Sepp Holzer Permakultur ( English )

So, this is my first post and I am new here.  A little about myself, I am a mechanical engineering student who is a green enthusiast.  Two projects I wish to work on is a light weight semi portable rocket stove so links to its mechanics are greatly appreciated.

More to the title, I am annoyed that there is no English translation of the book "Sepp Holzer Permakultur" or plan to do so.

http://www.amazon.com/Holzers-Permakultur-Josef-Andreas-Holzer/dp/3702010378/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1289547346&sr=8-1

So I am going to have it translated and converted into an ebook.  Due to the unavailability, I plan on providing it free via torrent.

I wouldn't do that without permission from the publisher.  It's stealing. 

Stealing = not good practice 

Yeah, gotta get permission first.

And I thought the book was being translated to english.

Well then, I will just have it translated for myself.  Eventually the book may get translated but Sepp Holzer's website does not even have this book for some reason?

http://www.krameterhof.at/shop/show.php?rb=331&nav=331&left=j

After 6 years is it still not published in English, a major language.  It would just take me a few days, literally!

Nevermind, I found it:

http://www.krameterhof.at/shop/show.php?rb=321&nav=321&left=j

But the fact that I could have this translated without speaking German in 2 days further exasperates the ridiculousness that this has not been translated to English.

It is a shame that it hasn't been translated to english yet. We had an intern from France and an intern from Germany this year. The Frenchman was such a Holzer fan, that he bought the book and had it shipped here so that the German girl could translate it for us.

I would say that it is a bit lacking in specifics, but mostly its a worthy purchase. Sometimes he'll say what to do, but be very brief on the how and why.  Also, his ideas on swales seem to contradict Mollisons, so now I don't know who to believe. Holzer says that the beds below a swale (on contour) should NOT be parallel, or even close to parallel with the contour, but rather diagonal. He says this is because the moisture gets stored up top and essentially starves the lower beds of water the further downslope you go.  From what I remember, Mollison and Lawton are all about the parallels. Maybe its because Holzer is dealing with heavier soil which holds moisture more easily? I have to guess because Holzer doesn't explain why...

That's really interesting, Travis.  It would be good to know under what conditions one should make them parallel, or slanting.  Perhaps if one had enough space and time, one should do a test of each configuration to see which works best for one's own conditions. We do need to remember that Holzer is working with pretty darn steep land, that most people wanting to farm would not bother with.  Though now, I would prefer more sloping land and less flat land as slopes seem to offer more opportunities for beneficial change. 

Now available in english :

http://www.amazon.com/Sepp-Holzers-Permaculture-Small-Scale-Gardening--/dp/160358370X/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sepp-Holzers-Permaculture-1-Holzer/dp/1856230597/

Ludi Ludi wrote:
That's really interesting, Travis.  It would be good to know under what conditions one should make them parallel, or slanting.

Maybe not what you are looking for, here is Holzer's explanation:

Right way - slanting:
Hugelbeds get the same amount of water. Water get absorb good and store. There is no danger of water going where you don't want.

Wrong way- parallel:
Beds on top of the slope get to much water (danger of mass erosion (slip?)), while beds on the bottom of the slope can dry out.

He also mention that it's important from which way the rain water comes.

I have got this book in German and it really does not hold what it promises. First it is only for agriculture whereas the title tells gardening first. Sepp Holzer has no idea on urban gardening and its limitations.
But the worst is that he has lots of knowledge but his writing always remains superficial and there is very little practical information of how to. He's maybe a good farmer and a clever marketing guy but he cannot write books.
All what's in the book you can look up in youtube, there's not much more, but I don't like youtube.