The Urban Farmer: Growing Food for Profit on Leased and Borrowed Land

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Graham H. Seibert
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5.0 out of 5 starsMore than delivers on the promise of urban farming –offers a useful philosophy as wellDecember 15, 2015
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Curtis Stone succeeds extraordinarily well in the primary objective of this book. It is an attempt to tell the reader how to establish an urban farm. As the table of contents below indicates, he covers just about every aspect of the question. How to acquire the needed resources: urban land, primarily lawns and some equipment. He advises how to locate customers. He advises what crops to grow.

The book is intensely practical. Although he is known as "the bike farmer" in this Canadian town where he lives, and thus might be taken for a counter-culture sort, he is very forthright in saying that this identity is a marketing tool. It identifies him to his customers, and a bicycle is the cheapest means of transportation. The book is relentlessly focused on the bottom line rather than being wedded to any idealistic principles. Farming is a business, and he tells you how to optimize every aspect of the operation to make it profitable.

Obviously, locally grown organic food appeals to a well-defined sector of the population. Call them crunchy cons, yuppies, urban aesthetes, or whatever else, anybody familiar with the American or Canadian social scene will recognize his customer base. There are people who did not want mass-produced, mass marketed food, and are willing to pay a premium for fresh, pure, locally grown produce. Stone serves three sets of customers: local farmers' markets, Community Supported Agriculture, and restaurants. Community supported agriculture (CSA) are groups in the community that contract with a grower such as Stone to take produce over the course of a growing season or year. This provides a steady customer base and some predictability. The other outlets being more profitable, Stone devotes more space to describing how to establish oneself with farmers markets and restaurants.

Stone starts with several key insights. The first is that there is a broad market in North America for the kind of high quality, organic produce he is able to grow. The second insight is that lawns are a vast underused resource. There are 40 million acres of lawn in America. They account for between 30 and 60 percent of urban water use, and take a lot of time and gasoline to mow. Moreover, homeowners often see them as a pain and bother. Many lawn owners are happy to allow an urban farmer to use the land in exchange for some produce. A third is that urban land is very close to the consumer. A crop can go from field to table in a day. A fourth insight is that cities have their own ecology. There are warmer and better protected from wind than rural farms. Stone's approach all of these advantages to form a profitable business.

The most amazing observation I found in the book is how little land it takes to succeed in urban farming. A half-acre is the greatest area he discusses in the book. Even that small amount, he observes, requires hired help according to his system. Observe that quarter acre lots are extremely common in the suburbs, and you can conclude that it is not difficult to satisfy the land requirements.

Going to the bottom line, Stone writes about generating incomes in the five figure range, comparable with teachers and other professionals who will be among his customers. I will venture some observations that Stone only implies. A five figure income to an urban farmer is a lot more than it is to a teacher. The urban farmer doesn't need to spend a lot of money on clothes, a car to get to and from work, and the other trappings of a professional life. Being reliant on a bicycle (perhaps battery assisted, to pull around a Rototiller on a trailer) is an immediate money saver. A social life is built-in to an urban farmer's life. He is in constant contact with neighbors, chefs, customers in the farmers' market. Stone writes that he is often called upon to speak to community organizations. In the words of Nicholas Nassim Taleb he is "anti-fragile." He can handle customers coming and going, and he does not have a foundation of debt to be serviced. In fact, Stone is rather adamant on the subject of debt: don't use it.

There is a lot of value in the book even to somebody who does not want to implement Stone's model. I live on a third of an acre in Kyiv, Ukraine. We do not have much of the yuppie restaurant market here. You could never get seven dollars a pound for fresh spinach – one or two is more like it. However, the book will be useful to me in planning how to lay out our garden plots, how to use plastic tunnels to extend the growing season, how to control pests and weeds, and how to decide what to plant. I would recommend it to almost any gardener. Stone's bottom line perspective is useful even if you are only deciding what to grow for your own use.

Stone writes about the qualities one looks for in an employee "Paying for labor is worth it only if it allows you to do tasks that cannot be delegated as easily." He comes across as a fair boss, but not one who is in any way committed to socialist notions. Using an employee is a business decision. If they don't contribute to the bottom line, you don't need them.

An assessment of the capital that Stone himself brings to the business is illuminating. In terms of financial capital he is talking about $10,000, give or take. In terms of the human capital that he himself evidently brings, it includes yeoman farmer attributes that we would all like to impute to our ancestors, but we have to observe are rather rare today. Here is the human capital that Stone himself appears to possess:
• An innate sense of entrepreneurship. He looks for opportunities, and assesses each situation in terms of possible benefit.
• Hard work. Stone finds what he is doing interesting and is willing to put the time and to make it successful.
• Facility with tools. Like any farmer, Stone has to invent, construct, repair, and jury-rig equipment to get the job done.
• Gregariousness. Throughout Stone's day he comes in contact with many, many potential customers, and has the patience and the graciousness to talk with all of them.
• Fairness. He does what it takes to be fair to customers, employees, and all around him.
• Curiosity. Stone acquires the knowledge he shares in this book by talking to people, reading, and tinkering and figuring things out.
• Facility with numbers. Stone describes how he uses spreadsheets extensively to plan his operations and record his outcomes.
• Facility with language. He is in constant communication.
• Facility with computers and technology. This is essential to support work with numbers and language in today's world.

Stone's background prior to farming would not at first appear promising. He concluded after a decade and a half as a rock musician that that was not going to be his profession, so he looked for something he could do. He credits his father with an entrepreneurial streak that the son seems to have inherited. So, on the one hand, he started from nothing: no education in farming, no real experience, and precious little capital. On the other hand, in terms of human capital he was extremely well endowed. He had what it took to succeed.

Stone's story is a parable for Millennial youth. These kids emerge from the University chock-full of formal education but with no practical experience, and quite specifically, little notion of the fact that one earns a living by providing the kinds of goods and services that people are willing to pay for. What a blessing it would be to a 16-year-old with no discernible direction in life to get involved in something like urban farming and learn the self-discipline and the talents required to make a success of this fairly basic undertaking. It would prepare one for life. In our yeoman farmer ancestors, such an understanding of how things work was implicit. Stone provides a recipe for going back to these fundamental values.

It is a five-star effort all around. The table of contents below gives you an idea of the breadth and depth of the book.

Contents
--- A Farm in the City
1. Why Urban Farming?
2. Connecting the Dots: An Urban Farmer’s Place in the Community
3. Quick Breakdown of Economics
--- A Viable Farming Business On ½ Acre Or Less
4. The Zones of Your Farm and Your Life
5. Crops Better Suited for the City
6. Introduction to Urban Infrastructure
7. Start-Up Farm Models
--- The Business of Urban Farming
8. Starting Small
9. Market Streams
10. Working with Chefs
11. Labor
12. Software and Organization
13. Self-Promotion
14. Finance Options
--- Finding the Right Site
15. Scouting for Land
16. Urban, Suburban and Peri-Urban Land
17. Multiple or Single-Plot Farming
18. Urban Soil
19. Land Agreements and Leases
20. Urban Pests
--- Building Your Farm, One Site at a Time
21. Turning a Lawn Into a Farm Plot
22. Choosing A Site
23. Garden Layout
24. The Perimeter
25. Irrigation 6 Infrastructure and Equipment
26. Base of Operations
27. Tools
28. Special Growing Areas
29. Inexpensive Season Extension
30. Transportation
--- Operations
31. Work Smarter not Harder
32. Harvesting
33. Post-Harvest Processing
34. Portioning and Packing
--- Production Systems
35. Beds for Production
36. Planting
37. Microgreens
38. Extending the Season
--- Basic Crop Planning
39. Determine Your Outcome
40. The Base Plan
--- Crops for the Urban Farmer
41. Parting Words

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Leeann
5.0 out of 5 starsSome buy a car mine buys a farmApril 8, 2017
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I bought this book for my husbands mid life crisis. Some men but fancy cars but mine buys a farm. All jokes aside this book is extremely informative. It has reassured my husband that he is on the right path to becoming an urban farmer with a profitable market farm. This book tell you what to grow/not to grow & why. How to maximize small spaces because it's not alway the size that matters 😉 I to plan on reading it as soon as I can pry it from my hubbys fingers. Great buy.

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Streiticus
4.0 out of 5 starsI love listening to Curtis Stone speak and I think the ...March 17, 2016
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I love listening to Curtis Stone speak and I think the book could be very useful for some. I personally was looking more for growing insight and methods which I didn't get much of. I've been gardening for years but still have so much to learn. Decent blue print just lacking in details in my opinion. Read it, but unless you are specifically looking to rent/borrow land in an urban setting I wouldn't make it my first read.

25 people found this helpful

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R. White
5.0 out of 5 starsInvaluable for those interested in any kind of garden-sized farming, whether for self or profit.December 8, 2016
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Curtis Stone is an outstanding, high-energy, and enthusiastic proponent of urban farming.

Living in the sticks, I'm inspired to up my game in my small garden plot. I'll obviously deviate from his selection of veggies as he's focusing on the local market while I'll be looking at my family's needs, but I'll also incorporate some of his plantings to take to local outlets as some cash income.

Don't overlook his YouTube videos - they provide a lot of enthusiasm and energy, and a good physical look at what he's doing.

The book I'm using more as a reference: How much of this to plant in a bed? How close to plant? Specifically what steps is Curtis following in this process? How is that vegetable spelled? How to keep track of the business - planting and harvesting information, watching my business (cash flow vs. crop availability), and other technical things to help me run a tighter ship.

