Gene Logsdon, a prolific writer and fascinating farmer, has just published his latest book, A Sanctuary of Trees: Beechnuts, Birdsongs, Baseball Bats, and Benedictions. It’s available now in the Chelsea Green bookstore, check it out!

A Sanctuary of Trees follows Gene’s life from place to place — and from forest to forest — as he discovers an ever-deeper need and appreciation for trees throughout his life. From heating his house in winter, to being able to grow a fence if he needs one, his woodlot truly represents a sanctuary, a solace, and a place of inspiration.

Just before the book hit stores, The Courier, a local paper from Gene’s neck of the woods in Ohio got the chance to talk to him about the new book, farming, and the importance of trees in our everyday lives.

For the love of trees. By Sara Arthurs, Staff Writer

UPPER SANDUSKY — Gene Logsdon has loved trees all his life and is on a mission: to get people to focus on wood rather than plastic.

Our modern culture focuses on things made out of plastic to the exclusion of wood and trees and nature, he said. Logsdon, of Upper Sandusky, has written several fiction and nonfiction books. His most recent, “A Sanctuary of Trees: Beechnuts, Birdsongs, Baseball Bats, and Benedictions,” comes out on April 27 through Chelsea Green Publishing. The purpose of the book is to “try to remind people that we once were a wood culture, you know, not a plastic culture. … We’re getting too far away from that,” he said.

The book is a mixture of autobiography and nature writing, talking largely about how Logsdon’s own relationship with trees has changed since his childhood. But he also explores subjects such as a controversy over sassafras tea, which Logsdon believes to be safe despite a governmental ban on the beverage, and trees’ resilience and ability to spread their seeds despite Dutch elm disease and emerald ash borer.

And he writes of how heat from wood kept him and his fellow country dwellers from freezing during a blizzard.

In the book Logsdon touches upon many different issues involved with trees, from objects that can be made from wood to the many edible fruits and nuts that grow on trees to the wildflowers and animals that make their home in or near trees.

Asked what prompted the book, Logsdon said simply, “I love the woods.” He said it was also a “sneaky way” to work autobiography into a book about nature.

In his own life, he said, every time “when I thought I was getting away from the woods, I would always end up back there.” For example, he went off to boarding school only to realize the school was in the midst of the woods.

Logsdon talks about how to identify many species of trees and appreciate the virtues of each. White oaks are probably his favorite, he said.

“They last 200 years if you give them a chance,” he said.

The hard wood of this tree is good for fuel and for building furniture, among other uses, he said.

Logsdon said people in cities as well as rural areas love trees. City parks provide urban dwellers a chance to get close to trees. In the first chapter of the book he talks about Central Park in New York City.

Fly over nearly anywhere in an airplane and even the cities may look like forests from above, with trees everywhere, he said.

“People love having trees around,” Logsdon said.

For people who live in cities, parks are “a great way to learn about trees,” Logsdon said. Others may be able to buy land in the country. In Ohio, buying 5 acres of woodland is more affordable than in some parts of the country and “you’re buying yourself your own vacation spot, your own retreat from anxiety,” Logsdon said.

One area Logsdon is interested in is Shaker Heights in Cleveland, where there are trees two or three centuries old.

“This is really old-growth forest,” he said.

Logsdon, 80, said attitudes about trees have changed in his lifetime. When he was a child it was in vogue to clear the land of trees for farming and there was “a feeling that trees were pests,” he said. Then attitudes swung the other way and trees became considered “sacred” and something that shouldn’t be cut down.

Logsdon said as trees age it is natural to harvest them for wood. Trees grow old and die, and new trees are planted, he said.

Logsdon said trees are interesting not only on their own but because many flowers live under them and many animals live in them.

“It’s all the flora and fauna that comes along with woodland,” he said.

Trees also cleanse the air, increasing the amount of oxygen and getting rid of carbon dioxide, Logsdon said.

Logsdon said he also enjoys the beauty of wood.

“It’s much prettier than plastic,”he said. “And you can make all sorts of things out of it.”

In China, bamboo is used to make bicycles, he said.

“The tensile strength of bamboo, if you work it right, is just as good as metal,” he said.

Different types of wood have different grains and colors and can be used for woodworking, Logsdon said.

Logsdon said wood is also a good fuel for heating your home, although there are pollution concerns in cities, but in the country it is frequently used. With concerns about energy and oil prices, wood may play a role, he said.

Logsdon said his grandchildren, when they walk through the woods, tend to be looking at electronic gadgets. The younger generation is ” so taken up with their cellphones and their iPads,” he said.

But Logsdon is not opposed to technology altogether and said the Internet was a great help when he was researching the book.

Logsdon said his books, both fiction and nonfiction, focus on rural life. One novel he wrote, “Pope Mary and the Church of Almighty Good Food,” has to do with the local food movement. One of Logsdon’s next projects will be to write a nonfiction book on the subject.

He said at first he thought the interest in locally grown food was “just another fad” but he has changed this opinion.

“I really think there’s something very significant going on here,” he said.

People who may have different ideas about politics and religion may be united in their desire to eat good, locally farmed food, he said. He wants to look at whether there is a way to “keep all these people in the same camp.”

A Sanctuary of Trees is available now.

Chelsea Green is proud to announce that two of its authors have been named finalists for major book awards, while a third is a finalist for a readers’ choice award.

The news of these three authors comes on the heels of essayist Edward Hoagland being named the 2012 winner of the John Burroughs Medal, one of the nation’s most prestigious awards for environmental essay writing, for his book Sex and the River Styx. He will be awarded the medal at a ceremony in April.

This trio of authors addresses everything from the impact of the decades-old wars fought in Afghanistan, cooking seasonally for both flavor and health from homegrown and wild herbs and edibles, and gardening for resiliency and community.

The authors are:

• Ed Girardet is one of five finalists to receive the 2012 Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism for his memoir, Killing the Cranes. Girardet’s memoir reflects on his more than three decades of experience covering war-torn Afghanistan, and the impact this has had on Afghani people. Established in 1987, the Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism is given annually to a journalist whose work has brought public attention to important issues and includes a $15,000 cash prize. The winner will be announced on June 5.

• Didi Emmons is a finalist for this year’s International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) cookbook awards for her book Wild Flavors: One Chef’s Transformative Year Cooking from Eva’s Farm, which offers wide-ranging recipes that reflect the shifting seasonal harvest but also show us how wild edibles and cultivated herbs add flavor to our food and improve our health. IACP is considered the gold standard among cookbook awards, and has been presenting its awards for more than 25 years. Winners will be announced on April 2.

• Carol Deppe has been selected as a finalist in the 2012 About.com Readers’ Choice Awards for “Best New Gardening Book Since 2010” for her book The Resilient Gardener: Food Production and Self-Reliance in Uncertain Times. Deppe’s book demonstrates how resilient gardeners and their gardens can flourish even in challenging times and help their communities to survive and thrive through everything that comes their way — from tomorrow through the next thousand years About.com — which is owned by the New York Times Company — is a consumer-focused website that offers expert advice and reviews on a wide variety of topics. Winners will be announced March 30 (voting runs from Feb. 22 to March 21).

Carol has also launched a new seed catalog, which editor Ben Watson wrote about here.

Chelsea Green is proud to announce that author Edward Hoagland will receive one of the nation’s most prestigious environmental writing awards — the John Burroughs Medal — for his 2011 book of essays, Sex and the River Styx.

Hoagland will receive the medal in April at a special ceremony of the John Burroughs Association, to be held at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

The John Burroughs Medal has been given annually since 1926 for books that combine scientific accuracy, firsthand fieldwork, and creative natural history writing. Past Burroughs medalists include Rachel Carson, Barry Lopez, Gary Nabhan, Julia Whitty, and Ted Levin, among others.

This is the second time a Chelsea Green author has won the prestigious Burroughs medal. In 1988, Lawrence Kilham won the award for his book On Watching Birds.

“Chelsea Green congratulates Edward Hoagland on this well-deserved award, and we’re proud to have worked with him on this collection of essays,” said Margo Baldwin, Chelsea Green’s president and publisher. “His book reflects a deep commitment to rekindling our human connection to the natural world; something we seem to have lost in today’s literature.”

Baldwin, and the book’s editor Joni Praded, will join Hoagland at the April ceremony.

John Updike called Hoagland, “The best essayist of my generation.” Edward Abby, Philip Roth, and Annie Dillard have all praised Hoagland’s writing and his insight into the natural world and our human place in it.

For more than 50 years, Hoagland has been one of America’s most celebrated observers of both human nature and the natural world. In Sex and the River Styx, readers follow Hoagland as he travels to Kampala, Uganda, Tibet and into his own personal memories as he ruminates about aging, love, and sex.

Author Mat Stein joins FTMWeekly Radio to discuss his latest book, When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide for Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival. Mat shares disaster survival skills and his insights into why emergency planning should be a vital component of your family’s overall gameplan. The show specifically discusses the disaster potential of a major solar storm or an EMP (electromagnetic pulse).

Mat Stein is also the author of When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency.

Basically, he’s your go-to guy when it comes to disaster and survival planning. Enjoy this interview, then check out his videos and blog to learn more.

Author Matthew Stein was recently interviewed on The Survival Podcast.

His most recent book is When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide to Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival. This book has received excellent advance praise from experts on survival and disaster preparedness. Stein is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he majored in Mechanical Engineering.

As the owner of Stein Design & Construction, he has built hurricane resistant, energy efficient and environmentally friendly homes.  The mechanical engineering side of his firm specializes in product design and development. Among other things, Mat has designed consumer water filtration devices, solar PV roofing panels, medical bacterial filters, emergency chemical drench systems, computer disk drives, and portable fiberglass buildings.

Listen to the podcast and learn about…

• Over looked items for the 72 hour kit
• The role of colloidal silver in SHTF health care
• What Matthew sees as the 6 events converging on collapse
  • Peak Oil
  • Climate Change
  • Oceanic Collapse
  • Deforestation
  • Food Shortages
  • Population Growth
• The harsh reality of a potential 400 Chernobyls
• The danger of EMP or Solar Flares to the grid
• The basic things you need to do right now to be better prepared

Check out Matthew’s other popular title, When Technology Fails, and you’ll be ready for anything!

Photo: Dan Saelinger

From the Burlington Free Press:

About a decade after first breaking ground, Cobb Hill Cohousing in southern Vermont is taking stock of its progress toward building a sustainable community. Residents of the 22 green-built households are motivated by the words of the development’s founder, the late pioneering environmental scientist Donella Meadows: “We need people willing to work seriously at human community and at loving this land, caring for it, and making it productive.”

HARTLAND FOUR CORNERS — On a recent cool, damp afternoon at Cobb Hill Cohousing in southern Vermont, there were plenty of warm spots in which to seek refuge from alternating drizzle and steady rain.

There was the toasty room housing the wood-fired gasification boiler that heats Cobb Hill’s 22 clustered, green-built homes and provides back-up water heating power to the solar panels on each roof. (Even though it had not yet been turned on for the season, it radiated heat from a recent maintenance run.)

Then there was the animal-generated warmth in the long red barn, where calves from the on-site farm’s registered Jersey milking herd were cuddled down in straw near the first few of Cobb Hill’s Icelandic sheep to move into their winter quarters.

Another option was the steamy cheesemaking room, where two of the business partners (also Cobb Hill residents) of one of the community’s many independent enterprises packed molds full of fresh curds made from the Jersey milk for their award-winning farmstead cheese.

And, finally, in the cozy common house dining room — where many of the 60 residents, ages 3 to 76, gather twice weekly for communal meals — a visitor was offered a cup of hot herbal tea. The tea accompanied conversation about the ongoing mission of Cobb Hill, originally envisioned by its late founder, pioneering environmental scientist Donella (Dana) Meadows, as “a loving human community that does its utmost to practice the skills of sustainable living.”

A little more than a decade since Cobb Hill’s first buildings were completed, the resident-members of the community are proud of what they have built together through joint investments of energy, effort and capital. But they also are cognizant that future decades will call for renewed efforts and fresh approaches toward their goal of living as lightly as possible on the land.

“It isn’t the same world as it was 10 years ago,” said Judith Bush, 76, a social worker and former cheesemaker at Cobb Hill who has been involved since the early planning stages. “Communities need to figure out what makes them resilient for whatever comes along.”

A Clear Vision of Sustainability

In the common house, on the mantle above the community’s only fireplace, sits a photograph of Meadows. Among many accomplishments, Cobb Hill’s founder was a Harvard- and MIT-trained scientist, longtime Dartmouth College professor, organic farmer, MacArthur Foundation fellow and Pulitzer-Prize-nominated columnist.

Perhaps most famously, she was lead author of the influential and controversial 1972 book “The Limits to Growth,” which was based on a computer model that suggested global resources would run out in the face of continued population growth and unchecked consumption patterns.

Meadows died unexpectedly in 2001 at age 59 after a brief illness — about six months after the groundbreaking for Cobb Hill.

“Dana was one of the most important environmentalists of our time,” environmental author, activist and Ripton resident Bill McKibben wrote in a recent email. “She did more than anyone else to explain the essential fact of life on earth: the planet is finite, and can’t support endless growth. She did this with computer models, but also with beautifully written essays, with her farm, and with the vision that became Cobb Hill.”

Added Bush, “She was the seminal thinker. She was the glue that brought people together to realize her vision of sustainable farming within a sustainable residential community.”

Cobb Hill, Bush said, is a living example of the mission of The Sustainability Institute, a nonprofit that Meadows founded in 1996 to apply systems thinking, system dynamics modeling and organizational learning to economic, environmental and social challenges. It was characteristic of Meadows, Bush explained, that while others founded think tanks, she created what she called, “a ‘think-do’ tank.”

Read the rest of the article over at the Burlington Free Press’s website.

And check out a forthcoming book by one of Meadows’ coauthors on The Limits to Growth, Jorgen Randers. Next summer we will be publishing his book 2052: A Global Forecast for the Next Forty Years.

(Photo: GLENN RUSSELL, Free Press)

Would you be ready if a tropical storm flooded your town?  Don’t say it couldn’t happen, even bucolic, boreal Vermont experienced such a disaster this fall! What about an earthquake, or terrorist attack, or wild fire? It’s tempting to ignore the possibility, but if you do you could end up one of the zombie-like victims you see on the news after major catastrophes, wandering aimless and thirsty through broken streets with frowny faces*.

There’s no reason to worry, but there is ample reason to get ready, and that is why we’re happy to announce that Mat Stein’s latest book, When Disaster Strikes, is now available to help you out!

Smaller than his encyclopedic first book, When Technology Fails, When Disaster Strikes is perfect to stow in your ready-kit, along with your hand crank radio, flashlight, and water filter. Inside, you’ll find tips on how to prepare for many different sorts of sudden disaster, each with its own hazards and challenges.

This book could save your life.

Here to explain more is Mat Stein himself, in a recent appearance on the Sacramento & Company show:

Get your copy of When Disaster Strikes today!

*I’m paraphrasing Mat Stein in the video here, just in case you were wondering.

Nature doesn’t till. Nature doesn’t need chemical pesticides. And monoculture? Nature ain’t even trying to hear that noise. So why do we break our backs fighting uphill battles when we can just look at the way natural systems work and, basically, rip them off?  Take a look at the selection of books below that will tell you  about a little something called permaculture: it’ll save you money, time, and wear and tear on your precious back

 Save 25% on all our permaculture books!

 Think that gardening and planting is only for the spring time? Well, autumn is great time for those perennials and planning your sustainable garden. The concept is simple - everything should serve multiple functions and let nature do the heavy lifting. 

We’d also like to give a shout out to Permaculture Magazine Permaculture Institute. They’re great resources on learning more about creating permaculture ecosystems and gardens. 

Check out the titles below of our permaculture books on SALE for 25% off.

Happy reading from the folks at Chelsea Green Publishing.

(Image credit Paul Kearsley)

	Gaia’s Garden, Second Edition A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture The first edition of Gaia’s Garden sparked the imagination of America’s home gardeners, introducing permaculture’s central message: Working with Nature, not against her, results in more beautiful, abundant, and forgiving gardens. This extensively revised and expanded second edition broadens the reach and depth of the permaculture approach for urban and suburban growers. “The world didn’t come with an operating manual, so it’s a good thing that some wise people have from time to time written them. Gaia’s Garden is one of the more important, a book that will be absolutely necessary in the world ahead.” - Bill McKibben http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/gaias_garden_second_edition:paperback
	Creating a Forest Garden Working with Nature to Grow Edible Crops Creating a Forest Garden tells you everything you need to know - whether you want to plant a small area in your back garden or develop a larger plot. It includes advice on planning, design (using permaculture principles), planting and maintenance, and a comprehensive directory of over 450 trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, herbs, annuals, root crops and climbers - almost all of them edible and many very unusual.http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/creating_a_forest_garden:hardcover
	Permaculture Pioneers Stories from the New Frontier Permaculture is much more than organic gardening. Arguably it is one of Australia’s greatest intellectual exports, having helped people worldwide to design ecologically sustainable strategies for their homes, gardens, farms and communities. This book charts a history of the first three decades of permaculture, through the personal stories of Australian permaculturists. From permaculture co-originator David Holmgren, to ABC TV’s Gardening Australia presenter Josh Byrne, the authors span the generations and the continent.For those whose lives have been changed by permaculture, this book provides a context for articulating and celebrating their own stories and experiences. http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/permaculture_pioneers:paperback
	Meat: A Benign ExtravaganceMeat is a groundbreaking exploration of the difficult environmental, ethical, and social issues surrounding the human consumption of animals, and the future of livestock in sustainable agriculture. It answers the question: should we be farming animals, or not? The answer is not simple; indeed, we must decrease the amount of meat we eat (both for the planet and for ourselves), and the industrial meat system is hugely problematic, but Simon Fairlie presents in-depth research in favor of small-scale, holistic, and integrated farming systems that include pastured, free-range livestock as the answer to the pro-meat or no-meat debate. This is a life-changing book. http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/meat:paperback
	Sepp Holzer’s Permaculture “After reading this book, all I can say is Sepp Holzer is a Superstar Farmer. Holzer turns out an absolutely remarkable volume and variety of food products, all without one smidgen of chemical fertilizer, and on land in Austria that an Illinois corn farmer would pronounce too marginal for agriculture. American farmers and gardeners will be particularly interested in Holzer’s raised beds-which are quite different in construction from ours in the U.S.-as well as his inventive water well irrigation systems, unique methods for integrating livestock into his fruit and vegetable gardens, and practical, low-labor way to grow mushrooms. A fascinating book for anyone who aspires to become the ultimate, champion professional of sustainable farming.” - Gene Logsdon, author of Holy Shit: Managing Manure to Save Mankind, and The Contrary Farmerhttp://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/sepp_holzers_permaculture:paperback
	Perennial Vegetables There is a fantastic array of vegetables you can grow in your garden, and not all of them are annuals. InPerennial Vegetables the adventurous gardener will find information, tips, and sound advice on less common edibles that will make any garden a perpetual, low-maintenance source of food. Perennial vegetables are perfect as part of an edible landscape plan or permaculture garden. Profiling more than a hundred species, with dozens of color photographs and illustrations, and filled with valuable growing tips, recipes, and resources, Perennial Vegetables is a groundbreaking and ground-healing book that will open the eyes of gardeners everywhere to the exciting world of edible perennials. http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/perennial_vegetables:paperback
	Edible Forest Gardens: 2 Volume Set Edible Forest Gardens is a groundbreaking two-volume work that spells out and explores the key concepts of forest ecology and applies them to the needs of natural gardeners in temperate climates. Volume I lays out the vision of the forest garden and explains the basic ecological principles that make it work. In Volume II, Dave Jacke and Eric Toensmeier move on to practical considerations:concrete ways to design, establish, and maintain your own forest garden. Along the way they present case studies and examples, as well as tables, illustrations, and a uniquely valuable “plant matrix” that lists hundreds of the best edible and useful species. http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/edible_forest_gardens_2_volume_set:hardcover
	Food Not Lawns Gardening can be a political act. Creativity, fulfillment, connection, revolution-it all begins when we get our hands in the dirt. Food Not Lawns combines practical wisdom on ecological design and community-building with a fresh, green perspective on an age-old subject. Activist and urban gardener Heather Flores shares her nine-step permaculture design to help farmsteaders and city dwellers alike build fertile soil, promote biodiversity, and increase natural habitat in their own “paradise gardens.” http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/food_not_lawns:paperback
	The Small-Scale Poultry FlockThe most comprehensive and definitive guide to date on raising all-natural poultry, for homesteaders or farmers seeking to close their loop, The Small-Scale Poultry Flock offers a practical and integrative model for working with chickens and other domestic fowl, based entirely on natural systems.No other book on raising poultry takes an entirely whole-systems approach, nor discusses producing homegrown feed and breeding in such detail. This is a truly invaluable and groundbreaking guide that will lead farmers and homesteaders into a new world of self-reliance and enjoyment. http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_smallscale_poultry_flock:paperback
	Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond SustainabilityDavid Holmgren draws a correlation between every aspect of how we organize our lives, communities and landscapes and our ability to creatively adapt to the ecological realities that shape human destiny. For students and teachers of Permaculture this book provides something more fundamental and distilled than Mollison’s encyclopedic Designers Manual. For the general reader it provides refreshing perspectives on a range of environmental issues and shows how permaculture is much more than just a system of gardening. For anyone seriously interested in understanding the foundations of sustainable design and culture, this book is essential reading. Although a book of ideas, the big picture is repeatedly grounded by reference to Holmgren’s own place, Melliodora, and other practical examples.http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/permaculture:paperback
	The Basics of Permaculture DesignThe Basics of Permaculture Design, first published in Australia in 1996, is an excellent introduction to the principles of permaculture, design processes, and the tools needed for designing sustainable gardens, farms, and larger communities.Packed with useful tips, clear illustrations, and a wealth of experience, it guides you through designs for gardens, urban and rural properties, water harvesting systems, animal systems, permaculture in small spaces like balconies and patios, farms, schools, and ecovillages. This is both a do-ityourself guide for the enthusiast and a useful reference for permaculture designers. http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_basics_of_permaculture_design:paperback
	Earth User’s Guide to Permaculture, Second EditionThe principle for permaculture is simple: provide back to the earth what we take from it to create a sustainable environment. The three principle aims are: Care for people; Care for the earth; and Redistributing everything surplus to one’s needs. Included in this new edition are chapters on seed-saving, permaculture at work, integrated pest management, information about domestic as well as rural water usage, a non-destructive approach towards dealing with weeks and wildlife, and designing to withstand a disaster. Earth User’s Guide to Permaculture is suitable for beginners as well as experienced permaculture practitioners looking for new ideas in moving towards greater self-reliance and sustainable living. http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/earth_users_guide_to_permaculture_second_edition:paperback
	Getting Started in Permaculture Permaculture experts Ross and Jenny Mars outline the steps to transform your garden into a productive living system. Modeled upon the development of Candlelight Farm, and illustrated with photographs, this guide encourages the reader to make positive steps towards reconciling human impact with nature – following the permaculture ideal. Permaculture is based on the ethics of caring for people and our planet. It is about growing your own healthy food, being resourceful and environmentally responsible. Permaculture concepts and ideas can be applied successfully from small suburban units to large farming properties. http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/getting_started_in_permaculture:paperback
	The Permaculture Garden Working entirely in harmony with nature, The Permaculture Garden shows you how to turn a bare plot into a beautiful and productive garden. Learn how to plan your garden for easy access and minimum labor; save time and effort digging and weeding; recycle materials to save money; plan crop successions for year-round harvests; save energy and harvest water; and garden without chemicals by building up your soil and planting in beneficial communities. Full of practical ideas, this perennial classic, first published in 1995, is guaranteed to inspire, inform, and entertain.http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_permaculture_garden:paperback
	Permaculture in a Nutshell This inspiring book is a concise and accessible introduction to the principles and practice of permaculture in temperate climates. It explains how permaculture works in the city and the countryside, including on farms, and also explores ways people can work in cooperation to recreate real communities. Permaculture in a Nutshell is the ideal introduction to this complex subject—essential reading for those wishing to understand how a new way of perceiving horticulture can transform our relations other humans and with the Earth.http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/permaculture_in_a_nutshell:paperback
	Permaculture in Practice This DVD, whose aim is to inspire people to start their own permaculture projects, shows how permaculture is practiced in four very different settings: a Hampshire back garden belonging to the editors of Permaculture Magazine, including fruit trees, vegetables, bees, chickens, and ducks; a City Challenge project in Bradford close to a housing estate with 10,000 residents, tackling the problems of unemployment, environmental awareness, and backyard food growing; a community co-op in Devon, which involves a café, allotments, and local composting scheme; and a small farm in the Forest of Dean where innovative marketing schemes ensure a close link between producer and consumer, including meat production, a vegetable box scheme, and locally produced charcoal.http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/permaculture_in_practice:dvd
	Permaculture PlantsThis is an easy-to-use guide to selecting hundreds of perennial species. It is indispensable for growers and designers working in subtropical and warm temperate/arid climates, and also includes some cool-climate tolerant species. Permaculture Plants: A Selection details hundreds of common and unusual edible, medicinal, and useful plants. http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/permaculture_plants:paperback
	The Permaculture Way The Permaculture Way shows us how to consciously design a lifestyle which is low in environmental impact and highly productive. It demonstrates how to meet our needs, make the most of resources by minimizing waste and maximizing potential, and still leave the Earth richer than we found it. http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_permaculture_way:paperback
	The Earth Care Manual The long-awaited exploration of permaculture specifically for cooler Northern Hemisphere climates is finally here! Already regarded as the definitive book on the subject, The Earth Care Manual is accessible to the curious novice as much as it is essential for the knowledgeable practitioner.Permaculture started out in the 1970s as a sustainable alternative to modern agriculture, taking its inspiration from natural ecosystems. It has always placed an emphasis on gardening, but since then it has expanded to include many other aspects, from community design to energy use. It can be seen as an overall framework that puts a diversity of green ideas into perspective. Its aims are low work, high output, and genuine sustainability. http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_earth_care_manual:hardcover
	The Woodland Way Ben Law is an experienced and innovative woodsman with a deep commitment to practical sustainability. Here he presents a radical alternative to conventional woodland management that creates biodiverse, healthy environments, yields a great variety of value-added products, provides a secure livelihood for woodland workers and farmers, and benefits the local community.This brilliant book covers every aspect of woodland stewardship from both a practical and philosophical standpoint. Ben Law writes from the heart after long years of struggle with a whole host of naysayers who tried to convince him by fair means and foul to give up his vision for a renaissance in the countryside. http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_woodland_way:paperback
	A Forest Garden Year A Forest Garden Year offers tips on how to graft an apple tree from which you can crop a variety of apples over several months; how to grow shiitake mushrooms and perennial leeks; how to pollard and prune; protect crops from wind; attract beneficial insects; and increase beneficial minerals in the soil—all while creating a haven for yourself and for wildlife. This 49-minute DVD shows how you can apply the principles of forest gardening to spaces big and small. Martin takes viewers through the seasons in his Devon, England, forest garden and shows them how to plan their planting to mimic the layering, density, and diversity of a forest. http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/a_forest_garden_year:dvd
	Creating a Forest Garden and A Forest Garden Year: Book & DVD SetCreating a Forest Garden tells you everything you need to know - whether you want to plant a small area in your back garden or develop a larger plot. It includes advice on planning, design (using permaculture principles), planting and maintenance, and a comprehensive directory of over 450 trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, herbs, annuals, root crops and climbers - almost all of them edible and many very unusual. The accompanying 49-minute DVD, A Forest Garden Year, shows how you can apply the principles of forest gardening to spaces big and small. Martin takes viewers through the seasons in his Devon, England, forest garden and shows them how to plan your planting to mimic the layering, density, and diversity of a forest.http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/creating_a_forest_garden_and_a_forest_garden_year_book_dvd_set:book%20&%20dvd%20set
	Designing and Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally First published in 1986, this classic is back in print by popular demand. It is the authoritative text on edible landscaping, featuring a step-by-step guide to designing a productive environment using vegetables, fruits, flowers, and herbs for a combination of ornamental and culinary purposes.It includes descriptions of plants for all temperate habitats, methods for improving soil, tree pruning styles, and gourmet recipes using low-maintenance plants. There are sections on attracting beneficial insects with companion plants and using planting to shelter your home from erosion, heat, wind, and cold.http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/designing_and_maintaining_your_edible_landscape_naturally:paperback
	Forest Gardening Forest Gardening is a way of working alongside nature–an approach that results in great productivity with minimal maintenance, and a method for transforming even a small cottage garden into a diverse and inviting habitat for songbirds, butterflies, and other wildlife. Based on the model of a natural woodland, a forest garden incorporates a wide variety of useful plants, including fruit and nut trees, perennial herbs, and vegetables.Hart’s book beautifully describes his decades of experience gardening in the Shropshire countryside, yet the principles of “backyard permaculture” he explores can be applied equally well in other locales across the planet, from tropical to temperate zones. http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/forest_gardening:paperback
	Future Scenarios In Future Scenarios, permaculture co-originator and leading sustainability innovator David Holmgren outlines four scenarios that bring to life the likely cultural, political, agricultural, and economic implications of peak oil and climate change, and the generations-long era of “energy descent” that faces us.Future Scenarios depicts four very different futures. Each is a permutation of mild or destructive climate change, combined with either slow or severe energy declines. Probable futures, explains Holmgren, range from the relatively benign Green Tech scenario to the near catastrophic Lifeboats scenario.Future Scenarios provides brilliant and balanced consideration of the world’s options and will prove to be one of the most important books of the year.http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/future_scenarios:paperback
	Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World Los Llanos—the rain-leached, eastern savannas of war-ravaged Colombia—are among the most brutal environments on Earth and an unlikely setting for one of the most hopeful environmental stories ever told. Here, in the late 1960s, a young Colombian development worker named Paolo Lugari wondered if the nearly uninhabited, infertile llanos could be made livable for his country’s growing population. He had no idea that nearly four decades later, his experiment would be one of the world’s most celebrated examples of sustainable living: a permanent village called Gaviotas. http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/gaviotas:paperback%20-%20revised%20edition
	How to Make A Forest Garden A forest garden is a food-producing garden, based on the model of a natural woodland or forest. It is made up of fruit and nut trees, fruit bushes, perennial vegetables and herbs. It can be tailored to fit any space, from a tiny urban back yard to a large rural garden.It is also a low-maintenance way of gardening. Once established there is none of the digging, sowing, planting out and hoeing of the conventional kitchen garden. The main task is picking up the produce!This highly practical, yet inspiring book gives you everything you need to know in order to create a beautiful and productive forest garden.http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/how_to_make_a_forest_garden:paperback
	Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands & Beyond: Volume 1 The first volume of three-volume guide on how to conceptualize, design, and implement sustainable water-harvesting systems for your home, landscape, and community. This book enables you to assess your on-site resources, gives you a diverse array of strategies to maximize their potential, and empowers you with guiding principles to create an integrated, multi-functional water-harvesting plan specific to your site and needs.Volume 1 helps bring your site to life, reduce your cost of living, endow you with skills of self-reliance, and create living air conditioners of vegetation growing beauty, food, and wildlife habitat. Stories of people who are successfully welcoming rain into their life and landscape will invite you to do the same!http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/rainwater_harvesting_for_drylands_and_beyond_vol_1:paperback
	Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands & Beyond: Volume 2 Earthworks are one of the easiest, least expensive, and most effective ways of passively harvesting and conserving multiple sources of water in the soil. Associated vegetation then pumps the harvested water back out in the form of beauty, food, shelter, wildlife habitat, and passive heating and cooling strategies, while controlling erosion, increasing soil fertility, reducing downstream flooding, and improving water and air quality.Building on the information presented in Volume 1, this book shows you how to select, place, size, construct, and plant your chosen water-harvesting earthworks. It presents detailed how-to information and variations of a diverse array of earthworks, including chapters on mulch, vegetation, and greywater recycling so you can customize the techniques to the unique requirements of your site. http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/rainwater_harvesting_for_drylands_and_beyond_vol_2/
	The Uses of Wild Plants A must-have for foragers, botanists, herbalists, gardeners, permaculturists, and anyone who wants to learn more about wild plants, this insightful guide provides interesting and valuable uses for more than 1200 species in 500 genera of wild plants found throughout North America and beyond.The Uses of Wild Plants provides a survey of how plants have been used for food, drink, medicine, fuel, clothing, intoxicants, and more throughout history. Each listing includes a detailed description and drawing to aid in identifying these valuable plants in your garden and in the wild. http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_uses_of_wild_plants:paperback

