Edible Forest Gardens, Vol. 2: Ecological Design And Practice For Temperate-Climate Permaculture

This was a required text for a course on Ecological Design that I was taking. It is a fabulous book. My instructor chose this volume because it includes more of the design process than Volume 1 (which was not required, but is on my wish list for reference materials). Dave Jacke takes you through the fundamentals of site analysis, evaluating opportunities and constraints and working through the design process.The appendixes alone are probably worth the cost of the book. His nectary calendar is extremely useful for trying to identify plants that will provide food for various pollinators; the species by function chart helps you easily see the best nitrogen fixers and dynamic accumulators; his species lifespan list gives you a reference point for how often you will either need to purchase or regenerate a given species...This is the first time I've ever felt strongly compelled to highlight and mark in my book. Normally, I sell my books back, but this one is a definite KEEPER! I have highlights and stickies throughout marking my most frequently referenced charts.The only caveat/issue I can even think of is... the plants/species are more tailored to the North Eastern United States and less to the Western United States where I live... A great number of the species from the northeast are naturalized here or will grow here, but that may be a limitation/problem for some people.

This is the perfect companion for Gaia's Garden and Permaculture: A Designer's Manual (PADM). If I could only have two books on Permaculture it would be Gaia's Garden and Edible Forest Gardens Vol. 2. The tables in this book are worth the price and will save untold hours of research trying to find the right plants for my zone, soil type and how they fit into my plantings. Want to know what nitrogen fixers work in your zone? This is the book. Want to know what bioaccumulators can work well in your soil? This is the book. There are over 600 different forest garden trees, shrubs, and other plants broken down by their role in your design. Having to do this research on my own would triple my design time. I love this book. I've read Vol. 1 of this series and while it is good, I consider it redundant if you already have PADM. While it has some good info in it, I think Vol. 2 has much more to contribute if you already have PADM or Gaia's Garden (or any other of the great permaculture basics books). If you have money to throw around sure, by both volumes, but if you are like me and paying college textbook pricing for a book is hard to justify, trust me that this book is worth the cost.

You know the adage "Hindsight is 20/20"? Well, had I known that information I'd learned in the past 10+ books I've purchased regarding food forestry/permaculture would not only be contained in this book but expanded upon, I would have saved myself hundreds of dollars and weeks of reading. I always balked at the cost of these books and just kept them in my my "Maybe" list. Believe me, I'm kicking myself.The appendices alone are worth the cost of the book. I am the type of person that likes to be told in detail what I should do until I feel confident enough to experiment and come up with my own methods. Especially if I have invested so much time and money to achieve a certain goal. With this book, all of my fears have been assuaged and I feel I have the knowledge and skills to carry out my dreams of a sustainable edible forest garden.I cannot recommend this book enough!

It's no surprise to learn that Dave and Eric worked for seven years to write the Edible Forest Gardens books; the depth and breadth of permaculture knowledge that they present is incredible. Although I've heard some say that these books are not an easy read, I've found them to be fascinating, enjoyable and indispensable.I started my journey into permaculture with Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway, then decided to plant an edible forest in the back yard, so I purchased Volume 2 of Edible Forest Gardens, since it covers the practical consideration of forest gardening. Although this book is written so it can stand on its own, I also highly recommend volume 1, which focuses on the ecological vision and theory for temperate climate permaculture. Highly recommended!

For referencing what plants for what situation, it's hard to beat this one. Just a huge volume of information.

Edible forest gardens Vol 2 deals with the design and practical side of creating a forest garden.Having read Mollison's text and just about every other text I could get my hands on re:permaculture I had a reasonable amount of background knowledge and had got to the point where many of the books seemed to be rehashed versions of Mollisons. Not so this book.In every chapter I found snippets of information I hadn't come across yet. Practical advice, and general 'of course..so simple!' moments abound in this extremely comprehensive text.What I especially liked is the considerations of the "many' ways of creating a garden, rather than dictating one prescribed method. The book provides all the information and encourages the reader to find what fits to apply to their own situation. It gave me the confidence to experiment and try things out 'my' way.My only critique (and it's a minor one) is that there are a few occasions when the authors repeat themselves a few too many times. I get that they're trying to hammer home the points they are making on those occasions, but with the book being so very lengthy and very inspiring...this reader didn't want to waste any time before getting out in the garden. I skimmed sections because of it.Overall an incredible book - if you are looking for 1 definitive text on this subject, I'd say buy this one. Heartily recommended.

If you want to become an expert in edible forest garden design (as well as an expert in general design in your own right) then study this book and its companion volume 1. You won't regret the investment, and neither will the rest of society, after all is said and done!

Es justo el libro que esperaba! Super completo!

Love this book, it's inspirational and delivers information in bite size peices

What valuable information there may be in this book is overwhelmed by the sludgy writing that seems to take three paragraphs to say a simple point. The style is pedantic, even dogmatic at times, which is not justified in such a new and experimental field as permaculture.This is not the reference I hoped it would be. A friend of mine concurs that this is one permaculture book that will gather dust on our shelves.

Llego a tiempo y bien, este libro es una joya, lo recomiendo totalmente

This massive book is a quite comprehensive compilation of information on edible plants. Especially the tables in the appendix are almost by themselves already worth buying the book.While the book is in some places a bit repetitive, which is probably unavoidable when writing such a book, which is not necessarily meant to be read in one go from front to back cover, it is in general well organised and focussing on the facts and "how-to...", thus content, without mixing in (at leeast not much) esotherics, world view or strange quasi-religious statements as too many other permaculture-related books.One can of course always additionally nitpick that it is maybe too much focussed on the plants and other conditions of the eastern US, but for the general ideas, this is not an issue. For the plants and the climate, I think it would not be better, if the authors would have included statements on what they do not know as well as their home region its conditions, so it is probably for the better that they leave adapting their concepts to different conditions to those who know those conditions best, the readers who should know their gardens.