Edible Forest Gardens offers a vision of the garden that reaches well beneath its aesthetic surface and into its ecological depths. It reminds us that whatever gardens are an oasis from, they can never be an oasis from the natural world or our own underlying economic needs. Verlyn Klinkenborg, from a review in The New York Times 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. Taken together, the two volumes of Edible Forest Gardens offer an advanced course in ecological gardening?one that will forever change the way you look at plants and your environment.
The Authors: Dave Jacke is the owner of Dynamics Ecological Design Associates and a long-time permaculture teacher and designer. He lives in Keene, New Hampshire. Eric Toensmeier is a plant researcher, agricultural educator, and permaculturist who lives in Holyoke, Massachusetts.
