Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, 2nd Edition

If you have room on your shelves for only one book on gardening, this should be it. Toby Hemenway, who unfortunately passed away last December, was simultaneously a master gardener, a superb writer, and a man of immense knowledge and decency. His book is a comprehensive gardening manual for suburbanites, but it is much more--it is a roadmap to a revolution. Not, of course, a revolution as it is normally imagined--storming the barricades and all that. But rather, a deeper, more fundamental revolution in the way we live and think, starting, quite literally, from the ground up. (His chapter on topsoil will fundamentally change the way you look at the stuff under your feet!) Until this book came along, Permaculture was widely marginalized and stereotyped as a kind of quaint hippie agrarian movement, a vestige of the 70s, for folks who wanted to abandon modern industrial civilization to go back to the land, buy a few acres, and grow their own food. But Hemenway understood that this movement was not just about growing food, and not simply for hippie farmers, but a fundamental shift in orientation for our civilization with practical implications for everyone--including and especially city dwellers and suburbanites. For those who simply seek detailed gardening advice, on what to plant, when, and where, this book has copious information, practical advice, and suggestions, along with tables and charts galore. But it is much, much more. It introduces us to Permaculture as a way of thinking, a way of understanding design as a regenerative process, and of understanding ourselves as a part of, rather than apart from, the natural world we inhabit. Read it closely and carefully, and you will never be the same--you will transform not only your backyard, but also your understanding of life itself, and of your place in it. You will find yourself as part of a worldwide movement of quiet revolutionaries who are healing our planet one backyard at a time, and not only growing delicious, abundant food, but sowing the seeds of a regenerative future for all our children. Toby Hemenway has passed away--a great loss to our planet--but in this book, he has preserved and transmitted the essence of his practical knowledge and wisdom to all the rest of us. Read it, learn it, consult it, and then join the revolution, the healing process for our sick and dying planet, starting in your own back yard.

I knew literally nothing about Permaculture gardening when I bought this book - my mother mentioned it to me and said to check it out, so I came to Amazon where the description intrigued me......fast forward 3 weeks later and my front water guzzling lawn has now been sheet mulched in preparation for a wonderful, sustainable, garden, and I have 5 baby chickens being delivered next week! I'm not kidding when I say that this book was transformational in my views on gardening - I live in the city with very limited space, and our lawn was the best in the neighborhood. I have a raised bed for a garden in the back, and did produce some good veggies, but not near enough to eliminate buying any items at the grocery store. My first 10 minutes with this book I learned what I was doing wrong in my raised bed - and as I dug deeper it was one "Aha!" moment followed by another. I am a scientist, and I can't believe none of this had ever occurred to me! The book is very in depth and gives wonderful examples with specific plants (not just general concepts) - the only thing I would have liked to see more of was pictures of actual permaculture gardens. I'm a very visual person and like to have something to imitate when designing my own project, so I'm still searching for design examples to incorporate (once again with specific plants). Just know that if you get this book you're going to be inspired to make some drastic changes in your landscape - as evidenced by my "Bomb Proof Sheet Mulched" lawn - the recipe in the book for this was extremely helpful! I will admit that my first initial thought upon opening the book was - oh no, this is too in depth and not being a professional gardener, I'm never going to understand - trust me when I say, pick a chapter that sounds interesting to you and start there - that is what I did, and it migrated to many of the other chapters and just kept going!

I LOVE this book! I wish I had bought it sooner! Toby is very descriptive and methodical in explaining both his and others experiments, experiences and results of permaculture techniques. I highlighted and underlined all through this book many things that I want to try. He was a first a biologist and his attention to detail in this area definitely carries over into his writing about gardening with nature. I love how he describes different peoples (including some of his own) experiences with permaculture principles and how they worked. He also gives very many recipes for different types of permaculture gardens so you can figure out how to try some for yourself. And his lists of plants/trees are wonderful for choosing by growing zone and then purpose what you’d want to include in your garden and easily know what won’t work well together and what will. It’s January now, and I can’t wait to start sketching out my new garden plans for this year and try out some permaculture concepts and see if they improve my gardens. If you’re interested in growing your own organic food and/or putting less work and less burden on water and other resources, or just growing gardens that are closer to nature, you’ll love this book.

I don't think I can say anything here that hasn't already been said except to add that I'm not even finished with the book and I'm implementing alot of the ideas. Its the most perfect blend of food production, wildlife habitat and minimizing labor that I've ever found. This is my first introduction to permaculture and the reading is easy and interesting. Lots of details but not boring in any way. I have alot of plans and this book has helped me pull all my ideas together into a cohesive plan that will benefit people (my family), wildlife and my little corner of the world. I had already started planting to encourage birds but now I know how to make that a part of my garden and not a separate entity in some far corner of the property. I live in the heartland of big Ag and chemical farming so I see the results of that on the soil and the loss of habitat. Luckily I was raised on a farm in the era before big Ag and I knew there was a better way. This book not only tells you how to do things - it tells you why those methods work. There are ideas, solutions to problems (hungry deer) and encouragement to try your own ideas. You may not implement every idea the author has but there are enough different ways to use the system - you just need to experiment with what works within your lifestyle. If you don't read it for any other reason - the "how and why" behind how ecosystems work together is worth your while. You'll never apply chemicals again without thinking twice about it (or better yet - finding an alternative). I would have to say its my favorite read amongst all of my garden books and I will be referring to the tables and charts often. I will be giving friends copies of this book.

First of all--Woah. What a stunner this book is. If your entering the ecological gardening field fresh and have been exposed to many of the arguments out there in mainstream land when it comes to commonsense stuff regarding plants, weeds, natives, non-natives, exotics, and so-called invasive plants, be prepared to get your socks blown off. Furthermore, this book is an invaluable addition to the literature and I believe Gaia's Garden to be the perfect beginners book on permaculture-based practices in the garden or edible tree forest you need to build. PLEASE, IF YOU CAN WAIT, PLEASE ORDER THE PHYSICAL BOOK. THe digital e-book is terrible when it comes to charts. I even screencapped an important section to try and copy it to my notebook, but it was nearly impossible to read, even blown up. OR, order the digital version of Gaia's Garden and a physical copy of the two volume Edible Forest Gardens at the same time. But read Gaia's first, especially if you are just entering this field.

For me, permaculture in its truest sense is not really an option, you see my "hippyness" only goes so far. There are people in Portland and Brooklyn that recycle their own excrement and use it to grow the cherry tomatoes that they feed to their gender neutral, vegan, and likely completely naked offspring. To these people, this book is merely evidence that human kind should collectively commit suicide...it is, after all, made of paper and therefore a tree was unceremoniously sacrificed so that styrofoam abusers like myself could learn that our every flatulent outburst kills yet another ecosystem. For those of us, though, who drink PBR because we like the way is makes us feel, who eat delicious animals and who proudly drive anywhere the hell we want - we can learn something from this manual. Widely considered to be the founding document of the permaculture movement, this book goes to great lengths to provide you with a very abstract template for transforming your craptastic sliver of suburbia into a useable, durable and aesthetically pleasing ecosystem. Lets face it, those bearded douche-bags in Bed-Stuy and the hirsute dumpster divers in OR-eh-gone are right about a few things: The Strokes, Trucker Hats and the fact that you, personally, are destroying the planet. Sure, you could Al Gore this sitch and buy carbon credits and if that's the case, hit me up as I'll gladly sell you as many as you need (Bitcoin accepted!). Assuming you're not a mindless twit who readily trades your cold hard cash for a the privilege of owning, um, nothing, then perhaps this book is the Gandolph to your Bilbo. It is well-written and exceptionally detailed with information and insight for complete newbies to experienced crap recyclers. Like many sub, sub-cultures, "Permaculture" can seem cult-like...one reason why books, this book, are great options. It stands to reason that no one read the "Complete Guide to Scientology" prior to signing up to be a "Thetanamy" or whatever Scientologists call their version of Juggalos. With this guide, you can limp in or opt out of the Permaculture movement without sacrifice or the potential for excommunication. If you're anything like me you'll quickly identify the information that lies within your personal realm of the possible and eschew the rest as Old Testament-like superlatives, best referenced in hushed tones or better, completely ignored. I am convinced that more should read this book, regardless as it certainly contains something for everyone...even Ann Coulter, who I'm thinking would use it to torture and kill babies. Not the author's intent I'd hope, but nothing is perfect. Buy the book, learn something and change you're world a little...please.

This book was my introduction to Permaculture and I find it very informative and uselful! The author begins with Permaculture principles and the ecological garden. A sampling of chapters: building your soil, rainwater/graywater systems, bringing in beneficial insects, birds, and other helpful animals, growing a food forest, designing guilds, and even urban permaculture gardening. My favorite things are all the tables that give you a lot of information at a glance, and the examples of different guilds. There is too much to write about in a short review, but you won't be disappointed in this book. While this author gardens in the northwest, and I am in the southeast, he gave enough information for plants all across the country. I am re-reading the book now and I just can't wait to begin our food forest on our little 2.5 acre lot. This book is full of practical information with a good balance of design, examples, pictures, and tables of information summarized. It is my first and my favorite Permaculture book!

A great book. I'm still reading it and will use it as my main reference source of information. Gaia's Garden is the best book I've seen on creating a living garden in my climate. For those looking for basic planting or propagation instruction, this is not the book for you. But, if you are looking for a "big picture" with enough examples to get started, this is it. It has enough specific information on green manures, nurse/companion planting and the benefits of particular plants to get you headed in the right direction. Enough design concepts with examples to give you a much clearer idea of what permaculture is about. Lots of useful tables. Best of all it's not a book about gardening in the tropics or mediterranean zone. It gets cold here in the winter. I live in a zone 6 (sunset 35) and don't find book geared for tropical rain forests very helpful. Not a lot of exotic plant listings that I can't grow, never heard of or just can't find. If I had to get only one book, this would be it.