Permaculture in a Nutshell

Rating:
Summary: I wish I could get my money back
Review: 60% Propaganda 30% good intentions and 10% technological inexactitude

It is difficult to review a book where the Author is so blatantly biased with out being accused of being biased ones self.

It this book represents permaculture that it is the greatest dis-service permaculture has ever received. I bought the book to find out more, but was left with the impression that is was little more that unrealistic townie clap trap. The examples are incomplete, very short on sound biology, and fall into their own trap by being unsustainable. The book makes wild claims that are easily disproven ( the math�s demonstrably wrong). The propaganda is at best thinly disguised and very poorly done, clasic shock tactics with examples taken out of context to prove a point.

I fine it incredible that an Author with so much apparent qualification can fail so miserably and dangerously. Forget this book and read John Seymore�s Complete Self Sufficiency � it has stood the test of time.

I wish I could get my money back

Rating:
Summary: I wish I could get my money back
Review: 60% Propaganda 30% good intentions and 10% technological inexactitude

It is difficult to review a book where the Author is so blatantly biased with out being accused of being biased ones self.

It this book represents permaculture that it is the greatest dis-service permaculture has ever received. I bought the book to find out more, but was left with the impression that is was little more that unrealistic townie clap trap. The examples are incomplete, very short on sound biology, and fall into their own trap by being unsustainable. The book makes wild claims that are easily disproven ( the math's demonstrably wrong). The propaganda is at best thinly disguised and very poorly done, clasic shock tactics with examples taken out of context to prove a point.

I fine it incredible that an Author with so much apparent qualification can fail so miserably and dangerously. Forget this book and read John Seymore's Complete Self Sufficiency ' it has stood the test of time.

I wish I could get my money back

Rating:
Summary: Perfect Intro to Permaculture
Review: A wonderful introduction to permaculture, by an experienced writer (How to Make a Forest Garden) and practitioner. PN lays out the basic principles of permaculture theory in an easy-to-understand, no-nonsense manner, providing pertinent examples and diagrams for clarity when necessary. For more a more in-depth look at this fascinating, important subject, see Permaculture: A Design Manuel by Bill Mollison or Permaculture: Principles and Pathways by David Holmgren. Finally, a note one Whitefield's statisics. Despite what some have said, they are accurate. Read Natural Capitalism for verification.

Rating:
Summary: Reinventing community
Review: I'm perplexed as to why the Dutch reviewer is so dissatisfied with this little primer on permaculture. From where I sit, Patrick Whitefield has done a marvelous job of introducing the worldview and techniques of permaculture to beginners.

Permaculture is above all a new way of envisioning the world and our (human) relationship to it such that we become sensitive to the vast interconnectedness of species. To live and grow food permaculturally is to work with rather than against nature. The two cardinal principles of permaculture is that work is any need not met by the eco-system in which one dwells, and pollution is any output not absorbable by the eco-system. The permaculturalist seeks to design living and food-producing systems such that both work and pollution are minimalized.

Permaculture, which flows from the deep ecology sensibility that the world's natural resources are limited and in many cases nonrenewable, encourages us to rethink what we mean by community. Community isn't exclusively human, and it isn't a gridwork suburb carved out of the natural terrain. It's instead an environment in which "useful connections between different elements in a system" are recognized and nurtured "so that as many inputs as possible are provided from within the system, and as many of the outputs as possible are used within it." (p. 53) When you think about it, this understanding of community applies to human families, urban neighborhoods, bioregional groupings, and so on. Reenvisioning community in this way leaves a lighter footprint upon the earth and improves the quality of life for all species in the process.

Whitefield's book is a good starting place for anyone who wishes to simplify their life, nurture the good earth, and improve the lot of all species. Give it a read and rediscover what our ancestors knew but we've forgotten: that humans must live in harmony with nature or cease to live.

Rating:
Summary: Reinventing community
Review: I'm perplexed as to why the Dutch reviewer is so dissatisfied with this little primer on permaculture. From where I sit, Patrick Whitefield has done a marvelous job of introducing the worldview and techniques of permaculture to beginners.

Permaculture is above all a new way of envisioning the world and our (human) relationship to it such that we become sensitive to the vast interconnectedness of species. To live and grow food permaculturally is to work with rather than against nature. The two cardinal principles of permaculture is that work is any need not met by the eco-system in which one dwells, and pollution is any output not absorbable by the eco-system. The permaculturalist seeks to design living and food-producing systems such that both work and pollution are minimalized.

Permaculture, which flows from the deep ecology sensibility that the world's natural resources are limited and in many cases nonrenewable, encourages us to rethink what we mean by community. Community isn't exclusively human, and it isn't a gridwork suburb carved out of the natural terrain. It's instead an environment in which "useful connections between different elements in a system" are recognized and nurtured "so that as many inputs as possible are provided from within the system, and as many of the outputs as possible are used within it." (p. 53) When you think about it, this understanding of community applies to human families, urban neighborhoods, bioregional groupings, and so on. Reenvisioning community in this way leaves a lighter footprint upon the earth and improves the quality of life for all species in the process.

Whitefield's book is a good starting place for anyone who wishes to simplify their life, nurture the good earth, and improve the lot of all species. Give it a read and rediscover what our ancestors knew but we've forgotten: that humans must live in harmony with nature or cease to live.

Rating:
Summary: Start here for a sustainable life!
Review: This is an informative, short and cheap general introduction to permaculture, the design of sustainable living. It has been re-issued due to popular demand. Experienced British permaculture designer and teacher Patrick Whitefield explains how permaculture can enrich our lives in the city, on the farm and in the community.

In brief, permaculture focuses on the conscious design of efficient ecological systems.

'Work = any need not met by the system. Pollution = any output not met by the system' (p. 14)

So it is immediately apparent that by careful design both work and pollution can be minimised. Nature, of course, does this without having to think about it, which is why permaculture systems attempt to emulate natural processes.

Though this book is less than a hundred pages long, it has enough detail to get you started on some serious practical projects. The information on 'making a mulch bed' transformed my stony, undiggable back yard into a highly productive vegetable garden in just one growing season, with very little effort (and thankfully no digging!). The book also includes plenty of contact details for taking permaculture further, which, after reading Permaculture in a Nutshell, you will be unable to resist!