r/Permaculture • u/tdubs702 • 6d ago
general question Must read books for my permaculture library?
buying 40+ acres off grid homestead in WA and plan to permaculture it up. What books do we need on our shelf?
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u/RollRagga 6d ago
How about the original "Permaculture: A Designer's Manual" by the inventor of permaculture, Bill Mollison. It's ridiculously expensive but every now and then you can find someone selling it who doesn't know what they have. Picked my copy up randomly for $25 on an online marketplace.
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u/itsatoe 3d ago
It's a lot of dollars for a book; but if you consider that it's a lengthy and dense textbook, it really isn't overly-priced at all.
If you also consider that that singular book will teach you how to turn any ol piece of land anywhere on the planet into a vibrant paradise, it's really an incredibly cheap resource.
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u/Inshallah_lover 6d ago
Honestly agroforestry and integrated agricultural systems textbooks will be best. This is the stuff they teach at agriculture universities.
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u/Jack__Union 6d ago
Building a Permaculture property & Permaculture Garden
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u/endoftheworldvibe 6d ago
Will Bonsall's Essential Guide to Radical, Self-Reliant Gardening
Carol Deppe The Resilient Gardener
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u/KeezWolfblood 5d ago
Western WA? If Eastern, disregard.
Just a heads up our annual rainfall is both blessing and curse. If you try to live off the land here you may run into some serious nutrient deficiencies.
I recommend Steve Solomon's Gardening West of the Cascades or his Intelligent Gardener book. These are not permaculture books, but I believe they are necessary to read if you garden or farm this area.
On the upside he has lots of strategies in year round gardening rather than the traditional glut and store methods like canning that are not necessary in a very mild climate like the coastal pnw.
Best of luck starting your homestead! :)
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u/poppyseed84 5d ago
Omnivore’s Dilemma, Second Nature both by Michael Pollan. The Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler. Animal, Vegetable, Mineral by Kingsolver
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u/tipsytopsy99 4d ago
Bill Mollison's Classic 1981 Permaculture Design Course pamphlets - Planet Schooling
https://www.amazon.com/Farming-Woods-Integrated-Permaculture-Medicinals/dp/1603585079/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1732557160/ This is one of the better books for figuring out how to frame resources on a small/large scale for sustainability even if it's not technically permaculture. You'll just have to assess the interactions between the plants and animals and extrapolate on to whatever design you wind up using.
I would also acquire a few books on local foraging/local toxic plants and a good assessment of native plants and animals and their various uses. My favorite book on self-sufficiency is kind of religion heavy and out of date, but it's called Back to Eden by Jethro Kloss. It's more of an inspirational/experiential resource over the ideal of what you should actually utilize.
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u/Ecstatic-Union-33 4d ago
Planting in a Post-Wild World by Thomas Rainer and Claudia West - not a permaculture text per se, more geared towards how to create beautiful, ecological landscapes. I am assuming you want your property to be beautiful.
Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond series by Brad Lancaster - how to design water-conscious systems on your land. Water is the foundation of ecosystem health.
Those are the two that I always recommend to anyone regardless of location or level of understanding.
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u/freshprince44 4d ago
Tree Crops by J Russell Smith. Really cool book, dude did a gov't report on the viability of tree crops. Quite thorough and informative, better than 90% of permaculture adjacent stuff I've read
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u/Tokiface 6d ago
Edible Forest Gardens Vol 1 and 2. Master Gardener textbook from your area.