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The Ultimate Guide to Permaculture
Take your garden to the next level—organic, native, and natural! Permaculture is an important but often misunderstood method of growing food and building homes in a manner that works with nature, rather than against it, to create beautiful, healthy, and useful gardens. Blending ecology, organic agriculture, green home design, appropriate technology, and biology can be confusing and overwhelming, but The Ultimate Guide to Permaculture simplifies this vast field for practical application. This is a hands-on guide, taking the beginner through each step of the design process, so that anyone can apply permaculture principles to their own life. While the principles are simple, the in-depth topics cover every aspect of permaculture, Building green homes and passive solar design Growing edible plant communities and forest gardens Using no-till and natural farming methods Creating microclimates for extended growing seasons Raising livestock with ecological foraging techniques Transforming urban backyards into food-abundant oasesThis is a commonsense approach to sustainable living that creates a self-sufficient and low-effort home for the people that live there, whether in the city or the country. The Ultimate Guide to Permaculture isn’t a philosophy book, or a dissertation on theory. It is a step-by-step, complete guide to every aspect of permaculture.
635 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2012
17 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 22, 2013
A better title for this book might have been, "An Overview of Common Strategies and Techniques Used by Temperate-Climate Landowners in Their Permaculture Designs." Though I am loath to give a book that purports to be about permaculture such a poor review, I feel that this book is a dud compared to the great body of literature already out there on the subject.
After one scanty chapter at the beginning that tries to encompass the whole of Bill Mollison and David Holmgren's original permaculture curriculum, the rest of the book bullet-points some ways one can put specific permaculture strategies and techniques into practice (usually in temperate climates, and usually on large plots of land - which is not a complaint, but an FYI to anyone who might want to read this book as part of their design process).
We must be careful in our design methodology not to confuse these practical applications (the visually noticeable techniques) of permaculture with the science and philosophy of permaculture itself, else we fall into the trap of "doing without thinking" that leads to wasted energy, time, money, and human labor. The author gives us an overview of the proverbial (and literal) swales and herb spirals, but doesn't tell us why we design and build them and put them in relationships to other elements in such a way - and that why is really the heart of permaculture. As such, I would recommend this book only to someone who already has a solid grasp of what permaculture is about, and is just looking for some project ideas. You will need other books, however, on those specific projects, as this one merely scratches the surface on any one topic.
Unfortunately, this book is also terribly written and feels disjointed. There seems to be about an average of one grammatical error/incomplete sentence/typo every few pages that at times make the author's writing incomprehensible. For example, on page 88, in a section about building underground homes (punctuation and capitalization as it is in the original text): "The house is built with either a circular or dome shape for strength, It's not clear what is built small. in the parts of the house that are covered in dirt."
For a better, more understandable introduction to permaculture, I recommend the following books:
Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture
Earth User's Guide to Permaculture
Introduction to Permaculture
After one scanty chapter at the beginning that tries to encompass the whole of Bill Mollison and David Holmgren's original permaculture curriculum, the rest of the book bullet-points some ways one can put specific permaculture strategies and techniques into practice (usually in temperate climates, and usually on large plots of land - which is not a complaint, but an FYI to anyone who might want to read this book as part of their design process).
We must be careful in our design methodology not to confuse these practical applications (the visually noticeable techniques) of permaculture with the science and philosophy of permaculture itself, else we fall into the trap of "doing without thinking" that leads to wasted energy, time, money, and human labor. The author gives us an overview of the proverbial (and literal) swales and herb spirals, but doesn't tell us why we design and build them and put them in relationships to other elements in such a way - and that why is really the heart of permaculture. As such, I would recommend this book only to someone who already has a solid grasp of what permaculture is about, and is just looking for some project ideas. You will need other books, however, on those specific projects, as this one merely scratches the surface on any one topic.
Unfortunately, this book is also terribly written and feels disjointed. There seems to be about an average of one grammatical error/incomplete sentence/typo every few pages that at times make the author's writing incomprehensible. For example, on page 88, in a section about building underground homes (punctuation and capitalization as it is in the original text): "The house is built with either a circular or dome shape for strength, It's not clear what is built small. in the parts of the house that are covered in dirt."
For a better, more understandable introduction to permaculture, I recommend the following books:
Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture
Earth User's Guide to Permaculture
Introduction to Permaculture
November 4, 2015
My thoughts are identical to this review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
including the recommendation to read these 2 books instead:
Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture and Earth User's Guide to Permaculture
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
including the recommendation to read these 2 books instead:
Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture and Earth User's Guide to Permaculture
April 26, 2018
This is both comprehensive and superficial (though less superficial than almost all of the other permaculture books I've seen). That being said, I haven't found any permaculture books I really like despite liking the idea.
October 21, 2019
There's quite a lot of information shoved into this book, with a fair amount of specifics on individual themes from farming, to home gardening, to raising chickens and quail and how to process them, etc... But the book must have put together hastily, or had a terrible proof reader, because it's filled with typos and small text errors that make a reader question the authority of both the writer and the publisher.
Overall, it's another good general resource, serving as a nice introduction to the underlying aspects and principles of permaculture. I suppose it'd be a good text book for a course as long as you had a knowledgeable teacher who could expand on the various themes, and help you with the information you'll need for your particulate climate.
Overall, it's another good general resource, serving as a nice introduction to the underlying aspects and principles of permaculture. I suppose it'd be a good text book for a course as long as you had a knowledgeable teacher who could expand on the various themes, and help you with the information you'll need for your particulate climate.
February 23, 2021
This book is very thorough on covering permaculture and all the aspects of it. If I had a few dozen acres in the country that I wanted to turn into a permaculture estate, I’d want this book by my side. But since I live in a city with a small lot, there wasn’t a lot of information that I could use. I was frustrated by a glaring omission too. The most basic of information - what USDA zone the plant grows in - is missing from this book, rendering the list of plants at the back almost useless.
September 28, 2020
A very detailed guide to permaculture. Informative. Technical. May be too much information to take in but I'm also interested in her other books.
June 18, 2021
Rubbish. The author gives wildly inaccurate information regarding animal care.
April 21, 2022
I wish this covered the design aspect a little more but overall a great book to get you started.
January 28, 2023
Great overview of permaculture. Read almost like a textbook.
January 7, 2013
I like the way the author makes some of the peramculture principles more obvious that other books Ive read, which seem to give advice on ways to set up a permaculture farm but aren't as specific as I would like, eg you like in a temperate climate and are facing increasing impacts of drought and climate change, so what to do, for this reason I wish the book focussed on the future a little more.
They did incorporate aspects of we are currently doing on our small permaculturish property eg rabbits, berries, chickens, geese etc. Actually defining 1/3 of your property for human food production does seem a little daunting, but perhaps also a realistic challenge for those people getting real about food production and not just fiddling around in the garden .....
They did incorporate aspects of we are currently doing on our small permaculturish property eg rabbits, berries, chickens, geese etc. Actually defining 1/3 of your property for human food production does seem a little daunting, but perhaps also a realistic challenge for those people getting real about food production and not just fiddling around in the garden .....
May 28, 2015
This is a great read for anyone interested in permaculture, regenerative agriculture, homesteading, agroforestry and sustainable animal husbandry. It's accessible, practical and informative. Topics are covered at a high level, and then buttressed with greater detail. Recommendations are not just offered, but supported with a reason why, which I so often find lacking in these kinds of books. This really helped my comprehension of the subject matter.
November 24, 2012
I've skimmed through several permaculture books lately; I've become fascinated with the ideas and practices behind permaculture. I've been a backyard gardener for years but I am just now realizing how much farther some people take it. This book was by far the most approachable permaculture book I picked up. Highly recommended!
May 30, 2012
The Ultimate Guide to Permaculture is a simple, mainstream sum up of permaculture philosophy, which would make it a good gift for your neighbor or mother who look at your crazy projects with a skeptical eye.
June 4, 2014
This is a good guide but doesn't have a lot of practical examples. I really found the planting guide super helpful because it listed good companion plants for each variety and mentioned the bugs they repel and attract.
The pictures are beautiful as well.
The pictures are beautiful as well.
May 30, 2013
Super superficial; paradoxically good, as a dumbed-down overview.
September 16, 2014
Very informative, but more for people who own large plots of land. Not for suburban life or backyard design, but interesting if you are looking for information on permaculture.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews