What follows is an extended list of resources to help you learn more and plug into local projects. Topics are listed alphabetically. Under each topic heading I have listed websites and organizations first, followed by publications, listed alphabetically by author.
I have not read all of these books—though I have read many of them, some are recommendations I pass along from my mentors and peers. To save space, I have annotated only a handful of selections that I most highly recommend; the rest are up to you to discover on your own. Have fun!
Agriculture, Biodynamic
Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association 25844 Butler Road
Junction City, OR 97448
Phone: 888-516-7797 or 541-998-0105
Fax: 541-998-0106
The North American hub for the biodynamic farming community. They distribute many of the books below, as well as the Stella Natura Sowing and Planting Calendar.
Klocek, Dennis. A Biodynamic Book of Moons. Wyoming, RI: Bio-dynamic Literature, 1983.
Philbrick, John and Helen. Organic Gardening for Health and Nutrition. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophic Press, 1988.
Schilthuis, Willy. Biodynamic Agriculture. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophic Press, 1994.
Steiner, Rudolf. Agriculture. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophic Press, 1994.
Storl, Wolf. Culture and Horticulture: A Philosophy of Gardening. Wyoming, RI: Bio-dynamic Literature, 1979.
Thun, Maria. Work with the Land and the Constellations. Sussex, UK: Lanthorn Press, 1990.
Agriculture, Industrial
Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. New York: Mariner Books, 2002.
Kimbrell, Andrew. Fatal Harvest: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture. Covelo, CA: Island Press, 2002.
Agriculture and Gardening, Organic
Eco-Farm Association
406 Main Street, Suite 313
Watsonville, CA 95076
Phone: 831-763-2111
Fax: 831-763-2112
info@eco-farm.org
The Land Institute
2440 East Water Well Road
Salina, KS 67401
Phone: 785-823-5376
Fax: 785-823-8728
National Sustainable Agriculture
Information Service
PO Box 3657
Fayetteville, AR 72702
Phone: 800-346-9140 (English) or 800-411-3222 (Español)
An excellent source of information about internships, research projects, funding, and much more.
Northeast Organic Farmers Association
c/o Bill Duesing
PO Box 135
Stevenson, CT 06491
Phone: 203-888-5146
bduesing@cs.com
In addition to the renowned annual NOFA Summer Conference, each of the seven state chapters of the Northeast Organic Farming Association provides educational conferences, workshops, farm tours, and printed materials to educate farmers, gardeners, consumers, and land-care professionals. The Natural Farmer, the quarterly newspaper of the NOFA Interstate Council, publishes features on organic farming techniques, certification issues, environmental developments as they impact farmers and growers, organic market conditions, and other topics of interest to the Northeast organic community.
Oregon Tilth
470 Lancaster Drive NE
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-378-0690
Fax: 503-378-0809
A nonprofit research and education organization certifying organic farmers, processors, retailers, and handlers throughout Oregon, the United States, and internationally. They offer a newspaper with tons of useful news and information about organic food and farming.
Organic Consumers Association
6101 Cliff Estate Road
Little Marais, MN 55614
218-226-4164
Organic Trade Association
PO Box 547
Greenfield, MA 01302
Seattle Tilth
4649 Sunnyside Avenue N. Room 120
Seattle, WA 98103
206-633-0451
tilth@seattletilth.org
Seattle Tilth inspires and educates people to garden organically, conserve natural resources, and support local food systems in order to cultivate a healthy urban environment and community. Their site has lots of great stuff about children’s gardening and organic living.
Acres, U.S.A.
PO Box 91299
Austin, TX 78709
Phone: 800-355-5313
Fax: 512-892-4448
Monthly magazine published since 1970. “The voice of eco-agriculture.”
Ausubel, Kenny. Seeds of Change. New York: HarperCollins, 1994.
Creasy, Rosalind. Complete Book of Edible Landscaping. San Francisco: Sierra Club, 1982.
Fukuoka, Masanobu. The Natural Way of Farming. New York: Japan Publications, 1985. In this pivotal book about how to grow food without harming the earth, Masanobu Fukuoka outlines a detailed yet simple system that incorporates rice, barley, fruits, and both annual and perennial vegetables, using seed balls made of clay and compost. It is his personal philosophy of simple, humble living, more than the specific gardening techniques, that puts this book on the list of most valuable references. Fukuoka advises taking responsibility for our lives while still enjoying them. He encourages a focused intention-ality toward ecological harmony, coupled with a humble acceptance of the chaotic cycles of nature.
Hart, Robert. Forest Gardening, Cultivating an Edible Landscape. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 1996.
Hemenway, Toby. Gaia’s Garden. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2002. This book presents theories and techniques for home-scale ecological garden design. Much of what I learned about ecological gardening came through Toby Hemenway, either in this book or during one of the many opportunities I have had to study with him directly. Gaia’s Garden is the premier North American guide to ecological gardening, and an essential addition to any permaculture library. Also check out Toby’s website, www.patternliteracy.com.
Jackson, Wes. Becoming Native to This Place. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 1994.
Jeavons, John. How to Grow More Vegetables (and Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops) Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 2002.
Kourik, Robert. Designing and Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2005.
Logsdon, Gene. The Contrary Farmer. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 1994.
Rosset, Peter, and Medea Benjamin. The Greening of the Revolution: Cuba’s Experiment with Organic Agriculture. Melbourne, Australia: Ocean Press, 1994.
Seymour, John. The Self-Sufficient Gardener. London: Corgi, 1994.
Shapiro, Howard. Gardening for the Future of the Earth. New York: Bantam Books, 2000.
Stout, Ruth. How to Have a Green Thumb without an Aching Back. New York: Cornerstone Library, 1973.
———. The Ruth Stout No-Work Garden Book. New York: Bantam Books, 1971.
Tilgner, Linda. Tips for the Lazy Gardener. Pownal, VT: Storey, 1998.
Weaver, William Woys. Heirloom Vegetable Gardening: A Master Gardener’s Guide to Planting, Growing, Seed Saving, and Cultural History. New York: Henry Holt, 1997.
