Permaculture, in particular Forest Gardens

~ The art of creating a landscape/ecosystem that is self-sufficient and lush. A productive garden without the intense labor costs of traditional [read: monoculture] vegetable plots or the intense fertilizer costs thereof. Key phrase: perennial polyculture of multipurpose [plants] inhabitants* P1 of Edible Forest Gardens

Key steps in building a permaculture [via Gaia's Garden P6]

1. Observe
2. Connect
3. Catch and store energy/materials
4. All elements multifunction
5. Each function supported by multiple elements
6.  Make the least change for the greatest effect
7. Use small-scale, intensive systems [wait, that makes no sense, chunking kinda does]
8. Optimize edge
9. Collaborate with succession [plan longterm]
10. Use biological and renewable resources
11. Turn problems into solutions
12. Get a yield [immediate and longterm]
13. The biggest limit to abundance is creativity
14. Mistakes are tools for learning

I mean, these are the kinds of things that one would use to evaluate anything, right? I think my process will look something like this:

1. Planning for yield - Working backward from the end goal
2. Meeting the needs of various functions that get you to the desired yield

*denotes my word change