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An inspiring, upbeat volume: traces the author's development toward a sustainable lifestyle (total utilities in a 2,103-sq.ft. house with no solar equal $72.58/month), beginning with early self-propelled UnSchooling and ReSkilling methods; includes proactive steps toward individual self-empowerment in the Transition Movement, PermaCulture and ReSKILLING communities. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Well, it's a nice idea...
Hey, guys. This manual describes the design of a small farm, listing all the plants and animals that have been introduced and the various earthworks that were carried out. The whole enterprise appears to be extraordinarily expensive and beyond the means of all but the well-to-do middle-class. Moreover, the large size of the property to feed a mere handful of people seems extravagant.

The author's views regarding what should be done and what shouldn't be done at times appears to be as much hearsay as anything. Some of it is blatantly absurd in the context: For instance, the farm relies heavily on the import of organic grain in order to feed the chickens. Far be it for me to recommend for or against purchasing this book; at least it allows one to daydream about having such a place, however unlikely it is (in my opinion) that permaculture constitutes a formula for a more sustainable world.

A site report from a master designer
David Holmgren, co-originator of the permaculture concept, has made a valuable contribution to ecological design by documenting the planning and construction of his 1 hectare homestead in Victoria, Australia. This large-format book details his site analysis using zone-and-sector and other permaculture tools, land use history, microclimate and soil types, and other criteria that guided his home-site selection, planting strategies, water systems, and passive-solar design.

Idealists may quibble with Holmgren's decisions to use nearby grid power (off-grid systems being far more expensive), small engines (indispensible to all farmers), and a farm truck (the only vehicle shown in the book), but these choices point to the real value of the work: what happens when sustainable design is attempted in the real world. Holmgren is honest about where he compromised and where he held fast. What distinguishes his efforts from a typical back-to-the-land farm is the use of sophisticated design tools that reduce energy use, conserve soil and water, emphasize perennial species and natural materials, and apply patterning tools to the overall design. One look at the design and implementation and it will be obvious that permaculture design offers a far better toolkit than conventional methods.

A fine field report from a master designer. I wish there were more such site reports from ecological designers.

Permaculture? It's not so hard after all.
This large format book discloses a lot of the more questionable claims of the Permaculture movement. Holmgren is neither a highly qualified nor a particularly scientific advocate of the system that he claims joint ownership of originating. In this book we discover that using Permaculture a small family may still possess two cars; it's okay to be on the electricity grid and any number of modern appliances from computers to light engines may be used in your 'Permaculture' system. Really the whole thing amounts to little more than recreational farming. I have rated this book as three stars because it is an important read for anyone interested in the truth behind the field. However, in general it is an unimpressive collection of notes from someone designing a small farm. ... Read more

Product Description
Nambassa. Nambassa Winter Show with Mahana, Housetrucker, Waikino music festival, Hippie, Waikino, Ecovillage, Back-to-the-land movement, Permaculture, Green politics, Nuclear- free zone, Holistic health, Activism, Alternative medicine ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Permaculture, Agritourism, Rural Flight, Collective Farming, Kibbutz, Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, Family Farm, Shifting Cultivation, Grameen Bank, Wendell Berry, Antigonish Movement, Local Food, List of Permaculture Projects, Brac, Agricultural Extension, Orality, Moses Coady, Diggers, Farmer Field School, Grameen Family of Organizations, Back-To-The-Land Movement, United Farmers of Alberta, Twin Oaks Community, Community-Supported Agriculture, Comilla Model, Darsanalaya Ashram, Solidarity Lending, Cooperative Extension Service, Satoyama, John Seymour, Keita Integrated Development Project, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Agricultural Cooperative, Abraham George, Basix, Grameen Fund, Participatory Rural Appraisal, Institute of Rural Management Anand, Dongzhou Protests, Farmers' Market, Grama Vidiyal, All India Kisan Sabha, Moshav, World Habitat Awards, Household Plot, National Agricultural Policy Center, Practical Action, Asset-Based Community Development, Bond of Association, Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana, Sks Microfinance, Institute of Rural Management, Anand, Tangshan Protest, Rural Housing, Terra Madre, Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, University of Gastronomic Sciences, 1907 Romanian Peasants' Revolt, Aga Khan Foundation, Farmers' Bank of Rustico, Swadeshi Movement, Thomas C. Stanford, Bioenergy Village, Solidal Purchasing Groups, Griggstown Quail Farm, Rural Development, Cooperationworks!, Rural Reconstruction Association, Bundschuh Movement, A. D. S. N. Prasad, Participatory Technology Development, Ecoagriculture, Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, Farm Credit System, Ontario Co-Operative Association, Comat Technologies, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Communities Directory, Community-Led Total Sanitation, Terhune Orchards, Mission Vuelta Al Campo, Permaforestry, Usda Rural Development, Global Brigades, Cpa, European Society for Rural Sociology, Beef...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=106200 ... Read more

