We take a broad view approach to this idea and move from the underpinnings of her perspective, stemming from heavy research that is well documented in the book, to the idea of restoration and how many modern techniques depend heavily on the chemical weapons of our war on plants: herbicides. Wrapping up Tao answers a series of listener questions. If you have questions after listening to this interview, get in touch with me. I’d like to have Tao back on the show in the near future so we can follow up on many of the ideas presented here. Email or call in with what you would like to know more about. The Permaculture Podcast or Finally, before we begin, this show is listener supported. Make a one time contribution using the donate link on the right hand side of the main page or become a recurring monthly patron at Patreon.

You can find Tao's book, Beyond the War on Invasive Species at ChelseaGreen.com. If you use this link to purchase this book, a portion of the coverprice goes towards supporting this show. Something that I like very much about her book is how well researched it is, with copious endnotes. Whether or not you agree with Tao’s perspective on invasive species, there is no question where her ideas and evidence arose from. As someone who wants to see more scientific literacy and research in permaculture literature, I see this book as an entry into a new model for how to proceed with writing material for the community as well as a broader audience, filling a niche between a pop-science book and a peer reviewed journal entry. From there, what stood out for me in this conversation with Tao was her long-term, conscious approach to our interactions and decision making processes that extends our perspective forward, and backward, in time and space to consider not only what got us to this moment, but also where things can go into the future. The smooth cordgrass and being able to imagine that kind of ecological change based on the environment being constantly in state of transition. With that is the broadscale view of how to impact the problems that arise by digging down into the issue and creating larger, elegant solution. We are drawn out to ask bigger questions. Far too often, from my own personal experiences, it is easy to drill into the details without doing a larger analysis. We make decisions on the micro scale, rather than pulling out our macro-scope. A zone analysis is done of a single divisible space, be that land or waterway, and track the influences on it, but don’t step back and do that same analysis for the watershed or biome where that space is located. As we look to interface with larger problems and bring systems thinking to bear upon it, then we must step back and look at the systems that are at play, which brings us back to not looking at just the landscape, but also the social and economic structures. In doing so we can make choices that use the principles of permaculture to satisfy the ethics in a way that can have incredibly far reaching and lasting change. If there is anyway I can assist you in the problems and issues you face, get in touch. Email: The Permaculture Podcast From here, when this episode goes live I will be on my way to Kentucky for Radicle Gathering. If you are in the area and want to swing by the event starts Thursday August 20 and runs through Sunday August 23, 2015. Tickets for the event are very reasonable, and there is camping allowed on-site so you can stay the whole weekend and learn about earth skills and permaculture, plus get to listen to great music each night. Find out more at RadicleGathering.com Until the next time, take care of Earth, yourself, and each other.

