Which book on Permaculture?

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by Arby, Aug 14, 2006.

  1. Arby

    Arby Junior Member

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    It's that time of the year that I get the big reading bug. Which Permaculture book/s would you recommend & why?

    Thanks.
     
  2. Sonya

    Sonya Junior Member

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    I'm working my way through David Holmgren's Principles and Pathways. It's heavy going, a lot like a uni text book, but there are some real gems of wisdom in there. I find it gets me back on track with the big issues and overall ideas of permaculture.

    I also like to browse Jenny Allen's book for the photos, the creativity and the inspiration, she lives near me so a lot of the plants in her book are in my garden. It inspires me to go out and find my own postcard pictures, to look for the tiny bugs and the flowers and blooms in all their beauty.

    A macro and micro taste in books.

    Cheers,

    Sonya.
     
  3. bazman

    bazman Junior Member

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    I too have found David's Book heavy going, and have somewhat left it a side to read "Grasp the nettle" which i'm finding an easier read on biodynamics.

    A book to get you up to speed would be "Introduction to Permaculture" which should be available from Tagari.com
     
  4. ecodharmamark

    ecodharmamark Junior Member

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    G'day Arby :)

    Holmgren makes a lot of sense to me - both in person, and through his written work. Check out what David, Su and Oliver have been doing for the past 30-odd years here:

    https://www.holmgren.com.au/

    Some time ago one of our learned friends started a thread asking "What books, authors have been important to you?". It is a great resource, full of excellent reviews. You can read it in full here:

    https://forums.permaculture.org.au/viewtopic.php?t=1343

    Cheerio, and happy reading,

    Mark.
     
  5. Tezza

    Tezza Junior Member

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    well done mark Sometimes we get the same questions repeating themselves every so often, this is one

    chooks is probly most common question asked.

    I glad some of you have worked out the filing system out..I never figgered that one out yet...

    Tezza
     
  6. permaculture.biz

    permaculture.biz Junior Member

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    G'day,

    As the slogan says:

    GET WITH PRIORITY ONE https://www.yeomansplow.com.au/priority-one.htm
    by
    Allan J. Yeomans

    Great read....Seriously great stuff....got a few of us jumping a bit higher which is saying something...

    I can only read about 10-20 pages at a time and I am a prodigious reader of reference material. I go back again the next day though without fail. Bit like Holmgren, Mollison and Flannery. Certainly a better writer than his dad.

    Allan has still got 13 tonnes of them left at the plow factory or you can download the lot.

    Has all of the numbers, cuts down a lot of bullshit and presents realistic and achievable solutions: not mere suggestions that we should have Solar HWS and in every garage a Toyota Prius.

    490 odd pages of brilliant stuff.

    Ciao,

    Daz
     
  7. permaculture.biz

    permaculture.biz Junior Member

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    G'day,

    As the slogan says:

    GET WITH PRIORITY ONE https://www.yeomansplow.com.au/priority-one.htm
    by
    Allan J. Yeomans

    Great read....Seriously great stuff....got a few of us jumping a bit higher which is saying something...

    I can only read about 10-20 pages at a time and I am a prodigious reader of reference material. I go back again the next day though without fail. Bit like Holmgren, Mollison and Flannery. Certainly a better writer than his dad.

    Allan has still got 13 tonnes of them left at the plow factory or you can download the lot.

    Has all of the numbers, cuts down a lot of bull and presents realistic and achievable solutions: not mere suggestions that we should have Solar HWS and in every garage a Toyota Prius.

    490 odd pages of brilliant stuff.

    Ciao,

    Daz
     
  8. permaculture.biz

    permaculture.biz Junior Member

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    G'day,

    As the slogan says:

    GET WITH PRIORITY ONE https://www.yeomansplow.com.au/priority-one.htm
    by
    Allan J. Yeomans

    Great read....Seriously great stuff....got a few of us jumping a bit higher which is saying something...

    I can only read about 10-20 pages at a time and I am a prodigious reader of reference material. I go back again the next day though without fail. Bit like Holmgren, Mollison and Flannery. Certainly a better writer than his dad.

    Allan has still got 13 tonnes of them left at the plow factory or you can download the lot.

    Has all of the numbers, cuts down a lot of bull and presents realistic and achievable solutions: not mere suggestions that we should have Solar HWS and in every garage a Toyota Prius.

    490 odd pages of brilliant stuff.

    Ciao,

    Daz
     
  9. permaculture.biz

    permaculture.biz Junior Member

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    G'day,

    As the slogan says:

    GET WITH PRIORITY ONE https://www.yeomansplow.com.au/priority-one.htm
    by
    Allan J. Yeomans

    Great read....Seriously great stuff....got a few of us jumping a bit higher which is saying something...

    I can only read about 10-20 pages at a time and I am a prodigious reader of reference material. I go back again the next day though without fail. Bit like Holmgren, Mollison and Flannery. Certainly a better writer than his dad.

    Allan has still got 13 tonnes of them left at the plow factory or you can download the lot.

    Has all of the numbers, cuts down a lot of bull and presents realistic and achievable solutions: not mere suggestions that we should have Solar HWS and in every garage a Toyota Prius.

