really transforming how you see the world.”
The world-renowned permaculture instructor has noticed that many of his students come to the course thinking they are taking a gardening course, but end up completely changing the way they see the world. That's why he really likes one of Bill Mollison's definitions:
„Permaculture is a revolution disguised as organic gardening.“
Below is the full video interview with Rakesh (in English), where you can also learn:
The conversation is hosted by Melanie Marten, journalist, PR expert, and founder of The Coup Public Relations.
