welcome, chaya and wilson from pantryparatus!

Chaya and Wilson are giving away four copies of Carla Emery's book The Encyclopedia of Country Living.



I like the idea of having the author on to answer questions, but Carla Emery died in 2005. Yet her book is still excellent. To try and fill in, Chaya and Wilson will be answering questions this week.

From this moment through friday, any posts in this forum could be selected to win one of the four copies of Carla's book. Full details are here.

You must have your email set up in my daily-ish email to qualify.

Posts in this thread do not qualify. Posts in this forum do qualify.

Good luck!

Hello everyone. This is Chaya.

Wilson and I were so happy to finally meet up with Paul at the Inland Northwest Permaculture Conference in Spokane last fall.

Paul asked if we would be willing to answer questions from THE most thumbed-through, dog-eared book on our resource shelf and we said, "Yes!"

We will do our best to answer the questions, and the whole idea of a web wide Carla Emery reading club is just such a fun idea!

Good luck,

Chaya

Hello, I have a very dear and worn copy of The Encyclopedia of Country Living. I know that book has everything. I guess i really dont have a question, but it is an excellent book and someday I will have to get a revised copy!! Anyone considering this book, get it you wont be dissapointed..Becky in MN

I'm lovin this new way of life. I could really benefit from that book, but you probably already gave it away, Cheers Peace and Wellness!!

Some folks, especially if they are new, or are just jumping in due to the book giveaway, aren't clear on what exactly is a "forum" and what is a "thread." Here's some screenshots that I hope can help.

I am a newby to permies. I love the podcast. I've been working on permi-techniques on my my acre. Welcome Chaya and Wilson!

Welcome Chaya and Wilson! I love permies.com - it's changed the way we live! Good luck with your book - it looks terrific!

I'd love to have one of these books

Mary LaDue,
Your post was moved to a new topic.

i have this excellent book for some years, it is just a superb book.......it deserves to better known......i haven't heard much about it here in europe...

Jocelyn Campbell wrote:Mary LaDue,
Your post was moved to a new topic.

By the way, Mary LaDue was curious about pantryparatus and mentioned she might go google it. To save that step, it's Wilson and Chaya's awesome homesteading supplies website: http://pantryparatus.com/.

Pantryparatus is linked to in the book giveaway announcement at the top of the permies.com page, but I thought it might help here in the thread, too, so folks won't miss it.

I recently moved to seven beautiful acres in upstate New York and have been following permies for a couple years. I would love to own and pore through this book!!! Count me in! Thanks!

I've lived out in the woods without running water or electricity for over 20 years and I love it and I would love to have a copy of this book!

Welcome to Permies guys! I still feel new and the last time you did one of these I also put my question under the thread. So this time I have added a comment under another thread but under the forum of homestead. Is that what I needed to do to be eligible? The reason for this is to get people to actually look at the topics, correct?

This great, the book is on my wish list so I must try to win one, here is my question.

I live in a small condominium complex and the economics of the day prevent selling. How do I get the best food production from a 9x9 foot space with a garden and some perennial plantings?

I look forward to the response and thanks to Paul he is an inspiration.

How great to see Chaya & Wilson appear here - hi guys!

As I'm just getting started with permaculture, what would you say the most important part of this book is? I'm sure it's chock-full-o' great information,but is there a subject you think might be most helpful for someone on 2 acres?

MSOkun Hatfield wrote:This great, the book is on my wish list so I must try to win one, here is my question.

I live in a small condominium complex and the economics of the day prevent selling. How do I get the best food production from a 9x9 foot space with a garden and some perennial plantings?

I look forward to the response and thanks to Paul he is an inspiration.

Great question MSOkun Hatfield, and I want to be a good guest on Paul's forum by also thanking him for such a great web-based resource.

I am not sure how much Carla Emery wrote about food production in compact spaces, however the best place I know to start is with the Square Food Gardening book. http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

The concept was implemented to work with developing countries who are trying to produce their own food locally.

I love the paradigm here, and I think that Mel really blazed a trail. When you add in the Permaculture approach in asking first off, "what is the purpose of XYZ plant? What does XYZ plant need for inputs? What are the outputs of XYZ plant?," then you are well on you way to having a small space that can work with natural order and not against it.