Product Description
A practical and inspiring guide to the principles of Permaculture, an organic method of gardening based on using natures solutions to achieve abundance.This practice releases the gardener from much of the drudgery of repetitive tasks. The smart lateral thinking that underscores permaculture can be used by anyone and for any garden. ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Vegetable Growing, Gardening, Fruit Tree Propagation, Permaculture, Fruit Tree Pruning, Soil Life, Raised Bed Gardening, Soil Ph, Annual Plant, Botanical Garden, Volunteer, Greenhouse, Sowing, Forest Gardening, No-Dig Gardening, Orchard, Inosculation, Aeroponics, History of Gardening, Green Roof, Giardino All'italiana, Italian Renaissance Garden, Hardiness Zone, Cultivated Plant Taxonomy, Garden Design, Tree Shaping, Cultigen, List of Permaculture Projects, Arborist, Aquascaping, Rainwater Tank, Sprouting, Tomato Grafting, Topiary, Sustainable Gardening, Guerrilla Gardening, Seasonal Thermal Store, Seed Swap, Organic Horticulture, Pteridomania, Natural Landscaping, Market Gardening, Hortus Palatinus, Digging Trees and Shrubs for Transplanting, Vavilovian Mimicry, Notcutts, Cutting, Micropropagation, Citrus Production, Houseplant Care, Growing-Degree Day, Square Foot Gardening, Garden Sharing, Husband and Wife Tree, Seed Drill, Stratification, Stumpery, Shrubbery, Corymbia Citriodora, Sun Scald, Butterfly Gardening, Bedding, Fertigation, Prostrate Shrub, Microponics, Floral Industry, Postharvest, Pleaching, Adventitiousness, Boston Flower Exchange, Codit, Backcrossing, Royal Flora Ratchaphruek, Rootstock, Damp-Proof Course, Pomology, Ripening, Dwarfing, International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants, Bletting, Foliar Feeding, Matrix Planting, Arboriculture, Garden Designer, Espalier, Étienne Soulange-Bodin, Xeriscaping, Root Barrier, Girdling, Additives for Cut Flowers, Plant Nursery, Yard, Canna Leaf Roller, Flower Pot, the Botany of Desire, Deep Water Culture, Post-Harvest Handling, Plant Propagation, Floriculture, Layering, Trophort, Hanging Basket, Groundskeeper, Topsoil, Master Gardener Programs, Scarification, Coco Peat, Twin-Scaling, Beneficial Weed, Horticultural Flora, Epicormic Shoot, Urban Horticulture, the Gardeners Dictionary, Horticultural Therapy, Decoction, Degree Day, Permaforestry, Basal...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=1044136 ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, NM), published by The Santa Fe New Mexican on June 7, 2009. The length of the article is 561 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: PERMACULTURE IN PRACTICE: BE DIFFERENT AND USE WATER WISELY.(Real Estate Guide)
Author: Unavailable
Publication: The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, NM) (Newspaper)
Date: June 7, 2009
Publisher: The Santa Fe New Mexican
Page: RE-21

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Chapters: Animal Breeds Originating in Austria, Holzer Permaculture, Ennstal Mountain Pied Cattle, Carinthian Blondvieh, Tauernsheck. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 21. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The share of Agriculture in Austria in the Austrian economy declined steadily after World War II, agriculture continues to represent an important element of the economy because of its social and political significance. The Chamber of Agriculture remains on an equal level with the chambers of commerce and labor, although its members produce only a fraction of the GDP that industrial and commercial workers produce. The Government Role In Austria, as in most other Western countries, the government has played an important role in agriculture since the end of War World II. The government has concentrated on mitigating social, regional, economic, and even environmental consequences of the sector's decline, as well as delaying the decline itself. Agricultural policy has been carried out with different objectives and with different laws and policies depending on the times. In the early postwar years, the most important objectives were survival and self-sufficiency. As a poor country, Austria needed to be able to feed itself if its population was to survive. By the 1950s, however, the policy was changing to a more global perspective, while keeping intact the traditional form economy. The government wanted to protect domestic production, stabilize agricultural markets, protect farmers' incomes, and improve the sector's ability to compete in Austria and abroad. Increasingly, the government began to believe in the importance of maintaining rural society as an objective in its own right, for social reasons, and to protect the environment and encourage tourism. Because of these aims, agricultu...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=22576780 ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, NM), published by The Santa Fe New Mexican on May 2, 2010. The length of the article is 591 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: PERMACULTURE IN PRACTICE: RETHINKING YE OLDE SWALE STRATEGY.(Real Estate Guide)
Author: Unavailable
Publication: The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, NM) (Newspaper)
Date: May 2, 2010
Publisher: The Santa Fe New Mexican
Page: RE-43

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Product Description
This digital document is an article from The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, NM), published by The Santa Fe New Mexican on November 1, 2009. The length of the article is 584 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: PERMACULTURE IN PRACTICE: WHEN CRISIS HAPPENS, USE IT.(Real Estate Guide)
Author: Unavailable
Publication: The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, NM) (Newspaper)
Date: November 1, 2009
Publisher: The Santa Fe New Mexican
Page: RE-30

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Product Description
This digital document is an article from New Internationalist, published by Thomson Gale on July 1, 2007. The length of the article is 1869 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: 10 DIY permaculture ideas.(do it yourself)
Author: Maddy Harland
Publication: New Internationalist (Magazine/Journal)
Date: July 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Issue: 402Page: 16(2)

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