Sepp Holzer's Permaculture: A Practical Guide to Small-Scale, Integrative Farming and Gardening--With information on mushroom cultivation, sowing a ... ways to keep livestock, and more...

258 Pages·2011·27.49 MB·English

by  Sepp Holzer

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PRAISEF OR
S"ppH olzer'sP ermaculture
'A fascinating bookwritten by a man who has devoted a lifetime to
working with nature and creating extraordinari\ diverse polycul-
tures. His work is breathtaking."
-MeoPY HAnlRNn,
editor of PermacultureM agazine
,At an altitude that everyone else has abandoned to low-value for-
estry [SeppH olzer's] is probably the best exampleo f a permacul-
turefarm in Europe [and] standso ut like a beacon'"
-PanRIc< Wulruttrlo,
author and teacher
Permaculture
'As the era of cheap energy, stable climates, and surplus fertilizer
stocksc omest o a close,t he principleso f permaculturew ill become
increasingly attractive as one way to design our future food and ag-
riculture ryrt"-r. This book provides important insights for apply-
ing thesef rinciples, for both rural farming and emergingf orms of
urban agriculture."
-FRuornIcK KIRscHENMANNp,r esidento f
Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture
"SeppH olzer is a SuperstarF armerw ho turns out an absolutelyr e-
markable volume and variety of food products without one smid-
gen of chemical fertilizer, and on land in Austria that an Illinois
corn farmerwould pronouncet oo marginal for agriculture."
-GrNn LocsooN, author of HoIy Shit:M anagingM anure
to SaveM ankind andThe ContraryF armer
"Here's great news for fluit-loving gardeners everywhere! Most of
the work of establishing,p runing, and tending fruit treesb y'mod-
ern' methods is unnecessary and even counterproductive. This
book is The One-Straw Revolutionf or tree crops."
-Cenol DErrE, author of The ResilientG qrdener:
Food Production and Self-Reliancein UncertainTimes