My guest for this episode is Toby Hemenway, author of the longstanding favorite book on ecological design Gaia’s Garden. His next blockbuster The Permaculture City, was recently released by Chelsea Green. This latest volume, focusing on urban landscapes, forms the basis for the conversation today. We work our way through the book and along the way discuss permaculture as a decision making system, and the importance of what permaculture practitioners have, for so long, called the invisible structures: our social and economic systems. For patreon supporters, stick around after the end of the interview, as there is a piece I cut from the piece for broadcast that I included at the end for you to hear. Before we begin, I’d like to thank everyone who had help to make this show a reality. If not for every one of the listener supporters I wouldn’t be able to keep going, as all of this work is made possible by you. If you’ve thought about giving, do so now. If you would like to be part of the members who are part of the monthly program, become a Patreon supporter and receive a number of benefits, including early access to shows and subscriber only podcasts. You can find out more about Toby's work at patternliteracy.com. His latest book, The Permaculture City, is currently available through Chelsea Green. If you choose to order use the link above and help support the podcast at the same time. Before we get to my thoughts, a class announcement. October 2 - 11, 2015 Dave Jacke is teaching a 9 day intensive Forest Garden Design Course at Feathered Pipe Ranch, near Helena Montana. This is the first time in three years this course has been offered in the United States. The all inclusive class allows students to learn how to mimic forest ecosystems that include a number of valuable characteristics including stability and resilience in a changing world. As the recent interviews with Dave this have expressed, you can also expect this course to explore the human side of design including the social and economic elements, as discussed with Toby as part of today’s interview. Participants will the opportunity to design multiple forest gardens, including one for the course site, as well as another for the 6th Ward Forest Garden Park, as discussed with Caroline and Jesse during the conversation with them on Social System Design. Find out more at: https://www.insideedgedesign.com/upcoming-events.html Now then, my thoughts at the moment. To me this book and the interview you just heard are vital to changing the conversation about permaculture away from just the landscape and growing food, as these are problems that are technically solved. We know how to raise up plants from seed, cutting, or graft. We understand the techniques to use in a wide variety of situations in any climate, even if that means making modifications to the land through ponds or swales, or creating physical structures such as greenhouses or stone walls as thermal mass. Conventional and organic agriculture have a lot of information for us to pull from, as do the rapidly growing fields of agro-forestry and agro-ecology. Where things go sideways is in reaching a larger audience with these ideas, not just in mainstream culture, but also in the permaculture community at large. The landscape is the focus and gets many of us stuck there. Myself and, as you heard, Toby as well. In the beginning this is the place it all starts. Plants. Animals. Food. Fuel. Fiber. Medicine. They form our materials and techniques and yields. These are all easy to see and engage in. But now, 40 years since the beginning we need to go back and dig through Mollison’s big black book of permaculture and remember Chapter 14: Strategies for an Alternative Nation. We need to learn how to build and work in community with one another. Now that the thorny pioneers have blazed a trail into the depths of the jungles, plains, and cities, and there set down roots, we have flourished in the shade of their experience and the work that came before us long enough. Now the specialists can come in. The growers, the builders, the organizers, and the communicators, to fill in the gaps and expand to reach all aspects of human life. We have the potential for permanent human agriculture, now let’s work on building that permanent human culture, and retain the aspects of civilization that matter to us. Thankfully we can do so using the same system of design as those who came before us, and show others how to create a different world. We can tell the stories of how what will come can be different from what has been and what is. Together, though climate change and other obstacles may seem insurmountable, we can bring prosperity and abundance to all life on earth. We can get the next story right and, with it, get the future right. I am hopeful for what will happen next, as is a recurring theme in my work as of late on engaging what was once seen as invisible. It was quite an experience to hear what Toby had to say on this subject, given his many years of experience and the place of respect he holds in the community. The Permaculture City is a fundamental resource that I recommend everyone who is listening read. If this interview is your first exposure to permaculture and you liked Toby’s perspective get a copy of Gaia’s Garden, read it, and then read The Permaculture City. If you’re someone who finds their thoughts continually revolving around the land, read The Permaculture City and see the broader scope of decision making that permaculture can help us engage in. For those of you already working on issues of social and economic systems, especially in the urban environment, pick up a copy and know that you are not alone in your work and there are many people stepping out from what was to create a new now. Along the way, wherever you go, I am here to lend you a hand. To walk beside you until such time as our paths part. If I can be of service to you in any way, get in touch. Email: The Permaculture Podcast Call: Skype: permaculturepodcast You can also send me a letter, as I do so love receiving mail in the post. The Permaculture Podcast The Permaculture Podcast As we draw this to a close, on Wednesday, August 19, 2015, I’m going to be attending a potluck in Berea, Kentucky for an evening discussion about permaculture, being organized by Michael Beck of The POOSH. Though short notice, once I have a flier for that event I’ll pass it around if you are in the area and able to attend. That event kicks off my time in Kentucky, as I’ll be at Radicle Gathering, in Bowling Green, August 20 - 23, 2015. Come out and join me, and members of The POOSH, for a weekend of workshops, entertainment, and community building. Tickets are currently on-sale and the entire weekend is only $25 for adults, those 16 and under get in for free. My deepest thanks to Meg Harris for being part of the team organizing this event and inviting myself, Eric Puro, and all the other presenters and musicians for this weekend. It’s going to be a blast. Find out more at RadicleGathering.com. With that, so comes the end of the episode. There is a short episode planned for Monday, August 10. Until then spend each day creating a better world, the world you want to live in, by taking care of earth, your self, and each other.

Exciting, isn’t it? Toby Hemenway has a new book coming out and I’ll just go ahead and say it: it is incredible. I received an advance copy, clocking in at 288 pages, from the publisher Chelsea Green and, even though I’m a slow reader, sat down and read the whole thing, cover to cover, in a day. What I like about this book is that the way it is written and organized reminds me of my own permaculture path. In the beginning, there is an examination of the ethics and principles and why they matter. Then there is a look at design and considering techniques, but then stepping back and organizing our thoughts with the tools provided by the permaculture design process. To re-examine the elements and how they relate to systems. As that understanding grows to take another step and use small examples, such as water systems, to expand our thoughts further and realize there is more to this work than just the land and includes the people involved with caring for it, maintaining it, and that those living communities matter. They embody why we care for Earth, care for people, and share the surplus.

As importantly, Toby also addresses the real fact that we can’t expect everyone to become hunter-gatherers again or subsistence farmers. Even if we could that idea isn’t reflective of the resiliency that permaculture design engenders. Using resiliency as a basis he uses several examples, including home and community gardening, water, and energy use, as informal case studies to explore how to apply the principles to step back and ask bigger questions so we can create useful strategies. This last point is important because, to me, The Permaculture City is a book about better understanding our design strategies, those often nebulous ideas that separate the philosophical underpinnings of permaculture, the ethics and principles, from the techniques that represent the physical practice that all of our on-paper design results in. There is time for techniques when we implement, but that can only come after consideration and design. For those of you familiar with the Zone and Sector design models in permaculture, they are both upon throughout the provided examples. I was left with a new understanding of how to apply these, especially to social systems. Chapter Nine in particular, on Placemaking and The Empowered Community, took me in a whole new direction.

Though I’ve used these methods repeatedly in the past after seeing them applied in the context of the various examples I come to agree with what Larry Santoyo says, which is quoted in this book, “Sectors trump everything.” I’m now going back and examining some of my designs, including landscape, social, and economic, to see where my sector analysis may be weak. My thoughts on permaculture moving beyond the landscape started several years ago when I interviewed Dave Jacke, Larry Santoyo, and Mark Lakeman in short succession. Reading this book has helped to continue my shift in thinking about permaculture, and in about the time it would take you to go back and listen to those interviews you can sit down and be well into this wonderful book and have an even greater understanding of how permaculture applies to so many human systems, but also how to start asking the questions that can take your understanding of design to the next level. I’ve been in this field for half a decade now and this book is a welcome addition to my library. It came at the right time, but I can’t help but wish that I would have been ready for it and received it sooner. Overall I like Toby’s latest book so much that I’m putting it on my recommended reading list, especially for someone new to permaculture. After you’ve read Masanobu Fukuoka’s The One-Straw Revolution, Donella Meadows’ Thinking in Systems, Rosemary Morrow’s Earth User’s Guide to Permaculture, and David Holmgren’s Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability, read The Permaculture City and take your design well beyond the landscape.

The Permaculture City is onsale now and you can order a copy today through Chelsea Green at: https://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_permaculture_city

