Gaia’s Garden, Second Edition: A Guide To Home-Scale Permaculture
- ISBN13: 9781603580298
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
The first edition of Gaia’s Garden, sparked the imagination of America’s home gardeners, introducing permaculture’s central message: Working with Nature, not against her, results in more beautiful, abundant, and forgiving gardens. This extensively revised and expanded second edition broadens the reach and depth of the permaculture approach for urban and suburban growers.Many people mistakenly think that ecological gardening—which involves growing a wide range of edible and other useful plants—can take place only on a large, multiacre scale. As Hemenway demonstrates, it’s fun and easy to create a “backyard ecosystem” by assembling communities of plants that can work cooperatively and perform a variety of functions, including:Building and maintaining soil fertility and structure Catching and conserving water in the landscapeProviding habitat for beneficial insects, birds, and animalsGrowing an edible “forest” that yields seasonal fruits, … More >>
Gaia’s Garden, Second Edition: A Guide To Home-Scale Permaculture
What I really love about this book is how much Mr. Hemenway goes into the *reasons* that these methods work. Call me obsessive, but I like authors to provide a good reason their techniques work and not just say “OMG, look at this harvest, just do exactly what I do!” Mr. Hememway gives us beautiful, well-though out tables of different nutrients certain plants accumulate, what kinds of bugs they attract, plants that can tolerate drought or provide mulch on the spot, plants that have “spiky” roots that break up tough top-soil and plants that can provide structure or shade to other plants. It’s about using the attributes of different vegetation to do the work for you in a way that doesn’t adversely impact the land. Armed with this information, you can create your own “guilds” and areas of companion plants that work best for your location. Outside of a textbook, this is the most complete information on gardening I have ever come across. The author even presents the downsides of the methods in, what I feel, is a very even-handed manner. No one style fits every need and Mr. Hemenway addresses that. This is my favorite gardening book, period.
This book is a wealth of information. It teaches how to design and grow a home garden using permaculture and ecological gardening techniques. These techniques are designed to minimize input regarding fertilizers, pesticides and time, by imitating nature. Nature shows us that many different species of plants perform better together than one species. In permaculture each plant has more than one purpose. Not only will the plant provide food, but it may also shade another plant or attract beneficial insects. In Gaia’s Garden you’ll learn how to implement these ideas to create your own sustainable food forest.
In my opinion, this is the best introduction to permaculture. It is very well written in a style that is easy to read and understand. There are, also, many color photographs and illustrations throughout the work. The author makes a point to direct the reader to the bibliography for further study of any subject covered throughout. Thank you Toby!
This book provides both theory and practice of Permatculture in a good balance. As an update to an earlier edition it adds useful and timely information. Practical and helpful in advancing the theories and praxis of Permaculture – an idea whose time has come!
As one just beginning the journey into Permaculture I found it very valuable – sparking both further interest and creative exploration – doing the work of Permaculture. There is a good future and it is shining with possibilities!
I own the first edition of this book and was chary of paying for the second edition, but it was totally worth it. The color photos alone are worth the cost of admission, as models and as sheer drool-worthy inspiration, but I also loved the added information on incorporating home-scale permaculture into a larger community/urban fabric. It also seems more cleanly organized and smoothly written. Highly recommended.