SeppH olzer's
Permocullure
A Practical Guide
to SmaII-ScaIeI,n tegrative Farming
and Gardening
ChelseoG reenP ublishing
WhiteR iverJ unction,V ermont
gneen
Copydght O zoo4 by Leopold Stocker Verlag pness
First published in German as Sepp Holzers
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Libraryof Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Holzer, Sepp.
[Sepp Holzers Permakultur English]
Sepp Holzer's permaculture : a practical guide to small-scale, integrative farming and gardening / [Sepp Holzer]
- rst Englishl anguagee d
p cm.
First publishedi n Germana s SeppH olzersP ermakulturb y LeopoldS tockerV erlag
ISBN9 78r-6o358-37or
r. Permaculture.I . Title II Title: Pernaculture
5494.5P47H689z oot
67t.5'8-dczz
zottoo6356
ChelseaG reenP ublishingC ompany
PostO f6ce Box4 28
white River] unction, VT o5oor
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Foreword lx
Preface
Introduction
r LandscapeD esign
EarlyC hildhoodE xperiences
1
PastM istakes
The PermacultureL andscape 5
General 5
Reshapingt he Land with an Excavator 8
Dealingw ith the Authorities 9
Setting up a PermacultureS ystem
to
GeneraQl uestions 10
Assessingth e Land
l1
Aspecta nd Climate
ll
Soil Conditions
L3
Assessingth e SoiI
L3
'Light'
Chqracteristicso f and'Heavy' SoiI L4
Indicq.torP lants r4
Experiencewsi th Dffirent Typeso f SoiI r8
DesignI deas 19
TestA reas L9
Microclimates 2l
Terracesa nd Paths 24
Building a TerraceS ystem 25
width 25
Gradient 25
Risersa nd SeparatingM aterial z6
Workingw ithWater 27
Stabilisingt he System z8
Managinga TerraceC ulture
30
HumusS torageD itches 3r
RaisedB eds 33
DesignI deas 33
Designinga RaisedB edS ystem 37
ManagingR aisedB eds 40
Pick-your-own 42
terscapes 4+
Building Water Gardensa nd Ponds 47
DesignI deas 5o
PossibleU ses 51
z Alternat Agriculture
BasicI deas 53
Soil Fertiliry 54
GreenM anure 56
GreenM anureC rops 57
My Method 58
Mistakes 6z
PlantL ist 6z
s to RegulateP roblemP lants 65
Old Varietiesa nd Plant Diversity 68
Cereals 7o
Growinga nd ProcessinBg randrogge n n)
Tips for Polycultures 7+
Alpine Plants 77
Alternative s to KeepL ivestock 8o
Pigsi n a PermacultureS ystem 8r
Characteristicso f a FewO ld Pig Breeds 8z
Mangalitza 8z
Swabian-HalSl wine 8z
Duroc 8z
Turopolje 83
Pigsa s Helpers 83
KeepingP igsU sing a PaddockS ystem 85
Wild Cattlea nd Old DomesticC attleB reeds 87
KeepingB ovineS pecies 89
Feed 89
Poultry 9L
Bird Conservation 9r
KeepingP oultry Humanely 92
Earth Cellarsa nd Open Shelters 95
Earth Sheltersa s Pigsties 95
RoundwoodS heltersa nd Cellars 96
Usea sa StorageR oom 99
StoneC ellars 101
Fruit Trees
3
PossibleU ses ro4
The Wrong Way to Cultivate Fruit Trees ro8
My Method llo
ProtectionA gainstB rowsing Lr4
Fruit Varieties rr5
RecommendedO ld AppleV arieties rr6
RecommendedO ld PearVarieties L20
RecommendedO ld Damsona nd PIumV arieties r2L
Wild and SourC herries tz2
Apricot and PeachV arieties r23
Propagatinga nd Grafting rz4
Rootstock 124
Scion L25
Grafting rz6
Whip and TongueG rafting rz7
Cleft Grafting r27
Bud Grafting 130
BridgeG rafting 130
Sowinga Fruit Forest 13r
The'ShockM ethod' 83
ProcessingM, arketing and Selling r35
4 CultivatingM ushrooms
General r37
Health Benefits 138
The Basicso f Mushroom Cultivation 140
Growing Mushroomso n Wood r40
Mushroomsf or Growing on Wood r4r
Substrate L42
Mushroom Spawn 143
Pr opa ga ting Spa wn Yousr e lf 144
Creatinga nd Maintaining the Culture 144
Tips 48
Growing Mushroomso n Straw L49
Mushroomsf or Growing on Straw r49
Substrate r49
MushroomS pawn 15r
Creatinga nd Maintaining the Culture 15r
Tips 154
Cultivating Wild Mushrooms 154
Gardens
5
Kitchen Gardens r59
Memories of our Gachtl 16r
The Pharmacy on the Doorstep ;163
Calendula Salve 168
Lemon Thyme and Thyme Oil L6g
Chicory Tea for Diabetics 169
Tormentil t6g
Vegetable Patch 169
The Most Important Work in O\fi Gachtl r7o
Natural Fertiliser r74
Alternative Composting Methods r74
Mulch 176
Liquid Fertiliser r77
My Method 178
Helpers in the Garden and Regulating Fellow Creatures r8o
Voles r8z
Slugs and Snails r83
Earthworm-s Nature'sP loughs r85
BreedingE arthworms 186
Characteristicso f Town Gardens r87
How Children ExperienceN ature 187
DesignC haracteristics 189
Terracesa nd BalconyG ardens r92
BlpassT echnique r97
Plant List 199
Vegetables r99
Medicinal and Culinary Plants 2ol
6 Projects
Scotland 205
Thailand 2lo
Berta:a Projectf or Lebenshilfe sseerland 214
ConcludingT houghts 2r7
The Author zr8
The Co thors 2L9
Index 220