Product of the week - my favorite permaculture books, Part 1
I get this question a lot, and it's rather silly that I haven't done a post on this yet. These have been some of the most influential books that I have read over the past 5 years. If you decide to buy, consider buying from the links in this post. It won't cost you an extra cent, but will support the channel and the work we do.
I'm going to have to break this down into multiple parts because I've read way too many books on permaculture and plants. Here are the first 5 in part 1.
1) Permaculture Designers Manual
Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/3kKvwkt Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3qbUtq5
This book has been long out of print, so getting a copy can be hard. Because of this, you can pay upwards of $500-1000 for the book. As much as this is a really important book in permaculture, if you watch my videos you know everything that's in this book. If you have money to burn, get it as a collector item, but I don't expect many people will pay $500+ for it. That being said, if you see this at a garage sale or something, grab it! Even just to resell the thing! haha.
2) The Holistic Orchard - Michael Phillips
This was one of the later books I've read, but it was fantastic. This talks about many things, and is a great pickup for people who want to run a more "organized" food forest garden, more of an orchard/food forest mix. The thing I really like about this is that it gives people options for problems other than "do nothing and let nature sort it out". Sometimes a little human intervention is warranted and the methods in this book are all natural. Also, this book talks about stuff like integrated pest management, building a healthy predatory population, inviting in the right insects, and letting insects battle it out a bit. A fantastic read.
3) Grow your soil - Diane Miessler and Dr Elaine Ingham
Dr. Ingham is who I consider the Einstein of soil science. She is largely regarded as the global expert in the soil food web of life. When you see netflix documentaries on how important growing soil is, most of this is on the back of this wonderful woman's life devotion to soil microbiology and it's critical importance for all life on earth. When I talk about "grow soil not plants", my two golden rules of gardening, the importance of mulch, groundcovers, solar panels, it's all based off of soil microbiology and it's importance. This book is what I consider the best book to buy on this topic, and the price is fantastic.
4) The end of Growth - Richard Heinberg
This is probably my favorite book I've ever read. Like, ever. That being said, it's not a very fun read. Richard Heinberg is an American journalist and educator who has written extensively on energy, economic, and ecological issues, including oil depletion. He is the author of 13 books, and presently serves as the senior fellow at the Post Carbon Institute. This book focuses less on the carbon aspects of coal oil and gas, and more on the fundamental realities of how energy impacts society, specifically cheap free energy like poking a hole in the ground and having black energy come up for free - and then how we are now squeezing oil out of rocks, similar to a 4AM drunk sucking beer out of the carpet (energy analyst Nicole Foss). I personally believe that every human on the planet should read and understand this book - if for no other reason that they can best prepare for the future that we have ahead of us. (Preparing involves planting trees, starting gardens and becoming more self-resilient - all things that I teach and teach and pound and pound into your heads in every video I make).
5) Everything I want to do is illegal - Joel Salatin
Just like my videos, I like to keep things light. The last book is heavy. This one isn't. I think a perfect way to end part 1 is with a funny/light hearted book from one of the best permaculturists on the planet. This is a really fun read and the price is great too. This is just a fun book on how planting trees can be illegal, planting certain plants can be illegal, it can be illegal to catch and hold water, etc.
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Let me know if you guys enjoyed this list. I can probably make at least 4-5 more and still not be "looking" for books to recommend. There are just so many great books out there, and I already know what's going to be on my next 5. Hint, one will definitely be a Stamets book.