Whitefield, Patrick. How to Make a Forest Garden. East Meon, Hampshire, England: Permanent Publications, 2000.
Animals and Birds
Feltwell, Ray. Small-Scale Poultry Keeping: A Guide to Free-Range Poultry Production. London: Faber and Faber, 1992.
Lee, Andy. Chicken Tractor: The Permaculture Guide to Happy Hens and Healthy Soil. Columbus, NC: Good Earth, 1999.
Riotte, Louise. Raising Animals by the Moon: Practical Advice on Breeding, Birthing, Weaning, and Raising Animals in Harmony with Nature. Pownal, VT: Storey, 1999.
Biodiversity
Talking Leaves
c/o Lost Valley Educational Center
81868 Lost Valley Lane
Dexter, OR 97431
Phone: 541-937-3351
Since 1989, Talking Leaves has been dedicated to supporting projects that consider the intrinsic value of all inhabitants of the natural world and that work for the survival of intact natural systems both large and small.
Guidetti, Geri Welzel. From the Ground Up: Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Uncertain Times. Oxford, OH: Ark Institute, 1996.
Marinelli, Janet. Stalking the Wild Amaranth: Gardening in the Age of Extinction. New York: Henry Holt, 1998.
Shiva, Vandana. Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge. Boston: South End Press, 1997.
Tuxill, John D. Nature’s Cornucopia: Our Stake in Plant Diversity. Washington, DC: Worldwatch Institute, 1999.
Children
The School Garden Project of Lane County
PO Box 30072
Eugene, OR 97403
Phone: 541-284-9984
Cornell, Joseph Bharat. Sharing Nature with Children: The Classic Parents’ and Teachers’ Nature Awareness Guidebook. Nevada City, CA: DAWN, 1998.
Fell, Derek. A Kid’s First Book of Gardening: Growing Plants Indoors and Out. Philadelphia: Running Press, 1989.
Harlow, Rosie, and Gareth Morgan. 175 Amazing Nature Experiments. New York: Random House, 1991.
Hart, Avery, and Paul Mantell. Kids Garden. Charlotte, VT: Williamson, 1996.
Lovejoy, Sharon. Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots. New York: Workman, 1999.
Sherlock, Marie. Living Simply with Children: A Voluntary Simplicity Guide for Moms, Dads, and Kids Who Want to Reclaim the Bliss of Childhood and the Joy of Parenting. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2003.
Stein, Sara. The Evolution Book. New York: Workman, 1986.
Wallace, Mary, Lee Mackay, and Dorrie Nagler. Children and Feminism. Vancouver, BC: LAFMPAG, 1987. I discovered this revolutionary book several years ago when living with two single mothers. I had no children of my own, and little experience with children, but Children and Feminism provided a solid foundation for interacting with young people in a realistic and egalitarian way. It is somewhat obscure, but I encourage anyone who works with children or parents to put in the effort to find a copy. Even if you have no children and don’t intend to work with any, the appendix of nonviolent communication alone makes the book worth acquiring.
Community Gardening
Coe, Mary Lee. Growing with Community Gardening. Taftsville, VT: Countryman Press, 1978.
Naimark, Susan. A Handbook of Community Gardening. New York: Scribner, 1982.
Community Organizing
Bioneers
6 Cerro Circle
Lamy, NM 87540
Phone: 877-246-6337
Fax: 505-986-1644
An educational nonprofit that strengthens and expands networks of practical visionaries working on behalf of the environment and people. They host an annual conference in California.
The Center for Public Integrity
910 17th Street NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20006
Phone: 202-466-1300
Helios Resource Network
1192 Lawrence Street
Eugene, OR 97401
Phone: 541-284-7020
info@heliosnetwork.org
Our United Villages
With a mission of bringing people together to share ideas that inspire practices that strengthen communities, Our United Villages is dedicated to the idea that communities should make their own decisions about how best to improve their surroundings. They organize interactive opportunities to facilitate this process in localized neighborhoods, then hand full power and credit for the resulting projects back to the people in that neighborhood. Their projects provide an excellent model for autonomous community action, and are funded entirely by proceeds from their ReBuilding Center (see Recycling). Highly recommended. Check it out.
Prairie Fire Organizing Committee
2502 West Division Street
Chicago, IL 60622-2804
Phone: 773-278-6706
Fax: 773-278-0635
pfoc@prairiefire.org
Design
Sustainable Education and Ecological Design (SEED) International
50 Crystal Waters, Kilcoy Lane
Conondale, QLD 4552 Australia
Phone: +61 (0)7 5494 4833 info@seedinternational.com.au www.seedinternational.com.au
A wonderful website with explanations of permacul-ture ethics and principles, great photos, and an excellent links page.
Sustainable Living News: A West Coast Journal of Environmental Design
PO Box 45472
Seattle, WA 98145.
Eck, Joe. Elements of Garden Design. New York: North Point Press, 2005.
Edey, Anna. Solviva: How to Grow $500,000 on One Acre, and Peace on Earth. Vineyard Haven, MA: Trailblazer Press, 1998. A fascinating book about “sustainable solar-dynamic, bio-benign design.” Also see the website at www.solviva.com.
Stevens, Peter. Patterns in Nature. Boston: Little, Brown, 1974. Out of print and hard to find but excellent and worth the search.
Todd, Nancy Jack. From Eco-Cities to Living Machines: Principles of Ecological Design. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 1994.
Van Der Ryn, Sim, and Stuart Cowan. Ecological Design. Washington, DC: Island Press, 1996.
Zelov, Chris, and Brian Danitz. Ecological Design: Inventing the Future. Video, 64 minutes. Knossus, 2000.
Direct Action
Earth First!
Earth First! is a loosely affiliated network of environmental activists who believe in using all the tools in the tool box, ranging from grassroots organizing and involvement in the legal process to civil disobedience and more. The links page on their website lists nearly a hundred organizations around the world that support and perform nonviolent direct action.
Food Not Bombs
Greenpeace USA
702 H Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 800-326-0959
Hansen, Ann. Direct Action: Memoirs of an Urban Guerrilla. Toronto: Between the Lines, 2001.
Henry, C. T., and Keith McHenry. Food Not Bombs. Tucson, AZ: See Sharp Press, 2000. Keith McHenry cofounded the first Food Not Bombs groups in the early 1980s and spawned a food liberation movement that boasts several hundred autonomous chapters worldwide. Food Not Bombs has no formal leaders and strives to include everyone in its decision-making process. Each group recovers food that would otherwise be thrown out and makes fresh, hot, vegetarian meals that are served in city parks, at protests, and at community events to anyone without restriction. This is one of the only books available that contains simple steps to organizing community events, and the format for setting up a local Food Not Bombs chapter can be applied to many different types of projects.
Tracy, James. Direct Action: Radical Pacifism from the Union Eight to the Chicago Seven. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1996.
Dumpster Diving
Dumpster Diving
Online discussion forums.
Dumpster World
Online discussion forums.
Ferrell, Jeff. Empire of Scrounge: Inside the Urban Underground of Dumpster Diving, Trash Picking, and Street Scavenging. New York: New York University Press, 2006.
Fleming, Leslie. Dumpster Diving Saved My Life. Seattle, WA: Peanut Butter, 2004.
Hoffman, John. The Art and Science of Dumpster Diving. Port Townsend, WA: Loompanics, 1993.
———. Dumpster Diving: The Advanced Course, How to Turn Other People’s Trash into Money, Publicity, and Power. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2002.
Ecofeminism
Daly, Mary. Gynecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism. Boston: Beacon Press, 1978.
Mies, Maria, and Vandana Shiva. Ecofeminism. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Zed Books, 1993.
Ruether, Rosemary Radford. Women Healing Earth: Third World Women on Ecology, Feminism, and Religion. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1996.
Shiva, Vandana. Staying Alive: Women, Ecology, and Development. London: Zed Books, 1989.
Warren, Karen, and Nisvan Erkal. Ecofeminism: Women, Culture, Nature. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1997.
Ecological Building
Circle Round: The Women’s Natural Building
Newsletter
PO Box 14194
Portland, OR 97293
Eco-Building Times
PO Box 58530
Seattle, WA 98138
Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977.
Evans, Ianto, Linda Smiley, and Michael Smith. The Hand-Sculpted House: A Philosophical and Practical Guide to Building a Cob Cottage. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2002. They also offer internships in cob building. Write to Cob Cottage Internships, PO Box 123, Cottage Grove, OR 97424.
Todd, Nancy Jack, and John Todd. Bioshelters, Ocean Arks, and City Farming: Ecology as the Basis of Design. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1984.
Ecology and Science
Berkeley Ecology Center
2530 San Pablo Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94702
Phone: 510-548-2220
Fax: 510-548-2240
info@ecologycenter.org
Capon, Brian. Botany for Gardeners. Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2005.
Capra, Fritjof. The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems. New York: Anchor Books, 1996.
Margulis, Lynn. Five Kingdoms: An Illustrated Guide to the Phyla of Life on Earth. New York: W. H. Freeman, 1998.
———. Microcosmos: Four Billion Years of Evolution from Our Microbial Ancestors. New York: Summit Books, 1986.
———. Symbiotic Planet: A New Look at Evolution. New York: Basic Books, 1998.
Moran, Edward. The Global Ecology. New York: H. W. Wilson, 1999.
Sessions, George. Deep Ecology for the 21st Century. New York: Random House, 1995.
Thomas, Lewis. The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher. New York: Viking Press, 1974.
Education
Goddard College
123 Pitkin Road
Plainfield, VT 05667
Phone: 800-468-4888
My alma mater; offers student-directed, interdisciplinary, distance-learning programs that encourage critical thinking, wide knowledge, personal growth, and thoughtful action.
Freire, Paolo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum, 1995.
Goldring, Andrew. Permaculture Teacher’s Guide. London: Permaculture Association, 2000. An anthology of games, outlines, diagrams, and techniques for teaching ecological living to adults. I highly recommend this book for teachers of all disciplines, because it provides such a nice range of ideas for activities to do with nontraditional students. My Gobradime design formula is a mutation of several similar acronyms in this book. Packed with exercises and suggestions for activities to do during a perma-culture course, the Teacher’s Guide yields a diverse array of ways to understand and share the tenets of permaculture in principle and practice.
Nagel, Greta. The Tao of Teaching. New York: Primus, 1994.
Postman, Neil, and Charles Weingartner. Teaching as a Subversive Activity. New York: Delacorte, 1969. One of my favorite books of all time, this text translates many of John Dewey and Marshall McLuhan’s radical education theories into a readable and usable format. The authors provide many witty examples of how subversive and egalitarian teaching techniques empower students and present an argument for teaching students how to teach themselves whatever is relevant to them.
Renner, Peter. The Art of Teaching Adults. Vancouver, BC: PFR Training Associates, 1993.
Terry, Mark. Teaching for Survival: A Handbook for Environmental Education. New York: Ballantine, 1971.
Elder Care
Oatfield Estates: An Alternative to Assisted Living
4444 SE Oatfield Hill Road
Milwaukie, OR 97267
Phone: 503-653-5656
Oatfield Estates is an innovative residential-care community in Milwaukie, Oregon, focused on healthy living and elder-directed care, with a sustainable connection to nature. Oatfield features a greenhouse that grows thousands of vegetable and flower starts and organic, edible landscapes with perennial fruit and raised beds, some of them wheelchair-accessible. A seed-saving program allows residents to share the bounty with loved ones and contribute back to the community.
Energy and Technology
National Center for Appropriate Technology
815 15th Street NW, Suite 938
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-347-9193
Home Power Magazine
PO Box 520
Ashland, OR 97520
Phone: 800-707-6585 (inside the U.S.)
Phone: 541-512-0201 (outside the U.S.)
Fax: 541-512-0343
subscription@homepower.com
Anderson, Bruce, and Michael Riordan. The Solar Home Book: Heating, Cooling, and Designing with the Sun. Harrisville, NH: Cheshire Books, 1976.
Gipe, Paul. Wind Energy Basics: A Guide to Small and Micro Wind Systems. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 1999.
Kachadorian, James. The Passive Solar House: The Complete Guide to Heating and Cooling Your Home (Revised and Expanded). White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2006.
