The Permaculture Handbook

Permanent agriculture - abundance by design

The urban landscape has swallowed vast swaths of prime farmland across North America. Imagine how much more self-reliant our communities would be if 30 million acres of lawns were made productive again. Permaculture is a practical way to apply ecological design principles to food, housing, and energy systems; making growing fruits, vegetables and livestock easier and more sustainable.

The Permaculture Handbook is a step-by-step, beautifully illustrated guide to creating resilient and prosperous households andneighborhoods, complemented by extensive case studies of three successful farmsteads and market gardens. This comprehensive manual casts garden farming as both an economic opportunity and a strategy for living well with less money. It shows how, by mimicking the intelligence of nature and applying appropriate technologies such as solar and environmental design, permaculture can:

• Create an abundance of fresh, nourishing local produce
• Reduce dependence on expensive, polluting fossil fuels
• Drought-proof our cities and countryside
• Convert waste into wealth

Permaculture is about working with the earth and with each other to repair the damage of industrial overreach and to enrich the living world that sustains us. The Permaculture Handbook is the definitive, practical NorthAmerican guide to this revolutionary practice, and is a must-read for anyone concerned about creating food security, resilience and a legacy of abundance rather than depletion.

Permaculture is a way to apply ecological design principles to food, housing, and energy systems, making growing fruits, vegetables and livestock more productive and sustainable. The Permaculture Handbook is an illustrated guide to practical, small-scale permaculture with case studies of three successful farmsteads and market gardens.

Permanent agriculture - abundance by design

"The wealth of practical knowledge in The Permaculture Handbook is a welcome addition to North America's canon of books on permaculture design, and will serve other regions as well. Peter Bane's broad and well-tested experience in ecological living will guide homeowners, gardeners, and small farmers toward designing and living in lushly productive and harmonious landscapes."
― Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture

The Permaculture Handbook is a step-by-step, beautifully illustrated guide to creating resilient and prosperous households and neighborhoods, complemented by extensive case studies of three successful farmsteads and market gardens. This comprehensive manual casts garden farming as both an economic opportunity and a strategy for living well with less money. It shows how, by mimicking the intelligence of nature and applying appropriate technologies such as solar and environmental design, permaculture can:

• Create an abundance of fresh, nourishing local produce
• Reduce dependence on expensive, polluting fossil fuels
• Drought-proof our cities and countryside
• Convert waste into wealth
  
  

Permaculture is about working with the earth and with each other to repair the damage of industrial overreach and to enrich the living world that sustains us. The Permaculture Handbook is the definitive, practical North American guide to this revolutionary practice, and is a must-read for anyone concerned about creating food security, resilience and a legacy of abundance rather than depletion.

Acknowledgments
Foreword by David Holmgren

Part I: Attitudes
1. Garden Farming
2. Who Am I to Farm?
3. Gardening the Planet
4. Permaculture Principles
5. Learning the Language of Design
6. A Garden Farming Pattern Language

Part II: Elements
Case Study A: Renaissance Farm, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
7. Land — Scales and Strategies
8. Labor — Can You Lend a Helping Hand?
9. Running on Sunshine
10. Water from Another Time

Case Study B: Jerome's Organics, Basalt, Colorado, USA
11. Soil – the Real Dirt
12. Plants, Crops and Seeds
13. Setting Plant Priorities

Case Study C: Old 99 Farm, Dundas, Ontario, Canada
14. Animals for the Garden Farm
15. Living with Wildlife
16. Trees and Shrubs, Orchards, Woodlands and Forest Gardens
17. Productive Trees and Where to Grow Them
18. Structures, Energy and Technology

Part III: Outcomes
Case Study D: Radical Roots Farm, Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA
19. Diet and Food
20. Culture and Community
21. Markets and Outreach
22. Making the Change

Appendix 1: Metric Conversion Table
Appendix 2: Bee Forage Species
Appendix 3: Nitrogen-Fixing Species and Biomass Producers

Endnotes
Index
About the Author