Of course I am assuming that you have a balcony or small courtyard of some kind? If so, I have seen some interesting ideas with shipping pallets set upright on edge lined with weed fabric to form pockets thus forming a vertical garden. To Carla Emery's great credit, she was on board with Permaculture and Sustainable Agriculture (see p. 97).

One other thing that yields more calories per square inch than anything else I know of is a honey bee hive. These are truly wondrous creatures and they work so very hard in a completely transparent way. They are absolutely fascinating creatures that do better the less you poke around in their domain. See p. 816 of Carla's book.

I hope that I answered your question,

Wilson

Erin Dee wrote:How great to see Chaya & Wilson appear here - hi guys!

As I'm just getting started with permaculture, what would you say the most important part of this book is? I'm sure it's chock-full-o' great information,but is there a subject you think might be most helpful for someone on 2 acres?

Just one subject? Oi. I might say broadly: The subject of how to do it correctly.

This may sound cheesy, but the Encyclopedia of Country Living is like having your great Aunt Sharon on speed dial. She convinced these certified Yuppies to try and succeed at the self sufficient lifestyle.

What she wrote can never be reproduced.

The information in there is factual and has been confirmed by hundreds of people who told us in person that they trust this book to accomplish just about anything that a homestead would require. Buying land, felling trees, butchering a deer, baking bread, delivering calves, cleaning your oven without harsh chemicals--Carla rocks!

I regret that I never had the chance to meet her. However, our friend James Talmadge did meet her, and he confirmed all of my preconceived notions of how cool she was in person.

Wilson

This book is on top of my wish list!

I would like to ask that we keep conversation in this thread limited to talking about this week's event.

Jocelyn Campbell wrote:Some folks, especially if they are new, or are just jumping in due to the book giveaway, aren't clear on what exactly is a "forum" and what is a "thread." Here's some screenshots that I hope can help.

Good work Jocelyn! Nice newbie diagrams!

The title alone makes me want to run outside and get things done.

Rebekah Newman wrote:Hello, I have a very dear and worn copy of The Encyclopedia of Country Living. I know that book has everything. I guess i really dont have a question, but it is an excellent book and someday I will have to get a revised copy!! Anyone considering this book, get it you wont be dissapointed..Becky in MN

Where can I find a copy of this book that isn't too expensive? I don't have a lot of money to spend at the moment but it sounds like it is a must have.

MSOkun Hatfield wrote:This great, the book is on my wish list so I must try to win one, here is my question.

I live in a small condominium complex and the economics of the day prevent selling. How do I get the best food production from a 9x9 foot space with a garden and some perennial plantings?

I look forward to the response and thanks to Paul he is an inspiration.

Have you checked a book called "Square Foot Gardening"? It's great for getting the most out of small growing spaces.

Wilson Foedus wrote:

MSOkun Hatfield wrote:This great, the book is on my wish list so I must try to win one, here is my question.

I live in a small condominium complex and the economics of the day prevent selling. How do I get the best food production from a 9x9 foot space with a garden and some perennial plantings?

I look forward to the response and thanks to Paul he is an inspiration.

Great question MSOkun Hatfield, and I want to be a good guest on Paul's forum by also thanking him for such a great web-based resource.

I am not sure how much Carla Emery wrote about food production in compact spaces, however the best place I know to start is with the Square Food Gardening book. http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

The concept was implemented to work with developing countries who are trying to produce their own food locally.

I love the paradigm here, and I think that Mel really blazed a trail. When you add in the Permaculture approach in asking first off, "what is the purpose of XYZ plant? What does XYZ plant need for inputs? What are the outputs of XYZ plant?," then you are well on you way to having a small space that can work with natural order and not against it.

Of course I am assuming that you have a balcony or small courtyard of some kind? If so, I have seen some interesting ideas with shipping pallets set upright on edge lined with weed fabric to form pockets thus forming a vertical garden. To Carla Emery's great credit, she was on board with Permaculture and Sustainable Agriculture (see p. 97).

One other thing that yields more calories per square inch than anything else I know of is a honey bee hive. These are truly wondrous creatures and they work so very hard in a completely transparent way. They are absolutely fascinating creatures that do better the less you poke around in their domain. See p. 816 of Carla's book.

