Winter read-along book club for Permaculture: A Design Manual by Bill Mollison

Ann Torrence wrote:Yep, one a week. Keep the momentum going and try and get done before spring when things start to crank up on the land.

Hey! For those of us in hot deserts - NOW is when things start to crank up! LOL. I'll be doing my "winter" stuff in summer while the 105+ temps roll on and on for months....

@Lucas Harrison-Zdenek - A big hello from another of Geoff's online PDC students! That class was awesomeness tied up in a big (sustainably crafted) bow! I'm going through the videos again now - every time I watch them - something new jumps out at me.

I asked Sanity Clause for a copy for Christmas . Amazon says it's shipped . Looking forward to the discussions.

Jennifer Wadsworth wrote:
@Lucas Harrison-Zdenek - A big hello from another of Geoff's online PDC students! That class was awesomeness tied up in a big (sustainably crafted) bow! I'm going through the videos again now - every time I watch them - something new jumps out at me.

Did you make it through the Earthworks course videos yet? I haven't had time and I don't want to miss out! And yes, I also loved the course. I plan to take a hands on PDC within the next year or so, but Geoff gave us so much to think about and so many useful tips. It was well worth the money, especially since I've seen other PDCs that cost twice what he charged. He is a truly amazing human being. If you haven't already seen the new videos on his regular website, you should check them out. The suburban food forest video is AMAZING!

To everyone else, I'm getting a headstart by reading the first chapter of Designer's Manual now. Did we ever determine if we should have it read by the 1st? or are we all planning on beginning this project on the 1st and posting on the 7th? Either way, I'm jumping on it NOW!

Lucas Harrison-Zdenek wrote:Did you make it through the Earthworks course videos yet? I haven't had time and I don't want to miss out! And yes, I also loved the course. I plan to take a hands on PDC within the next year or so, but Geoff gave us so much to think about and so many useful tips. It was well worth the money, especially since I've seen other PDCs that cost twice what he charged. He is a truly amazing human being. If you haven't already seen the new videos on his regular website, you should check them out. The suburban food forest video is AMAZING!

Lucas - I finally did watch them - not too long ago either because right at the end of the class, I ended up having a bunch of complications with this danged autoimmune disease and went through a bunch of different eye operations and some heavy duty chemo. So I was stressed that I would miss them too. But last I checked, they are still there.

That class was fabulous. I am signed up to do an internship at the "Greening the Desert - the Sequel" site in Jordan next Oct/Nov. Really looking forward to that because it's an analogous climate to Phoenix for the most part.

This read-along will really help me stay focused because I'll be teaching my first PDC starting in late Jan to raise funds for the internship. Hopefully there will be "deep diving" and interesting discussions coming from this thread!

What a great idea! I'm in for sure. Perfect book to read next to a RMH during the slow/cold time of the year (for those of us in the correct hemisphere ; ) Perhaps Gaia's Garden will be the next one on the list for the summer! Looking forward to getting to know each of you better & reading this book together in a group seems like a great way to function stack. Again GREAT Idea! Truly apple worthy...IMHO. Perhaps anyone who participates in this endeavor could also earn a piece of fruit.
-PD

Count me in. The book is packed with so much information. What an added bonus having discussions about it with you all.

Bumping this back to the top again. Ready to roll with chapter 1 in 5 days!

Are we going to start with the introduction ? It's rich !

I was going to put this in the first post of the first thread as a kind of guide and intro to that week's discussion.

Preface
- Author's note
- Permaculture defined and its use
- Conventions used
- Access to information
- Cover story

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 The philosophy behind permaculture
1.2 Ethics
1.3 Permaculture in landscape and society
1.4 References

I must have been good this year because when I woke up yesterday morning my new book was under the tree

A chapter a week is ambitious, maybe too ambitious for me, but the discussion threads will continue to exist, so I will plug away at it and catch up as I go along.

So have we actually decided when we are going to start (or what the end date of the first reading will be)?

Jen

We open the thread for the Preface and Introduction Chapter on Wednesday.
I imagine folks will contribute thoughts to it long after we start the second thread for Chapter 2.

Yeah. I ordered one on Friday (the 20th), and Amazon said "It will not arrive for Christmas. If you want it by Christmas, check one of the faster shipping options." I didn't. My confirmation email said it had shipped, and was due to arrive between Dec. 27 and Jan 14.

I went to my mailbox on Monday, and there it was! Powell Books comes through again.

Matu Collins wrote:I must have been good this year because when I woke up yesterday morning my new book was under the tree

Hmmm....mine was retrieved from a bookshelf and opened to the page on dry toilets. Not quite sure what that says about my behavior this past year...

Hmmm...I didn't know of the start. I can certainly catch up, though. Is the discussion going to be in this thread or another?

Jen Shrock wrote:Hmmm...I didn't know of the start. I can certainly catch up, though. Is the discussion going to be in this thread or another?

The current plan is for me to open a new thread for the introduction/chapter one on January 1st, then a new thread every Sunday for the next chapter until we run out of chapters to study. Of course, that's all subject to how things work out. I guess if we get totally utterly engrossed in one chapter we could opt to keep studying it for an extra week.

If it all works out well I'm guessing there will be more 'study groups' in the future for other books. But let's see how this one works first.

Santa dropped me off a copy as well! Hoping I can keep up with the pace, but if not, then at least I can read and come back to the discussions as I finish the chapters.

Jeremy Hutchins wrote:Hoping I can keep up with the pace, but if not, then at least I can read and come back to the discussions as I finish the chapters.

Nothing is set in stone. If we end up with too much to say there's no reason we couldn't delay the start of a chapter if it feels appropriate. Also, with each chapter in its own thread it will be possible to come back and add to the discussion at any time.

Can anyone here shed a bit of light about this book?



One of the reviews on amazon says that

Few people know that this is the same book as Permaculture: A Designers' Manual. I've compared them side by side and only the cover and first few pages are different.

Can anyone confirm that this is true or not?

Here's the link to amazon - Permaculture:A practical guide for a substainable future

I'm in!

Ann Torrence wrote:
Yep, one a week. Keep the momentum going and try and get done before spring when things start to crank up on the land.

When do we start exactly? Jan 1?
I strongly recommend a new sub thread for each chapter! The text is so dense we could maybe even break up the chapters into sub threads just like the book does.

Cj Verde wrote:When do we start exactly? Jan 1?

Yup, January the first.

I strongly recommend a new sub thread for each chapter! The text is so dense we could maybe even break up the chapters into sub threads just like the book does.

I was going to do a new thread for each chapter. But you're right, most of the chapters have loads of sub-sections.

The first chapter is smaller, like this -


Preface
- Author's note
- Permaculture defined and its use
- Conventions used
- Access to information
- Cover story

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 The philosophy behind permaculture
1.2 Ethics
1.3 Permaculture in landscape and society
1.4 References

I wonder if we should do one thread for the Preface and three for the rest of the chapter? (I don't think 'references' needs one...) Or should we try chapter one as just one thread? What do you all think? Can we find enough to say about each bit? If we do find plenty to say will it all turn into a big jumble?

I can also do a 'sticky' thread with a contents list and links to all the threads so we can find stuff again when we end up with dozens of threads constantly getting mixed up.

A sticky thread might be nice!

Readers: don't fret! There won't be a test! No points off for late homework. Life will intervene some weeks. Threads will drag on beyond a week as people jump in...some chapters won't be as relevant to your situation and you will skim or skip. Take what you like and leave the rest. The main thing is that we will all read more of these dense words than we otherwise might in a short time, with more attention and hopefully some fun.

Burra Maluca wrote:

I wonder if we should do one thread for the Preface and three for the rest of the chapter? (I don't think 'references' needs one...) Or should we try chapter one as just one thread? What do you all think? Can we find enough to say about each bit? If we do find plenty to say will it all turn into a big jumble?

I can also do a 'sticky' thread with a contents list and links to all the threads so we can find stuff again when we end up with dozens of threads constantly getting mixed up.

A sticky TOC thread is a good idea.
I would prefer one thread per chapter until it is obvious we need more, otherwise there is risk that we will have too much duplication because "I didn't know where to put this overall thought so I copied it everywhere." And it will be easier for someone who comes across it later to figure out where to start.

