"Gaia's Garden will be recorded in history as a milestone for gardeners and landscapers. . . An amazing achievement."--Paul Stamets The classic book about ecological gardening--whatever size your garden--with over 250,000 copies sold! "A great book!"--Men's Journal Gaia’s Garden has sparked the imagination of home gardeners the world over by introducing a simple message: working with nature, not against her, results in more beautiful, abundant, and forgiving gardens. Many people mistakenly think that "ecological gardening"—which involves growing a wide range of edible and other useful plants—can take place only on a large, multiacre scale. As Hemenway demonstrates, it’s fun and easy--even for the beginner--to create a “backyard ecosystem” by assembling communities of plants that can work cooperatively and perform a variety of functions, including: Building and maintaining soil fertility and structure Catching and conserving water in the landscape Providing a rewilded and biodiverse habitat for beneficial insects, birds, and animals Growing an edible “forest” that yields seasonal fruits, nuts, and other foods This revised and updated edition also features a chapter on urban permaculture, designed especially for people in cities and suburbs who have very limited growing space. Whatever size yard or garden you have to work with, you can apply basic permaculture principles to make it more diverse, more natural, more productive, and more beautiful. Best of all, once it’s established, an ecological garden will reduce or eliminate most of the backbreaking work that’s needed to maintain the typical lawn and garden.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The movement toward sustainable landscaping is gaining momentum. Gardeners are planting more ecologically sound gardens that include both people and wildlife. These gardens are grounded in new concepts such as permaculture and ecological design, but they draw from traditional techniques and designs. #2 Permaculture designer Larry Santoyo of Earthflow Design Works integrated the greater watershed landscape into his urban Santa Barbara, California, garden. The garden was reoriented into terrace beds and pathways that flow along the contour lines to capture precious runoff in the arid climate. #3 Permaculture is a set of principles and practices that are used to design sustainable human settlements. It was invented by two Australians, Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, in the 1970s. #4 Permaculture is a design approach that connects different disciplines, strategies, and techniques. It is not a discipline in itself, but rather a set of principles based on connecting those disciplines. It aims to design ecologically sound, economically prosperous human communities.

A comprehensive and lushly photographed guide to growing and using healing plants, including recipes, from the founder of the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine This is the ultimate reference for anyone looking to bring the beauty and therapeutic properties of plants into their garden, kitchen, and home apothecary. Both informative and accessible, it covers how to plan your garden (including container gardening for small spaces); essential information on seed propagation, soil quality, and holistic gardening practices; 30 detailed profiles of must-know plants (including growing information, medicinal properties, and how to use them); foundational principles of herbalism; step-by-step photographic tutorials for preparing botanical medicine and healing foods; and 70 recipes for teas, tinctures, oils, salves, syrups, and more. Packed with sumptuous photography, this book will appeal to home gardeners who want to branch out to culinary and medicinal herbs, home cooks and those interested in natural wellness, and novice and skillful herbalists alike.

The Edible Estates project proposes the replacement of the domestic front lawn with a highly productive edible landscape. It was initiated by architect and artist Fritz Haeg on Independence Day, 2005, with the planting of the first regional prototype garden in the geographic center of the United States, Salina, Kansas. Since then three more prototype gardens have been created, in Lakewood, California; Maplewood, New Jersey and London, England. Edible Estates regional prototype gardens will ultimately be established in nine cities across the United States. Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn documents the first four gardens with personal accounts written by the owners, garden plans and photographs illustrating the creation of the gardens--from ripping up the grass to harvesting a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs. Essays by Haeg, landscape architect Diana Balmori, garden and food writer Rosalind Creasy, author Michael Pollan and artist and writer Lesley Stern set the Edible Estates project in the context of larger issues concerning the environment, global food production and the imperative to generate a sense of community in our urban and suburban neighborhoods. This smart, affordable and well-designed book also includes reports and photographs from the owners of other edible front yards around the country, as well as helpful resources to guide you in making your own Edible Estate.

Finds that the current methods of fossil-fuel based agriculture are not sustainable, and recommends the transition to localized agriculture.