Mat Stein is an environmentalist, bestselling author, MIT trained engineer, and green builder. As an inspiring speaker and visionary thinker, he is dedicated to helping people wake up and unite to shift our collective course from collapse to global renaissance. On the practical side of things, as an expert at self-reliance, emergency prep, and survival, his writings and work help people prepare to weather the storms we are facing due to continuing climate change and ecological decline, coupled with a fossil fuel based economy that has recently passed the peak in world oil production and is struggling to cope with impending near-term shortfalls.

Matthew Stein is the author of the bestselling book When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability and Surviving the Long Emergency (Chelsea Green 2008) a comprehensive manual on sustainable living skills, survival, and disaster preparations. His new book, When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide to Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival (Chelsea Green 2011) is due to release on November  14, 2001, and has received excellent advance praise from experts on survival and disaster preparedness. Stein is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he majored in Mechanical Engineering.

As the owner of Stein Design & Construction, he has built hurricane resistant, energy efficient and environmentally friendly homes.  The mechanical engineering side of his firm specializes in product design and development. Among other things, Mat has designed consumer water filtration devices, solar PV roofing panels, medical bacterial filters, emergency chemical drench systems, computer disk drives, and portable fiberglass buildings.

In recognition of his expertise, Stein has appeared on over a hundred radio and television programs and is a repeat guest on dozens of shows, including Fox News, MSNBC, Lionel, Coast-to-Coast AM, and the Thom Hartmann Show.  He has also written a number of articles on the subject of sustainable living and is a guest columnist for the Huffington Post.

Stein has been an active outdoorsman since he was a small child, an extreme skier and climber (over a hundred Yosemite Valley ascents including several El Capitan and Half Dome big walls), and volunteers as a guide and cross country ski instructor for the blind with the Sierra Regional Ski for Light program. He and his wife Josie live in the High Sierra Mountains near Lake Tahoe, California.

Listen to the podcast:

PPC#06 Mat Stein

As the first major storm of the 2011 Hurricane season closes in on the East Coast megalopolis (the giant city stretching from DC to NYC), we’d like to take a moment to encourage you to get prepared.

Hurricanes can cause severe damage to infrastructure you probably take for granted, but without which your home and city simply won’t work. Electricity to heat your water, cool the summer air, and light your way down the hall at night. And running water, which due to flooding can become contaminated or stop flowing altogether.

But if you’re ready to stay safe the storm doesn’t have to wreck your weekend. Instead it can be a kind of scary adventure! So to that end, we’ve got some tips to keep you safe should Irene come a-knocking.

Matthew Stein is the author of the book When Technology Fails, an incredibly thorough guide to dealing with life…well, when technology fails!

He’s recently finished a new book, When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide for Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival. Smaller in size than WTF, more concise, and focused on the challenges posed by particular types of disaster, this new book belongs in everyone’s preparedness kit—along with a radio and batteries, water, clif bars, and duct tape.

When Disaster Strikes covers how to find and store food, water, and clothing, as well as the basics of installing back-up power and lights. You’ll learn how to gather and sterilize water, build a fire, treat injuries in an emergency, and use alternative medical sources when conventional ones are unavailable.

Now, if only it were back from the printers in time for good ole Irene…

In lieu of that, we’ve got the hefty original, When Technology Fails , and this quick video from the author, in which he explains how to put together an emergency preparedness kit. Watch it now, then get to work! She’s on her way!