Bioshelter Market Garden

Author: Darrell Frey
Publisher: New Society Publishers
ISBN: 1550924575
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 619

Book Description
“This well-illustrated case study . . . will help students of permaculture, of sustainability, of earth regeneration and of integrated eco-social design.” —Prof. Declan Kennedy, Chairman, Advisory Board, gaiauniversity.org To ensure food security and restore the health of the planet, we need to move beyond industrial agriculture and return to the practice of small-scale, local farming. The Bioshelter Market Garden: A Permaculture Farm describes the creation of a sustainable food system through a detailed case study of the successful year-round organic market garden and permaculture design at Pennsylvania’s Three Sisters Farm. At the heart of Three Sisters is its bioshelter—a solar greenhouse which integrates growing facilities, poultry housing, a potting room, storage, kitchen facilities, compost bins, a reference library and classroom area. The Bioshelter Market Garden examines how the bioshelter promotes greater biodiversity and is an energy efficient method of extending crop production through Pennsylvania’s cold winter months. Both visionary and practical, this fully illustrated book contains a wealth of information on the application of permaculture principles. Some of the topics covered include: Design and management of an intensive market garden farm Energy systems and bio-thermal resources Ecological soil management and pest control Wetlands usage Solar greenhouse design and management Whatever your gardening experience and ambitions, this comprehensive manual is sure to inform and inspire. “Darrell Frey’s inspirational book gives you all you need to know to create an energy-saving, food-producing bioshelter . . . [It] covers everything you need to understand, build, or simply admire these important tools for sustainability.” —Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia’s Garden

The Food Forest Handbook

Author: Darrell Frey
Publisher: New Society Publishers
ISBN: 1771422114
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 463

Book Description
Learn how to mix and match plants in unique combinations to establish bountiful landscapes and create genuine self-reliance in years to come. A food forest is a productive landscape developed around a mix of trees and perennials. Rooted in permaculture principles, this integrated approach to gardening incorporates a variety of plants such as fruit and nut trees, shrubs, vines, and perennial herbs and vegetables. Food forests can help increase biodiversity, protect valuable habitat for beneficial insects, and promote food security and resilience, all while providing an abundant harvest. The Food Forest Handbook is a practical manual for the design and management of a home-scale perennial polyculture garden. Simple, straightforward instructions guide the reader through: Getting started—site assessment and planning Tending the forest garden—maintaining soil health, succession planning, mulching, pruning and more The fruits of your labor—crop profiles, harvest, storage, nutrition and recipes This timely book makes the concept of food forests accessible to everyone, offering a unique approach to low-maintenance, high-yield, sustainable food production. “What happens if we were to drop the boundary between the built environment and nature? Wouldn’t we all be much better off? The Food Forest Handbook guides our first steps along that path.” —Albert Bates, author of The Biochar Solution “Through this in-depth practical book you will learn the strategies for effective planning, design, establishment and management of perennial polycultures . . . I recommend this book to all those who are bringing diversity to their planting schemes.” —Jude Hobbs, permaculture land-use consultant, designer, and educator, Cascadia Permaculture

Bioshelter Market Garden

Author: Darrell Frey
Publisher: New Society Publishers
ISBN: 0865716781
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 490

Book Description
Explores the novel, environmentally friendly organic-gardening system of the Three Sisters Farm, which centers around a bioshelter--a solar greenhouse that integrates growing facilities, poultry housing, a potting room, storage, kitchen facilities, compost bins, a reference library and classroom area. Original.

Grow a Sustainable Diet

Author: Cindy Conner
Publisher: New Society Publishers
ISBN: 1550925547
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 219

Book Description
Row by row - maximize your harvest and feed your soil by developing a customized plan for your garden Everyone loves to prepare a meal with ingredients fresh from their own garden. But for most of us, no matter how plentiful our harvest, homegrown produce comprises only a fraction of what we eat. And while many gardening guides will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about individual crops, few tackle the more involved task of helping you maximize the percentage of your diet you grow yourself. Grow a Sustainable Diet will help you develop a comprehensive, customized garden plan to produce the maximum number of calories and nutrients from any available space. Avoid arriving in August buried under a mountain of kale or zucchini (and not much else) by making thoughtful choices at the planning stage, focusing on dietary staples and key nutrients. Learn how to calculate: Which food and cover crops are best for your specific requirements How many seeds and plants of each variety you should sow What and when to plant, harvest and replant for maximum yield. Focusing on permaculture principles, biointensive gardening methods, getting food to the table with minimum fossil fuel input, and growing crops that sustain both you and your soil, this complete guide is a must-read for anyone working toward food self-sufficiency for themselves or their family.

The Intelligent Gardener

Author: Steve Solomon
Publisher: New Society Publishers
ISBN: 0865717184
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 339

Book Description
Presents advice on how to improve growing soil, discussing some of the current misconceptions about soil and providing the best methods for adding enhancements that will produce nutrient-dense foods.

Bioshelters, Ocean Arks, City Farming

Author: Nancy Jack Todd
Publisher: Random House (NY)
ISBN:
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 232

Book Description
Proposes the use of biology -- incorporating principles inherent in the natural world -- as a design for human settlements. The New Alchemy Institute on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, founded by the authors, is one of a number of projects in ecological design described in this book.

The Permaculture Market Garden

Author: Zach Loeks
Publisher: New Society Publishers
ISBN: 1550926209
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 291

Book Description
The illustrated guide to profitable, vibrant and sustainable permaculture-based market gardening Permaculture tends to be very much in the domain of home gardeners and property owners. But what if we could take it all a step further, and merge the fields of permaculture and market gardening? In The Permaculture Market Garden , author Zach Loeks brings together his passion for sustainable permaculture food production systems and beautiful, vibrant illustrations to provide a highly visual guide to the smooth integration of permaculture into the market garden, in ways that are scalable to specific situations. Profiling crops and ecosystem-based techniques, Loeks demonstrates a profitable, sustainable and approachable model for the future of market gardening. Along the way, Loeks introduces his own system of PermaBeds, season extension techniques, intensive and rotational interplanting, in-depth discussions on soil health, and more, bringing activities, designs and prospects of farming to life through illustrations, so the reader can be immersed within the world of permaculture farming. Playful, informative and curious, inspiring and beautiful and packed with accessible practical information, The Permaculture Market Garden will inspire both the seasoned market gardener as well as anyone aspiring to start a business. Zach Loeks is a market gardener, farm consultant and educator living in the Ottawa Valley. Winner of two regional awards for sustainability and innovation in agriculture, he shares his expertise in farming, design and business through a successful series of on-farm workshops, conferences and schools, as well as a successful year-round CSA.

Paradise Lot

Author: Eric Toensmeier
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 1603584005
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 1

Book Description
When Eric Toensmeier and Jonathan Bates moved into a duplex in a run-down part of Holyoke, Massachusetts, the tenth-of-an-acre lot was barren ground and bad soil, peppered with broken pieces of concrete, asphalt, and brick. The two friends got to work designing what would become not just another urban farm, but a "permaculture paradise" replete with perennial broccoli, paw paws, bananas, and moringa—all told, more than two hundred low-maintenance edible plants in an innovative food forest on a small city lot. The garden—intended to function like a natural ecosystem with the plants themselves providing most of the garden's needs for fertility, pest control, and weed suppression—also features an edible water garden, a year-round unheated greenhouse, tropical crops, urban poultry, and even silkworms. In telling the story of Paradise Lot, Toensmeier explains the principles and practices of permaculture, the choice of exotic and unusual food plants, the techniques of design and cultivation, and, of course, the adventures, mistakes, and do-overs in the process. Packed full of detailed, useful information about designing a highly productive permaculture garden, Paradise Lot is also a funny and charming story of two single guys, both plant nerds, with a wild plan: to realize the garden of their dreams and meet women to share it with. Amazingly, on both counts, they succeed.

The Permaculture Earthworks Handbook

Author: Douglas Barnes
Publisher: New Society Publishers
ISBN: 155092639X
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 194

Book Description
Maximize your water harvesting potential with efficient, cost-effective earthworks In the face of drought and desertification, well-designed, water harvesting earthworks such as swales, ponds, and dams are the most effective way to channel water into productive use. The result can be increased food production, higher groundwater levels, reduced irrigation needs, and enhanced ecosystem resilience. Yet, due to a lack of knowledge, designers, and landowners often build earthworks that are costly, inappropriately sized and sited, or even dangerous. The Permaculture Earthworks Handbook is the first dedicated, detailed guide to the proper design and construction of water harvesting earthworks. It covers the function, design, and construction methods for nine main types of water harvesting earthworks across a full range of climates. Coverage includes: Swales, ponds, dams, hugelkultur, net-and-pan systems, spate irrigation, and more Cost versus benefit of different earthworks Assessing site needs and suitability Soil types and hydrology Designing for maximum efficiency and lowest cost Risk assessment and safe construction Stacking functions and integrating earthworks into a design This practical handbook is the essential resource for permaculture designers, teachers and students, landowners, farmers, homesteaders, landscape architects, and others involved in maximizing the water harvesting potential of any landscape at the lowest cost and impact. Douglas Barnes is a permaculture designer trained in Australia by Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton. He has designed and built earthworks in North America, Japan, and Andra Pradesh, India. He lives in Tweed, Ontario in a passive solar house he designed and built, and he blogs at permaculturerelections.com.

The Year-Round Solar Greenhouse

Author: Lindsey Schiller
Publisher: New Society Publishers
ISBN: 1550926187
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 331

Book Description
Build your own passive solar greenhouse for year-round food production in any climate Fresh, local nutrient-dense fruits vegetables are hard to find in winter in cold climates. Growing warm-weather crops like tomatoes, bananas, avocados, and other perennials is nearly impossible using conventional structures. The solution for millions of backyard and small-scale commercial growers is self-heating solar greenhouses. The Year-round Solar Greenhouse is the one-stop guide to designing and building greenhouses that harness and store energy from the sun to create naturally heated, lush growing environments even in the depths of winter, covering principles of solar greenhouse design and siting, glazing material properties and selection, controlling heat loss, ventilation, and construction methods. Additionally, an in-depth section covers sustainable ways of heating the greenhouse without fossil fuels, including using thermal mass and storing heat underground with a ground to air heat exchanger. Variations include attached solar greenhouses, earth sheltered greenhouses, plus integrating hydroponics and aquaponics. More than a dozen case studies from across North America provide inspiration and demonstrate specific challenges and solutions for growing year-round in any climate. Grow your own food, anytime, anywhere using the power of the sun!