Thursday, April 9, 2009

Book Review: "Getting Started In Permaculture" by Ross and Jenny Mars

Ross and Jenny Mars run a permaculture smallholding and education centre in Australia. Although the design of their plot included in the book features things such as Pecan trees that just wouldn't grow here in the UK, this little book has lots of ideas that would work all over the world.

The book includes small projects to help the reader start to live and garden according to permaculture principles. It is illustrated with line drawings and diagrams, and the instructions are mostly pretty clear.

Ideas range from unusual uses for old plastic bottles to sheet mulching and building a herb spiral using tyres. I'm not sure that I would use some of the old tyre etc. ideas in my garden, but there are others that are both ornamental and practical. One idea that really caught my eye was that of "mandala" gardens - small circular gardens that allow you grow things around a tree or compost heap in the middle, and that allow for easy access when harvesting. I think this is an idea that could be applied to small and big gardens alike.

Basic explanations of the meaning of permaculture etc. are included. It is by no means very detailed in this area - there are plenty of other books with more information on permaculture and forest gardening. However, I really like the fact that Getting Started In Permaculture makes permaculture accessible to everyone with a garden or allotment, and that there are projects that take up very little space as well as larger ones. The book does exactly what it says on the tin - shows you easy ways to start using permaculture a little bit here and there. You'll definitely need to read more books on permaculture if you're interested, but this one will show you how you can get going straight away.

7 out of 10. Recommended to those interested in permaculture; people with small gardens; people who don't have time to go on permaculture design courses etc. ; those who want to get going straight away.

No comments: