The Ultimate Guide to Natural Farming and Sustainable Living: Permaculture for Beginners

Description

A beautiful, comprehensive guide to going green and living sustainably. Permaculture is an important but often misunderstood method of growing food and building homes in a manner that workswithnature, rather than against it, to create beautiful, healthy, and useful gardens. Blending ecology, organic agriculture, green home design, appropriate technology, and biology can be confusing and overwhelming, butThe Ultimate Guide to Natural Farming and Sustainable Livingsimplifies this vast field for practical application. This is a hands-on guide, taking the beginner through each step of the design process, so that anyone can apply permaculture principles to his or her life. While the principles are simple, the in-depth topics cover every aspect of permaculture, including: • building green homes and passive solar design • growing edible plant communities and forest gardens • using no-till and natural farming methods • creating microclimates for extended growing seasons • raising livestock with ecological foraging techniques This is a common-sense approach to sustainable living that creates a self-sufficient and low-effort home for the people that live there, whether in the city or the country.The Ultimate Guide to Natural Farming and Sustainable Livingisn’t a philosophy book or a dissertation on theory. It is a step-by-step, complete guide to every aspect of permaculture. Halftitle......Page 2 Title Page......Page 3 Copyright......Page 4 Dedication......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Introduction......Page 10 Introductiona......Page 12 Part 1: What is Permaculture?......Page 16 A Brief History of Permaculture......Page 18 Permaculture Ethics and Principles......Page 21 Values of Permaculture......Page 27 Sustainability......Page 29 Getting Started......Page 32 The Zones......Page 47 Climate and Microclimates......Page 59 Putting It All Together......Page 71 Natural Cycles......Page 78 Part 2: Energy......Page 84 Passive Energy......Page 86 Photovoltaics......Page 93 Hydro......Page 98 Wind......Page 101 Part 3: Water......Page 107 Water Sources......Page 109 Swales......Page 111 Diversion......Page 113 Tanks......Page 118 Dam......Page 122 Ponds......Page 126 Irrigation......Page 136 Water Purification......Page 139 Part 4: Homes and Shelter......Page 143 House Design......Page 145 Building Materials......Page 157 Building with Dirt......Page 162 Other Dirt Building Methods......Page 168 Sustainable Living Habits......Page 171 Compost......Page 173 Graywater......Page 182 Low-Energy Refrigeration......Page 185 Part 5: Gardens......Page 188 Soil......Page 190 Mimicking Forests......Page 200 Putting the Plants Together......Page 207 Design......Page 222 Growing......Page 226 Part 6: Cooking and Preserving......Page 234 Low-Energy Cooking......Page 236 Preserving Whole Foods......Page 242 Freezing......Page 246 Drying......Page 247 No-Energy Storage......Page 255 Fermentation......Page 259 Sugar......Page 268 Part 7: The Zones......Page 274 Zone 1: Design......Page 276 Rabbits......Page 284 Pigeons and Quail......Page 288 Bees......Page 291 Zone 2: Orchard......Page 302 Ducks......Page 311 Chickens......Page 315 Geese......Page 326 Pigs......Page 330 Goats......Page 335 Sheep......Page 347 Cattle......Page 351 Zone 3: Barn......Page 359 Grain......Page 362 Cash Crops......Page 376 Zone 4: Pasture Management......Page 382 Woodlot......Page 386 Zone 5: The Wilds......Page 389 Part 8: Community......Page 391 Like-Minded People......Page 393 Village Design......Page 398 Business......Page 401 Community Resources......Page 407 Part 9: Plants......Page 411 Alphabetical Plant Guide......Page 413 Soil-Improving Plants......Page 493 Other Uses......Page 495 Bibliography......Page 498 Biblioa......Page 499 Index......Page 506 Indexa......Page 507