Other resources that make great companion books include Elliot Coleman (Maine) and J. M. Fortier (Quebec).

6 people found this helpful

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Scott C. Olsen
5.0 out of 5 starsExceeded my expectations!March 14, 2016
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I bought this book simply to gain ideas and to simply understand the modern market garden concept. in that regard it has exceeded my expectations. If you plan to follow in the footsteps of Mr. Stone, I would recommend you to check out his YouTube Channel as a companion to this book.

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Danielle
5.0 out of 5 starsbest book on urban farmingMay 14, 2016
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
We recently built a hoop house and have future plans of selling produce. We aren't raking in the $ yet as we're just getting started with feeding our own family with our home grown goods, but if we ever decide to do sell produce, I can thank Curtis Stone for writing this book. He lays everything out and I mean EVERYTHING. Curtis isn't keeping any secrets to himself. He seems to be very concerned about food production or processing and wants everyone to grow their own food. He lays out all the steps and things to think about when selling produce. It's an educational and fantastic and easy read. He's also got YouTube videos you should check out. I love this guy. I made my husband and kids watch the videos and now one of our kids is interested in growing her own food to sell and got herself her own little greenhouse.

25 people found this helpful

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Ruthypegs
4.0 out of 5 starsNot for dreamers and couch potatoesMarch 6, 2016
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Covers the subject matter pretty comprehensively, and is written by a man who really wants to share his knowledge. The lifestyle however is not for the faint hearted. I suspect Curtis Allen Stone operates most of his life in overdrive. All credit to him.

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Panochey
5.0 out of 5 starsDo it...NOW!March 3, 2018
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
What can I say? I am a Curtis Stone fanboy. Got a mancrush going. I have taken up the micro-farm mantel thanks to him. I'm not doing exactly what he is, but I am growing things for sale. Watch the YouTube videos, buy the book. You too can get your asterisk free from your "job" and make a life. Seriously, you are not going to do this with no money, but you can do it for rather cheap to start.

In our "disposable plastic" world there are all the containers you need to start seedlings. If you are making compost, (and you should be), you can have all that is needed for production. Where you will have to spend some money is in crop covers and post production (packaging). Get off your asterisk and go do it. Life is not a dress rehearsal.

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Dave Palmer
5.0 out of 5 starsOpen honest help for the budding farmerFebruary 2, 2017
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
Watching Curtis Stone on YouTube will make you appreciate this book even more as you can literally see that he is a smart guy who is freely offering help and encouragement to budding farmers just starting out or simply dreaming of starting their own farm. His attention to detail and down-to-earth delivery make this book a good read for anyone interested in small scale, intensive farming. Traditional farmers are dying, and the next generation has to have a survival plan. This is exactly the kind of encouragement the next generation needs. Read it cover to cover, take his advice, and go for it!

3 people found this helpful

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trevor graham
5.0 out of 5 starsAmazing source of high grade informationApril 3, 2016
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This book has been a huge help to my small scale farming start-up. We started last season, and if we would have had this source of information them, we would have save hours upon hours of money and labor. This is the kind of book that should be on the shelf of every professional or aspiring farmer, gardener or plant enthusiast. Thank you Curtis Stone!

7 people found this helpful

The politics of the agro-ecological movement in the Global North and the Global South | P2P Foundation

The politics of the agro-ecological movement in the Global North and the Global South | P2P Foundation





The politics of the agro-ecological movement in the Global North and the Global South
November 3, 2016 No Comment Michel Bauwens 6 min read
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Because they are often developed and shared through extensive Campesino a Campesino (farmer-to-farmer) social networks, peasant-based agroecological approaches are an integral part of many agrarian struggles for land and market reforms… For them, agroecology is… a science, a practice and a movement.

The following article presents the Latin American and other Global South farmer’s movement as peer to peer movements that have an integrative approach to self-organisation, land ownership, and technology, and is critical of approaches that ignore the land and organizational questions. It was co-authored by Eric Holt-Giménez and Miguel Altieri and originally published in Food First:

The Green Revolution is a one-size-fits-all technological model for global agricultural development that originated in the breadbasket of the United States. Following World War II, the US turned “swords into plowshares” by transforming the vast stocks of wartime nitrate and poisons into fertilizer and pesticides, and by refitting arms factories to make newer, bigger farm machinery. Hybrid seeds were bred to respond to irrigation and chemical inputs. Industrial agriculture boomed.

However, US farmers soon bought all of the new technology they needed. Seeds, agrochemicals and machinery began to pile up in warehouses. The solution to the problem of industrial surplus was to export the uniform model of production to very different and diverse geographical, cultural and social environments in the Global South.

