Best products from r/Permaculture
We found 61 comments on r/Permaculture discussing the most recommended products. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 154 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.
3. Permaculture: Principles and Pathways beyond Sustainability
Permaculture Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability
4. Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, 2nd Edition
- Ships from Vermont
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7. Creating a Forest Garden: Working with Nature to Grow Edible Crops
- Green Books
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9. Rise and Fall of American Growth, The (The Princeton Economic Series of the Western World)
- 7.1 virtual surround sound enables you to hear the enemy before they see you
- Easily access headset Volume and Mic Mute controls. Retractable microphone for use only when you need it
- Crystal clear conversations to strategize with teammates. Stay informed with exclusive on-screen headset status updates
- Built-in rechargeable battery delivers seven hours usage on a single charge. Enjoy your Wireless Stereo Headset on your PC or Mac
- Enjoy hi-fidelity sound while watching your favorite movie. Breathable oversized earpads allow for hours of comfortable gameplay
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10. Paradise Lot: Two Plant Geeks, One-Tenth of an Acre, and the Making of an Edible Garden Oasis in the City
- Light oak finish with metal frame
- Accessory drawer & letter/legal file drawer
- Overall Dimensions 75-1/2" W x 39-1/2" D x 29-1/2" H
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11. The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World
- Random House Trade
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13. Forest Gardening: Cultivating an Edible Landscape, 2nd Edition
- Used Book in Good Condition
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14. Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners, 2nd Edition
- Seed, Propagation, Vegetables, How To GARDEN
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16. A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe: Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Science
- Harper Perennial
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17. The Resilient Farm and Homestead: An Innovative Permaculture and Whole Systems Design Approach
- Chelsea Green Publishing Company
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18. Sepp Holzer's Permaculture: A Practical Guide to Small-Scale, Integrative Farming and Gardening
- JIS8 Waterproof Level - Uniden MHS75 VHF Hand Held Radio won't give up no matter how wet it gets. Whitecap splash, gusty spray, tidal wave, whatever, this radio can take it. The Uniden MHS75 2-way Marine Radio is built rugged to take the rigors of being out on the water, day in and day out with a full JIS8 waterproof rating. It also features a floating design, and is submersible for up to 30 minutes at five feet.
- 1 /2.5/5 Watt Switchable - Select between 1, 2.5, and 5 Watts for short- and long-range communication - this is also a convenient way to save a little battery life. In most situations, the 1 Watt transmission power is all you need. If you find yourself far away from other stations and have trouble getting a response, you may need to boost the transmission power from 1 Watt to 2.5 Watts or 5 Watts.
- All USA, International, and Canada Channels - The MHS75 covers all USA, International, and Canadian marine channels, keeping you up-to-date with all the latest marine activity.
- All NOAA Weather Channels with Weather Alert - This radio comes preprogrammed with NOAA weather channels. The Emergency/Weather Alert allows it to function as a severe weather warning radio and will also alert you to any local or national emergencies. If the NOAA issues warning while this feature is turned On, the radio sounds an alert tone. You will then hear the emergency/weather broadcast.
- Instant Channel 16/9/Triple Watch - Triple Watch mode monitors channels 16 and 9 for a signal while you listen to the currently selected channel. The marine radio checks channel 16 and 9 for activity every 2 seconds.
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19. The Backyard Homestead: Produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre!
Following the author's suggestions, you can harvest your own fruits and vegetables, nuts, eggs, even grain and meat, all a few feet from your back doorAlso includes instructions on milling grains for flour, making your own cheese and cooking, canning, curing or pickling the fruits of your labor.Madi...
Certainly the links below are great (particularly Gaia's garden). There are a couple other low-cost intro books that might be useful (wait till you're hooked to drop 200 bucks on Dave Jacke's "Edible Forest Gardens" -- though it's amazing.)
Eric Toensmeier's "Paradise Lot"
http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/paradise_lot:paperback
Great book that reads like a novel, so it can be easier to get through than other textbook-style books listed in this reddit. They live outside of Boston, if I'm remembering right, so pretty freaking cold, but they're succeeding well.
Martin Crawford's "How to Grow Perennial Vegetables"
http://www.amazon.com/How-Grow-Perennial-Vegetables-Low-maintenance/dp/1900322846/ref=pd_sim_b_5
Easier to read than his forest-gardening book (which has lots of high-level systems thinking, but can be overwhelming). He specifically references a ton of perennial vegetables, many of which aren't covered in other texts, and gives methods for their cultivation within a permaculture setup.
Personally, I find it easier to get a handle on the whole systems-design thing through videos, so here are some of my favorite youtube-available vids on urban permacuture:
Urban Permaculture with Geoff Lawton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeIZwenDSvo
This site is in Austrailia, and has a climate more like central or southern california, but in principal, the stacking of functions can be applied to a northeastern site.
Permaculture Trio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXVnAMQRGbI
These 3 stories from the UK cover a range of scales of permaculture implementations, the last one is a very compact urban site with a climate very similar to the northeast.
Backyard Permaculture
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18ZuuAOUIXo
This was produced for Gardening Australia, so not all of the species of plants used are available locally, but the climate seems to be a pretty close match to a east-coast state's. TONS of great ideas, though with a larger lot and budget than most people have.
Finally, even if you decide on the structure of plantings that you have room for, it can be a beast to decide on the right plants for your area, or locate the seed stock. This answer could be an entire post on its own, but a good place to start is Practical Plants:
http://practicalplants.org/wiki/Practical_Plants
This wiki contains the entire database of Plants for A Future (pfaf.org) in addition to more that has been user-added since it went live last year. It's pretty, easy to navigate, and FULL of good plant suggestions which can be filtered in a variety of ways.
So, now that you've got all this info, go to town!
One last note on the grow-lights. Personally, I don't think that any real permaculturist would frown on grow-lights -- particularly the low-wattage LED varieties available now. The real goal is, as Factran pointed out, resiliency, and relying on a grid connection for indoor light is less resilient than growing in your yard. But, maybe you have PV that gives you plenty of power in the winter, and you want to grow greened sprouts indoors for juicing. Or something else even crazier. I say go for it -- more ideas = better. Just be sure to share your successes and failures with us when you do!
But definitely try growing some stuff outdoors, even if it's in a windowbox. You'd be surprised -- seeds just want to grow.
This is exactly what I was going to say.
OP, you already have a forest. For all you know, it could already be a food forest. Observe not only the plants, but the animal visitors. What are the birds, reptiles, insects, and mammals that visit this forest?
The first thing you should do is find out the names, uses, histories, life spans, and everything else you can about as many plants as you can that are already in the forest. It's pretty easy, as most of this information is on Wikipedia. If you have a camera, take detailed pictures and post them to /r/whatsthisplant for help. If you're in Pennsylvania you likely have oak trees, but you need to be more specific. The more you learn about this, the more you will want to learn.
Pay attention to flowers, as they only open at certain times of year. Pay attention to the ground shrubs and herbs, some of them could be edible. I know there's an herb called violet that grows in Pennsylvania that is edible in small amounts.
I haven't read Gaia's Garden, but I love Toby Hemenway, and he has a great speech on YouTube that you should see if you haven't already. I recommend you read the book Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability.
Finally, make friends with your neighbors. Figure out how big your "block" is - that is, if you were to leave your property and make only right turns until you've done a full circle back to your driveway, what ground have you covered? What biozone is it in? How many people live in it, what do they do, who will they most likely vote for, and what is their favorite thing to serve for dinner? Speaking of voting, get to know your local representatives at the city, county, and state level. Also, get in contact with local universities and schools, if there are any. There are many benefits to this. First, you can get free labor from people looking to do community service projects in order to graduate. (People bitch about PDCs charging you to work, but universities have been doing this for decades if not centuries, and at a much more diabolical scale.) Also, by getting the educational/scientific community on your side, your property can become a center of education for permaculture, conservation, and sustainability around the world. Also, make sure to include a "public space" where you can sit several dozen people comfortably for luncheons and stuff, and maybe a space where somebody can address an audience. Think big.
Try to get your hands on Edible Forest Gardens ( vol 1 and 2 ) by David Jacke and Eric Toensmeier. It's the premier work on Eastern North American ecological agroforestry.
Martin Crawford's work is also very applicable since he's in a humid zone 3-5 ish British climate. His book is an amazing resource.
The Bullock Brother's have done a lot of work in Cold climate permaculture but they're in Washinton so it's still more humid.
Great Plains ecology is an interesting biome though and I'm not sure there's been a lot of work done on food forestry in that particular climate. I know a fair amount of work has been done on perennial grasslands but it gets more complicated since you are dealing with elements of dryland design and cold climate design. Some tropical techniques for water retention aren't going to work since frost is going to be a factor. Probably the best technique would be to follow the ecology and design around coolees since that's where great plains deciduous forests tend to thrive.
Resources:
Creating a Forest Garden by Mark Crawford.
Edible Forest Gardens by Dave Jacke and Eric Toensmeier
Forest Gardening by Robert Hart
I think that Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability by Holmgren is the best. It focuses on permaculture theoretically (but not in a boring way). A lot of permaculture books are basically gardening/farming books with a permaculture slant. This book is actually about permaculture itself - what it is, how to use it, and why to use it. All 12 Principles are explained in detail so you can apply them creatively on your own.
The Permaculture City by Hemenway just came out this year and it is fantastic. If you currently live in an apartment, city, or suburbs, I HIGHLY suggest reading this book. Most permaculture books will bum you out a bit if you don't have a yard. The Permaculture City really made me appreciate where I am and made me feel like permaculture is possible for everyone in every situation.
Looby Macnamera's People & Permaculture is really amazing. I consider it a must-read, especially if the social aspects of permaculture pique your interest. I also think it's important if you live in a city, as people are the most abundant resource in a city.
I am just about to finish Mark Shepards "Restoration agriculture". im sure its been brought up on the forums before...
I highly recommend it due to his more extensive discussion of growing staple crops in a regenerative fashion (instead of some fun loving feel good hugelkulture backyard project book =P).
heres a link
http://www.amazon.com/Restoration-Agriculture-Mark-Shepard/dp/1601730357
here is a link to his website though, where you can read a little more, purchase his hazelnuts, and many different kinds of rootstock (which i am going to do in a year or 2... thousands!!).
http://www.forestag.com/book.html
regards
Toby Hemenway would disagree with you.
the aggressive nature of bamboo is greatly overstated. This is partly due to the fact that things like sidewalks actually make it more aggressive - it will eagerly shoot under 24" of concrete to come out the other side. It is also partly due to bamboo's need for trimming - in the wild, all sorts of critters eat the shoots when they're small so only a few ever reach the crown. However, there are all sorts of bamboo barriers that do a righteous job of containing bamboo even if you're too lazy to go out and eat the shoots every now and then.
Is bamboo a voracious grower? Yes. Are its rhizomes tough to eradicate once a clump is established? Yes. But compared to some perfectly mainstream-acceptable plants like ivy and blackberries, it's a pussycat. People freak out about bamboo because it's what the cool kids do. Likely there was someone who moved into a house with a bamboo grove in the back, decide to take it out, and discover that it doesn't go quietly.
I once had eight sawed-off 55gal drums full of golden bamboo. They were beautiful. They were also on pallets, in a parking lot, 150 feet from the nearest bare earth.
That didn't stop total strangers from walking up while I was watering and saying "better be careful, that stuff will get away from you!"
If you have the time, Robert Gorden's book, "The Rise and Fall of American Growth" is pretty eye-opening. [1] He also talks about inequality as a major headwind to growth, and makes a compelling argument that the data show that biggest transformation – unmatched even by the personal computer and IT revolution – was bringing electricity and plumbing into the home.
Then there's the Princeton study that shows money can make people happier, but that the effect levels off at around $75k a year.
I think it was while reading Bill McKibben's book "Eaarth" [3] that I was surprised to discover that back in the 1970s, polling showed that Americans were actually pretty open to a different economic model – one more about sustainability and well-being than growth.
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1: https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-American-Growth-Princeton/dp/153661825X
2: https://www.princeton.edu/~deaton/downloads/deaton_kahneman_high_income_improves_evaluation_August2010.pdf
3: https://www.amazon.com/Eaarth-Making-Life-Tough-Planet/dp/0312541198
Everyone here has already covered all I was going to say. In some of your comments you said you wanted to learn more about permaculture might I recommend Gaia's Garden. It is very general but it gave me a really great foundation for permaculture and the lists and ideas are fantastic.
3)I know absolutely nothing about this subject, you're on your own :)
The only real point of a PDC is the certification itself, which you will want either in order to teach yourself, or to do consulting for money. Don't do a PDC to actually learn the material, however; that's crazy. I did the full two week PDC with Geoff Lawton in 2011, at Zaytuna Farm; and while we did get some good information, most of it was Geoff's war stories, which I've pretty much completely forgotten at this point.
If you want to really learn permaculture, however, then buy both Bill Mollison's design handbook, (which we got copies of from the PDC) and Yeomans' Water For Every Farm. Permaculture is arguably more about hydrology than anything else, as far as its' capacity for genuine terraforming is concerned; and it uses Yeomans' keyline system to do that. I would also strongly recommend Michael Schneider's Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe as well, which is essentially a single-book expansion of Bill Mollison's chapter on pattern. Some people would probably tell you to read Fukuoka, as well.
Once you've got those books, find some way to practice the material within them. You don't necessarily need a giant property somewhere; keyline swales are fractal, which means that you can create miniature ones in your back yard, in order to familiarise yourself with the basic concept.
Once you are confident that you know the material back to front, then find a site and get the PDC. I personally think that they should offer certification exams, so that you can learn the material on your own time, and get qualified much more quickly and cheaply. PDCs as they are now, are a way for teachers to talk about themselves to a captive audience for two weeks, as justification for then relieving said captive audience of a couple of thousand bucks. ;)
Nitrogen fixing plants. Nitrogen is notoriously hard to get from the atmosphere into a usable form for plants. Industry solves this with fossil energy. Legumes have the ability, with a symbiotic bacteria, to make it available at the root level to adjacent plants. You can practically throw a dart at this list and get fertility.
Sign up and get more woodchips than you can ever handle. Your mulch should be 5, 6, 7 inches deep (less so around the trunks, obv) and you can spread a new layer on every year. I do encourage you to leave a patch as grass just to compare to.
The Resilient Farm and Homestead will be a good primer for Permaculture thinking as it applies to homesteading.
If you're able to spend a lot of time watching videos, Edible Acres is a wonderful resource. The author is thoughtful, realistic and concise with a wealth of knowledge.
If you have an hour to kill (in the car or while mowing all that grass or spreading wood chips) listen to this presentation by soil scientist Elaine Ingham. Ingham is well-respected and, if you can make the information she provides in this presentation your fundamental understanding of what makes dirt work the way it does, you're off to a great start. It's heady, so don't expect to be chugging down facts, but if you can keep afloat, it might be worth a second or third listen.
Mark Shepard has been running a restoration agriculture farm for ~20 years. He has a lot of business experience and is an intense advocate for this approach to permaculture. Here's a link to his site and to his book to maybe help you get started. Honestly he sounds like the exact person to help you meet your specific needs.
The Backyard Homestead is pretty good for a beginner. It isn't strictly a permaculture book, but I was surprised to see how many of the permie concepts it incorporated. Begin with something like that, and then as you expand you can get more hard core.
Great potential! Install a small chicken coop and create a fertilizer factory for starters. Also, Paradise Lot is a book that could be very helpful given your location and yard size.
If you are considering a forest garden, I would not recommend doing so without a proper design. I highly recommend these two books: http://www.amazon.com/Edible-Forest-Gardens-2-set/dp/1890132608
They will help you create the right design which will save you a ton of work/ resource usage in the long term.
I was in a similar situation when I did my course, I read An Introduction to Permaculture by Bill Mollison a couple months before hand. The course will basically cover everything in the book. It really helped me to retain a lot of the information I was getting during the course since it wasn't completely new to me, it also allowed me to ask questions I'd had since reading the book.
Also if you have a chance to regularly visit a place working with the principals of permaculture you would get some insight into how it looks and develops, as this is the season where things are really starting to grow again.
have fun!
The Origins of Fruit and Vegetables of Jonathan Roberts is my bible <3
https://www.amazon.com/Origins-Fruit-Vegetables-Jonathan-Roberts/dp/0789306565
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And I agree, Botany of Desire is a good starter !
https://www.amazon.com/Botany-Desire-Plants-Eye-View-World/dp/0375760393/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1G9DWQF9KY9ZR&keywords=botany+of+desire&qid=1562782042&s=books&sprefix=botany+%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C235&sr=1-1
The statement might start a flamewar in more intense tomato forums, but unless the tomato is a cherry or potato-leaved variety (Edit: or hybrid, which is a whole other can of worms!), the flower self pollinates before opening. See here or Seed to Seed an awesome book that howtosaveseeds.com references frequently.
There's an excellent book called Seed to Seed that goes into a lot of detail, put out by Seed Savers. This is my first year saving seeds from my garden, I found a lot of valuable information in it.
I was introduced by Gaia's Garden , it was a wonderful read and an even better starting point
I'm currently reading this book by Sepp Holzer, which had a really neat section about how he handles poultry. He uses natural protection for his birds, specifically mentioning rose hedges. Perhaps his method could work for your situation, too?
If you are looking for examples, Sepp Holzer has lots of videos on youtube. Search "temperate permaculture" and you will find a lot of stuff on youtube.
http://tcpermaculture.com/site/ is a great temperate permaculture resource with guild lists and explanations of how permaculture can be used in a temperate climate.
The absolute BIBLE I rely on is this:
http://www.amazon.com/Edible-Forest-Gardens-2-set/dp/1890132608/ref=sr_1_sc_3?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1368994131&amp;sr=8-3-spell&amp;keywords=eric+tonsmeijer
It's pricy and worth the hardcopy. But it's out there in torrents. It has an absolute ton of information on HOW to do permaculture in a temperate setting. I can't recommend this highly enough. If there is one thing you do, find this and read it!
Funny you ask this. Just today I got out my copies of Forest Gardening: Cultivating an Edible Landscape and How to Make a Forest Garden.
I bought these a few years ago, read through them and kept the thought in the back of my head. Just today I began a much needed book organization and these came out on top of the 'read again' pile.
The concept is solid and if you will be on land long term this is a great way to go. I would keep a traditional vegetable garden in tandem though.
Sorry to not have any real experience.
Introduction to Permaculture by Bill Mollison
Thorough of all subjects of permaculture, many graphics, design examples, charts, and diagrams. Used as a textbook for many permaculture courses.
Enjoy!
I would check out David Holmgren and Bill Mollisons Books. They are both co-originator of what we know as permaculture today. Bill's book is more of a reference book, which is what it sounds like your after. Also Gais Garden is generally recommended.
my favorite
https://www.amazon.com/Resilient-Farm-Homestead-Innovative-Permaculture/dp/1603584447
Another good one is sepp holzers book
Do you have any plan on how the livestock you mentioned will be incorporated into that area? If not, I'd recommend Mark Sheppard's "restoration agriculture".
Also, if you're interested in a larger list of potentially compatible plants you can see one [here.] (http://www.americanplant.net/index.php/gardening-tips/organic-gardening/13-resource-library/plant-care-sheets/60-plants-to-grow-under-black-walnuts)
If you flip through the "look inside" feature on amazon for this book you will find some layouts based on the size of the lot. There are diagrams for 1/10 acre, 1/4 acre, etc.
The appendix in Vol. II of Edible Forest Gardens (2 volume set) by Dave Jacke and Eric Toensmeier has a pretty extensive list. It's broken down by zone, size, function, moisture requirements, and a zillion other factors – including food and other uses.
Toby Hemenway. This book has some discussion of the non-native issue. This video might be the one you're looking for. See also this discussion thread.
Start with Gaia’s Garden (https://www.amazon.com/Gaias-Garden-Guide-Home-Scale-Permaculture/dp/1603580298/)
Permaculture on the scale for those of us that aren’t farmers.
It's Permaculture: A Designer's Manual by Bill Mollison.
It's big. It's black. It's expensive.
Get Gaia's Garden. Read it. Then decide what trees to plant.
Permaculture: A Designer's Manual is considered the bible for permaculture because of how comprehensive it is and how much information is packed into that book. It won't explain all of the effective strategies for different climates that we've developed over the last 30 years but I would definitely start there for the foundation. Then move on to books on topics that are specific to a particular topic within permaculture design.
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My Recommendations: