Muslim Spain and Permaculture

Came across this on Facebook ( hat tip to the great Geoff Lawton )
Many of us from Christian backgrounds see the world from a certain view . I enjoyed this talk from a different angle pointing toward permaculture from an islamic stand point . As it says in the Quran - from water does all life begin

David

This is what I would have studied if I had continued university. There was amazing agriculture in Al Andalus.

Simple things like if you are going to plough the earth then plant the seeds on the ridge that the plough leaves during the wet season, and plant it in the valley during the dry. This improved yields tremendously and takes far less seed than broadcasting on both ridge and valley of a ploughed field.

I would still like to study this. I think there is a lot we can learn from history, and I feel there is a great deal we can incorporate into permaculture.

Now, to get my hands on an english translation of The Book of Farming that the guy talks about in the video. Anyone got amazing google-fu to help me find it?

I agree an English translation would be very interesting

I could possibly muddle through a Spanish translation. I would be willing to learn to read (not just listen) to spanish if it meant I could read this book.

Arabic is a bit difficult for me to learn.

http://www.filaha.org/author_ibn_al_awwam.html

Partial: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CKVEAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Thanks for that Tyler
I shall have a look when my computer is feeling better.
I also had another thought how much have the ideas in Permaculture been shaped by the stories of the origional garden mentioned in all the abrahamic religions ?

David

"We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden"

Joni Mitchell - "Woodstock" http://jonimitchell.com/music/song.cfm?id=75

you might want to check this out:

http://www.muslimheritage.com/article/gleanings-islamic-contribution-agriculture

There is a french translation too, can't find an english one though...

"Some extracts from Ibn al-‘Awwām have been translated into English and published as:

Lord, P. (trans) (1979). A Moorish Calendar: from the Book of Agriculture of Ibn al-Awam. Wantage: The Black Swan Press"

and you could read this:

Butzer, K. (1994). ‘The Islamic Tradition of Agroeconomy: cross-cultural experience, ideas and innovations’.Ecumene 1,pp.7-50. The_Islamic_Traditions_of_Agroecology_Crosscultural_Experience,_Ideas_and_Innovations.pdf:

the islamic traditions of agroecology