Pahl, Greg. Biodiesel: Growing a New Energy Economy. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2004.
Potts, Michael. The New Independent Home: People and Houses That Harvest the Sun. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 1999.
Schaeffer, John, and Doug Pratt. Gaiam Real Goods Solar Living Sourcebook: Your Complete Guide to Renewable Energy Technologies and Sustainable Living. Ukiah, CA: Gaiam Real Goods, 2005.
Still, Dean, and Jim Kness. Capturing Heat: Five Earth Friendly Cooking Technologies and How to Build Them. Cottage Grove, OR: Aprovecho Research Center, 1996.
Ethics
Curry, Patrick. “On Ecological Ethics: A Critical Introduction.” 1999. Campaign for Political Ecology, www.eco.gn.apc.org/pubs/ethics_curry.html.
The Findhorn Community. The Findhorn Garden. New York: Harper and Row, 1975.
Shepard, Paul, and Daniel McKinley. The Subversive Science: Essays toward an Ecology of Man. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1969.
Westra, Laura. Living in Integrity: A Global Ethic to Restore a Fragmented Earth. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1998.
Festivals
Burning Man
An annual technology fest in the desert near Gerlach, Nevada. Very popular with the emerging urban hipster scene, and a useful place to find creative inspiration and meet interesting people, but the festival attitude as a whole is somewhat lacking in ecological integrity.
National Rainbow Family Annual Gathering www.welcomehome.org
From their website: “Some say we’re the largest non-organization of nonmembers in the world. We have no leaders, and no organization. To be honest, the Rainbow Family means different things to different people. I think it’s safe to say we’re into intentional community building, nonviolence, and alternative lifestyles. We also believe that Peace and Love are a great thing, and there isn’t enough of that in this world. Many of our traditions are based on Native American traditions, and we have a strong orientation to take care of the earth. We gather in the national forests yearly to pray for peace on this planet.”
Oregon Country Fair
442 Lawrence Street
Eugene, OR 97401
Phone: 541-343-4298
It is the intention of the Oregon Country Fair to create events and experiences that nourish the spirit, explore living artfully and authentically on Earth, and transform culture in magical, joyous, and healthy ways. They host an annual gathering every July in Oregon and maintain a network of over ten thousand members.
Fibers
Lesch, Alma. Vegetable Dyeing: 151 Color Recipes for Dyeing Yarns and Fabrics with Natural Materials. New York: Watson-Guptill, 1970.
Prance, Ghillean, and Mark Nesbitt. The Cultural History of Plants. New York: Routledge, 2005.
Food, History, and Politics
Crispo, Dorothy. The Story of Our Fruits and Vegetables. Greenwich, CT: Devin-Adair, 1968.
Lappé, Francis Moore, and Joseph Collins. World Hunger: 12 Myths. New York: Grove Press, 1986.
Lerza, Katherine, and Michael Jacobson. Food for People Not for Profit: A Sourcebook on the Food Crisis. New York: Ballantine, 1975.
Nestle, Marion. Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2002.
Root, Waverly. Food: An Authoritative Visual History and Dictionary of the Foods of the World. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1980.
Food Not Lawns Chapters
Arcata Food Not Lawns, aka Wild Urban Gardeners, promotes depaving and lawn conversions, operates a tool library, and helps publish Culture Change magazine. Excellent site with lots of links.
www.culturechange.org/food_not_lawns.html
Bellingham Food Not Lawns is focused on helping its local community become more sustainable by restoring abused and unused land into organic gardens. foodnotlawns@gmail.com
Bisbee Food Not Lawns is the newest chapter, hosting workshops and work parties to beautify and unite this small Arizona town.
Cascadia Food Not Lawns is focused on promoting peace and sustainability through ecological design, shared resources, and creative community interaction.
Montreal Food Not Lawns publishes a regular ’zine, and its website has tons of great information about food politics, genetic engineering, and much more.
Portland Food Not Lawns. Several autonomous neighborhood groups organize a variety of projects.
www.myspace.com/foodnotlawnsportland
San Diego Food Not Lawns. Organizes a regional conference and maintains a good website.
St. Cloud Food Not Lawns is building local food security through networking with local farmers and growing healthy food. Its website has a nice photo album.
St. Petersburg Food Not Lawns is a loosely affiliated collective of grassroots gardeners promoting urban sustainability by encouraging and assisting in growing food. They apply environmental and anarchist principles including sustainability, reuse, consumption, non-hierarchy, mutual aid, community, consensus decision making, and autonomy.
stpetefnl.cjb.net
Food Storage and Processing
Katz, Sandor Ellix. Wild Fermentation: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Cultural Manipulation. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2003.
Keeping Food Fresh: Old-World Techniques and Recipes: By the Gardeners and Farmers of Terre Vivante. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 1999.
Mollison, Bill. The Permaculture Book of Ferment and Human Nutrition. Tyalgum, NSW: Tagari, 1993.
Stoner, Carol Hupping, ed. Stocking Up: How to Preserve the Foods You Grow, Naturally (revised and expanded edition). Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press, 1977.
Free Stuff
Try an Internet search for “freecycle” or “barter fair” and your hometown and you’ll find a wide variety of excellent resources. Also check out the free stuff section of www.craigslist.org.
Fund-Raising
The Arts and Healing Network (www.artheals.org) is a solid bank of resources for creative people, with many options that allow individuals to find funding for projects without having to go through a corporate nonprofit.
The Fund for Wild Nature
PO Box 42523
Portland, OR 97242
fwn@fundwildnature.org
Offers grant funding for a wide variety of environmental activist projects. Deadlines are twice a year, early spring and early fall.
Organic Farming Research Foundation
PO Box 440
Santa Cruz, CA 95061
Phone: 831-426-6606
From the website: “The Organic Farming Research Foundation is a non-profit whose mission is to sponsor research related to organic farming practices, to disseminate research results to organic farmers and to growers interested in adopting organic production systems, and to educate the public and decision-makers about organic farming issues.”
