Integrate rather than Segregate

August 31, 2026

Hi Friend

I don”t know about you but 2026 has got off with a hiss and a roar.

Between organising a 50 year celebration for the community I live in, basically a massive family reunion over three days, trying to put the finishing touches on the new part of my house so I had room for visitors, keeping up with the grass growing about a meter a week with all the warm rain (thank god for my scythe!) and getting back into the routine of my day job, my feet have barely touched the ground.

Which is why this edition of the Shed Letter has taken a bit longer than usual to land in your inbox.

Here is a picture of the party set up.

But it has got me thinking a lot about this issue’s theme Integrate rather than Segregate.

For those of you who may be new here, each issue of the Shed Letter I am taking one of the ethics or principles of Permaculture to explore (and this issue is Integrate rather than Segregate) and thinking about how I am applying to my life right now.

My aim is to dispel the myth that Permaculture is only about gardening and show how it can be used to design all parts of our lives, so all beings can be healthier and happier.

I have been watching something lovely unfold in my garden.

A tomato volunteered itself, as they do, right next to my enthusiastic beans who have made a break for the sky, climbing up the bamboo structure I made for them (some of you may have seen my social media post showing that process and introducing you to the bamboo splitter… more about that later).

As the tomato plant grew taller and began to look as though it might need to be staked, the friendly bean reached over, wrapped itself around and pulled the tomato in tightly, holding it upright.

How good is that?

And I think a beautiful example of nature displaying Integration rather than Segregation.

Companion planting is now quite a common concept among many gardeners. The idea that planting certain plants near or interspersed with each other can be beneficial to both and yield more food from less area.

There is a wonderful book called "Finding the Mother Tree," by Dr. Suzanne Simard, after many years of research she has shown that forests are not competitive, individualistic collections of trees, but actually interconnected, cooperative systems. This challenges the long-held ecological belief that competition for resources is the primary dynamic in a forest system.

I see how that is true in my garden too and so I try to mirror a natural ecosystem where I can by integrating different species, utilising different levels and allowing it to be a little wild sometimes.

The 50th celebration also got me thinking a lot about integration rather than segregation and how vital a sense of belonging is and how good it feels to be integrated into a wide and deep fabric of community.

It has become more common for families to be ever more concentrated around the nuclear. I noticed when my grandparents died, we gathered less as a big family and tended to segregate into the next generation of more nuclear units. But also how much I enjoy it when we all get together.

We know that loneliness is at an all time high globally because people are not connected to each other in the ways we have been in the past. So how do we integrate rather than segregate as people with each other?

Of course this will look different for everyone but for me it’s having a cup of tea with my neighbour, going to a volunteer day to plant native trees, teaching local kids surfing after school, weaving myself into the fabric of my community.

Weaving is a great segway back to something I mentioned earlier. The bamboo spitter.

This is an amazing tool for making it really easy to get the most out of your bamboo.

It makes it very simple to segregate (see what I did there 🙂) the bamboo into either 4 or 6 even pieces which can then be used for all kinds of projects.

Weaving your own lattice for screening, trellis for growing, hoops for netting, art projects, laths for earth building… and so much more!