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*Welcome Zach Loeks, author of The Edible Ecosystem Solution

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Please join me in welcoming Zach Loeks, author of The Edible Ecosystem Solution!





Read the review of The Edible Ecosystem Solution here!

 


Zach Loeks will be hanging out in the forums until this Friday answering questions and sharing his experiences with you all.

At the end of this week, we'll make a drawing for 4 lucky winners to win a copy of The Edible Ecosystem Solution. From now until Friday, all new posts in the Forest Garden forum are eligible to win.
 
To win, you must use a name that follows our naming policy and you must have your email set up to receive the Daily-ish email. Higher quality posts are weighed more highly than posts that just say, "Wow, that's really cool! I want to win!"

When the four winners are selected, they will be announced in this thread and their email address will be sent to the publisher, and the publisher will sort out the delivery details with the winners.

Please remember that we favour perennial discussion.  The threads you start will last beyond the event.  You don't need to use Zach Loeks' name to get his attention. We like these threads to be accessible to everyone, and some people may not post their experiences if the thread is directed to the author alone.
 

Posts in this thread won't count as an entry to win the tool, but please say "Hi!" to Zach Loeks and make him feel welcome!
COMMENTS:
 
Zach Loeks Ecosystem Solution Institute
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Hi all,

This is Zach Loeks.  I am logged in under our new online garden school: www.EcosystemU.com

I am pleased to answer any questions about my new book, about ecosystem design in general or specifically.

You can learn more about design work at www.zachloeks.com, and more about The Institute at www.ecosystemsolutioninstitute.com

Best,

Zach
 
Jay Angler
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Welcome Zach! I'm sure you hear way to many jokes about forest and trees, so I'll just start a thread about what to plant with a pair of fig trees that really need a "forever home". Unfortunately, they need deer protection in my eco-system, and the local deer are even willing to eat garlic greens!

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Anne Miller
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Zach, it is good to have you join us here at permies!  

I am looking forward to learning more about Forest Gardens and edible ecosystems.

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

 
Ashley Cottonwood
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Hi Zach!

Welcome and thank you for your excellent work.

~ Growing Sustainable Communities ~

 
Bryan Tran
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Hi Zach, welcome! Looking forward to reading this and learning more about creating edible ecosystems and environmental stewardship.

"Each of us have a unique and necessary gift to the world. The purpose of life is to express our gifts. We are all here to contribute our gifts toward something greater than ourselves, and will never be content unless we are." - Charles Eisenstein

 
Zach Loeks Ecosystem Solution Institute
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As for the figs.  I can say the deer will always get at what they love to eat without good fencing:). If you plant companions they dont like to eat- they wont eat those, but they will still eat the figs if they like them.  
 
Angela Wilcox
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Welcome Zach! Good of you to hang out here awhile.
 
Blake Lenoir
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What's happening Zach! Blake here to find out if could add native shrubs or small trees onto our hugelculture or a permaculture raise bed to not only help the edibles grow stronger, but make the soil much richer and filled with biodiversity? I've grown not only corn, beans, squash, sunflowers and tobacco on my hugelculture bed, but also sunchokes, wild rye, black eye Susan, milkweed, pokeweed, pigweed and native sawtooth sunflower to draw birds and insects at my community farm. Peace and out!
 
Leigh Tate
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Welcome Zach! I'm really looking forward to some interesting discussions in the Forest Garden forum this week!

Blog: https://www.5acresandadream.com/
Books: http://kikobian.com/

 
Elizabeth Fournier
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A sumptuous book of deliciousness! Welcome to Permies!

Elizabeth Fournier
The Green Reaper

 
Ron Haberman
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Welcome to the form. Always good to have new information.
 
Mike Peters
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Welcome, Zach! How did you come into this line of work?

DLLRE

 
Josh Rocky
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Does the book address desert climates with high sand soils?  If so, do you sell it directly and do you accept crypto?

I wished I could find local people to buy food from, so I created a website for just that. Always looking for others to help improve it. LocalFirst.Live

 
Mark Richards
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I've got a question about how much you think urban food gardens (and market gardens) can mitigate climate change. While I see their advantage for food access and well-being for concrete dwellers, also a nice biodiversity habitat boost, I'm wondering if the focus on 'extraction' (organic or not) and reliance on water and compost imputs actually brings down any carbon, stores water or cools the city in the long run. Wouldn't we city folk be better served by an edible forest than a veg plot? Does your book touch on this at all?
 
Nick Alexin
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Welcome Zach! I love this idea of a small edible ecosystem. Something that has been percolating in my mind for some time since I had a small suburban lot. Currently sold it and looking for a new home to start something exactly like your book describes! Or at least from what I've been able to gather from the description. Thank you so much for the hard work going into the book and I look forward to reading and applying it!
 
Kim Goodwin
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Welcome Zach!  I'm so impressed you did your own illustrations! Way to go.

Be joyful, though you have considered all the facts. ~Wendell Berry

 
Denise Devynck
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I've never figured out how to register to w>n books but would love to win this one for our UVPCGG www.permaculturedesignschool.org  Food Forest Classroom Gardens please. utahvalleypermaculture@gmail.com
801-808-4424 thank you. Wish you still did podcasts Paul like you used to send us 6 yrs ago Denise

Utah Valley Permaculture Classroom Gardens & Greenhouse FB group

 
Phil Faris
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Specific questions are like rabbits, they multiply too quickly. But I'm hoping this book jumpstarts an "urban edible landscapes" strategy for a small city that won't rely on irrigation. Since this is in eastern Washington that will be tricky. But a single acre lot (mine) will be demo unit #1. Would starting with trees (which already grow on the lot without irrigation) to protect some shade-friendly ground cover to regenerate the soil before putting permabeds along the slope topography be best? Or just irrigating and trapping rain water for the first few years and add the trees later be more "rewarding"?
Can residents put in complimentary solutions that span entire neighborhoods?
Can rogue agents plant in vacant public land along roads without getting arrested?
You know, the usual type questions...
 
Jen Fulkerson
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Welcome Zach. I always look forward to learning something new.

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” — Abraham Lincoln

 
Abraham Palma
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Hi,
I am currently trying to transform a failed urban market garden into a sort of food forest garden, with no irrigation or animals allowed. Good thing is that we already have a few mature fruit trees (it's pruning season!). My concern is that most of what I've read about food forest focuses on continental climates, whereas where I live is warm mediterranean. Do you cover this climate in your book?
Also, I've seen food forests in deserts, but they usually depend on treated water that the inhabitants have, wells or maybe rainwater collected from roofs. This is not a desert, but we are limited to whatever wants to rain. Actually we have a project for installing a rooftop collecting system over the small tool house, but we can't afford it yet. So without many options, I am trying (at the suggestion of one permie from Turkey) to make a few buried hugelkultures: this design relies on microcatchment and increased organic matter in soil, but consist in many small 'islands' about 1,5 sq meters (90 cm deep!), separated by 60cm walkways. I estimate that we can build a couple of them each year, using wood from prunings. I am afraid these areas are too small to develop a food forest within them, but maybe it can work if we consider the whole garden. Is there anything in your book that might be of help here?

Semi-arid warm mediterranean. 800m2 shared urban no-irrigation food garden.

 
Matthew Stone
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Hi Zach, welcome!

I currently do volunteer work with an organically minded market garden in Kansas City and I'm trying to find ways to convince them to do more food forestry using permaculture methods (right now they only have a few sad peach tree's that they don't even really sell the produce for). Does your book include any suggestions for how to successfully transition a market garden into a food forest?
 
Mary Spence
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I just recently ran across the concept of a food forest while watching gardening videos on you tube. I ordered the food forest game and have checked out some books at the library. I have put an offer on some land and hope to be able to initiate a food forest in my own land this summer in eastern washington. I'm looking forward to learning much from this thread.

Mary Spence

 
Chad Pilieri
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Welcome Zach, I look forward to reading your book. I am working with others in Greenwood Lake NY to create a regenerative local food system, I believe this is a solution to many of the issues we are facing today.

I feel we could make this change relatively fast but many argue this change to a small scale local system will take decades, what is your opinion?
 
Dana Martin
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Welcome Zach!

“A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.”
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

 
Laura Rutherford
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Hiya Zach! Met you a couple or three years ago at the ACORN Conference - sorry we didn't manage to get together in Cape Breton.
Looking forward to the new book!
Laura

We're all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
~ Oscar Wilde

 
Jenny Jones
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Welcome Zach.
This book sounds very helpful. I really enjoyed watching the quick video on your signature drawing. So fun and lovely.  If these drawings are in the winning books, that would be a thrill to receive.  
Thanks for being here.

Jenny Jones

 
Paul Sandoval
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I need to read your book. Here in Alaska we have had the spruce bark nettle come through and devastate our spruce trees. My yard used to have beautiful spruce trees. They are all dead and harvested. I was just thinking I need to put in a garden and figure out how to plant to be good for the environment. I would like to plant some kind of evergreen around the perimeter of the property and a nice garden for the pantry. I have about 1.3 acres.
 
Mary Laird
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Just finished reading a bit of your new book; it ended JUST as it was getting to my question!
I live in a lower economic neighborhood.  I have been building a food forest and vegetable garden in the front yard for 12 years and am finally literally seeing the fruits of my labor.  I have many people stop and comment on the garden but when I encourage them to try their own hands at it they state it takes too much time.  I do admit that every part of my garden has required double digging due to erosion and compaction and I do spend a lot of ( enjoyable) time on it.   All I have been able to do to change their minds is offer them some fruit or vegetables; what else can I do?
 
Nicole Alderman
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Congratulations to our four winners!

Bronwyn Olsen
Daron Williams
Laurie St Thomas
Andrea Locke

Please keep an eye on your email as New Society Publishers will be getting in touch with you to arrange shipment of your books!

And a big thanks to Zach Loeks and New Society for making this giveaways possible. Thank you, Zach, for sharing your knowledge with us!

If you're bummed that you didn't happen to win, here's a spiffy, handy link straight to the book at New Society as well as Amazon .

~ Dragons, Fairies and even a Mini-Paul! ~ You Know You're a Permie When...~ All About Permies, including tutorials ~Herbal Hugel Spiral of Randomness!~Tricks to Keep the Dirt from Sliding off a Hugel~List of Cascadia Bloggers and Facebook Pages!~

 
Abraham Palma
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all new posts in the Forest Garden forum are eligible to win.



Oh! Next time I must read more carefully.

Semi-arid warm mediterranean. 800m2 shared urban no-irrigation food garden.

 
Andrea Locke
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Wow! Thank you very much! I look forward to reading the book.

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

 
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