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Foundation
From the website: “SARE provides grants and information to improve profitability, stewardship and quality of life. . . . The program is part of USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, is managed in partnership with regional land grant hosts, and funds projects and conducts outreach designed to improve agricultural systems.”
Hall, Mary S. Getting Funded: The Complete Guide to Writing Grant Proposals. Portland, OR: Continuing Education Press, Extended Studies, Portland State University, 2003.
Marchese, Richard C. Grantwriting: Securing Resources for Non-Profit Organizations. Espanola, NM: Resource Development Services, 2000.
Genetically Modified Organisms
(GMOs) and Biotech
Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration (etc group)
NW Rage (Northwest Resistance against Genetic Engineering)
Organic Consumers Association www.organicconsumers.org
Fowler, Cary, and Pat Mooney. Shattering: Food, Politics, and the Loss of Genetic Diversity. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 1990.
Grace, Eric. Biotechnology Unzipped: Promises and Realities. Markham, ON: Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 2005.
Kneen, Brewster. Farmageddon: Food and the Culture of Biotechnology. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society, 1999.
Smith, Jeffrey M. Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2005.
Teitel, Martin. Changing the Nature of Nature. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 1999.
Greenhouses and Season Extension
Colebrook, Binda. Winter Gardening in the Maritime Northwest: Cool Season Crops for the Year-Round Gardener. Seattle, WA: Sasquatch Books, 1989. Though written by and for Northwest gardeners, this book is so packed with valuable information about season extension that I highly recommend it for anyone living in climatic zones 4–9.
Coleman, Eliot. Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 1999.
Poisson, Leandre, and Gretchen Vogel Poisson. Solar Gardening: Growing Vegetables Year-Round the American Intensive Way. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 1994.
Strickler, Darryl J. Solarspaces: How and Why to Add Greenhouse, Sunspace, or Solarium to Your Home. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1983.
Wahlfeldt, Bette G. All about Greenhouses: With 15 Build-Your-Own Plans. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, 1981.
Group Process
Lost Valley Educational Center
81868 Lost Valley Lane
Dexter, OR 97431
Phone: 541-937-3351
Lost Valley Educational Center is an intentional community and nonprofit educational center dedicated to learning, living, and teaching sustainable, ecologically based culture. They host monthly personal-growth workshops entitled “The Heart of Now,” which are said to greatly improve one’s ability to solve conflicts between oneself and others.
Butler, C. T., and Amy Rothstein. On Conflict and Consensus: A Handbook on Formal Consensus Decisionmaking. The very best guide to classic consensus process. The entire text is available online at www.ic.org/pnp/ocac.
Hunter, Dale. The Zen of Groups: A Handbook for People Meeting with a Purpose. Tucson, AZ: Fisher Books, 1995.
Hunter, Dale, Anne Bailey, and Bill Taylor. The Art of Facilitation: How to Create Group Synergy. Tucson, AZ: Fisher Books, 1995.
Guerrilla Gardening
Pallenberg, Barbara. Guerrilla Gardening: How to Create Gorgeous Gardens for Free. Los Angeles: Renaissance Books, 2001.
Health and Healing
Columbine School of Botanical Studies
PO Box 50532
Eugene, OR 97405
Phone: 541-687-7114
Unique herbal botanical field apprenticeships.
Horizon Herbs
The Icarus Project
theicarusproject.net
Mental health for activists and others who don’t fit into mainstream treatment strategies. A nonprofit, community-based website, support network, and underground media project created by and for people struggling with bipolar disorder and other “dangerous gifts” that are commonly labeled as mental illnesses. They believe that when we learn to take care of ourselves, the intertwined threads of madness and creativity can be tools of inspiration and hope in a repressed and damaged world.
Susun Weed
Herbal Medicine and Spirit Healing the Wise
Woman Way
Wise Women’s Center
PO Box 64
Woodstock, NY
Phone: 845-246-8081
Burton Goldberg Group. Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide. Tiburon, CA: Future Medicine, 1999. The essential reference guide for people who want to take control of their own health care.
Cech, Richo. Making Plant Medicine. Williams, OR: Horizon Herbs, 2000.
Hausman, Patricia, and Judith Benn Hurley. The Healing Foods: The Ultimate Authority on the Curative Power of Nutrition. Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press, 1989.
Heinerman, John. Heinerman’s New Encyclopedia of Fruits and Vegetable (revised & expanded). Paramus, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1995.
Kloss, Jethro. Back to Eden: A Human Interest Story of Health and Restoration to Be Found in Herb, Root, and Bark. New York: Benedict Lust, 1981.
Lust, John B. The Herb Book. New York: B. Lust, 1974.
Maggiore, Christine. What If Everything You Thought You Knew about AIDS Was Wrong? American Foundation for AIDS Alternatives (11684 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, CA 91604), 1999.
Parvati, Jeannine. Hygieia: A Woman’s Herbal. Published by the author in 1978. Very difficult to find, but unparalleled as a source of information about herbal birth control and related issues. Highly recommended.
Robbins, John. The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and the World. Berkeley, CA: Conari Press, 2001.
Humanure
Del Porto, David, and Carol Steinfeld. The Composting Toilet System Book: A Practical Guide to Choosing, Planning and Maintaining Composting Toilet Systems: A Water-Saving, Pollution-Preventing Alternative. Concord, MA: Center for Ecological Pollution Prevention, 2000.
Jenkins, Joseph C. The Humanure Handbook: A Guide to Composting Human Manure. Grove City, PA: Jenkins, 1999.
Van der Ryn, Sim. The Toilet Papers: Designs to Recycle Human Waste and Water: Dry Toilets, Greywater Systems and Urban Sewage. Santa Barbara, CA: Capra Press, 1978.
Insects and Pollinators
Buchmann, Stephen L., and Gary Paul Nabhan. The Forgotten Pollinators. Washington, DC: Island Press, 1997.
Carr, Anna. Rodale’s Color Handbook of Garden Insects. Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press, 1979.
Cebenko, Jill, and Deborah Martin, eds. Insect, Disease, and Weed I.D. Guide: Find-It-Fast Organic Solutions for Your Garden. Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press, 2001.
Flint, Mary Louise. Pests of the Garden and Small Farm: A Grower’s Guide to Using Less Pesticide (2nd edi-tion). Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1998.
Inspiration
Berry, Wendell. Collected Poems, 1957–1982. San Francisco: North Point Press, 1985. This is just one of Mr. Berry’s many amazing books. He is one of the American pioneers in ecological agriculture and well worth discovering if you haven’t already.
Bloch, Ernst. The Principle of Hope. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1986.
Briggs, John, and F. David Peat. The Seven Life Lessons of Chaos: Timeless Wisdom from the Science of Change. New York: Harper Collins, 1999.
Callenbach, Ernest. Ecotopia and Ecotopia Emerging. See www.ernestcallenbach.com.
Diamond, Jared M. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: W. W. Norton, 1998.
Le Guin, Ursula K. The Word for World Is Forest. New York: Ace Books, 1989.
Quinn, Daniel. Ishmael. New York: Bantam/Turner Book, 1995.
Starhawk. The Fifth Sacred Thing. New York: Bantam Books, 1994; www.starhawk.org.
Intentional Communities
Communities Publications Cooperative
105 Sun Street
Steele, IL 60919
The Farm
Located in Tennessee, this is one of the USA’s pioneers in sustainable living and permaculture education. Their site contains design tips, links and resources, and pages upon pages of useful information.
Directory of Intentional Communities (4th edition). Rutledge, MO: Fellowship for Intentional Community, 2005. Semiannual directory of hundreds of intentional communities around the world, indexed by geographic area, group size and focus, et cetera. Useful for people who are looking for a community to move to, but also makes an excellent travel guide for visiting organic farms and permaculture sites. Also don’t miss the Intentional Communities website at www.ic.org.
Roseland, Mark. Toward Sustainable Communities: Resources for Citizens and Their Governments. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society, 1998.
Walters, J. Donald. Intentional Communities: How to Start Them and Why. Nevada City, CA: Crystal Clarity, 1988.
Internet Hubs and Resources
Craigslist
Global Family
Green People
MySpace
Mutual Aid
Sustainable Communities Network www.sustainable.org
Tribe
Zenzibar Alternative Culture Network www.zenzibar.com
Internships and Volunteer Opportunities
Most of the organizations listed in the resources section, especially those listed under “Permaculture,” offer internships, volunteer opportunities, and sometimes jobs. In addition, here are some excellent places to find compiled listings of opportunities from around the world.
ATTRA
Idealist
Organic Volunteers
Short Term Job Adventures
Willing Workers on Organic Farms, aka World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (either way, WWOOF)
Kinship Gardening
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Volume 85, number 4, 1998. A detailed list of plant genera and classifications, based on new genetic data. Alan Kapuler used this data to develop his kinship theories.
Kapuler, Alan. Peace Seeds Resource Journal. Published semiannually by Peace Seeds, 2385 SE Thompson, Corvallis, OR 97333; alkapuler@yahoo.com. Alan is my guru and mentor, and I value his work above most everything else. If you have any interest in organics, seed saving, biodiversity, or kinship gardening, get your hands on a set of Kapuler’s
Resource Journals. Also see an extensive review of Alan Kapuler’s work at www.organicseed.com.
Lawns
Bormann, F. Herbert, Diana Balmori, and Gordon T. Geballe. Redesigning the American Lawn: A Search for Environmental Harmony (2nd edition). New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001.
Jenkins, Virginia Scott. The Lawn: History of an American Obsession. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994.
Primeau, Liz. Front Yard Gardens: Growing More Than Grass. Willowdale, ON: Firefly Books, 2003.
Media and Outreach
International Independent Media Collective www.indymedia.org
Alexander, David. Ways You Can Manipulate the Media. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1993.
Ratner, Ellen, and Kathie Scarrah. Ready, Set, TALK! A Guide to Getting Your Message Heard by Millions on Talk Radio, Talk Television, and Talk Internet: A MustHave Resource for Campaigns of All Kinds. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2006.
Ruggiero, Greg, and Stuart Sahulka. Project Censored: The Progressive Guide to Alternative Media and Activism. New York: Seven Stories Press, 1999. Highly recommended collection of alternative media resources around the world. Get it, use it.
Permaculture
Alliance for Sustainability
1521 University Avenue SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Phone: 612-331-1099
www.allianceforsustainability.net
Aprovecho Research Center
80574 Hazelton Road
Cottage Grove, OR 97424
Phone: 541-942-8198
apro@efn.org
Aprovecho is a Spanish word meaning “I make best use of.” Eight on-site staff study and teach the elements of one approach to a more eco-centered lifestyle: sustainable forestry, organic gardening, and appropriate technology. Up to fourteen interns study with the staff, sharing a life based on voluntary simplicity.
EcoLandTech
A meta-link for permaculture-related topics. A great launchboard for further online investigation.
International Permaculture Directory www.permaculture.net
La’akea Permaculture Hawaii
Offers courses and information about permaculture around the globe. Excellent site.
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center
15290 Coleman Valley Road
Occidental, CA 95465
Phone: 707-874-1557
OAEC is a nonprofit organizing and education center and organic farm in northern California’s Sonoma County. OAEC’s programs combine research, demonstration, education, and organizing to develop collaborative, community-based strategies for positive social change and effective environmental stewardship.
Permaculture Portal
A must-see website just dripping with practical information. Operated by the Bullocks Brothers on Orcas Island, the site represents many years of combined experience.
Permaculture Activist
PO Box 5516
Bloomington, IN 47408
Phone: 812-335-0383
Permaculture Activist magazine is published quarterly from offices at Earthaven Ecovillage near Black Mountain, North Carolina, where they also offer workshops and internships. Circulated internationally and distributed throughout the US and Canada, the 18-year-old journal covers the development of sustainable culture through ecological design. The extensive website offers international calendars of events; a planetary directory of permaculture links, people, and projects; an extensive catalog of necessary books and videos; lists of permaculture institutes and Listservs; contacts for seeds and plants; and much more.
Bell, Graham. The Permaculture Garden. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2005.
