Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Restoration Agriculture: Real-World Permaculture for Farmers
Restoration Agriculture: Real-World Permaculture for Farmers
byMark Shepard
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Allerion
5.0 out of 5 starsThe best permaculture title I've read...and I've read many.
August 26, 2014
I've read a ton of permaculture books and done years of field work. This is the very best book I've read so far. It still has flaws, like almost all permaculture books, in that it tries to show how permaculture can be more profitable than mainstream big-Ag farming, which is just not the case unless you happen upon a local gaggle of millionaire hippies willing to pay 10x the price for your products. Still it is really good. The author covers the contents of a dozen other highly rated books in just a few paragraphs, saving you a lot of wasted time and money reading long and drawn-out hippie diatribes. He covers use of livestock in conjunction with permaculture gardening/forestry to a degree I've not seen anywhere else in print. I'm super-critical when it comes to permaculture and people trying to promote it as something more profound and life-changing than it actually is, but this is absolutely a top-notch read. My only criticism is that he does some statistics manipulation to try to show that sustainable agriculture is more profitable than mainstream ag in a calories-per-input scale as well as a dollars-per-input scale and neither is true or there would be no such thing as permaculture. It would just be mainstream agriculture if it were more profitable. Still, even from a curmudgeon like myself, this is a fantastic permaculture read.
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The Great Gadfly
3.0 out of 5 starsGood book but is basically a rehash of the 1929 ...
January 9, 2015
Good book but is basically a rehash of the 1929 classic Tree Crops by J. Russell Smith which is publicly available from a dozen sources. Actually in many ways Smith's book is better because he actually conducted research and correspond widely with others and didn't just showcase his own farm, which is what Shepard basically does. Shepard is also heavy on the personal opinion and light on the practical advice. It is not a bad book, but I would get it from a library if you can, or just read Tree Crops. I sure regret dropping $25 on it! It sure doesn't contain much in the way of instruction. More than a few times he says to go read other peoples books to figure it out. It comes off as lazy to me.
After reading this book a second time I will add that I commend some of the ideas in the book, however, I must denounce some flaws. To being with, perennial crops are not more reliable than annual. I have perennial and annual crops. It's almost an every other year that a late frost, for a season, makes either apples, pears, or peaches a TOTAL loss where I live by killing the blossoms. It's rare, where I live, to find a wild nut bearing tree where fewer than half the nuts are wormy or ruined for anything but pig feed. And, as someone who has sat down and shelled a big bowl of hickory nuts, I can tell you it is tedious and you don't end up with a whole lot of food after about 8 hours. In fact, that quantity of nut meat bits (and they will be little bits) can be consumed by some greedy children in mere minutes. A harvester built in 1980 can make ready as many calories in a millisecond. Part of what makes modern agriculture possible are the machines that work very well at harvesting. And there seems to me that there is considerable variability among food bearing trees that will make mechanical harvest inefficient and expensive, even if someone where to feel it economically worthwhile to develop such machines. J. R. Smith understood this. This is why he urged grafting of "genius" scion wood to ordinary trees and attempts at breeding native species into economically efficient crop trees. Shepard seems to advocate the exact opposite...basically he thinks that wild plants are better because they require fewer inputs. This is true no doubt, but it also marks a philosophical return to nomadism and hunting-gathering. It is basically the opposite of agriculture. I have no problem when affluent folks buying worn out farms and turning them into clever tree plantations, but it is a bit of a stretch to call it agriculture, and he admits it will not be profitable.