Carl Sauer, a highly respected Professor of Geography at the University of California, Berkeley with vast experience in Latin American agriculture, was originally contracted by the Rockefeller Foundation as a consultant to the US Mexican Agricultural Program regarding the possibility of exporting US agricultural technology to Mexico—ostensibly to help Mexico increase their food security. But Sauer strongly advised Rockefeller against the approach:


“A good aggressive bunch of American agronomists and plant breeders could ruin native resources for good and all by pushing their American stocks…and Mexico cannot be pointed toward standardization on a few commercial types without upsetting native economy and culture hopelessly. Unless the Americans understand that, they better keep out of this country entirely. This must be approached from an appreciation of native economies as basically sound.” [i]

The Rockefeller Foundation dismissed Sauer’s concerns and, despite internal opposition, went forward with the project—which became a 50-year global campaign—later known as the Green Revolution.

The Green Revolution was spread with subsidized credit, international institutions and government programs, to millions of farmers in the Global South. With massive investment, global food production increased dramatically. But, Carl Sauer’s predictions came true: because the technology required capital, it concentrated production on large farms and in fewer and fewer hands—the best agricultural land. Smallholders were driven to the fragile hillsides and into the rain forests. When they were offered cheap credit to buy Green Revolution seeds and chemicals, these inputs quickly destroyed the fertility of their soils and eroded their local genetic diversity. Yields fell, millions of small farmers were economically ruined, and millions of acres of forests and topsoil were lost.

The Green Revolution proved to be a disastrous mismatch for the Global South. In its aftermath, peasant farmers struggled to stay on the land and restore the ecological integrity of their farming systems. They found a way with Agroecology.

Although many northern academics claim that the term Agroecology was first coined by European scientists at the beginning of the 20th century,[ii]the roots of agroecology lie in the ecological rationale of indigenous and peasant agriculture still prevalent in many parts of the developing world today.[iii]

Thirty years ago, Latin American agroecologists argued that a starting point for a better, pro-poor agricultural development strategies were the systems that traditional farmers had developed over centuries. From the early1980s on, hundreds of agroecologically-based projects incorporating elements of both traditional knowledge and modern agricultural science have been promoted throughout Latin America and other parts of the developing world. A variety of projects emerged showing that over time these agroecologically-managed systems bring benefits to rural communities by enhancing food security with healthy local food, strengthening their resource base (soils, biodiversity, etc.), preserving cultural heritage and the peasant or family farm way of life, and promoting resilience to climate change.[iv]

Agroecology also contributes towards the process of “re-peasantization” in which, contrary to the general tendency of migration from the countryside to the city, smallholders are returning to the land. For peasant organizations, agroecology has proven vital in their struggle for autonomy by reducing their dependence on external inputs, credit and indebtedness and also by recovering their territories.[v] Because they are often developed and shared through extensive Campesino a Campesino (farmer-to-farmer) social networks, peasant-based agroecological approaches are an integral part of many agrarian struggles for land and market reforms as well as peasant movements against land grabs and extractive industries. For them, agroecology is not just a scientific or technological project, but a political project of resistance and survival. It is a science, a practice and a movement.

In Latin America, agroecology is often viewed as an applied science embedded within a social context that challenges capitalist agriculture and is allied with agrarian movements. Deeply engaged with ongoing agrarian debates, Latin American agroecologists typically support both bottom-up agricultural development and peasant resistance against the corporate, industrial agriculture and neoliberal trade policies.

Agroecology is spreading in the US and Europe. This is good news. But similar to the southward spread of the Green Revolution, the northward spread of agroecology has encountered a mismatch, and it is political.

The political dimension of agroecology is problematic in the Global North—particularly in the United States—because challenging the root causes of industrial agriculture’s socio-environmental destruction implies challenging capitalism itself. It requires a radical (i.e. going to the root) critique that transcends the notion that minor adjustments or ‘greening’ the neoliberal economic model will bring about substantive change. It situates agroecology outside mainstream academic, government and non-governmental programs and within the resistance struggles of the social movements fighting for food sovereignty, local autonomy, and community control of land, water and agrobiodiversity.[vi]

But, agroecology in the US and Europe is not anchored in strong agrarian movements. The northern arena of agroecological debate is dominated by an eclectic soup of apolitical narratives (read: avoiding the subject of capitalism), largely promoted by consumers and academics, global institutions, big NGOs and big philanthropy. This institutional camp uses a variety of terms (sustainable intensification, climate-smart agriculture, diversified farming systems, etc.) to promote a reformist definition of agroecology as a set of additional tools to improve everyone’s toolbox. Big, small, organic, conventional… will all get along better with a little more agroecology.

