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Essential Media about Permaculture Design, for your Research Library
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Thinking in Systems: A Primer
by Donella Meadows
$20, 2008, 240pp.

“Dana Meadows’ exposition in this book exhibits a degree of clarity and simplicity that can only be attained by one who profoundly and honestly understands the subject at hand--in this case systems modeling. Many thanks to Diana Wright for bringing this extra legacy from Dana to us.” —Herman Daly, Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland at College Park

“When I read Thinking in Systems I am reminded of the enormity of the gap between systemic thinkers and policy makers. If this book helps narrow the gap, it will be Dana’s greatest contribution.” —Lester Brown, founder and President, Earth Policy Institute

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“Dana Meadows was one of the smartest people I ever knew, able to figure out the sensible answer to almost any problem. This book explains how she thought, and hence is of immense value to those of us who often wonder what she'd make of some new problem. A classic.” —Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy

“Thinking in Systems is required reading for anyone hoping to run a successful company, community, or country. Learning how to think in systems is now part of change-agent literacy. And this is the best book of its kind.” —Hunter Lovins, founder and  President of Natural Capital Solutions and coauthor of Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution

The Holistic Life: Sustainability Through Permaculture
by Ian Lillington, 144pp, 2007, $25

In this timely book, the author sets out the vision for a sustainable planet as well as methods we can all use to get there. The time has now come to get very serious about using alternatives and conserving what we already have, rather than living as if there is an unlimited supply of what we all know to be limited resources. Within this book are simple starting points which, when implemented, will be a small but significant change.

 

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Some of the subjects covered will help you see a world of new possibilities:
A different way of seeing the world; Meeting new challenges; Permaculture - an antidote to consumer society; Feeding ourselves; Growing your own; Personal & household strategies for sustainable living; Using less fossil fuel - understanding our energy addiction; Villages within the city & community gardens; Permaculture principles.
 
THE EARTH CARE MANUAL
A Permaculture Handbook For Britain & Other Temperate Countries

by Patrick Whitefield

$75, 2004,  480pp, 206 black and white photos, 43 color photos, 145 line diagrams & numerous tables.

Seven years in the making, this is the long awaited study of permaculture specifically for cooler climates. It takes a detailed view of designing sustainable systems both large and small, urban and rural.

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Defining permaculture and placing it in the context of the green movement, this important book is divided into three parts. Part One: The principles underlying permaculture as applied to soil, fertility, water, climate, microclimate, energy and materials. Part Two: Applying permaculture to buildings, gardens, orchards, farming, woodlands and biodiversity. Part Three: The permaculture design process in action, how to develop your home or project on permaculture lines, plus many useful skills and techniques. Scrupulously researched and written in an accessible style by Patrick Whitefield, one of Europe’s foremost permaculture teachers, designers and author of How to Make a Forest Garden and Permaculture in a Nutshell. It is lavishly illustrated, filled with case studies and useful contacts.
PERMACULTURE: Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability
by David HolmgrenCo-Originator of the Permaculture Concept
2003, 286pp, $29

This book builds on the extraordinary success of the permaculture concept and global permaculture movement (over the last 25 years), to provide a more cerebral and controversial contribution to the sustainability debate. David Holmgren is an ecological pioneer destined to have a major influence on permaculture's evolution.

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"If the 'Permaculture Principles' that David Holmgren discusses in this extremely important book were applied to all that we do, we would be well on the road to sustainability, and beyond." Professor Stuart B Hill (Foundation Chair of the Social Ecology University of Western Sydney)

Are there ways to live within nature's limits while providing a secure future for our children and justice for everyone? We think so. Read this book.

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

by Toby Hemenway
2001, 238pp, $30

The first book published in the US in a generation to embrace ecological design of the home landscape, Gaia's Garden is a snapshot of Permaculture in America at the turn of the century. Toby Hemenway is a scientist, trained in genetics, who shares with his readers his rapturous enjoyment of the garden.

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Basics of Permaculture Design
by Ross Mars, 2005, $25, 170 pages

The Basics of Permaculture Design, first published in Australia in 1996, is an excellent introduction to the principles of permaculture, design processes, and the tools needed for designing sustainable gardens, farms, and larger communities.
Packed with useful tips, clear illustrations, and a wealth of experience, it guides you through designs for gardens, urban and rural properties, water harvesting systems, animal systems, permaculture in small spaces like balconies and patios, farms, schools, and ecovillages. This is both a do-it-yourself guide for the enthusiast and a useful reference for permaculture designers.

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Designing and Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally

Robert Kourik; Foreword by Rosalind Creasy
1986, $49.00, 45 b&w photographs, 204 illustrations, 382 pp
 

First published in 1986, this classic is back in print by popular demand. It is the authoritative text on edible landscaping, featuring a step-by-step guide to designing a productive environment using vegetables, fruits, flowers, and herbs for a combination of ornamental and culinary purposes.

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It includes descriptions of plants for all temperate habitats, methods for improving soil, tree pruning styles, and gourmet recipes using low-maintenance plants. There are sections on attracting beneficial insects with companion plants and using planting to shelter your home from erosion, heat, wind, and cold.

Hepburn Permaculture Gardens:
A Case Study in Cool Climate Permaculture 1985-1995

1995, $35, 66pp., lg format, w/ plans & drawings.

David Holmgren, co-originator of the permaculture concept, has made a valuable contribution to ecological design by documenting the planning and construction of his 1 hectare homestead in Victoria, Australia. This large-format book details his site analysis using zone-and-sector and other permaculture tools, land use history, microclimate and soil types, and other criteria that guided his home-site selection, planting strategies, water systems, and passive-solar design.

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Idealists may quibble with Holmgren's decisions to use nearby grid power (off-grid systems being far more expensive), small engines (indispensible to all farmers), and a farm truck (the only vehicle shown in the book), but these choices point to the real value of the work: what happens when sustainable design is attempted in the real world. Holmgren is honest about where he compromised and where he held fast. What distinguishes his efforts from a typical back-to-the-land farm is the use of sophisticated design tools that reduce energy use, conserve soil and water, emphasize perennial species and natural materials, and apply patterning tools to the overall design. One look at the design and implementation and it will be obvious that permaculture design offers a far better toolkit than conventional methods.  Reviewed by Toby Hemenway
Introduction to Permaculture
by Bill Mollison and Reny Mia Slay.
2nd printing, 2000. 218pp. $38
Now in stock again! (finally).

The basic argument for permanent agriculture: how to feed and house yourself in any climate with the least use of land, energy, and repetitive labor. Supersedes Permaculture One and Two

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Introduccion a la Permacultura
por Bill Mollison con Reny Mia Slay
1994, 202pp, $28

Principios y ejemplos para disenar pueblos, casas, y huertos sostenibles. Traducido de la edicion ingles original, contiene las mismas ilustraciones y listas de plantas y tambien un glosario de palabras que son unicas en la Permacultura.

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Permaculture: A Designer's Manual
by Bill Mollison
Now in stock again! (finally).

1988, 576 pp. $105 Global treatment of cultivated ecosystems. Resource for all landscapes and climates. Lucid illustrations by Andrew Jeeves bring Mollison's concepts to life. Essential, in-depth look at earth repair and practical design.

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Permaculture in a Nutshell
by Patrick Whitefield

1993. 75 pp. $13   The perfect gift to introduce friends & family to permaculture. Brief, concise, comprehensive, it shows how permaculture works in the city, the country and on the farm. Explores ways in which people can work together to recreate real communities.

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Earth User's Guide to Permaculture: 2nd Edition
by Rosemary Morrow and Rob Allsop
2006. 264pp., $16

Completely revised and expanded, this popular primer tells how to design a garden of any size from balcony bench to country acreage. With chapters on seed saving, Pc at work, integrated pest management, water usage, and design for disaster. The author's experience with women and communities in crisis (Cambodia, Albania, Afghanistan, and Vietnam) ensures a practical approach.

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Earth User's Guide to Permaculture: Teacher's Notes
by Rosemary Morrow and Rob Allsop
1997. 152pp., $17

Peer reviewed and years in development, this essential guide supplies an overview, learning objectives, suggested graphics, terms, thorough syllabus content, student activities, resources, and references for 40 subjects from ethics, ecology, climate, and earthworks, through creative problem solving, bioregions and suburban Pc.

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A Pattern Language:
Towns - Building - Construction

by Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, Murray Silverstein with Max Jacobson, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Shlomo Angel
1977, 1172pp, $65

A working document for a new theory of architecture, building, and planning which forms the basis for a new traditional post-industrial architecture created by people. It introduces the archetypal language which allows lay person to design for themselves. "Brilliant....Here's how to design or redesign any space you're living or working in--from metropolis to room. Consider what you want to happen in the space, and then page through this book. Its radically conservative observations will spark, enhance, organize your best ideas, and a wondrous home, workplace, town will result"--San Francisco Chronicle

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"I believe this to be perhaps the most important book on architectural design published this century. Every library, every school, every environmental action group, every architect, and every first-year student should have a copy." Tony Ward, Architectural Design
Seeing Nature: Deliberate Encounters with the Visible World
by Paul Krafel
1999, 208 pp, $16

"[This book] is a gift . . . With curiosity, wit, and a spare and graceful style, Krafel notes why birds in flocks land as they do, how islands can move upstream in a river, how kelp forests, swaying gently, break the force of the sea's power, how tundra plants create whole ecosystems on bare rock from mere specks of life. Yet there are no long-winded sermons about the woods, or cute anthropomorphizations of animals.

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The book's economical, unsentimental style is part of its originality."—Barbara Damrosch
Seeing Nature is a series of true, parable-like stories that offer tools for understanding relationships in the natural world. Many of the stories take the reader to wild landscapes, including canyons, tundra, and mountain ridges, while others contemplate the human-made world: water-diversion trenches and supermarket check-out lines.

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