———. The Permaculture Way: Practical Steps to Create a Self-Sustaining World. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2005. The Permaculture Way shows how to consciously design a lifestyle that 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. Graham Bell discusses human health, community interaction, rural agriculture, urban landscape design, and personal choices. I recommend The Permaculture Way as an essential introduction to permaculture, ecological living, and community organizing.
Brown, David, ed. A Western Permaculture Manual. Subiaco, Western Australia: Cornucopia Press, 1989.
Holmgren, David. Permaculture: Principles and Pathways beyond Sustainability. Hepburn, Victoria, Australia: Holmgren Design Services, 2002.
Jacke, Dave, and Eric Toensmeier. Edible Forest Gardens. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2005.
Kern, Ken, and Barbara Kern. The Owner-Built Homestead. New York: Scribner, 1977. Said to be one of the books that inspired Mollison. I highly recommend this timeless classic on ecological rural living.
Mollison, Bill. Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual; Introduction to Permaculture; Permaculture One; and Permaculture Two. Tyalgum, Australia: Tagari, 1988–1994. These are the premier and, in my opinion, still some of the best permaculture books. The illustrations are excellent and, combined with the witty and informative text, provide a theoretical road map for developing permaculture gardens and communities in almost any setting. Unfortunately, because Mollison is Australian, many of the plant and animal species don’t work in other climates. Still, his humor and unique perspective on people, plants, and politics makes these books highly recommendable and a joy to read. Also, look for Bill Mollison’s hilarious video documenting four permaculture sites on four different continents, The Global Gardener with Bill Mollison (Oley, PA: Bullfrog Films, 1991).
Morrow, Rosemary. Earth User’s Guide to Permaculture. Kenthurst, NSW: Kangaroo Press, 1993. Still one of the only permaculture books besides Food Not Lawns written by a woman, the Earth User’s Guide is a useful and informative resource for ecological gardeners of all levels.
Whitefield, Patrick. The Earth Care Manual: A Permaculture Handbook for Britain and Other Temperate Climates. East Meon, Hampshire, England: Permanent Publications, 2004.
———. Permaculture in a Nutshell. East Meon, Hampshire, England: Permanent Publications, 2000.
Plants
Cocannouer, Joseph A. Weeds, Guardians of the Soil. Old Greenwich, CT: Devin-Adair, 1980.
Couplan, François. The Encylopedia of Edible Plants of North America. New Canaan, CT: Keats, 1998. Five hundred and eighty-five pages of firsthand information about edible species that grow in North America. Contains nutrition information, parts used, history, etymology, geographical location, medicinal uses, and cooking techniques.
Cunningham, Sally Jean. Great Garden Companions: A Companion Planting System for a Beautiful, Chemical-Free Vegetable Garden. Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press, 1998. Illustrated, user-friendly, and highly recommended.
Druse, Kenneth, and Margaret Roach. The Natural Habitat Garden. Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2004.
Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia II: A Source Book of Edible Plants. Vista, CA: Kampong, 1998. Includes listings of approximately three thousand species of plants, fungi, algae, and bacteria, with information on edibility, toxicity, nutritional content, geographical regions, uses, and more. Contains detailed descriptions of several hundred cultivars and provides a variety of sources for each species.
Fern, Ken. Plants for a Future. East Meon, Hampshire, England: Permanent Publications, 2000. An excellent source of information about multifunctional plants from around the world. Includes cultivation techniques, conservation, and ecology, sorts the plants by application, and provides the most extensive plant-uses appendix I have ever seen. Also don’t miss the website, www.pfaf.org, which is a database of over seven thousand useful plants. The sheer richness of options involved means that its search engine can be a little intimidating at first. Some old hands consider it one of the most valuable eco-design resources on the Internet.
Harris, Ben Charles. Eat the Weeds. Barre, MA: Barre, 1969.
Hickmott, Simon. Growing Unusual Vegetables: Weird and Wonderful Vegetables and How to Grow Them. Bristol, England: Eco-logic Books, 2003.
Hobbs, Jude. A Guide to Multi-Functional Hedgerows. Eugene, OR: Agro-Ecology Northwest and Cascadia Landscape Design, 2003–2005. Jude Hobbs is well known as the West Coast expert on hedgerow design. She is a permaculture instructor and a teacher and mentor of mine. See her website, www.cascadiapermaculture.com.
Mabberley, D. J. The Plant Book: A Portable Dictionary of the Higher Plants. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996. The most comprehensive book of temperate plants, with easy-to-reference entries containing genus, species, family, description, and origin of tens of thousands of plant species.
National Resource Council. Lost Crops of Africa. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1996.
———. Lost Crops of the Incas: Little-known Plants of the Andes with Promise for Worldwide Cultivation. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1989. The same people who brought us potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers also cultivated several other types of edible tubers, grains, and vegetables. I took this book to South America and was surprised to find that even the locals were unfamiliar with many of the foods upon which their culture was founded. Most of these plants will do quite well in temperate climates, and I highly recommend tracking down a copy of the book.
Nugent, Jeff, and Julia Boniface. Permaculture Plants: A Selection. East Meon, Hampshire, England: Permanent Publications, 2004.
Pfeiffer, Ehrenfried. Weeds and What They Tell. Wyoming, RI: Bio-Dynamic Literature, 1981.
Philbrick, Helen Louise Porter, and Richard B. Gregg. Companion Plants: Plants That Help Each Other and How to Use Them. Kenthurst, NSW, Australia: Kangaroo Press, 1991. An alphabetized list of plants and their allies. Highly recommended.
Phillips, Roger. Vegetables. New York: Random House, 1993. Part of a highly regarded series of books on plants that includes other titles like Early Perennials, Late Perennials, Trees, and many more, Vegetables is an excellent place to start finding information about a plethora of edible plants.
Riotte, Louise. Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening. Charlotte, VT: Garden Way, 1981.
———. Roses Love Garlic. Charlotte, VT: Garden Way, 1983.
Schuler, Stanley. How to Grow Almost Everything. New York: M. Evans, 1965. An encyclopedia of cultivation instructions for hundreds of plants.
Smith, J. Russell. Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture. Washington, DC: Island Press, 1987. Considered one of the essential foundation books of permacul-ture design, and said to have inspired much of Mollison’s work, this book is hard to find but well worth the search. Try direct from Island Press: www.islandpress.org or 800-621-2736.
