The Permaculture Handbook is a step-by-step, beautifully illustrated guide to creating resilient and prosperous households and neighborhoods, complemented by extensive case studies of three successful farmsteads and market gardens. This comprehensive manual casts garden farming as both an economic opportunity and a strategy for living well with less money.
Peter Bane's book, with David Holmgren's foreword, is an excellent permaculture design manual for urban and suburban practitioners. The book follows permaculture rules of conduct and leads us from patterns to details. It contains not only theory, but also case studies where we can see permaculture principles at work. It covers both ethics and mission behind urban gardening, as well as down-to-earth practical advices like key foods for limited space, must-have fruits; oil, alcohol, fuel, fencing, and medicine. It covers multiple aspects of self-reliance, shows possible sources of income of the urban farm as well. I contains very useful tables of bee forage plants, nitrogen fixing and biomass producing plants. I strongly recommend this book to those who are willing to start an urban or suburban homestead.
I liked Peter's approach to breaking down the many facets of permaculture. I especially liked the chapter on garden farming pattern language as well as the specific case studies. This book has a great amount of easy to follow information that the average person can take and run with. Another good book to loan to others who show an interest in permaculture but might not be ready for the full weight of the Design Manual or the Edible Forest volumes. I don't think that some of the illustrations and pictures had the impact that they would have had if they were in color.
I give this book 10 out of 10 acorns. It has stood the test of time; Peter was already writing as tho climate megacrisis is a current reality. which it was but few people saw it. It covers the ground of designing a homestead, as he says from .5 to 20 acres. I myself followed this pattern language in preparing my 20 acre homestead, Old 99 Farm, Dundas ON Canada.
I have not found anyone else with Peter's approach, what I call paint by numbers permaculture. After reviewing the background, principles and a design checklist, he describes about 70 elements that should be considered in one's design, depending on one's vision and goals. These can be played with dynamically in how they relate to each other, spatially and functionally. In the end, the designer is not likely to miss any major options for functions or elements.
Post by:autobot
I FEEL suave and debonair. Why can't you be as supportive as this tiny ad?
![[Logo]](/templates/default/mobile/images/mobile-permies-2015.png)
