Books are Great Friends and Teachers For All Times
Recommended Reading List For Permaculture Designers
We're pleased to offer our recommended reading list to you.
Hover your cursor over the book image to see information about ordering.
The newly published anthology Hope Beneath Our Feet is an inspiring tonic for anyone wishing for a little soul nourishment in the face of our present earth changes. A variety of luminaries share their thoughts, including our own Larry Santoyo, who advises us that "if we choose our actions based upon what we love about the present, we then have a solid foundation upon which to build our coming lives." Read more from his essay here and then, sure, go ahead and order a copy!
The Designer's Manual by our long time mentor Bill Mollision, is THE permaculture book of books to have... once reviewed by Whole Earth, saying "If information had density... this book would be a black hole!..." Hard to get, but worth the price at any cost. We've linked this image to amazon, but their availability for this book changes frequently
But we are also offering it on EarthFlow's Blog, Adapt and Advance as well.
We have a soft spot in our heart for Mollison's soft cover Introduction to Permaculture.
Gaia's Garden is written by our good friend Toby Hemenway, one of EarthFlow's senior instructors and designers. If you read this book, you'll know why. Newly published second edition, with expanded information and new color photos.
We always knew mushrooms were good for more than eating... and now our longtime friend Paul Stamets shares some of his revolutionary discoveries about the power of fungi to detoxify and decontaminate polluted environments. Read this and be amazed!
The book is filled with sustainable insiders' how-to's but more importantly, it's filled with how-not-to's... EarthFlow graduate Owen Dell shows us how to avoid making expensive, resource-consuming and possibly toxic mistakes. Definitely a beneficial resource for keeping up with the dynamic flows of environmental design...
Our dear friend and mentor, Ianto Evans, who decades ago re-introduced the ancient art of building with the earth to the U.S. (and around the world) has written with his team an in-depth exploration of the hand-sculpted house.
Before there was an internet and websites, there was A Pattern Language. Part of an architectural series, this book skillfully links and cross references its contents -making this among the most important books about people and place ever written.
Mollison's genius continues to shine through in his Permaculture Book of Ferment and Human Nutrition. It's a culinary treasure box for fermented recipes and practices from cultures around the world.
First published over 50 years ago Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture advocates the use of trees for regenerative agriculture and helped to inspire Bill Mollison- and certainly inspires us as well.
Edible Forest Gardens by friend and colleague, David Jacke , is a journey through the art and the science of the carefully crafted garden systems of the Old World. Increase the potentials of any temperate garden by learning the theory and ecological practices integrated in his 2-volume set.
Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands volumes 1 & 2 by our water-wise friend Brad Lancaster, are packed with detailed instructions and illustrations; a must-have for homeowners and landmanagers living and working in the city or the country -anywhere. Brad makes the techniques, calculations and earth science understandable, easy and inspiring.
Native American Ethnobotany is another incredible tome of information- the work of a quarter-century of research- and is a rich resource for learning which North American plants were (and still are) used traditionally for food, medicine, fiber, dye and more.
Another pre-internet gem for your research library; Cornucopia references over 3000 edible plant species from around the world, with links to seed, plant and products sources. Great for bio-geographical profiling and kinship gardening as well.
Designing and Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally has been helping gardeners and designers create healthy edible landscapes, with the science to back it up, for over 20 years. A modern classic for your library.
Sunset always puts out great reference books, and the Western Garden Book is one of them. Indispensable to the amateur and professional alike.
Our friend Heather's book Food Not Lawns, is more than a how-to gardening book, but is an inspiring call to action on both a personal and a community-wide level.
An essential handbook for urbanites wishing to become gardeners and farmers! We had the pleasure of welcoming The Urban Homestead 's coauthor Erik Knutzen to one of our recent Los Angeles Permaculture Design Courses and look forward to working together with him on future City Permaculture projects.
Scott Kellogg and Stacy Pettigrew are co-founders of the Rhizome Collective, an educational and activist organization based in Austin, Texas, that turned a 10 acre dump into an ecological justice park. Toolbox for Sustainable City Living is a great resource and inspiration for permaculture designers.
