Hepburn Permaculture Gardens: Ten Years of Sustainable Living [Paperback]

David Holmgren (Author), Holmgren (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 61 pages
• Publisher: Aatec Publications (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0646269909
• ISBN-13: 978-0646269900
• Product Dimensions: 16.1 x 11.7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,729,182 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A site report from a master designer, July 12, 2005

By 

T. Hemenway (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hepburn Permaculture Gardens: Ten Years of Sustainable Living (Paperback)

David Holmgren, co-originator of the permaculture concept, has made a valuable contribution to ecological design by documenting the planning and construction of his 1 hectare homestead in Victoria, Australia. This large-format book details his site analysis using zone-and-sector and other permaculture tools, land use history, microclimate and soil types, and other criteria that guided his home-site selection, planting strategies, water systems, and passive-solar design.

Idealists may quibble with Holmgren's decisions to use nearby grid power (off-grid systems being far more expensive), small engines (indispensible to all farmers), and a farm truck (the only vehicle shown in the book), but these choices point to the real value of the work: what happens when sustainable design is attempted in the real world. Holmgren is honest about where he compromised and where he held fast. What distinguishes his efforts from a typical back-to-the-land farm is the use of sophisticated design tools that reduce energy use, conserve soil and water, emphasize perennial species and natural materials, and apply patterning tools to the overall design. One look at the design and implementation and it will be obvious that permaculture design offers a far better toolkit than conventional methods.

A fine field report from a master designer. I wish there were more such site reports from ecological designers.

1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well, it's a nice idea..., February 21, 2006

By 

Gavin Mc "GMc" (Macedon Ranges) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hepburn Permaculture Gardens: Ten Years of Sustainable Living (Paperback)

Hey, guys. This manual describes the design of a small farm, listing all the plants and animals that have been introduced and the various earthworks that were carried out. The whole enterprise appears to be extraordinarily expensive and beyond the means of all but the well-to-do middle-class. Moreover, the large size of the property to feed a mere handful of people seems extravagant.

The author's views regarding what should be done and what shouldn't be done at times appears to be as much hearsay as anything. Some of it is blatantly absurd in the context: For instance, the farm relies heavily on the import of organic grain in order to feed the chickens. Far be it for me to recommend for or against purchasing this book; at least it allows one to daydream about having such a place, however unlikely it is (in my opinion) that permaculture constitutes a formula for a more sustainable world.

1 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Permaculture? It's not so hard after all., September 22, 2004

By 

Patrick Hockey (Warrnambool, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hepburn Permaculture Gardens: Ten Years of Sustainable Living (Paperback)

This large format book discloses a lot of the more questionable claims of the Permaculture movement. Holmgren is neither a highly qualified nor a particularly scientific advocate of the system that he claims joint ownership of originating. In this book we discover that using Permaculture a small family may still possess two cars; it's okay to be on the electricity grid and any number of modern appliances from computers to light engines may be used in your 'Permaculture' system. Really the whole thing amounts to little more than recreational farming. I have rated this book as three stars because it is an important read for anyone interested in the truth behind the field. However, in general it is an unimpressive collection of notes from someone designing a small farm.