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

~ (Author), John Todd (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Hemenway, a permaculture expert and associate editor of The Permaculture Activist, explains how gardens can function as ecosystems, describes the basic parts of an ecological garden (soil, water, plants, and animals), and shows how to create backyard ecosystems through guilds. Guilds, the author tells us, are groups of plants that function as an ecosystem to provide products for humans, create cover and food for wildlife, nourish the soil, conserve water, and repel pests. A simple example of a guild is the "three sisters" (corn, beans, and squash); corn stalks provide a trellis for beans, the beans supply nitrogen to the soil, and the squash leaves inhibit weeds and conserve water. While Hemenway's ideas are intriguing, creating guilds specific to an area involves extensive research, which involves either observing plant communities in the wild or using books or university contacts. In addition, the author doesn't sufficiently explain how to incorporate the many sun-loving vegetables and flowers into guilds, which are often shade-oriented. Recommended only for botanical and academic libraries. Sue O'Brien, Downers Grove P.L., IL
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"There is so much wisdom in Gaia's Garden that I would need a dozen columns to do it justice. ...a bold, wonderful, nature-embracing and completely sensible vision of the future."
—Justin Siskin, Los Angeles Daily News

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Chelsea Green (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890132527
• ISBN-13: 978-1890132521
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #79,694 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #24 in	Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Organic Cooking
  #33 in	Books > Outdoors & Nature > Conservation > Environmentalism
  #65 in	Books > Home & Garden > Gardening & Horticulture > Organic

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

175 of 178 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fresh look at an old subject...., June 30, 2001

By	Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

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.

83 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best gardening book I've ever bought, August 22, 2002

By	Bonnie Morse (Vernonia, OR USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

58 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is my Gardening Bible., August 13, 2001

By	Elayne Hoover "ghiasword" (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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!