The cooptation of agroecological practices will make industrial agriculture a bit more sustainable and a little less exploitative, but will not challenge underlying relations of power in our food system. Further, agroecology “lite” ignores the ways in which large-scale, industrial monocultures undermine the existence of the smallholder farmers who farm agroecologically. The voices of agroecological practitioners —Afro-American, Latino, Indigenous and Asian communities, smallholders and urban farmers—and of low income consumers, progressive academics and NGOs critical of conventional agriculture, are marginal or muted in this discourse.

Agroecology—as a countermovement to the Green Revolution—is at a crossroads, struggling against cooptation, subordination, and revisionist projects that erase its history and strip it of its political meaning.[vii] De-politicized agroecology is socially meaningless, divorced from agrarian realities, vulnerable to the corporate food regime and isolated from the growing power of global food sovereignty movements.

Agroecology has a pivotal role to play in the future of our food systems. If it is co-opted by reformist trends in the Green Revolution, the agroecological countermovement will be weakened, the corporate food regime will likely be strengthened, and substantive reforms to our food systems will be highly unlikely. However, if agroecologists build strategic alliances with food sovereignty and agrarian movements—at home and abroad—the countermovement will be strengthened. A strong countermovement could generate considerable political will for the transformation of our food systems.[viii]

Whether one recognizes the politics of agroecology—or tries to hide them—it is precisely these agrarian politics that will determine our agricultural future.



Miguel A. Altieri, University of California, Berkeley

Eric Holt-Giménez, Food First
----------------------
[i] Jennings, B. (1988) Foundations of International Agricultural Research: Science and Politics in Mexican Agriculture. Boulder CO: Westview Press.

[ii] Wezel, A., S. Bellon, T. Doré, C. Francis, D. Vallod and C. David. (2009) Agroecology as a science, a movement, and a practice. A Review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 29(4): 503–515.

[iii] Altieri, M.A. (2002) Agroecology: the science of natural resource management for poor farmers in marginal environments. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 93: 1–24.

[iv] Altieri, M.A. and C.I. Nicholls. (2008) Scaling up Agroecological Approaches for Food Sovereignty in Latin America. Development, 51(4): 472–80. URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/dev.2008.68

[v] Van der Ploeg, J.D. (2009) The New Peasantries: Struggles for Autonomy and Sustainability in an Era of Empire and Globalization. Earthscan, London, 356 p.

[vi] Rosset, P.M. & Martinez-Torres, M.E. (2012) Rural Social Movements and Agroecology: Context, Theory and Process. Ecology and Society, 17: 17-26

[vii] Roland, P. C, and R. W. Adamchak. (2009) Tomorrow’s Table: Organic Farming, Genetics and the Future of Food. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Tomich, T., S. Brodt, F. Ferris, R. Galt, W. Horwath, E. Kebreab, J. Leveau, et al. (2011) Agroecology: A Review from a Global-Change Perspective. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 36(15): 1–30.

[viii] Holt-Gimenez, E and M.A. Altieri 2013 Agroecology, Food Sovereignty, and the New Green Revolution. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems 37: 90-102

88 Bill Mollison: Permaculture: A Designers' Manual

Permaculture: A Designers' Manual: Bill Mollison


Permaculture: A Designers' Manual by Bill Mollison (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars 119 customer reviews



ISBN-13: 978-0908228010
ISBN-10: 0908228015Why is ISBN important?

Permaculture (permanent agriculture) is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. 

It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter, and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way. Without permanent agriculture there is no possibility of a stable social order. Permaculture design is a system of assembling conceptual, material, and strategic components in a pattern which functions to benefit life in all its forms. 



The philosophy behind permaculture is one 

1. of working with, rather than against, nature; 
2. of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless action; 
3. of looking at systems in all their functions rather than asking only one yield of them; and 
4. of allowing systems to demonstrate their own evolutions

------------
Product details

Hardcover: 576 pages
Publisher: Ten Speed Pr (August 1, 1997)
Language: English
--------------

Pearl
5.0 out of 5 stars

Simply the best :)November 27, 2015
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Simply the best :)
I upvoted someone's review because she said it was too complex, she couldn't understand it. Yes, I DID find that helpful, means it's what I want :) I didn't want a quick article off the net about permaculture, I wanted a university (or higher, the real world is higher than any school) level textbook. Exactly what I wanted :)

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Dustin D
5.0 out of 5 stars

Great Reference manual, dry if you want a general understanding.November 3, 2014
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
This is the "Bible" for permaculture and food forest production.

However if you are just getting into or are just interested in the general concepts of permaculture, I would buy "Introduction to Permaculture" by Bill Mollison or "Gaias Garden". This will wet your beak and stay more generalized and get a understanding of what Permaculture and food forest systems can do as well as open your eyes to how our current monoculture systems are not sustainable and how much food you can actually produce on just a small acreage or even a suburban lot. The PDM is good for once you have gotten the general concepts and/or have started a PDC for certification. This holds almost all the information you need to start and build a system, answer questions. it is a great reference manual for implementing the system, but is very dry if you are looking for a introduciton/inspiration to start this on your property.

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corrina j ford
5.0 out of 5 starsHighly recomendMay 10, 2017
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
This is truly one of the best purchases I have ever made. The book can read a bit dry and can resemble stereo instructions in some places however, the vast knowledge and experience shared in this book far outweigh any kibitzing I could possibly come up with. I would recommend this book to anyone and suggest taking a permaculture class for the discussion and practical application as well.

3 people found this helpful

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JimmyB
5.0 out of 5 starsPermaculture in its purest form.July 15, 2017
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Not much to add to this. If you're interested in Permaculture, this is the Genesis.
I like to balance the principles here with some other things as well. Couple this with Holistic Management, and Keyline Design, to form the perfect Trinity.

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Zing Nafzinger
5.0 out of 5 stars

Techniques for living sustainably on the planetAugust 4, 2017
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
I love this book. Clear. Informative. Not everyone is concerned about living sustainably on our planet, but if you are, the information and techniques in this book will keep you busy and feeling good about the difference you can make to your footprint on the planet, whether you have a tiny property or are responsible for many acres.

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overall studio
5.0 out of 5 starsWork with creation, not against it!May 13, 2014
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
This book will transform our planet, one household at a time. Each time I read it, common sense and wisdom are presented. What is ancient becomes new again. 

I bought this book because our land is sinking, cracking and the few edibles planted do not do well with the city of Houston's clorinated-flouridated-and-who-knows-what-else-is-in-there water. So until we move to more land, these practices will be learned while we are urbanites. We're in the process of planning some and taking action on others first by: installing rain water collection system, planting more fruit and nut trees with herbs and flowers, installing a whole house fan, making an outdoor second bathroom off grid for our everyday use (we're always home), amending our soil by adding sand and gypsum, and this is just the beginning. 

What a wealth of information. I wanted to take a permaculture course, but began by ordering this book first to see if I'd like it. I love it!

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Forest7
5.0 out of 5 starsThe beginning of Permaculture and the essential foundation.May 26, 2011
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
I can not add much to the earlier reviews of Permaculture: A Designers' Manual by Bill Mollison, but I wanted to add another 5 star rating and a few comments.

Bill Mollison is the creator of Permaculture. He walked the walk before talking the talk. Read his autobiography and you can see that his life in Tasmania, using an open mind with his experiences, gave him the experience and insight to create this system.

There may have been parts of his system in other systems, but his integrated approach is workable in today's societies in many different areas from country property to a city back yard.

It gives insight to weather, forests, trees, water supplies, growing zones, passive heating, and so forth. The book gives a place, a location for insights learned in other gardening and regional permaculture books.

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Lauretta Selby
5.0 out of 5 starsShould be in every Permies LibraryJuly 9, 2017
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Taking the REX course now(Regrarians Ltd) and really excited to use what I learned from this book. It is definitely a text book and something i have yet to finish but he is the founder of Permaculture and worth the purchase and the read!

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Amazon Customer Rain
5.0 out of 5 starsPermaculture, the wave of the future!April 30, 2014
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
This is an excellent book for the facts and the philosophy of sustainable living and the development of a conscious lifestyle.
This is the second copy of this book that I have owned in the last 20 years, It is also the book that the permaculture course I am taking is based on.
This book is not an easy read, but it is dense with information, deep thought and practical applications.
Whether you are a city dweller or own your own place in the country there is much of value to recommend this book and the philosophy of Permaculture.
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Thomas Meli
5.0 out of 5 stars

Few Things better regarding Sustainability

May 8, 2007
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Bill Mollison represents the most successful attempt to mainstream practical home-scale sustainable design principles. I found myself needing to do an enormous amount of supplementary research to actually understand what bill was talking about, but to explain them in depth here would have taken away from the thrust of the book - which is mainly to show you example after example (many on every page) at sustainable principles of design put into practice.

The book remains the best book on sustainability written to date. There are some aspects of his system that are lacking that I will briefly draw attention to. Understand that I deeply appreciate his genius, but I want to just mention that these other things need to be integrated into his system to be fully fully sustainable.
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1) He doesn't pay enough attention to seed saving and plant breeding. A loss of seed diversity and a re-invigoration of seed savers is essential to truly sustainable self-sufficient design.

See:
Seed to Seed - by Suzanne Ashworth and Kent Whealy
Breed your own Vegetable Varieties - by Carol Deppe

2) He very rarely mentions the role mushrooms and fungi can play in sustainability.

See:

Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World by Paul Stamets

3) He doesn't stress the science behind it enough, which is fine, but leaves you asking sometimes... how do we know this is really ecologically sound? How can I NOT imitate mr. mollison but still create an ecologically sound system? Basically, Mollison's proscriptions are incredibly scientifically informed but not always scientifically explicit.

See:

• Plant Ecophysiological Ecology
• New Dimensions in Agro-Ecology
• Smallholders, Householders: farm families and the ecology of intensive sustainable agriculture - by Rober Netting

4) In relation to the first point, he also doesn't stress the role that evolution plays in sustainability. This is a very complicated problem, see book.

See:

Evolutionary Conservation Biology.

These are not really criticism so much as signs of slight conceptual anal retentiveness on my part... Also please don't forget mollison's OTHER books which are incredible as well, especially the permaculture book of ferment and human nutrition.

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J.W.K
5.0 out of 5 stars

THE PERMACULTURE BIBLE

January 30, 2004
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

If ecology was the primary intellectual response to the environmental and agricultural crises of the twentieth century, permaculture (or permanent agriculture) was its practical application. Born in the mid-seventies, permaculture co-founder Bill Mollison defines this new field as "the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter, and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way. 

Without permaculture there is no possibility of a stable social order." In other words, permaculture is the practical science of sustainability - a whole-systems approach life in the biosphere - and this near-encyclopedic tome covers every aspect of the subject, from soil conditions to climactic factors.

 The only conceivable drawback of this book is that it is rather difficult to ascertain and won't come cheap. If you enjoy tracking down rare and expensive books, there are none better than Mollison's Permaculture: A Designer's Manual. Large, comprehensive and filled with helpful illustrations and explanations, it is nothing less than the permaculture bible. 

On the other hand, if you are on a tight budget, and do not wish to spend your time searching for an unworn copy, there are newer and more accessible titles on the subject: like the other permaculture co-founder 

David Holmgren's Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability, or the concise and slim 

Earth User's Guide to Permaculture, by Rosemary Morrow. 

Whatever book you choose, this fascinating subject is perhaps humanity's only hope for a sustainable (read livable) future. Should not be overlooked.

An essential reference.

j.w.k.

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Ali
5.0 out of 5 starsGot it in honor of the passing of this great pioneer. If you read this bookOctober 6, 2016
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
RIP Bill. This has been on my wishlist forever. Got it in honor of the passing of this great pioneer. If you read this book, you'll probably know more than the person teaching your PDC. ;-)

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Rashomoan
5.0 out of 5 starsThe classicFebruary 28, 2008
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Mollison must be credited with promotion of the concept of Permaculture and this book is a world-wide view with enough examples to stimulate the thinking of a designer in any climate. It would be the bible for anyone working as an ecological designer on a worldwide scale. This tome includes not only a wealth of information but Mollison's personal views are given at every opportunity as well. With the breadth of his knowledge it can sometimes be helpful. That said, it is not an easy read. Mollison assumes familiarity with terminology from many disciplines, but with a scientific background it makes it all the more credible.

However, since its publication, there are other books for specific climate types that provide more detail. For those living in temperate climates, particularly the NE US, Dave Jacke/Eric Toensmeier's Edible Forest Gardens is more focused. If you live and plan to practice permaculture in only such climates, it should be sufficient. For the tropics, see [...] for a manual.

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Joseph A. Grubb
5.0 out of 5 starsGo to for permaculture designMay 30, 2018
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
This is the only reference book needed to get your project designed for success. Great case studies noted for further research.


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Jill Whitmore
4.0 out of 5 starsAll the permaculture information I will ever need, I ...March 6, 2016
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
All the permaculture information I will ever need, I think! I was trying to replace a softback, smaller permaculture manual by Mollison which has strayed, and wasn't intending to buy something so massive and fairly expensive - but this volume will meet all foreseeable needs. I have one beef only (with the author/illustrator) - his work needed more careful proofing, it contains quite a lot of typos and spellos.

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Cody
5.0 out of 5 starsI thoroughly enjoyed reading it cover to coverNovember 11, 2016
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
I'm new to permaculture, but this book was a wealth of knowledge for me. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it cover to cover.

Bill covers permaculture practices for working with everything from soil, water, wind, earthworks, trees, aquaculture and then goes on to describe practical applications of that knowledge within different climatic conditions. This book, in my opinion, gives the reader an excellent foundation on the topic of permaculture.


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Gary L Wade
5.0 out of 5 starsFive StarsMarch 14, 2018
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Wonderful source of information about permaculture from one of the pioneers.


