Permiculture Book

What is the permaculture bible? Which book would you put in my hands as my first permaculture book? I've seen a few choices, and opinions, but I thought this was the right place to come for the correct answer. 

I'm not a complete novice. I've been watching these boards since the beginning of the year.  On top of that, alot of what I understand about permaculture seems to me to be nature and balance, and deep down in our source everyone understands these concepts

First book:  "Gaia's Garden" by Toby Hemenway

Bible:  "Permaculture; a designers manual" by Bill Mollison

i agree, you can get a lot of information on line..google permaculture..esp on scribd and others..i prefer Gaia's Garden for practical information..and the permaculture design course by bill mollison was full of some great information..on line you can read some updated notes as well

i think 'the earth care manual' (patrick whitefield) is a really good one

mollison's/holmgren's books of course were the foundation for the rest...

for inspiration 'gaia's garden' is great.

also I liked 'the earth's users guide to permaculture' by rosemary morrow

since the approaches differ so much per climate i think you cant really speak of a bible. for the area of europe i am in it would definitely be the earth care manual, but if there would have to be òne it would be 'permaculture: a designers manual' by mollison. although i got way more from patrick whitefields books.

for others it really is sepp holzer's 'rebel farmer', for others fukuoka's 'one straw revolution'.

if you like reading, just read the lot, starting with the one written by someone from a region/climste that resembles yours most. (thats how i started anyway)
have fun reading

Thank you all for your input! I didn't want to say right off what I had come up with on my own, because I wanted unbiased opinions, but I must have been thinking on the right lines. My thoughts were:
First book:  "Gaia's Garden" by Toby Hemenway
then:  "Permaculture; a designers manual" by Bill Mollison for more in-depth information

I wasn't sure about Mollison's "Intro. to Permiculture"
I also wasn't sure if there was a Sepp Holzer book that I should be looking into.

I've found plenty of good information on the internet, I always do. I actually currently support my family as a computer tech, so I know how to find things. It's a job that is good in the money, but i find completely unsustainable (to the environment, my mental stability, etc). I've been trying to transition into something  more natural that would enable us to live more off the land as I think we humans were intended to do. Over the last 5 years or so, I've been engrossed in learning about Natural building and living off the land; I'm hoping to find my opportunity soon, but until that comes I will continue to educate myself in what I think will help put our society back on the right track.

... now off to Amazon to buy Gaia's Garden =)

i'm glad you are buying it..it is a great go to book for me.

i  constantly  am going back to it for inspiration ..and lists ..to check out things..

you will be glad you got it..let us know what you think of it when you have read it

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum, just joined yesterday, new to permaculture. I watched the Farming with Nature video yesterday which brought me here.

I am so fired up and excited about permaculture, how is it that I only recently found out about it? I have Gaia's garden and the Bill Mollison one is on the way. I just want to read all I can about this subject.

I was just wondering does anyone have any idea if any more of Sepp Holzer's books will be translated into English? I would love to tour his farm or have some training from him, but I think I a book would be a great first step.

Nice to meet you all. I have done a little bit of browsing in the different topics here, lots of information and some beautiful pictures.

Well I had my own question answered. I emailed Sepp Holzer's site and they emailed me back saying that the practice book should be ready in a short time.

Not sure what that means, but I will be waiting.