Customer Reviews

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

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I've been organic gardening since the 1960s and I find GAIA'S GARDEN--A GUIDE TO HOME-SCALE PERMACULTURE contains much useful information for the gardener who wants to work with Mother Nature instead of against her.

In his book, Toby Hemingway says "permaculture is a set of techniques and principles for designing sustainable human settlements." Permaculture uses organic gardening principles to deal with big as well as little problems. Permaculture is involved with the local rose and the ecosystem within which the local rose lives. Most of the ideas Hemenway suggests have been "out there" for some time, but Hemingway combines and organizes this cumulative knowledge into a coherent approach. While I don't agree with everything Hemenway suggests, I think most of his ideas are worth trying.

Hemenway seems to have acquired much of his hands-on experience in semi-arid areas on the West Coast, so some of his "live and let-live" tactics may not work on the more lush East Coast. For example, Hemenway appears to be opposed to fighting certain kinds of invasive plants, some of them exotic (i.e. not native), but to me the whole purpose of my garden is to have something that does not look like the rest of the surrounding area--whatever that is--so, I will never give up the effort to keep certain plants OUT. On the other hand, I have discovered I can tolerate some "wildness" in my patch, and have given over certain parts of the yard to natural vegetation (as long as it does not include, poison ivy, bindweed, prickle vine..you get the picture) which the National Wildlife Federation would approve as bird-friendly.

Hemenway's "plan" is geared to the 1/4 acre lot, so folks in the suburbs with more space than me may be able to accomodate more of his ideas. However, I think some of his ideas can be adapted to a smaller space. One thing I really like about this book is his novel approach to laying out beds. No raised boxes or perennial borders here. He goes for keyholes, spirals, wreaths, and all sorts of novel shapes. And they work. I've laid out beds to fit my space and the result is some oddly designed garden areas that are beautiful (my whole yard is a collection of garden beds, I have NO grass).

I particularly support the building of swales to retain ground moisture, and using leftover woody material to build "Hugelkultur" compost heaps. Whenever we replace fence material, trim bushes or trees, or create other woody waste, we bury it at the back of the garden. I also throw newspapers, paper towels (7th Generation of course), and other biodegradable paper into the compost bin. And speaking of compost, adding it directly to the bed is a good idea. Just slip it under the existing mulch, or grab a shovelful of mulch to toss over it. This way the garden gets the full benefit of the decomposing material, not the area around the compost bin.

This is a wonderful book filled with wonderful ideas that hold the key to saving our world.

For the past few months I've been reading books and learning all kinds of new things. Sustainable agriculture. Edible landscaping. Naturalistic landscaping. Agroforestry. I learned alot, but something seemed missing. And then I found Gaia's Garden. While I was reading it the first time, I kept thinking, "This is it. This is exactly what I've been looking for."

This book combines all these other concepts, adds still more, and makes it all easy to understand. There are lots of things I loved about this book. But the most important was the way Mr. Hemenway explains guilds. He gives specific examples, which you can follow pretty much exactly. But then he gives the information to go beyond his examples and create totally new guilds specifically designed for your site.

If I had to give up all my gardening books and keep only one, this is the book I'd keep.

I thought I was getting a book that would negate the need for an entire shelf of gardening books, and it's true that I will probably never buy another gardening book. On the other hand, I must now buy books about Chicken Tractors, Worm Composting, Soil Building, How to Buy Land in the Country, etc. Now, I need to subscribe to a Permaculture magazine. And I need to take some Ecology courses. And . . . here I thought I was going to save money! :-) I couldn't be happier. Hemenway has disrupted my whole lifestyle for the better. There is enough info here to get me started on the right path, but he has only whetted my appetite for more information about permaculture. But at least I now have a pretty garden to sit in while I read those other books and munch on fruit I grew myself!

At last! A book written for non-biologists, non-ecologists and non-tree-huggers!! I have read several books on permaculture which always left me wondering, "What the heck IS permaculture and who needs it?" This book, by Toby Hemenway, will get you so excited about the relevance and applications of permaculture that you will want to race outside with a bucket of vegetable peelings and leaf mulch before breakfast. Gardening can be a lot of hard work, but permaculture is about making it easier. Turning over compost piles every week is not for you? See his section on sheet composting. Does the very word "grey water" turn you off? Read Hemenway's description of taking a shower, then tearing outside in a towel to see the water drain out through a rocky stream. This book is full of concepts and inspirations that will not only make gardening a little easier but will also improve the land you live on, help you achieve greater self-sufficiency and create sanctuary for beneficial critters. And here is a major plus: Toby Hemenway, unlike other permaculture authors, actually has a sense of humor! An enjoyable read on the one hand and a basic gardening manual for the rest of your life.