My guest for this episode is Stephen Barstow, author of Around the World in 80 Plants. Today we talk about his incredibly diverse garden in Norway where he grows over 2,000 edible plants in a rather small space. We begin with his background and how he came to have an interest in edibles, from his beginnings as a foraging vegetarian, through to his beginning to eat and collect plants from wherever he traveled. He shares with us his love of edible ornamentals, or what Stephen calls edimentals, and he also recommends some to start with when first beginning to introduce more of these species into your garden. One of my favorites, not mentioned in the interview proper, are nasturtiums. What’s incredible to me is that Stephen is growing so many different varieties on such a small amount of space, which echoes what I learned from Holly Brown, and yet he’s doing it in a northerly climate. Less than a quarter acre, or 1/10th of a hectare, and he has over 2,000 different plants. At 64 degrees North latitude. I knew that was fairly far up, but didn’t have a real understanding until I compared it to other cities and saw that this is the same latitude as Fairbanks, Alaska. I took this a step further and checked the Koppen-Geiger climate classification and confirmed that where Stephen is corresponds with other Northerly latitudes, yet he’s growing all these plants. It’s just amazing. I’m including the copy of this book, which I received from Chelsea Green, in the Traveling Permaculture Library project. If you haven’t joined that cycle of giving yet, email your name and address to Matt Winters, who is the new librarian for the project. You can reach him at: librarian@thepermaculturepodcast.com Regardless of where you live, you can grow some of your own food. You can design for your space, your climate, and take steps towards self sufficiency and creating a better world, whatever that may mean to you. You can move a few dollars from one system and into the systems you want to intentionally support. If at any point along the way I can help you, get in touch. or Email: The Permaculture Podcast. I’m also continuing to look for opportunities to take the show on the road and to record more live in-person interviews. Use that phone number or email address to get in touch if you would like to host or have someone in mind to get in touch with. Finally, a few announcements before drawing this episode to a close. This show, as I mention in the introduction to each show, is completely listener supported. So I need your help to keep the show on the air. The best way to do that right now is through recurring contributions with Patreon. You can find out more about that, as well as where I’m at and what my goals are, at Patreon.com/permaculturepodcast. If you are not in a place to give, that’s fine. I’ll keep on keeping on as long as I can, and you can always lend a hand by sharing links with your friends. Retweet or reply to tweets on twitter, where I am @permaculturecst, or join in the conversations on facebook. Facebook.com/thepermaculturepodcast. From here, I have a class announcement for my friends and colleagues Wilson Alvarez and Ben Weiss. They’re running a Permaculture Design Course in Harrisburg Pennsylvania beginning in April 25 and running on weekends through October. Search for Downtown Harrisburg Permaculture Course on Facebook to find more information on the events page, or follow the link in the show notes. Coming up for the podcast I have interviews with “Wildman” Steve Brill on foraging, Peter Michael Bauer on Rewilding, and I’ll be sitting down with Jen Mendez, of PermieKids.com, to record a two part interview. I’ll interview her for the first half, which will appear on this show, and then she is going to interview me for the second half the will appear on her podcast. It should be fun. I’m also looking to go back through the archives and re-release some more “Best Of….” episodes with new introductions and endings to share some of the more popular guests in new ways. That about covers it for now. Until the next time, spend each day creating a better world, the world you want to live in, but taking care of earth, your self, and each other. Resources: Edimentals.com (Stephen’s Website) Around the World in 80 Plants (Chelsea Green Publishers) Around the World in 80 Plants (Permanent Publications) Sturtevants Edible Plants of the World (PDF. Large File) Downtown Harrisburg Permaculture Course

Before we begin, this show is supported by listeners. If you enjoy this show and would like to hear more like it, go to www.thepermaculturepodcast.com/support to make a one time or ongoing monthly contribution. The Market Gardener As always, I’m a fan of people who write books on subjects that they know well, especially when that expertise comes through in their writing and the final product. That’s true with this book, and was reflected in my interview with Jean-Martin, which is out later this year. For those of you interested in small scale farming, like I discussed with my friend Erin Harvey or what Peter Bane outlines in The Permaculture Handbook, The Market Gardener is a good companion. This is a practical book about starting and running your own operation. Inside you’ll find what Jean-Martin is able to do on one and a half acres, and the life that he enjoys as a result with his wife and children. He discusses the start-up and production costs, the process of direct selling, value added crops, and how to learn how to garden. You'll also read about finding the right site, including climate, having enough growing space, and access to water. You'll see his layout and design of his market garden is also included, which you can easily compliment and expand on by applying the principles of permaculture. Further he has the tools you’ll need, how to fertilize, how to starting seeds, managing weeds, pests, and diseases, extending the season, harvesting and storage, and crop planning. That quick list covers the first 2/3rds of the book. The final third is divided between five appendices including Crop Notes, Tools and Suppliers, Garden Plan, and an Annotated Bibliography and Glossary. Those details are you can expect to find between the covers, but that’s not why I really like this book for someone interested in starting a market farm. Rather, I like the transparency that is present in all the myriad of tables discussing things like the start-up costs (p 9), the sales figures for Jean-Martin’s own farm (p 14), or the various amounts of fertilizer that he uses (p 56). Though these amounts will vary, often widely, based on where you live, there is something here to get started with, to get an idea of whether or not you can afford to get started and use the information presented as a model for your work. There are more tables and pictures showing the garden layout as it exists on the ground, a 10-year crop rotation, planting dates, production calculations, tips for setting up a washing station, a harvesting list to begin each harvest day and create a priority of work flow, and on and on. Much of the guess work of small scale farming is taken away and you can focus on learning about your local area, including the best things to plant, the markets to reach out to, and getting started growing. Even if you’re not a market gardener or looking to farm professionally and just want to grow more food for your family, this is a good resource for a Zone 1 vegetable garden in a permaculture design. I wish I had had this book, and Peter Bane’s, earlier in my permaculture career, especially when designing my front yard garden. Even though I joke that I’m an awful gardener, and that self-deprecating position still applies to my personal assessment, I do enjoy working with in the soil, and look forward to using the ideas presented in Jean-Martin Fortier’s The Market Gardener in the re-implementation of my front yard vegetable garden, and as my wife develops her herb and flower garden. You can find out more about this book at TheMarketGardener.com, where you can order a copy of the book directly from the author for $24.95 plus shipping. Contact the Show E-mail: The Permaculture Podcast Facebook: Facebook.com/ThePermaculturePodcast Twitter: @permaculturecst The Permaculture Podcast with Scott Mann The Permaculture Podcast (Episode: 2014Byte0616)

I’ll admit that I wasn’t expecting what I found between the covers of this book. I try to approach my first interview with each guest as a novice, and to ask questions from a place of little to no-knowledge, so I wasn’t deeply familiar with Sam’s work and writings when I spoke with him. I didn’t know why Sam is considered one of the go-to gurus of foraging, including from other respected individuals such as Arthur Haines. Then I read Sam’s book and was blown away. Sam Thayer’s work, as represented in The Forager’s Harvest, is personal. He does this. There is an authenticity that comes through in what he writes. He expresses a genuine joy for those who forage, as well as admonishing those who repeat information without a personal understanding of what they do. I can respect that and it’s individuals like Sam who push me to get better and be better in my own permaculture work. I enjoyed this book a great deal not only because of the personal perspective but also because Sam’s writing is funny, and reminds me of Mary Roach, the author of books like Stiff of Gulp. The Forager’s Harvest is filled with one-liners and humorous offhand references. One that comes to mind as I work on this episode is in the section on parching grains.

Parching can be done in a metal container over virtually any heat source (but not a volcano; that’s dangerous).

