The Edible Ecosystem Solution

Start a peaceful revolution by planting an edible ecosystem and sharing the experience with your neighbors Humans have always thrived in rich, diverse, edible ecosystems. Yet most cities and suburbs are blanketed by lawns, ornamentals, and a lack of biodiversity, let alone anything edible. It is within these sterile landscapes that seeds of an edible ecosystem lie. The Edible Ecosystem Solution is a comprehensive, practical guidebook that looks at underutilized spaces to reveal the many opportunities for landscape transformation that are both far-reaching and immediately beneficial and enjoyable. Contents include: Hundreds of full-color infographics, illustrations, and photographs that clearly outline the principles and concepts of edible landscape design and benefits How to get started with as little as 25 square feet of land How to transition a garden plot into a place of edible abundance and an edible biodiversity hot spot, living laboratory, and a source point for transitioning and transforming community and culture Choosing appropriate plants for insects, wildlife, and food production Scaling up and networking backyard edible ecosystems at the neighborhood level and beyond to build community food security and resilience. The Edible Ecosystem Solution is for everyone with access to a bit of yard, a desire for food security, biodiversity, and a beautiful and resilient community, and for anyone who wants to reclaim humanity's place in a rich, abundant, edible ecosystem.

The Edible Ecosystem Solution explores how humans benefit from edible ecosystem abundance, the immense opportunities in society for landscape change, and how anyone can build their own 25-square-foot edible ecosystem as a launch pad for community land transition and cultural transformation.

Start a peaceful revolution by planting an edible ecosystem and sharing the experience with your neighbors Humans have always thrived in rich, diverse, edible ecosystems. Yet most cities and suburbs are blanketed by lawns, ornamentals, and a lack of biodiversity, let alone anything edible. It is within these sterile landscapes that seeds of an edible ecosystem lie. The Edible Ecosystem Solution is a comprehensive, practical guidebook that looks at underutilized spaces to reveal the many opportunities for landscape transformation that are both far-reaching and immediately beneficial and enjoyable. Contents include: Hundreds of full-color infographics, illustrations, and photographs that clearly outline the principles and concepts of edible landscape design and benefits How to get started with as little as 25 square feet of land How to transition a garden plot into a place of edible abundance and an edible biodiversity hot spot, living laboratory, and a source point for transitioning and transforming community and culture Choosing appropriate plants for insects, wildlife, and food production Scaling up and networking backyard edible ecosystems at the neighborhood level and beyond to build community food security and resilience. The Edible Ecosystem Solution is for everyone with access to a bit of yard, a desire for food security, biodiversity, and a beautiful and resilient community, and for anyone who wants to reclaim humanity's place in a rich, abundant, edible ecosystem.

Offers information to gardeners of any skill level on how to create permaculture in their own backyard.

The illustrated guide to profitable, vibrant and sustainable permaculture-based market gardening Permaculture tends to be very much in the domain of home gardeners and property owners. But what if we could take it all a step further, and merge the fields of permaculture and market gardening? In The Permaculture Market Garden , author Zach Loeks brings together his passion for sustainable permaculture food production systems and beautiful, vibrant illustrations to provide a highly visual guide to the smooth integration of permaculture into the market garden, in ways that are scalable to specific situations. Profiling crops and ecosystem-based techniques, Loeks demonstrates a profitable, sustainable and approachable model for the future of market gardening. Along the way, Loeks introduces his own system of PermaBeds, season extension techniques, intensive and rotational interplanting, in-depth discussions on soil health, and more, bringing activities, designs and prospects of farming to life through illustrations, so the reader can be immersed within the world of permaculture farming. Playful, informative and curious, inspiring and beautiful and packed with accessible practical information, The Permaculture Market Garden will inspire both the seasoned market gardener as well as anyone aspiring to start a business. Zach Loeks is a market gardener, farm consultant and educator living in the Ottawa Valley. Winner of two regional awards for sustainability and innovation in agriculture, he shares his expertise in farming, design and business through a successful series of on-farm workshops, conferences and schools, as well as a successful year-round CSA.