This book gives a wonderful introduction to permaculture. I had absolutely no idea what it was before reading the book. A one-sentence definition is worse than none. It is exciting to read about how the various parts of a garden interconnect.

I love the various shapes he suggest, such as keyhole gardens. I especially liked the way he guides you through the process of creating guilds. And it is good to know I can use all those plants I had to eliminate when planning a traditional garden. That is one of the nicest features of these gardens.

I have to admit the title is offputting. I thought this was some New Age system. Fortunately I read the reviews at this site, so that when I saw the book, I decided to give it a try. It is a very, down-to-earth, convincing book. Nothing New Age about it. I am excited and want to get started using some of these ideas.

Gaia's Garden isn't about saving the world, but rather how to make your corner of it beautiful, productive and worth saving. It asks: How do you work with nature rather than against it? And Hemenway's answer is that you treat it as a partner trying to help you, rather than a foe to thwart and enslave. Written for gardeners who may have battled pests with poisons, labored with compost heaps and double-dug dry soils, the book explains how guilds, swales, sheet mulches, and succession can simultaneously lighten their workload, costs and burden on the land in the long run. As a beginner, I was overwhelmed by the detail, but the pictures are beautifully rendered, and the text inviting. I bought it last year and still find myself reading it in spare moments every week. The many success stories that Hemenway includes keep me coming back to learn, plan and be inspired.

I loved this book, showed it to my stepmother and she read it in one sitting. We are both totally inspired, and I've been spending a lot of time day dreaming about permaculture design courses. I live in the city and can't do much more than keep a worm bin, but SOME DAY! I've read Mollison's 'Intro to Permaculture' book, equally inspiring, but perhaps overwhelming due to the scale he discusses. 'Gaia's Garden' is smaller bite, and brings it all together. One thing I liked is that he goes through the design process step by step. I get easily overwhelmed and excited and thus paralyzed, so I found his break down into 'baby steps' encouraging.

My only problem is that I wish it had more photographs. But then again, if it did, I wouldn't be as motivated to go and tour the permaculture institutes here in northern california!

this is a amazing book for the backyard gardener viewpoint, it takes your garden and ties it total ecosystem that it is interconnected to. throughout the book there are a number of shaded highlights that explain the workings of permaculture systems, what is permaculture and practical ways of designing and putting together a garden with permaculture principles. this is a very useful practical book that will help turn your garden into a living ecosystem that interconnects to the surrounding world. It helps you make decision on the use of local native plants in your garden and also helps in the selection of other useful plants that could be grown in your region. It stresses the use periennal plants and plant guilds that grow well together. The book represent the first truly Permaculture Book written for United States growing regions and climates. This is already a popular book here in Santa Barbara Ca, where there is a great interest in learning how to use Permaculture in your own back yard and life. It helps to practically explain why a permaculture designed garden is a living natural system not just a garden. The way your garden design unfolds from using the book is truly exciting as you see that a biodiversity of plants planted for insects food and animals can exist in your own back yard.The use of water and other resources in your landscape is explain so you can see how they interconnect. Yes this book is explains all this and more so beautifully and simply.

Of all the thousands of books, magazines, pamphlets and other advice on growing food, I have only two books I recommend above all others: Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway and Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew. Anyone seriously interested in growing his or her own food successfully, and not burning out after a single season of disappointment, should invest the money and time to buy and read these two books. You can save yourself a whole lot of back-break, heartbreak and half-bake.

The comment about it being inadequate on invasives has a point, but then again I wouldn't take this book as a be-all, end-all on designing your garden. It's really a jumping off point in integrating not just your plants, but your soil and water use to be as efficient and sustainable as possible. It gets you thinking about the web of relationships between pests, beneficial insects, soil bacteria, worms, plants, and so on. You will want to learn more about individual plant species from another book. If you live in the West, there's the Sunset book of course, and if you happen to live in CA, or another mediterranean climate, there's the East Bay Municipal Utility District garden book that is really quite spectatular.

But I digress. This book is well worth a read if you are new to permaculture or not. I read mine all the time to get ideas. I have a small yard so I can't use every idea in the book, but I can use some and really it's not just about gardening. It's about living more sustainably, which is something we can all try to do more of. I can honestly say this book changed my life.