Green Wizardry: Conservation, Solar Power, Organic Gardening, And Other Hands-On Skills From the Appropriate Tech Toolkit

by John Michael Greer

Tested skills for thriving in the age of limits Merlin, Gandalf, Voldemort-these well-known sorcerers from popular culture are famed for their amazing spells and spectacular magical powers. In ancient times however, a wizard was actually a freelance intellectual whose main stock in trade was good advice, supported by a thorough education in agriculture, navigation, political and military science, languages, commerce, mathematics, medicine, and the natural sciences-in essence, the true Renaissance man. Greer proposes a modern mage for uncertain times; one who possesses a startling array of practical skills gleaned from the appropriate tech and organic gardening movements forged in the energy crisis of the 1970s. From the basic concepts of ecology to a plethora of practical techniques such as composting, green manure, low-tech food preservation and storage, small-scale chicken and rabbit raising, solar water heating, alternative energy sources, and more; Green Wizardry is a comprehensive manual for today's wizard-in-training. Providing a solid practical introduction to the entire appropriate tech toolkit, this book is a must-read for anyone concerned about decreasing our dependence on an overloaded industrial system and, in a world of serious energy shortages and economic troubles, making life a great deal less traumatic and more livable.

Genres: Nonfiction, Survival, Solarpunk, Environment, Technology, Conservation, Ecology

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 16, 2013

About the author

John Michael Greer is an author of over thirty books and the blogger behind The Archdruid Report. He served as Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America. His work addresses a range of subjects, including climate change, peak oil, the future of industrial society, and the occult. He also writes science fiction and fantasy. He lives in Rhode Island with his wife.

Reviews

[Han M]

A hugely thought-provoking book - I was particularly challenged/ enlightened by part 1, which explores energy, matter, and information, and concepts of flows and funds, systems, sustainability, and resilience. The 'exercises' at the end of each chapter are fantastic, and make the content in the chapters relevant to the reader's life.
A book to return to, and one that will stay on my mind for a while to come.

[Pacific Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greer opens by discussing systems. Energy, matter, and information flow through every system. Energy moves in a line, matter in circles (i.e. no such things as “Away”). Information is defined as “a difference that makes a difference,” hence inseparable from our intentionality (contrasted with ‘noise’). Data has to be passed through a filter to become information, preferably one broad one narrow (p.18).

The first section following the intro deals with food. Old farms had a main acreage for grains that were farmed “extensively”, and a kitchen garden, an orchard, a hen house, and a cow pasture farmed “intensively” for the family and farmhands (p.46). Building soil can be done using compost, mulch, green manure (eg. off-season clovers or rye-grass), or legumes. Growing seasons can be extended for planting or later harvesting using cloches, row covers, cold frames, or a full solar greenhouse (p.70).

Seed-saving requires learning the natural cycles of the particular plants (some have to be chilled for months). Wild helpers can be recruited by building bat-houses to kill night-time moths and swallow-houses for day-time (p.83). Flowering shrubs will attract local pollinators. Microscale aquaculture (like tilapia) is an interesting idea for growing livestock. Pests can be controlled by increasing diversity, creating partial deterrents instead of looking for knock-outs. Solar dehydrators can be used to preserve food, along with many other methods.

The second section is about our energy usage. The key is to use less energy, from a variety of sources suited for the application. Not everything has to depend on the utility grid: diffuse heat can be made with solar, light with batteries powered by small windmills, wood stoves, etc. It’s important to “weatherize before you solarize” (p.118) with caulk, weatherstrip, and insulation (with money, consider “Passivhaus”). I found the window covering idea very interesting, which can also be applied to solar greenhouses.

Hay-boxes and sun-boxes can provide insulated cooking. Solar heating of water and space uses the same principle. A good idea is to attach a solar greenhouse to the south-face and separate it to the house with a “trombe wall” (p.148). PV panels and 12-V wind-turbine can provide a bridge to living on far less energy. Methane from manure can provide cooking fuel. “Coppicing” with vine maple could be an important fuel source as well, for both woodstove cooking and adjacent “waterback” for hot water (p.163).

The overall philosophy is LESS: less energy, stuff, and stimulation (“weatherstripping” your life). There are three ways to approach Green Wizardry: New Alchemy (experimental), Down Home Funk (old tech), and Retrofit (salvage) modes (p.182). As the game becomes fraught with conflict in the coming Age of Scarcity, the wise strategy is to not play at all – to devise new forms of living, which Green Wizardry is meant to assist.