The humor and personal touch makes this 360 page book enjoyable to read, and Sam provides all the information you need to get started identifying plants, including the recommendation you get additional field guides to compare your initial identifications against. Foraging and gaining enough understanding and knowledge is a slow process. I remember one of my earliest forays into wild food where I misidentified a plant and only someone else asking, “Are you sure?” that sent me back to the page and finding my mistake. Though this book is weighty, Sam doesn’t overwhelm you with a little bit of information about a lot of plants, like you find in something like Peterson’s Edible Wild Plants: Eastern/Central North America. Rather, there are 32 plant entries that Sam has extensive experience with and enjoys eating. Each of the plant profiles is a standalone essay, so you don’t have to read the whole book to make use of it. In each plant entry there is a personal anecdote from Sam regarding the plant and a piece of his history with it, along with a description, information on the range and habitat, and harvesting and preparation methods. Along with the text are full-color plates to aid in identification of the plants throughout the life cycle, not just when the plant is at the fullest leaf cover or the flowers are the most beautiful. This is important as the various parts of a plant you might use are harvested at different times of the year. I’ll admit my surprise in the number of useful edible parts available from an individual plant including root to leaves to stalks and stems, as my earliest memories about foraging and wild foods came as a Boy Scout, but much of what we were taught at the time, and I’ll date those experiences to the late 80’s and early 90’s, was about leafy greens and berries. We didn’t touch on roots, nuts, rhizomes, or tubers. Picking up this book, you should read pages 1-77 first before jumping into foraging and trying to eat something you’ve just found or think you know well. These first few chapters cover what you need to know about the book, getting started with edible wild plants, plants identification and foraging safety, as well as how to harvest, prepare, and store your wild foods, and a nice chart that shows when to find and harvest the plants profiles in the book. Overall, this book is worth the cover price just for the first first 77 pages, as well as the 8 page glossary, regardless of where you live. However, as plants have specific ranges and habitats, you may not live in an area where all the plants detailed grow. In the Eastern Woodlands of Appalachia in Pennsylvania where I live, I’ve seen most of the ones listed, but not all of them. You’ll find a list of the plants that Sam includes in this book below so you can decide whether or not this is an appropriate resource for you and where you live. Should you wish to pick up a copy to add to your library you can purchase this book directly from Sam at foragersharvest.com for $22.95, which is incredibly inexpensive given the wealth of information he’s included. If you pick up a copy, get two and give the extra to your friend and begin sharing the joy of foraging and wild foods with others. As a parent I find foraging is a great activity with my young children, and look forward to teaching their friends as they get older. Plants Profiled in The Forager's Harvest

• Ostrich Fern (Matteucia struthiopteris)
• Cattail (Typha angustifolia, T. latifolia)
• Wapato, Arrowhead (Sagittaria spp.)
• Wild Rice (Zizania aquatica, Z. palustris)
• Wild Leek, Ramp (Allium tricoccum)
• Smilax, Carrion Flower (Smilax herbacea, S. ecirrata, S. illinoensis, S. lasioneura)
• Butternut (Juglans cinerea)
• Siberian Elm (Ulmus pumila)
• Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica)
• Wood Nettle (Laportea canadensis)
• Sheep Sorrel (Rumex acetosella)
• Goosefoot, Lamb's Quarters (Chenopodium spp.)
• Spring Beauty (Claytonia spp.)
• Marsh Marigold, Cowslip (Caltha palustris)
• Swamp Saxifrage (Saxifraga pensylvanica)
• Serviceberry, Juneberry, Saskatoon (Amelanchier spp.)
• Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana)
• Pin Cherry (Prunus pensylvanica)
• Ground Bean, Hog Peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata)
• Hopniss, Groundnut (Apios americana)
• Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)
• Sumac (Rhus spp.)
• Wild Grape (Vitis riparia and other Vitis species)
• Basswood, Linden (Tilia spp.)
• Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis)
• Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa)
• Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
• Virginia Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum)
• Nannyberry, Wild Raisin, Black Haw (Viburnum lentago)
• Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum trilobum, V. edule)
• Burdock (Arctium minus, A. lappa)
• Thistle (Cirsium spp.)

The Forager’s Harvest is also one of the books featured in the Traveling Permaculture Library Project. If you’re not involved, you should be. Find out more about at thepermaculturepodcast.com/library. Are you already foraging and want to share your insights? Are there other experts, authors, or books you'd recommend? Get in touch: E-mail: The Permaculture Podcast Facebook: Facebook.com/ThePermaculturePodcast Twitter: @permaculturecst The Permaculture Podcast with Scott Mann The Permaculture Podcast (Episode: 2014Byte0530)

This book arrived in my mailbox, as a promotional copy, while editing the interview with Michael Judd was underway. I found this book compliments Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist rather well. Michael's provides permaculture, edible landscaping, and projects you can explore, while Niki's adds to the different techniques you can use while also having gardens that look good and are functional. Within the cover are numerous different styles of gardens that you can explore in any and all environments. Though largely geared towards North America, you can use your knowledge of permaculture to adapt them to your local needs. If you are new to permaculture and interested in gardening, pick up this book along with Michael's to supplement your introductory reading, and so you can start to get your hands in the soil sooner. If you're an experienced permaculture practitioner, this book provides a number of designs that you can use as short-cuts to let you focus on the trickier parts of permaculture design. Wherever you are in your personal exploration of permaculture, I think this book is a good addition to a gardening, or permaculture, library.

