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Gardening Books: Gaia’s Garden, A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture

June 18th, 2009

I’m always reading several books, I have a stack of 10-15 on the table at all times and I read them while I’m eating breakfast, lunch, dinner or just taking a break.Gaia_s_Garden_a_guide_to_home_scale_permacultuer I love reading gardening books for inspiration, I’m particularly drawn to books with interesting photos and ideas.

I read Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permacultureafter watching A Farm for the Future because I was fascinated by the idea of forest gardens they talked about in this documentary.

It’s not the typical garden book filled with photos of lush gardens (although the 2nd edition may have more), it has more of a textbook feel with only a few sketches to articulate certain points. It is easy to understand and very well written and keeps you engaged throughout the entire book. I’m finding that permaculture is quite fascinating, and I think I’ve learned more about gardening and nature from this book than I learned in all my years of science in school (perhaps that’s because I’m paying attention now?).
gaia's garden image-web
If you’re interesting in the nitty-gritty of organic gardening I would highly recommend this book. It’s not the typical fluff organic gardening book that talks about composting and heirloom vegetables. It will definitely challenge some of the ideas you have about organic gardening and perhaps inspire you to make your gardens a little more closely aligned with the natural order of things. I’m hoping to implement some of the ideas into the gardens here at Chiot’s Run.

To read more about permaculture go here.

Have you ever heard of Permaculture? Are you implementing some of it’s techniques in your gardens?

P.S. I’d like to thank all of you who click through my Amazon links in the sidebar or in the posts. I get a tiny percentage of whatever you order (not just the linked item), I haven’t earned much, but soon I may have enough to buy a new plant. Thanks!

7 Comments to “Gardening Books: Gaia’s Garden, A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture”
  1. islandgardener on June 18, 2009 at 7:11 am

    Other than vegetables & herbs that I raise for consumption, I have the geese (eggs), and use their manure in the garden. That’s it, but I love the idea of multifunctionality…I want to read more about that! Good post!
    .-= islandgardener´s last blog ..Call Me a Fanatic! =-.

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  2. Mangochild on June 18, 2009 at 7:44 am

    You’re like me – I can never read just one book at a time…. there are hoards of them on the kitchen island where I eat my meals, next to my bed, on the sofa… you get the point. Lately I’ve been trying to find a book called “Keeping the Harvest” – its not at my local library, and I don’t know if I want to purchase it. The hunt continues though.
    Permaculture interests me, I don’t know how much I would go into the whole method, but it could be good to at least know about the principles as well as the effect on the veg garden via examples and other people’s experiences.
    .-= Mangochild´s last blog ..Teaching Food Systems =-.

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  3. warren on June 18, 2009 at 10:36 am

    I have debated going with a more “as they do it in nature” approach with my bees but I haven’t headed that way yet. Still, it’s value is most definitely worthy in a garden as well as with bees. Thanks for the book reference!
    .-= warren´s last blog ..On the river =-.

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  4. KitsapFG on June 18, 2009 at 11:29 pm

    Well, that clinches it… I need to add this book to MY stack of books by my bed! I too keep several going at one time and most are “reference” in nature for things I am interested in. Food production gardening is high on the list.

    Reply to KitsapFG's comment

  5. Metal Garden Sheds on August 22, 2009 at 6:38 am

    The idea of multifunctionality is a good one, the book is great and will be added to my friends stack of books.

    Nice post and keep it up !

    Reply to Metal Garden Sheds's comment

  6. yasi on December 20, 2009 at 3:39 pm

    I’ve read most of the 1st edition of this book, but I wonder about the second edition that came out recently.

    Reply to yasi's comment

  7. celestial elf on March 17, 2011 at 4:29 am

    Looks like a great book thank you
    thought you might enjoy my machinima film on permaculture and the bees
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsVL22dIdKw
    bright blessings
    elf ~

    Reply to celestial elf's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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