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Lydse
5.0 out of 5 starsShe absolutely loved the book said it was the "Bible of Permaculture"January 3, 2017
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
This was for my Mom and she loves gardening, food forests, etc. She absolutely loved the book said it was the "Bible of Permaculture"


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Tina Thomas
5.0 out of 5 starsThe Wisdom of a MasterDecember 1, 2017
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Hard to grasp without some training, but after taking Geoff Lawton's PDC, this book has become solid gold to me.l


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jessica
5.0 out of 5 starsBest book on permaculture ever!July 8, 2015
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Got this for my boyfriend as a gift and he loves it! He wanted it so bad and I ally has it and reads from it everyday! We love permaculture and are so thankful that we have this resource now to learn even more than we knew before :))



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mathias hamlet
5.0 out of 5 starsThis is a good lexikon and the explenations are technical and detailed and ...January 10, 2017
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
This is a good lexikon and the explenations are technical and detailed and easy to understand, have not read all yet but this book with a couple of others on the subject of permaculture is a must. There are Another book that talks more about the climate in the northen hemisphere, dont remember the name, where this one talks over all the climate zones. And Bill Mollison is the starter of permaculture so its a no brainer.


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dw
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat manual for PermacultureApril 4, 2018
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
I just love the book. It was in great condition & arrived what the delivery was suppose to happen. Thank you


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Nate
5.0 out of 5 starsThe Bible of PermacultureAugust 4, 2011
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
This is an outstanding book written by one of the co-founders of permaculture. This book is comprehensive, includes both theoretical and practical aspects of permaculture, and well-written. This book is, however, very "deep" and slow to read (like reading a textbook). A must have for anyone interested in the subject.

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Ron
5.0 out of 5 starsFive StarsApril 19, 2018
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Lots of information in it


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diligentzombiekiller
5.0 out of 5 stars

The definitive guide on PERMACULTUREMarch 8, 2013

I've been tinkering with the idea of buying farm land and developing it sustainably and at a profit for the past few years and began studying the principles of permaculture two years ago to where I was at the point that I couldn't satiate my need for learning more about it, so I purchased this book. It was well worth the price tag and takes you through EVERYTHING (read Permaculture Institute & Tagari Publishing's review). 

I have re-read the first several chapters many times and can't stop focusing on the guiding principles behind permaculture and the need to implement these simple systems in place. No more monocultures, no more pesticides, no more squandering resources, and this book outlines how to do just that and more. 

It has been stressed in the works of Masanobu Fukuoka, Wendell Berry, Michael Pollan and every author of sustainable farming literature that an organic polyculture system yields more than any monoculture system especially in the instances of drought and disease. 

It's common sense, especially for those like myself who want to develop land and make a profit doing it to implement at least some of the basic knowledge of polycultures as an insurance policy against drought or disease, but to also add to soil health and abundance and plentiful opportunities for the food web to grow and prosper with as few inputs as possible. I can't stress enough that this book outlines how to do this with as few inputs as possible, turning it into a zero input natural ecosystem. As much as it's about digging swales, using nurse plants to their full potential and building a living abundant ecosystem, it's about being responsible for the land you own and the food you grow, it provides a better blueprint for tomorrow. One man's weed is anothers pioneer plant building nutrient dense soil for Spring peas next season. If there is one thing I look forward to more than reading this book again, it's applying the knowledge in it.

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C. Pilieri
5.0 out of 5 stars

Ground breakingFebruary 10, 2010
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
This book is the future. Permaculture is the future by teaching us how to reclaim our past.

With all the issues in the world today, basic sustainability is the number one priority. How to grow food and work with nature not against it. It is a truly great book and movement. It is not the easiest reading but all worthwhile.

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Dorey E. Evans
5.0 out of 5 starsHighly recommend itFebruary 14, 2013
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
If you are going to survive this economy, you better learn how to garden. Between this book and "Gardening When It Counts", I have become a pretty good gardener. No frills and no pricey equipment, but a highly productive garden. Yum.

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veteran
5.0 out of 5 starsif you care about planet earthNovember 3, 2013
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
this is a great book about permaculture with pictures, designs and additional information for the interested conservator of the earth. everyone interested in ecology on any level should read this book. should be in every library in the world.


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GENE GERUE
5.0 out of 5 starsGetting it all togetherFebruary 10, 2000
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Bill Mollison is an ecologist of the first rank. In 1981 he received the Right Livelihood Award--the Alternative Nobel Prize--for his work in environmental design. He and David Holmgren coined the word permaculture; Mollison has devoted his life to teaching the concept. Permaculture is humans working with, not against, nature. It's about causing land, water, plants and animals to synergistically cause multiple benefits and to improve an ecosystem simultaneously. It maximizes functional connections so that the many parts become a whole. To create permaculture design is to make the strongest possible statement of our eco-values, a resounding vote against current agribusiness practices. I have four of Mollison's books--this one has it all plus 129 color photos and a gazillion drawings by Andrew Jeeves. Here is complete knowledge to create your personal permaculture, a place to work and live in harmony with nature, a place that will nuture your body and your soul.

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Jerome Mcintire
5.0 out of 5 starsReview from a PDC gradOctober 9, 2014
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
This is it, the most complete textbook of permaculture. A book to learn from over decades, a great guide to observing and learning from nature.
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