PERMACULTURE: A Designers' Manual | 
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Customer Reviews:
• There Is Nothing Better Regarding Sustainability 09 May, 2007
Bill Mollison represents the most successful attempt to mainstream practical home-scale sustainable design principles. I found myself needing to do an enormous amount of supplementary research to actually understand what bill was talking about, but to explain them in depth here would have taken away from the thrust of the book - which is mainly to show you example after example (many on every page) at sustainable principles of design put into practice.
The book remains the best book on sustainability written to date. There are some aspects of his system that are lacking that I will briefly draw attention to. Understand that I deeply appreciate his genius, but I want to just mention that these other things need to be integrated into his system to be fully fully sustainable.
1) He doesn't pay enough attention to seed saving and plant breeding. A loss of seed diversity and a re-invigoration of seed savers is essential to truly sustainable self-sufficient design.
See:
Seed to Seed - by Suzanne Ashworth and Kent Whealy
Breed your own Vegetable Varieties - by Carol Deppe
2) He very rarely mentions the role mushrooms and fungi can play in sustainability.
See:
Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World by Paul Stamets
3) He doesn't stress the science behind it enough, which is fine, but leaves you asking sometimes... how do we know this is really ecologically sound? How can I NOT imitate mr. mollison but still create an ecologically sound system? Basically, Mollison's proscriptions are incredibly scientifically informed but not always scientifically explicit.
See:
Plant Ecophysiological Ecology
New Dimensions in Agro-Ecology
Smallholders, Householders: farm families and the ecology of intensive sustainable agriculture - by Rober Netting
4) In relation to the first point, he also doesn't stress the role that evolution plays in sustainability. This is a very complicated problem, see book.
See:
Evolutionary Conservation Biology.
These are not really criticism so much as signs of slight conceptual anal retentiveness on my part... Also please don't forget mollison's OTHER books which are incredible as well, especially the permaculture book of ferment and human nutrition.
- Reviewed by customer ID: AQ6ASX860V2W0
• Amazing Book! 19 March, 2006
I bought this book many years ago and still find myself going back and re-reading it over and over. If you're new to the Permaculture thought process you will be knocked off your horse with the common-sense, integrated approach to gardening and farming systems. I attribute this book and the thoughts provoked by it as the catalyst in seeking integrations and aggregation on many different fronts. This will always be one of the books I will treasure. I wore off the cover and have punched holes in all the pages and keep it in a three-ring binder.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A29SHR9YZO2GRW
• Ignore The Cost 02 March, 2006
The information presented in this book is worth a semester of agriculture, chemistry, and geography classes.
I was initially set back when I went looking for a copy of this classic and discovered that there wasn't a recent printing available and all of the ones on the market were over $100 at the time. Still, I wanted to learn about Permaculture and everyone said that this was the place to start.
I am extremely happy with my decision to buck up and fork over my money. This text is the source from which all others on the topic are written and they pale in comparison.
If you are someone who is looking to homestead, or currently doing so, this book will help you plan your own gardens, manage your land as a whole, and be able to assist others in the community.
Lastly, the book is a nice hardcover, the pages are thick for a tome of this size, and the print is nice and dark. The copy in front of me has been well thumbed, tossed around, and shelved on many occassions and is still holding up nicely. Only the corners are dinged up a little.
- Reviewed by customer ID: AYG53DV7KD6ME
• The Classic 28 February, 2008
Mollison must be credited with promotion of the concept of Permaculture and this book is a world-wide view with enough examples to stimulate the thinking of a designer in any climate. It would be the bible for anyone working as an ecological designer on a worldwide scale. This tome includes not only a wealth of information but Mollison's personal views are given at every opportunity as well. With the breadth of his knowledge it can sometimes be helpful. That said, it is not an easy read. Mollison assumes familiarity with terminology from many disciplines, but with a scientific background it makes it all the more credible.
However, since its publication, there are other books for specific climate types that provide more detail. For those living in temperate climates, particularly the NE US, Dave Jacke/Eric Toensmeier's Edible Forest Gardens is more focused. If you live and plan to practice permaculture in only such climates, it should be sufficient. For the tropics, see [...] for a manual.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2XKBV7YCV4DHF
• The Most Important Textbook In The World... 15 September, 2005
...and probably one of the most fun to read. I read the first 8 chapters while working on a permaculture site on Isla Ometepe in Nicaragua, and ordered it immediately upon returning home.
Bill Mollison carefully and beautifully lays out the theory and practice of Permaculture (permanent agriculture). Permaculture is a holistic design system that sustainably envisions, creates, and organizes the spaces that we as humans inhabit on this planet. It takes everything that I feel is good for the world-Green architecture, local food, water conservation, renewable energy, organic agriculture, etc.-and wraps them into one cohesive scheme for planning the spaces and manner in which we live.
For more information, check out the Permaculture Research Institute's page at www.permaculture.org.au, especially the quick video "Greening the Desert", which is an excellent introduction.
- Reviewed by customer ID: AUNCEQCZM1NFG
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