Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist: How to Have Your Yard and Eat It Too

I really really really love this book! I found it at the library along with many of the other popular permaculture books you find on Amazon. After a couple months of reviewing them all, I found myself continuously just going back to this one as reference. We're just putting in our first permaculture garden, in a house we just moved into, and this one just seemed to be the most practical with the most useful info for a small scale permaculture home gardener.While there are other great books, I find that a lot of them are just completely not useful for our needs due to the scale of the designs and projects that they focus on. Many are for properties several acres or more. We have about 1/3 acre to make into a garden, in the middle of a subdivision. This one is really helping us figure out how to blend two different things that we want in our yard: a beautiful, ornamental communal/hang out space and herb garden right up against the house; and then from there going back to a food forest with espalier fruit trees and berry bushes lining the entire perimeter of our yard, providing food as well as privacy from our neighbors.If you're looking for a how-to on setting up a large scale homestead with grazing land, barns, etc. then there are other books that will be useful for you. But for the small scale (<1 acre lot), this is the most practical permaculture book that I found, and I recommend it above the others.One last thing. Part of what I *don't* like about some of the permaculture books, is the total chaos seen in the demonstration pics included. While I like a garden that looks more "wild and whimsical" and for sure stay away from straight rows and ordered, highly-groomed landscaping; I also want something that is aesthetically beautiful, especially right up against the house. Basically, I like the English Country Garden look...everything exploding in coordinated flowers and colors, in soft soothing tones. I don't like looking out and just seeing what looks like a bunch of dried weeds and mishmash everywhere. I know a huge part of permaculture is biodiversity, and that's important. With Edible Landscaping, I believe I can achieve both. For example, at the base of every fruit tree I learned we should plant "plant guilds" composed of 4 different types of plants that will benefit and nourish the tree while attracting beneficial insects to kill the "bad guy" insects. In a lot of the permaculture books these guilds just look like a bunch of random weeds and/or plants, but in this book, I see diagrams of plants that aesthetically blend well together creating a more intentional look.Anyway, the summary is that with the help of this book, I believe that I'll be able to achieve EVERYTHING of what I want--a closed ecosystem that self-sustains and provides habitat for all the wonderful birds and critters I hope to invite, a food garden that doesn't require the input of outside fertilizers etc, and a food garden that over time will feed the household. And all on a semi-small urban lot!

A lot of the information you'll read on permaculture is the same, but this book has a very digestible presentation, a few surprising fun projects, and some hints on caring for your trees. Loved it.

Liked the way the book was written. I have a small collection of permaculture books. This book skips the theory and gets directly to what a lot of novice permaculturists want to know to get started. Has a lot of great photos and drawings with easy to follow directions to get started. The author created his garden in Maryland with similar conditions to my area in northern Va was helpful for me. Most of the permaculture books I read take place in northern climates so their choice of plants may not work for my area. But if you read these books, you would know it's a trial and error thing, finding what works best in your setup.

Michael is a friend and mentor. This book is a perfect introduction to the world of permaculture. Great as a gift to anyone who may need a nudge. Grass is for suckers.

Lots of cool projects. Steps are clear and lots of accurate pictures.

I've read several Permaculture books now and this would be the one I'd recommend as a first book to someone who doesn't care about all the science behind it, nor all the principles of design, and just wants to jump ahead to implementation on a urban or suburban yard. Very easy to read, easy to understand, great photos and diagrams & illustrations. It is not an introduction to permaculture but an action plan for the urban or suburban homeowner. A unique aspect is it has lots of recipes for cocktails and even to make wine. I think it was a mistake to include the making of the cob oven when he could have used the space to tell about chickens, or about vertical elements to grow more food in less space while stacking functions such as shade and moderating sun or wind on the house, or about building water features. Hopefully he'll drop the oven chapter and add some of these others in his second edition!

I've been gardening for a number of years (I'll decline to share how many) and have a pretty large collection of gardening and landscape books. Most of the newer books I look at just have a more modern twist on the same old tried and true principals that have been around forever, maybe with some updated pretty photos for explanation and motivation. This book surprised me. I learned some new things, and got new ideas. I especially love that Judd focuses on sustainability and (almost but not quite more important) low maintenance gardening ideas and planting suggestions. This book has great photos, clear instructions and even has recipes for drinks using the edible fruits you harvest. Judd has an easy going approach to his writing that is interspersed with humor. You could totally see yourself leaning on a shovel conversing with him about beneficials and compost - or, if you follow his suggestions, you'd more likely be chatting while relaxing in a hammock with a drink! I've already recommended this book to several of my gardening friends. Great stuff!!

I am a fairly experienced gardener with opinions on gardening and a keen interest in low-maintenance, hardy modern landscapes with lots of edible plants. There are good ideas in this book that are inspiring for creating drainage and using water. Also, great ideas for beds and rain gardens. I found this book practical and inspiring.

I really really like this book a whole lot. It's hard to sort through all the permaculture books out there. So I'm glad I found this gem. The author well knows and lives everyday with these highly edible aspects of permaculture that he shares with us.This isn't a dry theory book. This is like hanging out with Michael Judd and family in their home space that IS everything that has worked out successfully for them permaculture-wise. A pleasure to read. So I finally appreciate swales. I also super love the fungi and earth oven chapters. I'm already an avid fungi lover. Earthen oven next on the list.

Excelente,un libro muy interesante y divertido para leer. Es lo que esperaba. Explica un poco de todos los temas que buscaba.

Love this book. Even in Australia most of the information is useful

Facinating

Can't wait to try all of the ideas in this book