Meanwhile, I have never known (nor do I know anyone) who has known a modern corn crop to fail. Might be a disappointing year (under 180 bu/acre), but corn is tough stuff. I've seen it withstand winds that toppled apple and oak trees, I've seen it weather droughts that toasted perennial pastures, and it isn't planted when floods or winter weather are a worry, while all perennials need to withstand both. I am very glad to see that Shepard mentions alley cropping practices. These are what can allow a transition to perennial agriculture, and for that matter, offers greater diversity on the farm. There is abundant evidence (mostly out of the University of Missouri center for agroforestry) that many ordinary annual farm crops grow well among trees, and it is proven that most cool seasons grasses and legumes (the stuff of animal forage) grow better beneath the shade of moderately shading trees (Hickory-Pecan-Walnut-Butternut tribe, the Locusts). I was disappointed to see that no mention was made of Management Intensive Grazing (or MIG). MIG can work with silvopastural practices even better than it does in just an open pasture (the shade problem is already solved). MIG is the way to maximize the productivity of forage plants and get more calories per acre while relying less on feeding annual plants to animals.
Furthermore, I am left wondering how the harvest of the diversity of crops at all different heights and whatnot is supposed to be achieved with a reasonable amount of work. I wonder if it has dawned on the author that the reason why orchardists and farmers that row crop a few species of plants do what they do not because they are stupid, but because they want to get in the harvest in with reasonable time expenditure and effort. I suppose that is what pigs are for he'd probably say. I would follow up with what are the pigs going to eat in the other three seasons? If you have enough pigs to clean up the mast/fruit crop, you will have too many pigs the rest of the time, and no you can just fatten a pig up in a month and then slaughter them. You will need to keep back some brood sows at a minimum.
The truth is that almost all omnivore and herbivore animals in savanna biomes traveled around a very large area to meet their nutritional needs. Since the whole world has been fenced in or out, man has to substitute storage of feedstuffs instead..or he can plant annuals in an intelligent way an let the animals harvest it for him out of the field. And this dovetails nicely with alley cropping practice. No-till organic agriculture is a well developed method that the Rodale folks have worked out and it allows ROTATION of crops, which is a key weapon against pests. Ever wonder why orchardists spray so much? It's because, in large part, trees are perennials and the bugs that survive one year don't have to travel very far to re-infect the plants the following year. It isn't simply because any tree that has been bred up to make good fruit is weak or that all non-native trees are weak as Shepard suggests.
In short, this book has many good points. It correctly points out the disaster that modern agriculture is heading into. And I immensely respect people who actually go out and do things to correct it. It's just that at times the considerable arrogance of the author comes through on these pages and as it is described it is admittedly not a viable alternative for the non-wealthy at present. I happen to think that tree crops are a viable alternative, and there are many good ways to transition to a more permanent agriculture, and that most of this information is free on the internet. Just search the terms Silvopasture, Agroforestry, Alley cropping, etc...
It turns out that University of Wisconsin extension service has a bunch of videos on YouTube where they interview and tour Shepard's farm. Much can be learned from these for free. I am a bit alarmed by the fact that U of W Extension is featuring Shephard's farm like it is an actual economically profitable farm, when Shepard states very clearly in his book that it is not. Though it was worthwhile to learn about his mowing techniques and how he tries to train trees like apples into a shapes that make mowing efficient. This is the kind of practical information that is mostly absent from Restoration Agriculture.
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The Great Gadfly
3.0 out of 5 starsGood book but is basically a rehash of the 1929 ...January 9, 2015
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Good book but is basically a rehash of the 1929 classic Tree Crops by J. Russell Smith which is publicly available from a dozen sources. Actually in many ways Smith's book is better because he actually conducted research and correspond widely with others and didn't just showcase his own farm, which is what Shepard basically does. Shepard is also heavy on the personal opinion and light on the practical advice. It is not a bad book, but I would get it from a library if you can, or just read Tree Crops. I sure regret dropping $25 on it! It sure doesn't contain much in the way of instruction. More than a few times he says to go read other peoples books to figure it out. It comes off as lazy to me.
After reading this book a second time I will add that I commend some of the ideas in the book, however, I must denounce some flaws. To being with, perennial crops are not more reliable than annual. I have perennial and annual crops. It's almost an every other year that a late frost, for a season, makes either apples, pears, or peaches a TOTAL loss where I live by killing the blossoms. It's rare, where I live, to find a wild nut bearing tree where fewer than half the nuts are wormy or ruined for anything but pig feed. And, as someone who has sat down and shelled a big bowl of hickory nuts, I can tell you it is tedious and you don't end up with a whole lot of food after about 8 hours. In fact, that quantity of nut meat bits (and they will be little bits) can be consumed by some greedy children in mere minutes. A harvester built in 1980 can make ready as many calories in a millisecond. Part of what makes modern agriculture possible are the machines that work very well at harvesting. And there seems to me that there is considerable variability among food bearing trees that will make mechanical harvest inefficient and expensive, even if someone where to feel it economically worthwhile to develop such machines. J. R. Smith understood this. This is why he urged grafting of "genius" scion wood to ordinary trees and attempts at breeding native species into economically efficient crop trees. Shepard seems to advocate the exact opposite...basically he thinks that wild plants are better because they require fewer inputs. This is true no doubt, but it also marks a philosophical return to nomadism and hunting-gathering. It is basically the opposite of agriculture. I have no problem when affluent folks buying worn out farms and turning them into clever tree plantations, but it is a bit of a stretch to call it agriculture, and he admits it will not be profitable.
Meanwhile, I have never known (nor do I know anyone) who has known a modern corn crop to fail. Might be a disappointing year (under 180 bu/acre), but corn is tough stuff. I've seen it withstand winds that toppled apple and oak trees, I've seen it weather droughts that toasted perennial pastures, and it isn't planted when floods or winter weather are a worry, while all perennials need to withstand both. I am very glad to see that Shepard mentions alley cropping practices. These are what can allow a transition to perennial agriculture, and for that matter, offers greater diversity on the farm. There is abundant evidence (mostly out of the University of Missouri center for agroforestry) that many ordinary annual farm crops grow well among trees, and it is proven that most cool seasons grasses and legumes (the stuff of animal forage) grow better beneath the shade of moderately shading trees (Hickory-Pecan-Walnut-Butternut tribe, the Locusts). I was disappointed to see that no mention was made of Management Intensive Grazing (or MIG). MIG can work with silvopastural practices even better than it does in just an open pasture (the shade problem is already solved). MIG is the way to maximize the productivity of forage plants and get more calories per acre while relying less on feeding annual plants to animals.
Furthermore, I am left wondering how the harvest of the diversity of crops at all different heights and whatnot is supposed to be achieved with a reasonable amount of work. I wonder if it has dawned on the author that the reason why orchardists and farmers that row crop a few species of plants do what they do not because they are stupid, but because they want to get in the harvest in with reasonable time expenditure and effort. I suppose that is what pigs are for he'd probably say. I would follow up with what are the pigs going to eat in the other three seasons? If you have enough pigs to clean up the mast/fruit crop, you will have too many pigs the rest of the time, and no you can just fatten a pig up in a month and then slaughter them. You will need to keep back some brood sows at a minimum.
The truth is that almost all omnivore and herbivore animals in savanna biomes traveled around a very large area to meet their nutritional needs. Since the whole world has been fenced in or out, man has to substitute storage of feedstuffs instead..or he can plant annuals in an intelligent way an let the animals harvest it for him out of the field. And this dovetails nicely with alley cropping practice. No-till organic agriculture is a well developed method that the Rodale folks have worked out and it allows ROTATION of crops, which is a key weapon against pests. Ever wonder why orchardists spray so much? It's because, in large part, trees are perennials and the bugs that survive one year don't have to travel very far to re-infect the plants the following year. It isn't simply because any tree that has been bred up to make good fruit is weak or that all non-native trees are weak as Shepard suggests.
In short, this book has many good points. It correctly points out the disaster that modern agriculture is heading into. And I immensely respect people who actually go out and do things to correct it. It's just that at times the considerable arrogance of the author comes through on these pages and as it is described it is admittedly not a viable alternative for the non-wealthy at present. I happen to think that tree crops are a viable alternative, and there are many good ways to transition to a more permanent agriculture, and that most of this information is free on the internet. Just search the terms Silvopasture, Agroforestry, Alley cropping, etc...