Have you read this book? Want to let me know what you think? Leave a comment below. 

The new book by Michael Judd, "Edible Landscaping, with a Permaculture Twist: How to Have your Yard and Eat it Too" is a wonderful reference for anyone wanting to make better use of their yard, patio or deck space at home whether they are interested in Permaculture or not. It is a book that doesn't take itself too seriously, but one that can make an important difference in your garden design if you implement a few of its projects.

As expected from the title, Michael opens the book with a brief discussion of the basic principles of Permaculture and how they can, and do, relate to choices you make around your home and garden. I applaud him for taking the time to include the principles and yet he keeps the discussion from being preachy. What he shared was enough, but not too much, and it might even make a few readers want to know more. I'll admit I read the book cover to cover when I probably should have been doing other things, like working, but it was such a pleasure to read. Michael's writing style is easy to read and he has a genuine sense of humor that comes shining through every section of the book. I was also fortunate that the subject matter was spot-on for me at the moment as well. I'm looking to redesign our front garden next spring so I was hungry for ideas when Edible Landscaping landed in our Post Office Box. Sadly most garden books show perfectly manicured plantings and impossibly expensive projects that I could never attempt on my own or afford on a modest budget. I was pleasantly surprised that Edible Landscaping is different in every way from those other books. In fact, if I had to use only one word to describe it that word would be "approachable."

This book is not scary, it is not too technical and though it has some nice photographs and beautiful gardens, it is believable that the projects in the book are doable by a regular gardener like me on a modest budget. With the use of drawings, diagrams and photographs of actual projects in varying stages, Michael guides you through making small changes to your garden that will yield big changes in the long term. Cost for materials are often included as well when specialized items need to be purchased which is useful when deciding which projects to tackle if there is a budget involved. For me, the most helpful information was on unusual fruits for your food forest.

Even though I knew of all the plants Michael mentioned, what he provided was a more in-depth discussion of their growth habits than I have seen before. He also lists resources where you can find more information about the plant and also where to purchase growing stock. Other topics discussed in Edible Landscaping are herb spirals, rainwater harvesting with swales and rainwater gardens, growing specialty mushrooms, Hugelkultur, and Earthen Ovens. Also included at the very end of the book is a short section on Michael himself explaining his interests and background. So, if you've ever wanted to try growing mushrooms at home, or you've seen an herb spiral but weren't sure how one could be built at a reasonable cost, or maybe you just want to settle in to some good gardening reading in the dead of winter - for all those reasons (and tons more) pick up a copy of Michael Judd's, "Edible Landscaping, with a Permaculture Twist: How to Have Your Yard and Eat it Too."

It is well worth your time.

Have you read this book? Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

Listen to the episode for the full review. In the meantime, for those of you who decided to stop by the website, here is the short version: This book is good. Quite good in fact. Another definite to place on a permaculture practitioner's or enthusiast's bookshelf next to the works of Mollison, Whitefield, Morrow, and Fukuoka. An easy read, the pace of the prose grabbed my attention from the introduction by David Holmgren and kept me reading through to the appendices: A, B, and C. For anyone just starting out, or someone whose sown seed, transplanted trees, and integrated form and function, "AH HA!" moments abound. New knowledge hides within these pages for anyone who seeks it out. Of most value is the Garden Farm Pattern Language gifted to us through this work. This single chapter, and the proceeding one, make this book worth more than the cover price. The integration of ideas and design elements into practical placement via a common language integrate the sometimes seperate parts of our design towards a more cohesive whole. If you've made it to this point and haven't done so yet: Buy This Book!