Greer concludes the book by addressing our cultural nihilism, and magical thinking blocking us from taking action. In the end, “those who downshift hard, fast, and soon […] will have a much less difficult time […] navigating the challenging economic conditions of life in a near-bankrupt society” (p.225). He recommends Thoreau’s idea of “voluntary poverty”, to deliberately embrace being poor in order to avoid being possessed by your possessions.

Green Wizardry is another fantastic book by Greer. I highly recommend reading it to anyone interested in preparing for what lies ahead.

[Lucas · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. The premise is fantastic, and very important especially these days, but unfortunately I couldn't even finish the book. I NEVER put down a book in the middle of it. Last time I did that was one of the Twilight books that I'd been coerced into reading, so...

Anyways, I made it about halfway through the book before calling it quits. Here are my reasons:

1. The tone is entirely too condescending and it gets repetitive. Mr. Greer goes on and on ad nauseum about how the fossil fuel industry is stupid (we know), how finite resources like mined minerals won't last forever (we know), and how our current ways of operating as a society are unsustainable (we. know.) After a little while it grows exhausting, like... just give examples of how to fix things. The constant nagging about how "stupid" and "shortsighted" everything is isn't helpful. We can't change what's been done in the past, and harping on it is anxiety inducing. Solutions, not name-calling.

2. Many of the solutions offered are simply not realistic for anyone who lives in a city of any size. I only made it through the parts about food before giving up, so I likely won't cover everything, but basic things like zoning (which is a thing in basically every city) prevent the installation of things like composting toilets, or having a cow in your back yard, or even having a simple garden that looks too out of control. Not to mention that most people don't have the skills or the space or an agreeable climate in which to grow enough food to support themselves even a little bit. So then what? Calling people stupid for not starting enormous (impractical) gardens in a non-rural environment is a little bit much, and his suggestions of window gardens or container gardens don't even begin to scratch the surface of what would be needed to satisfy the nutritional needs of even a single person.

Honestly, I think this book just needs a great big rewrite. His ideas are probably good, and more needed now than ever, but an update (and a good editor and maybe some meds) would do a lot of good.

[Kitap · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another winner from the Archdruid, in which he expands on one of the foci of his blog, the topic of "green wizardry."

After he begins with a definition of "wizard" that turns Gandalf on his pointy-hatted head (if you're curious, wizards in the Early Middle Ages were, according to Greer, "freelance intellectual[s] whose main stock in trade was good advice"), Greer briefly recaps his previous New Society Publications titles, summarizing both the principles on which green wizardry is based and the predicaments our species faces which make the study and practice of green wizardry indispensable.

The bulk of the book comprises examples of the sorts of skills that a green wizard should have in her toolkit, skills which revolve around two essential subjects: food and energy. While you won't learn any of these skills from the book, you'll have a greater idea of what sorts of skills will be necessary for surviving and thriving in the, ahem, challenging times ahead, and Greer conscientiously points the reader toward further resources for actually learning these skills and putting them into practice.

The book is well-written, convincingly argued, and worth multiple readings. I have come to expect no less from the Archdruid.

[Elizabeth Grieve · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's taken me a while to read this, as I've read a chapter here and there. It's quite a hefty chunk of material to digest, but very worthy (I don't mean that to sound patronising, far from it). The author gives tasks such as making the reader find out and really think about what happens to waste materials like plastic. Like most people I suspect, I am vaguely aware that many plastics are recycled, but it is sadly true that we don't really know enough about it - or care in many cases. There is a mass of information about growing food, keeping livestock, solar energy and other topics which help us to 'go green', but it's not a DIY type book. A book for those who want to know the 'whys' rather than the 'hows'
Thank you to the publisher for the digital review copy.

[Mab Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good primer on a variety of things an individual might do to live more sustainably. The idea is to pick something to try and then learn about it more in-depth elsewhere, and this book lists a lot of other books that can help fill that need. I am inspired to learn more about several topics here. However, it loses a star for the condescending I-am-very-smart attitude sprinkled throughout.

[Jani-Petri · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too boring to finish. From the beginning had a feeling that author is a borderline crackpot... Addition: Not a borderline crackpot, but the genuine one "He served from December 2003 to December 2015 as the Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America"

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on practical steps that I can take to increase my resilience in the face of civilizational decline- even if that isn't likely for a few decades, it is important to acquire those skills now!