I've begun reading already and I'm thinking there are sentences that could have their own threads

Yeah. For instance, Chapter 1 is less than 6 pages of text.
It would seem silly to break it into multiple threads.
We don't really want this forum to become bigger, more cumbersome than the text itself. lol

There are probably some chapters, deeper into the nuts & bolts of things, that might best be served by some sort of division into smaller, more logical units. I think that as we go along, subjects that need their own sub-chapters/threads should become more apparent as we delve into them.

Sort of like permaculture, we can deal with it as the situation changes...it depends !

It has been brought up here on permies several times that people should update their profiles to reflect the region/climate where they live. I think that this "Book Club" really emphasizes that point. Each of us should provide that info for this discussion of the permaculture bible, as this is where it becomes really relevant. It would add so much more to our discussions if followers could see that one of us is in the desert SW, while others may be in the steppes of the Rockies, or that big sandbar they call Florida. Or Portugal and New Zealand. It would make the entire discussion more meaningful for new users following the threads after the fact. It could help build a regionally selective data base for generations to come.

John Polk wrote:It has been brought up here on permies several times that people should update their profiles to reflect the region/climate where they live. I think that this "Book Club" really emphasizes that point. Each of us should provide that info for this discussion of the permaculture bible, as this is where it becomes really relevant. It would add so much more to our discussions if followers could see that one of us is in the desert SW, while others may be in the steppes of the Rockies, or that big sandbar they call Florida. Or Portugal and New Zealand. It would make the entire discussion more meaningful for new users following the threads after the fact. It could help build a regionally selective data base for generations to come.

Can I get an "oh hell yeah!" for this suggestion!

Climate does make a big difference.

OK Jen.

Oh hell yeah!

I love interlibrary loans! I just requested a copy

Burra Maluca wrote:Can anyone here shed a bit of light about this book?

According to Google books, this is a different edition. Here is the link: http://books.google.com/books/about/Permaculture.html?id=PAbyAAAAMAAJ and if you scroll down the page a bit it says "other editions" and shows the designer's manual. The issue I have is that Designer's Manual has publish date of 1988 and the Practical Guide is 1990. The Practical Guide is also listed to have 10 more pages than the Designer's Manual. Interesting…

Ann Torrence wrote:Readers: don't fret! There won't be a test! No points off for late homework. Life will intervene some weeks. Threads will drag on beyond a week as people jump in...some chapters won't be as relevant to your situation and you will skim or skip. Take what you like and leave the rest. The main thing is that we will all read more of these dense words than we otherwise might in a short time, with more attention and hopefully some fun.

Not to mention the fact that when we read and discuss as a group, we get to learn from each other's different perspectives and experiences. That is what I am most looking forward to. I love being in a group of different people looking at the same thing, it always provides me with inspiration on how to read the text differently. I'm extremely excited about this project. I even bought a new notebook today to take notes as we go. It's like doing my PDC all over again! Happy reading all!

Please count me in -- great idea, and such an excellent use of this forum! Now I gotta find some time to read... Well below zero for the next few days, so a little time by the wood stove with a mug of tea is sounding pretty good right now!

Brad - sounds like you have the perfect weather for a winter read-along.

I'm looking out at a lovely sunny day here in Phoenix, with temps reaching 70. Hard to not be drawn outside to play, play, play!

Book open & reading commenced.
Great way to start the year.
Thanks
Cynthia
NE Kansas

I'm in as well

I'm interested to see the concepts of the book illustrated by pictures and stories of what y'all are doing on your farms and homesteads

Brad Vietje wrote:Well below zero for the next few days, so a little time by the wood stove with a mug of tea is sounding pretty good right now!

Amen to that!
What a crazy winter so far here in Vermont! Looking forward to the January thaw! ...I think

I'm in. I already have the book.

Geoff Lawton arranged a group discount for my class through Tagari, which has a shipping depot in the U.S. Those who don't have the book might want to band together and ask for a discount. Just sayin'.

Just ordered my copy. Will catch up as soon as it arrives.

I'm in...I only look at pictures, so I require such regiment for reading!

Similar to Brad in Vermont: we are getting one day in eight weeks with a day-time high of 39F the rest has been mid-teens at night mid-twenties during day with no precip.

The longer I live in Idaho, the more I realize western US weather happens on much longer cycles than humans can remember!

Observe how nature does it.

Great idea. Looking forward.