It turns out that University of Wisconsin extension service has a bunch of videos on YouTube where they interview and tour Shepard's farm. Much can be learned from these for free. I am a bit alarmed by the fact that U of W Extension is featuring Shephard's farm like it is an actual economically profitable farm, when Shepard states very clearly in his book that it is not. Though it was worthwhile to learn about his mowing techniques and how he tries to train trees like apples into a shapes that make mowing efficient. This is the kind of practical information that is mostly absent from Restoration Agriculture.
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Allerion
5.0 out of 5 starsThe best permaculture title I've read...and I've read many.August 26, 2014
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I've read a ton of permaculture books and done years of field work. This is the very best book I've read so far. It still has flaws, like almost all permaculture books, in that it tries to show how permaculture can be more profitable than mainstream big-Ag farming, which is just not the case unless you happen upon a local gaggle of millionaire hippies willing to pay 10x the price for your products. Still it is really good. The author covers the contents of a dozen other highly rated books in just a few paragraphs, saving you a lot of wasted time and money reading long and drawn-out hippie diatribes. He covers use of livestock in conjunction with permaculture gardening/forestry to a degree I've not seen anywhere else in print. I'm super-critical when it comes to permaculture and people trying to promote it as something more profound and life-changing than it actually is, but this is absolutely a top-notch read. My only criticism is that he does some statistics manipulation to try to show that sustainable agriculture is more profitable than mainstream ag in a calories-per-input scale as well as a dollars-per-input scale and neither is true or there would be no such thing as permaculture. It would just be mainstream agriculture if it were more profitable. Still, even from a curmudgeon like myself, this is a fantastic permaculture read.
20 people found this helpful
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Bryan
5.0 out of 5 starsNot a step by step how toApril 15, 2016
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
This is a pretty broad overview of the Restoration Agriculture system(?). You will not get much how to, or step by step instructions so you can copy what Mark has on your land. Besides you don't want that, unless you are Mark Shepard, in which case, could you sign my book? This is more of a call to action, how to act, and why-kind of book. This is the bridge, not the vehicle; the means of how you cross the bridge doesn't really matter. Likewise what plants you need to plant, what techniques you will use, and what your goals are will vary. This book will help snap you out of focus on the details, and help you build the framework that you need for your situation
If you want how to so you can permie up your postage stamp you can find that online and in other books. If your interested in feeding people en masse, in a smart and cost effective way to build a self sustaining future free of chemical ag, foriegn oil, and building a strong ecosystem (or whatever social-ecological-economical-political reason you have) you should really read this book.
Side note, the quality of the actual book is very good. Good paper stock and quality cover. I did tape the cover so it would last longer.
P.S. Mark, your "grains causes the downfall of civilizations" argument is a logical fallacy.
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OneTuff Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsGives Lg-scale ag a starting point for changeApril 30, 2018
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Can't reasonably expect one book to be complete on any subject.
That said, this is a Decent intro for why reaching beyond organic ag (to restoreAg) is a necessity, and offers some practical steps for transition
Audience & Focus is more toward:
~shifting mindset away from ChemCorp /PharmAg practices, which comprise the majority of current US production
~beyond tillage farming of organic annual cropping
~feasible, interim strategies for large-scale producers to implement while in transition toward sustainability.
To these ends, it's a good start, and should be required reading in ecology 101.
Mainstream awareness is obviously critical to shift markets from lowest price to favoring suppliers who follow humane, sustainable practices. The transition is most economically sound for the consumer:
~sustainable practices make production less costly and a higher quality product
~shifts a "gourmet" to the mainstream, improving the standard and eventually price
Market shifts pressure big Corp 'Pharmers' to clean up their act and improve product in order to compete.
~To these ends, should be required reading in any intro economics class, especially home economics.
Silvopasturing is touched on in prose, but follow-on poly-culture mob stock grazing (a cornerstone practice for economic and ecologic stability) is given far less attention than i hoped. The few examples that only elude to actual nuts&bolts of specific RestoreAg practices, their economic impact or projections, and scalability are only a good start, and left me wanting for more hard data.
I recommend it, i enjoyed it, give it 5 stars, but I'm not in the large-scale Ag commodity production business.
For my far smaller-scale aspirations, I've found books by J. Salatin, M. Phillips, Bill Mollison or Yoeman more helpful for my circumstances and stage of learning.
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Bill
5.0 out of 5 starsThis is an excellent book. Highly recommendedMarch 28, 2015
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
This is an excellent book. Highly recommended.
We are farmers, practicing chemical-free sustainable agriculture in southern Virginia. When we started farming I'd never heard of permaculture, and certainly hadn't heard of "restoration agriculture." There are many things we did then that I would have done differently, had I had the benefit of this book.
I'm looking around our place now and seeing opportunities to improve and make our farm more truly sustainable and resilient. I'm not ready to completely toss out annual crops (and neither has Mr. Shepard), but I am definitely going to increase our planting our perennials and reduce our tillage. There is excellent advice for water management in this book too.
Sometimes books in this genre and all "nuts and bolts" and other times they're all about philosophical approaches without much practical application. This book is a great blend of both those approaches.
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 starsA good introduction for a true and absolute beginnerFebruary 9, 2016
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
A good introduction for a true and absolute beginner. It is definitely worth the money and time if permaculture and the ideas of restoration agriculture are still very new to you. This book gives a lot of good talking points and references to check out.
I think I might have liked this book more had I read it earlier in my permaculture education. However, I feel like I got more information watching youtube videos in which Mark Shepard was presenting. If I did not watch these videos and did not know his speaking style and pattern, this book would have been more difficult to get into. The book touches on a lot of different subjects, but ultimately is one giant ramble. Given Shepard's extensive educational background, I guess I was expecting something more edited and for him to go slightly deeper.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsOne of best books I have read on subjectOctober 31, 2015
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
One of best books I have read on subject. WHERE WAS THIS BOOK 10 years ago when we were trying to start this farm! If you are trying to start a farm, read this book before you ever touch a shovel, or buy a seed or a chicken.
Just finished the book. Extremely thought-provoking. If I had read this book first, we would have done things so differently, and saved much money, hard labor and frustration. I.E., we would not have added the.goats yet, worst thing we could.have done at this stage.
Thank you, Mr. Shepard, what a concept!!! Love it.
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5.0 out of 5 starsSustainable agriculture = better for all.April 25, 2016
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
This is a well-written, well-considered book on how to imitate natural forms in agricultural systems. It's not just another back-to-Nature or back-to-the land book. The author has not only studied the natural order of symbiotic plant growth systems, he has backed up his words with personal experience. He carefully examines and presents how to grow sustainable, perennial food crops that feed the masses without further depleting our precious natural resources. His careful comparison to current systems of growing single, annual crops definitively show that perennial agriculture produces more food, costs less to grow, depletes the land less, and can actually sustain a farmer economically. I'm a senior citizen, and this book showed me how to work less and grow more on my land. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in contributing to the long-term hope for the future.
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Tyler W
5.0 out of 5 starsAmazing!January 11, 2019
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As someone that's been working in tropical permaculture for a few years now but is originally from the midwest, I've become rather curious as to how farmers in the corn belt could get beyond annual monoculture, and actually develop systems that provide staple food crops for people while actually regenerating our environment. As a young farmer, this book has given me so much hope and inspiration for our future. Mark lays out an incredible amount of useful information and takes you through the step by step process of holistic management. Sprouting my first few chestnuts as I write this! Thank you!
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BooBooKitty
5.0 out of 5 starsMust have for anyone wanting to have a better way to farmJuly 10, 2018
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Must have for anyone wanting to have a better way to farm. Permaculture practices, and easy to read. it would be nice to have some diagrams or more illustrations for for some of the topics. I am a visual learner. Excellent resource and will be permanent addition to my library.