[Logan Streondj · Rating 5 out of 5]

An adorable book on "appropriate technologies" basically various sustainability initiatives from the 1970s when people were serious about sustainability.
Definitely worth archiving for future generations lots of interesting things like solar thermal.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for making you feel better about any upcoming apocalypse.

[Patrick Andersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd give it 4.5 if I could, so I'll err on the side of curmudgeonness. This book apparently doesn't release until September 3rd, but my preorder arrived earlier this week. Blame online retailers I suppose.

I'm a fan of all The Archdruid's writings, whether his blog, his peak oil related material or his religio-mystical work. They all tie together in a cohesive world view that resonates well with me. With me, then, he is preaching to the converted.

This latest offering is essentially the how-to primer that goes with his The Long Descent: A User's Guide to the End of the Industrial Age and The Ecotechnic Future: Envisioning a Post-Peak World; working from the premise that industrial civilization is winding down, he deconstructs matter, energy and information and recasts them in light of the premise. He treats extensively on food and energy, ties it up in a systems approach to the household, where the vast majority of life will be focused in a post-industrial future.

He is heavily influenced by the Appropriate Technology movement in the 70's, recognizes it and makes no apologies, feeling that it was the last great grasp at a truly sustainable future that was washed away by misguided policies. Most of the suggested readings center around the 70's, with outliers in the 60's and 80's. That could make acquisition difficult, though he does suggest in the text that gobbling up anything you can find from that period is a good idea, and his suggestions are largely just that.

The body of work is structured to introduce a topic (matter cycles, for example) and have the reader perform an exercise on that topic (sketch out how a particular type of matter goes around and comes back around), working first through his premises and then into the practical material to entice the reader into thinking in terms of systems. He concentrates heavily on food (production, storage, preparation) and energy (thwarting thermodynamics to use the least possible, in essence; insulation, passive solar design, etc) and wraps it all up with a discussion of systems design. He doesn't delve much into specifics (there are no recipes here or tables of hydro power flow rates, for example), but directs the reader to get the appropriate specialized works. If you've already briefed yourself on or are practicing passive solar design, home insulation, solar cookers, organic gardening, composting, household livestock rearing, canning/curing/drying/fermenting and so on, most of the book is old hat. The meat then really lies in the beginning and end of the book; the rationale for selecting these things over, say, electric cars and waiting for the Singularity/Rapture to save us all from our troubles.

So 4.5 for me, since I've got many books on my shelves that cover most of the topics presented and am already on the same page. It nicely compiles the suppositions laid out in his previous works and drags them into the actual nuts and bolts of living with the conclusions of those suppositions. Very recommended for anybody trying to wrap their head around peak oil and the most daunting question it raises: What to do about it.

[Cat Bascle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been reading Greer's Archdruid Report for years, but this was the first chance I've had to sit down with an example of his long-form work. Some might be put off by the chiding tone I've come to expect from him, but that is hard to avoid in work that wants people to face some hard truths about their life choices.
All in all, this book is a good starting place for someone truly wanting to live a greener lifestyle. There is very little in the way of exact how-to instructions, rather it strives to point out the possibilities and the necessities for what could be a truly sustainable lifestyle, no matter what your starting point is.
One thing that is definitely worth checking out is the extensive annotated bibliography included throughout the book, directing readers to more in-depth information on the topics covered, along with some of the how-to information that many of us will be looking for, though I can't speak yet as to the availability of much of it.

[Tim Sharp · Rating 2 out of 5]

As is typical with JMG, there's a hefty dose of great advice interwoven with a profound idealization of 70s counterculture (which, what a coincidence, happens to be the milieu he grew up in!), coupled with a definite "I told you so" tone throughout the book that might put some readers off.

But. BUT. Unfortunately (fortunately?) for western society he is also pretty right. The systems of energy usage that currently exist are fundamentally unsustainable and have to be replaced with something more practical if the species is going to have any real future on this planet worth having. I found parts of this book deeply inspiring and his constant refrain to enact change in your own life is something that spoke to me in a way I feel I was ready to hear. I also loved his final summation which included a much needed defence of pragmatic realism over either starry-eyed idealism or black-hearted nihilism.

[Wendy Crimson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book when it first came out and have gone back to it many times over the past couple years. For all those people that want to "do" something about all the crisis' going on, this book is for you. Full of tips, insight, wisdom and humor. We are all in JMG's debt for this book (as well as his others).

[Fernleaf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this book.