Solviva: How to grow $500,000 on one acre, and Peace on Earth [Paperback]

Anna Edey (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0966234901 | ISBN-13: 978-0966234909 | Publication Date: June 1, 1998 | Edition: 1st

This book is about one woman's vision and commitment to learning to live sustainably and in harmony with life on Earth. Since 1976 Anna Edey has made one astonishing discovery after another, developing methods of sustainable living under the name Solviva Solar-Dynamic, Bio-Benign Design. The results of her experiments and methods have again and again exceeded highest hopes and expectations. Solviva describes the exciting trials and triumphs of her journey and offers convincing proof that we can, with today's technology and knowledge, live in ways that reduce pollution and depletion of resources by 80 percent or more, and at the same time reduce the cost of living and improve the quality of life in urban and rural locations. Solviva contains 155 color illustrations and detailed instructions and recommendations to help others along their own journeys toward living sustainably.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Anna Edey's work has been featured on television and radio, and in newspapers and magazines around the world. She has lectured and consulted widely in the United States and has received awards from the United Nations Environment Program, Renew America, Amway Corporation, Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture, and Aveda Corporation. For more information on Solviva please visit www.solviva.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing Company; 1st edition (June 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966234901
• ISBN-13: 978-0966234909
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #265,292 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #90 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Agricultural Sciences > Sustainable Agriculture

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

185 of 204 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This book has some serious problems, December 8, 1999

By 

Mark Henry - See all my reviews

This review is from: Solviva: How to grow $500,000 on one acre, and Peace on Earth (Paperback)

Solviva-How to Grow $500,000 on One Acre & Peace On Earth. This
is a strange book! A How-To book it is not. It is a hodge podge of
thoughts, green speak, observations, the authors past 20 years of
life, some interesting applications of solar structures, much green
speak, her experience with a greenhouse and the business it generated,
more green speak, ...full-color pictures of plants, animals, insects,
artwork, green speak, and lastly green speak. Whether written this way
on purpose or not it is confusing. It is a very disjointed book; more
about a persons philosophy of life than about a greenhouse that was
heated and cooled by strictly solar methods. The books layout and
progression is far from logical and it is quite a chore wadding
through all of the philosophizing to arrive at some meat. Does this
book have value? Some. But cut out all of the psycho babble, green
speak and moralizing, rearrange the contents, do some more homework on
solar and other peoples projects and failures, get a few scientific
facts verified, more data and details on what Mss Edey did and did not
do, then perhaps it might be a worthwhile book. One glaring lack, at
least as far as I am concerned; it is not a How To book. Maybe that
is not a big issue when one is writing in a diary, but when the books
title page uses those words and the book does not deliver, then it is a
major issue. The income generating potential of a solar heated
greenhouse that uses strict organic methods has a lot of merit and
expanded outdoors during the summer months one could expect that the
income would increase. She makes a claim that $500,000 is possible
with the 10,000 sq. ft. greenhouse and about an acre of land. She
never made that much on her operation and extrapolates from her own
experiences that it is possible. I would take that with a cup of
salt. She very well may be right but she has no proof. She didn't do
it and did not mention anyone else that had. So again the title of
the book is misleading. Some interesting things gleaned from the book:
1. It is possible to heat a greenhouse completely with solar
means. 2. It is possible to cool a greenhouse completely with solar
means. 3. A living could be made from the above greenhouse. 4.
Animals incorporated into the greenhouse environment can enhance the
quality of the plants by emitting co2 and they can provide another
source of income.

There may be some other things but as I said you
will have to dig for them....

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The real secret of Solviva, January 15, 2005

By 

Jeff Schulte (Fargo, ND United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Solviva: How to grow $500,000 on one acre, and Peace on Earth (Paperback)

Anna Edey's book is about one thing: Money for her. Selling her book and selling her plans. It is visionary, and what she achieved is truely inspirational and remarkable.

The problem is A) the title which is poor description of the book. And B) she's inconsistant in her goals. The book would have been rather amazing if she would have ditched the whole confused notion of trying to make it a business. She has a vision of making the world a better place, but this takes a back seat to her business plan.

And if you believe in the scientific method, you will realize that Anna Edey is actually a failure. Nothing she does is repeatable. The two people who took over "Solviva" crashed it. They couldn't make it work.

Once you realize that only a crazed work-aholic could ever make that plan work, and take just the good parts, the book would be just over 100 pages of pure gold. The data and scientific trial and error behind Anna Edey is valuable. It is very concise and practical in the places it wants to be. Its the first 'solar shelter' book I've seen that has that data. The other books try to be holistic and provide an overall understanding of the world. But the bottom line is, to make a change in the world, you need data, and proof. AND you can't be the only one that can make it work!

61 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, December 25, 2004

By 

Charles Andrew Wingard (Brunswick, ME) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Solviva: How to grow $500,000 on one acre, and Peace on Earth (Paperback)

Solviva is Anna Edey's philosophy on life and what she would do if she was president. When she actually talks about her solar greenhouse design she is very vague and leaves the reader with many questions. After making contact with Anna it seems that she was vague so that she could sell blueprints to her solar greenshouse fore 200 bucks a set. Gee, I wonder what she cares about?