    490 odd pages of brilliant stuff.

    Ciao,

    Daz
     
  10. Arby

    Arby Junior Member

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    Thanks everyone! I believe I was half asleep when I posted the question and forgot to add that I'd like a good Permaculture read that was heavier on the Nuts & Bolts rather than the philosophy behind it. Don't get me wrong. I love the philosophy but for that, I believe I already have a good understanding. I'm looking for ideas for my own little self-sustaining homestead, i.e...varying ways a small family can survive with little money & minimal help from the outside.

    That said, can anyone comment on the following titles?

    -Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture
    by Toby Hemenway
    -Permaculture in a Nutshell
    by Patrick Whitefield
    -The Permaculture Home Garden
    by Linda Woodrow

    How about others....

    ....or, would my money be better spent on titles by Holmgren & Mollison?

    I'm a big fan of the library but for my own reference, prefer to own certain books. Unfortunately, my local book store does not have any thing on Permaculture so I will need to order, sight unseen.

    Thanks again. I appreciate all the replies!
     
  11. permaculture.biz

    permaculture.biz Junior Member

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    G'day,

    I know I'm keen on PRIORITY ONE but I don't know what happened there. I couldn't send the message last night as error message came up saying "debug". Anyway SuperMurray will no doubt come to the rescue.

    Ciao,

    Darren Doherty

    PS

    By the way did I tell u about PRIORITY ONE........
     
  12. elly

    elly Junior Member

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  13. Paul Darrington

    Paul Darrington Junior Member

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    Excellent Food Forest Books

    David Jacke has recently published a 2 volume book set on Permaculture Food Forests, and they are excellent!

    They answered so many of my questions about how plants interact/compete with each other, and have very detailed drawings of plant root systems etc.

    They have been written for a temperate climate, focusing on north american natives, but has still been very useful for myself in the subtropics of Coffs Harbrour.

    I thouroughly reccomend them;

    https://www.edibleforestgardens.com
     
  14. Andrew Clarke

    Andrew Clarke Junior Member

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    Hi Arby and all,

    A few comments:

    -Permaculture in a Nutshell
    byPatrick Whitefield

    Remember seeing this very small book a while back and thinking it would be a nice gift for distant relatives wo had no idea what the concept was.... much better (especially for cool temperate climates) is his new weighty tome 'The Earth Care Manual'. 469 pages of solid advice, with a heavy practical emphasis. Excellent.

    Have to agree with Paul regarding the new Edible Forest Gardens set, the two volumes are superb... although I found it difficult at times to wade through some of the appendices. Still, absolutely crucial for forest gardeners everywhere. As someone said in a recent review it could probably have been slimmed down to one fat volume. Also, I did not like some of the negative comments about Robert Hart who did a lot to kickstart the concept with his pioneering garden and books. He was a very frail old man when I visited his site which understandably was neglected and like most forest gardeners he did place his trees/plants too close together!

    Another title I rate is 'The Basics of Permaculture Design' by Ross Mars, which is heavy on practical stuff, from surveying to implementation of your design.

    Try to get hold of a set of back issues of the Permaculture Activist magazine for lots more inspiring articles. Highly recommended.

    I managed to find a copy of Mollison's 'Introduction to Permaculture' in a local charity shop recently and was really impressed, it's similar to the Designer's Manual but not the clone of it I was expecting, and there are many other other sound words ( and diagrams) of advice.

    I hope these comments help, this is a great thread and I look forward to hearing what everyone else has on their bookshelves.

    And if the authors of any of the above are reading - many thanks for your inspiration!

    Andrew
     
  15. Paul Darrington

    Paul Darrington Junior Member

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    Cheers Andrew
     
  16. christopher

    christopher Junior Member

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  17. Arby

    Arby Junior Member

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    Hi all,

    I apprecieate all the replies. Keep them coming please.

    Also, what an excellent resource this forum is! Many thanks to the person/s behind it!

    Arby
     
  18. Tamara

    Tamara Junior Member

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    Edible forest gardens - Dave Jacke

    Brilliant.
    Lots of info on under the soil, it has changed the way I am looking at designing my swales.
    I have been inspired to look at root formation of acacias as they are my companion trees in my apple orchard.

    Highly recommended. Best book I have read since Bill's big book.

    Love Tamara
     
  19. Paul Darrington

    Paul Darrington Junior Member

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    I agree, David Jacke's 'Edible Forest Gardens' are the two most comprehensive books I own, in addition to Bill's.

    definatley worth the money

    Cheers
    Paul


    [Edit] Sorry, didn't realise that i'd already said this on the first page, haha.
     
  20. Susan

    Susan Junior Member

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    Permaculture reading

    Personally when I discovered Rosemary Morrow's 'Earth User's Guide to Permaculture' it all fell into place for me. And she has since written a new more update edition... Bill's book was too much like reading the Bible and like the Bible I have not yet read it from cover to cover (only the bits that are relevant in my life). David's too I made heavy weather of - but at least I did finish it and have found many of the concepts usefull.
    Good reading anyway
    Sue
     

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