During presentation, meetings, workshops, planting events and other occasions, we are frequently asked for the 1 book that provided us with our knowledge on regenerative agroforestry. The 1 book that has it all. Species, techniques, design skills & patterns, information on climate, soil, vegetation, economics, social aspects and more.
The answer is, this magical book does not exist (yet). Our common response it that rather it is an assortment of 200+ books from all different disciplines that has inspired us and has given us new ideas and insights to enrich our understanding.
Rather than sending a booklist to multiple participants, clients and others, I decided to set up a blogpost with a selection of the literature that is most frequently used and most relevant here at The Forest Farmers.
Eclectic literature as the baseline
As mentioned before, information for such a broad, holistic work field as nature and its underlying principles, cannot be gained from only one source or peer group.
For us this proved true many times as different authors from different continents and centuries give different perspectives on one and the same topic. It is these different insights that enables you as a reader to create your own picture of a situation and eventually helps you understand the underlying cause or issue.
From Permaculture to Neo Hybrid Hazelnuts
The point I am making is that in our work field, the broad spectrum of regenerative agroforestry, we are not afraid to combine all sources of knowledge that already exist around the world. Actually even more, as we are writing 2019, it’s high time to get all the brightest and smartest thinkers and observers united and create new ways of farming, new ways of looking at our planet and restore our ecosystems globally through regenerative agroforestry.
So, what are these books I am praying on?
First of all, let me make sure that the following titles are an assembly of the most frequently consulted and used titles, to get the authors insights, opinion or observations, in order to complement our knowledge and experience.
I do not give any guarantee that with these titles you will know it all, reading other people’s thoughts is only one part in gaining knowledge. Certainly it is a very important element of widening your horizon.
I have categorized the books I want to present into different categories.
Multistrata agroforestry systems / food forests,
Tree Crops / Perennial Agriculture,
Holistic Management / Livestock & Wildlife,
Soil building / Carbon farming,
Water & Energy
Syntropic Agriculture,
Permaculture,
Vegetable Cultivation,
Mushrooms,
Farmstead / Resilience,
Farming Philosophy,
Farm Development,
Personal / Organisational development,
Some categories might overlap, and not every book can be categorized clearly. Please take this as a broad indication. The goal of this text is to give you an easy access to some of the knowledge that is out there as of this writing.
Multistrata agroforestry systems / food forests
Creating a Forest Garden: Working with Nature to Grow Edible Crops by Martin Crawford
Restoration Agriculture: Real World Permaculture for Farmers by Mark Shepard
How to make a Forest Garden by Patrick Whitefield
Edible Forest Gardens Volume 1 + 2: Ecological Vision and Theory for Temperate Climate Permaculture by Dave Jacke and Eric Toensmeier
Tree Crops / Perennial Agriculture
Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture by J. Russel Smith
Growing Hybrid Hazelnuts: The New Resilient Crop for a Changing Climate by Philip Rutter, Susan Wiegrefe and Brandon Rutter-Daywater
How to Grow Your Own Nuts: Choosing, cultivating and harvesting nuts in your garden by Martin Crawford
Trees for Gardens, Orchards and Permaculture by Martin Crawford
Plants for a Future: Edible and Useful Plants for a Healthier World by Ken Fern
Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden: Expand Your Palette with Pawpaws, Shipovas, Jujubes, Maypops, and More! By Lee Reich
How to Grow Perennial Vegetables: Low-maintenance, low-impact vegetable gardening by Martin Crawford
555 Obstsorten für den Permakulturgarten und –balkon: Planen.Auswählen. Ernten. Genießen by Sigfried Tatschl (German)
Holistic Management / Livestock & Wildlife
Holistic Management: A commonsense revolution to restore our environment by Allan Savory and Jody Butterfield
Soil Fertility and Human & Animal Health by William A. Albrecht
Man, Cattle and Veld by Johan Zietsman
Salad Bar Beef by Joel Salatin
From Grassfed to Finish by Allan Nation
Pastured Poultry Profits by Joel Salatin
Soil Building / Carbon Farming
The Carbon Farming Solution: A Global Toolkit of Perennial Crops and Regenerative Agriculture Practices for Climate Change Mitigation and Food Securityby Eric Toensmeier
Terra Preta: How the World’s Most Fertile Soil Can Help Reverse Climate Change and Reduce World Hunger by Ute Scheub
A Soil Owner’s Manual: How to Restore and Maintain Soil Health by Jon Stika
Cows save the Planet: And Other Improbable Ways of Restoring Soil to Heal the Earth by Judith D. Schwartz
Water & Energy
Water for Every Farm: Yeomans Keyline Plan by P.A. Yeomans
Living Water: Viktor Schauberger and the Secrets of Natural Energy by Olof Alexandersson
Living Energies: Viktor Schauberger’s Brilliant Work with Natural Energy Explained by Callum Coats
Syntropic Agriculture
At this moment Ernst Götsch and his team are working on book about Ernst’s principles and ways of farming, described as Syntropic Agriculture.
Until this book is available we recommend to visit www.lifeinsyntropy.organd watch the following movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSPNRu4ZPvE
Permaculture S
Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual by Bill Mollison
The Earth Care Manual: A Permaculture Handbook for Britain and Other Temperate Climates by Patrick Whitefield
Sepp Holzer’s Permaculture: A Practical Guide to Small-Scale, Integrative Farming and Gardening by Sepp Holzer
Vegetable Cultivation
New Organic Grower: Master’s Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener by Eliot Coleman
No Dig Organic Home & Garden: Grow, Cook, Use, and Store Your Harvest by Charles Dowding and Stephanie Hafferty
Lasagna Gardening: A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens: No Digging, No Tilling, No Weeding, No Kidding! By Patricia Lanza
Mushrooms
Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World by Paul Stamets
Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation: Simple to Advanced and Experimental Techniques for Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation by Tradd Cotter
Farmstead / Resilience
The Resilient Farm and Homestead: An Innovative Permaculture and Whole Systems Design Approach by Ben Falk
Miraculous Abundance: One Quarter Acre, Two French Farmers, and Enough Food to Feed the World by Perrine and Charles Herve-Gruyer
The New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency: The Classic Guide for Realists and Dreamers by John Seymour
Farming Philosophy / History
The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming by Masanobu Fukuoka
Dirt: The Erosion of Civilisations by David R. Montgomery
Farm Development
You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Start & Succeed in a Farming Enterprise by Joel Salatin
Your Successful Farm Business: Production, Profit, Pleasure by Joel Salatin
Making Small Farms Work: A Pragmatic Whole Systems Approach to Profitable Regenerative Agriculture by Richard Perkins
Personal / Organisational Development
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
We hope this booklist will help you to pick a title that suits your desire and gain new insights.
Feel free to get in touch with us for further contact.