Learn how to create an edible forest garden—perfect for gardeners and growers at any scale! Includes over 100 cold-hardy berry bushes, fruit and nut trees, perennial vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, mushrooms, and more. When market gardener Dani Baker attended a permaculture workshop at her local Cooperative Extension office in upstate New York, she was inspired by its message of working with nature to create a thriving edible garden ecosystem. She immediately launched a new experiment she dubbed the “Enchanted Edible Forest.” In The Home-Scale Forest Garden, Baker shares what she learned as she became a forest gardener, providing a practical, in-depth guide to creating a beautiful, bountiful edible landscape at any scale—from a few dozen square feet to an acre or more. Baker provides information on planning, planting, and maintaining a resilient forest garden ecosystem, including: • Using permaculture principles • Observing and mapping your space • Building planting beds, including hügelkultur mounds • Coping with saturated soil • Matching perennial edible plants to the right growing conditions • Grouping plants in diverse layers that attract and shelter beneficial insects and birds • Creating microclimates to increase the range of plants you can grow • Pruning, propagating, managing pests, and more • Expending less energy for greater reward The Home-Scale Forest Garden is complete with descriptions of over 100 food-bearing and multifunctional plants for every layer of a forest garden: overstory and understory trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, groundcovers, vines, and mushrooms, too. The book includes over 200 photographs taken over 10 years of forest development, along with illustrations of a garden layout and special plant groupings for a range of conditions, including hot, dry sites and shady, moist sites. Throughout, Baker candidly shares both her mistakes and her successes to help readers better understand the dynamics of a forest garden as it grows and changes over time. From her Asian Pear Adventure and Tamarack Travesty to her discoveries of unique ways to rescue and transplant tree seedlings, readers will appreciate the practical advice as she recounts lessons learned from her grand edible gardening experiment. This is the perfect guide for gardeners of all experience levels who want to work with nature’s model and expand the range of food crops they grow as they embark on their own forest garden adventure.

This text focuses on underutilized wild plants that can help to reduce food deficiency in developing nations. Edible wild plants are viewed as a potential solution for overcoming food insecurity for families in these regions, with a specific focus on sustainable production and conservation measures. Detailed analysis of specific wild plants is provided, including the nutritional contents of each plant. A full list of edible wild plants is included for the benefit of researchers, plus a pictorial guide for easy identification of these plants. Specific case studies are provided in which edible wild plants are used to reduce food insecurity, and the diversity of edible wild plants is studied from a global perspective. In developing countries, a significant obstacle to human survival is the increasing gap between food availability and the growing human population. Food insecurity results in less consumption of fruits and vegetables and leads to mineral and vitamin deficiency for individuals in these regions. Edible Wild plants: An alternative approach to food security focuses on growing and using wild plants in order to reduce food insecurity and malnutrition. Wild edible plants are inexpensive and are a rich source of antioxidants, vitamins, fiber, and minerals. As the first book to specifically focus on edible wild plants and their vital role in food security and nutrition, this text is incredibly valuable to any researcher studying innovative potential solutions to food deficiency in the developing world.

When Eric Toensmeier and Jonathan Bates moved into a duplex in a run-down part of Holyoke, Massachusetts, the tenth-of-an-acre lot was barren ground and bad soil, peppered with broken pieces of concrete, asphalt, and brick. The two friends got to work designing what would become not just another urban farm, but a "permaculture paradise" replete with perennial broccoli, paw paws, bananas, and moringa—all told, more than two hundred low-maintenance edible plants in an innovative food forest on a small city lot. The garden—intended to function like a natural ecosystem with the plants themselves providing most of the garden's needs for fertility, pest control, and weed suppression—also features an edible water garden, a year-round unheated greenhouse, tropical crops, urban poultry, and even silkworms. In telling the story of Paradise Lot, Toensmeier explains the principles and practices of permaculture, the choice of exotic and unusual food plants, the techniques of design and cultivation, and, of course, the adventures, mistakes, and do-overs in the process. Packed full of detailed, useful information about designing a highly productive permaculture garden, Paradise Lot is also a funny and charming story of two single guys, both plant nerds, with a wild plan: to realize the garden of their dreams and meet women to share it with. Amazingly, on both counts, they succeed.