I hope that I answered your question,

Wilson

Heh... I guess great minds think alike. I didn't see your reply before I answered the same question with the same recommendation. Since I live in a small apartment "Square Foot Gardening" is a great book for me. I have also been experimenting with those "Topsy Turvy" planters lately. They are great for growing tomatoes in a limited space and this year I'm going to be trying peppers and strawberry's as well as tomatoes in them.

Katrin,

How awesome to find consensus on that point!

I had ran into Mel's work back while I was in college (read: already knew everything) and was impressed how his work was helping foreign missionaries teach others to develop their own indigenous food crops more productively.

Truth be told, Chaya and I have more room than a balcony garden, but it does not mean that we cannot further optimize our space with some vertical gardening by using shipping pallets or even "earth boxes." Of course the Sepp Holzer (the mighty, the glorious) sausage roll idea is a good approach as well. https://permies.com/t/1522/permaculture/Urban-Farming

There is more that we can all do to produce our own food depending on space, schedules, climate, etc. But just imagine what the world would be like if everyone did what they could do?

A very big welcome to you both - a bit late maybe but it also gives me a chance to say thanks for all the really sound advice you've been giving folks too. You've got enough knowledge tucked away there that you could write your own encyclopedia!!

Here's hoping that you have a odd moment in your busy lives to stick around after the book promotion has finished.

Hey Katrin, I just got a copy on Amazon.com in the used section for $16 It's my own form of recycling and being frugal.

My wife used to check this book out of the library all the time. What a great book!

So I ran the program and it showed me ten winners to pick from. It picked Wilson and Chaya several times. Two of the winners had non compliant names and that left exactly four winners. One of the four winners did not have their email address in the daily-ish email, so that leaves three winners.

Congratulations to:

brenda groth
john polk
fred morgan

I will be sending the four of you an email shortly. I need to get your snail mail address back within 24 hours for you to get a book.

Thanks everybody!

My name is real and have a valid email address too.

Dave Bennett wrote:My name is real and have a valid email address too.

So the only ingredient missing was charming the random number generator on my computer.

Congratulations to the winners!

Yes, congrats to the winners! We expect a book report in 30 days time

Wilson Foedus wrote:Katrin,
Truth be told, Chaya and I have more room than a balcony garden, but it does not mean that we cannot further optimize our space with some vertical gardening by using shipping pallets or even "earth boxes." Of course the Sepp Holzer (the mighty, the glorious) sausage roll idea is a good approach as well. https://permies.com/t/1522/permaculture/Urban-Farming.

Oh... I will have to look into that, thanks for the link.

Katrin Kerns wrote:

Wilson Foedus wrote:Katrin,
Truth be told, Chaya and I have more room than a balcony garden, but it does not mean that we cannot further optimize our space with some vertical gardening by using shipping pallets or even "earth boxes." Of course the Sepp Holzer (the mighty, the glorious) sausage roll idea is a good approach as well. https://permies.com/t/1522/permaculture/Urban-Farming.

Oh... I will have to look into that, thanks for the link.

I do something similar on a much smaller scale. I made cylinders out of some "sheep" fencing which I mounted to wooden circles. I had a bunch of old giant industrial size casters that were lying around so I mounted them to the wooden circles and then lined the cylinders with burlap with a wooden circle in the bottom to support the weight. I filled them with soil that was considerably lightened with perlite. Then I use the entire cylinder for growing "stuff." I start plants and then poke a small hole in the sides to transplant my starts. The whole "planter" takes up a 3 ft. circle of area and provides about 40 sq. ft. of growing area. I have 9 of these planters. They work like a charm and have allowed me to turn an ugly 12 x 14 ft rectangle of concrete into gardening space.

Dave,

I am totally grooving on that idea! What a great use of items on hand.

Just imagine a world where everyone was trying to produce some of their own food instead of buying food that someone else prepared (and ostensibly produced as well).

When I lived with a small patio, I had some old terra cotta strawberry pots. In the main (top) hole, I planted
a cherry tomato plant. In the side holes (where the daughter plants usually go) I planted some mini peppers
and green onions. Everything I needed for a fresh salsa growing in one pot (right next to the BBQ).