Thomas, Eric. Hedgerow. London: Dorling Kindersley, 1982. This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of hedgerows in England: their origins, growth, resources, wildlife, and place in the changing landscape. Very applicable to temperate climates.
Tompkins, Peter, and Christopher Bird. The Secret Life of Plants. New York: Harper and Row, 1989.
Recycling
Bring Recycling
Eugene, OR
Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR)
927 15th Street NW, 4th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-898-1610
- or -
1313 5th Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Phone: 612-379-3815
The ReBuilding Center
A resale outlet for useful building materials and the primary fundraising body for Our United Villages, a non-profit community enhancement organization (see Community Organizing). Developed by dedicated volunteers, The ReBuilding Center is modeled after successful building material reuse centers throughout North America. Their website boasts a list of over 500 of these centers—go there and find one near you!
ReCycle North
Burlington, VT
Food, Fuel, and Fertilizer from Organic Wastes. Report of an ad hoc panel of the advisory committee on technology innovation, National Research Council. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1981.
Seed Books
Ashworth, Suzanne. Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners. Decorah, IA: Seed Savers Exchange, 2002.
Deppe, Carol. Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2000.
Guillet, Dominique. The Seeds of Kokopelli. Boston: Kokopelli Seed Foundation, 2000. A wonderful book full of color photos, and available in French or English. Guillet’s Kokopelli Seed Foundation (the U.S. branch of the France-based Association Kokopelli) is heavily involved in the protection of biodiversity and in the production and distribution of biodynamic and organic seeds. Also visit www.kokopelli-seeds.com.
Kapuler, Alan. Peace Seeds Resource Journal. Published by the author and available through Peace Seeds, 2385 Thompson SE, Corvallis, OR 97333; 541-7527421; alkapuler@yahoo.com. Alan Kapuler is my mentor and guru and has taught me much of what I know about seed saving, polycultural gardening, kinship gardening, plant propagation, soil building, and interpersonal communication. His life’s work has become my own passion, and I highly recommend any and all of his writing.
Klein, Mary Ann, and David O. Percy. Seed Saving: A Guide for Living Historical Farms. Accokeek, MD: Accokeek Foundation, 1986.
McDorman, Bill. Basic Seed Saving. International Seed Saving Institute, 1994. A forty-eight-page booklet describing useful terms and concepts central to seed saving.
Rogers, Marc. Saving Seeds: The Gardener’s Guide to Growing and Storing Vegetable and Flower Seeds (revised). Pownal, VT: Storey, 1991.
Stickland, Sue. Back Garden Seed Saving: Keeping Our Vegetable Heritage Alive. Bristol, England: Eco-logic Books, 2001.
Turner, Carole B. Seed Sowing and Saving: Step-by-Step Techniques for Collecting and Growing More Than 100 Vegetables, Flowers, and Herbs. Pownal, VT: Storey, 1998.
Seed Companies
When you decide to buy seed, it is important to find them as locally grown as possible. Here is a list of bioregional seed sources that support small-scale, organic growers.
Abundant Life Seeds
PO Box 157
Saginaw, OR 97472
Phone: 541-767-9606
Fax: 866-514-7333
als@abundantlifeseeds.com www.abundantlifeseeds.com
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
2278 Baker Creek Road
Mansfield, MO 65704
Phone: 417-924-8917
Fax: 417-924-8887
Bountiful Gardens
18001 Shafer Ranch Road
Willits, CA 95490
Phone: 707-459-6410
Fax: 707-459-1925
bountiful@sonic.net
Cook’s Garden
PO Box C5030
Warminster, PA 18974
800-457-9703
Dancing Tree Farm
Bend, OR 97701
Phone: 541-914-4217
dancingtreefarm@mac.com www.dancingtreefarm.com
Heirloom Seeds
PO Box 245
West Elizabeth, PA 15088
412-384-0852
High Mowing Organic Seeds
76 Quarry Road
Wolcott, VT 05680
Phone: 802-472-6174
Fax: 802-472-3201
JL Hudson, Seedsman
Star Route 2, Box 337
La Honda, CA 94020
Johnny’s Selected Seeds
955 Benton Avenue
Winslow, ME 04901
Phone: 877-564-6697
Natural Gardening Company
PO Box 750776
Petaluma, CA 94975
Phone: 707-766-9303
Fax: 707-766-9747
info@naturalgardening.com www.naturalgardening.com
Nichols Garden Nursery
1190 Old Salem Road NE
Albany, OR 97321
Phone: 800-422-3985
Fax: 800-231-5306
Peace Seeds
2385 Thompson Street SE
Corvallis, OR 97333
Phone: 541-752-7421
alkapuler@yahoo.com
Peaceful Valley Farm Supply
PO Box 2209
125 Clydesdale Court
Grass Valley, CA 95945
Phone: 888-784-1722
helpdesk@groworganic.com
Salt Spring Seeds
Box 444, Ganges PO
Salt Spring Island, BC V8K 2W1
Canada
Phone: 250-537-5269 (no phone orders) www.saltspringseeds.com
Seeds of Change
PO Box 15700
Santa Fe, NM 87592
Phone: 888-762-7333
Seeds Trust
PO Box 596
Cornville, AZ 86325
Phone: 928-649-3315
Fax: 928-649-8181
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
PO Box 460
Mineral, VA 23117
Phone: 540-894-9480
Fax: 540-894-9481
gardens@southernexposure.com www.southernexposure.com
Sow Organic Seed Company
PO Box 527
Williams, OR 97544
Phone: 888-709-7333
organic@organicseed.com
Territorial Seed Company
PO Box 158
Cottage Grove, OR 97424
Phone: 800-626-0866
Fax: 888-657-3131
Underwood Gardens
1414 Zimmerman Road
Woodstock, IL 60098
Phone: 815-338-6279
Fax: 888-382-7041
Victory Seeds
PO Box 192
Molalla, OR 97038
Phone: 503-829-3126
info@victoryseeds.com
Seed Organizations
Bay Area Seed Interchange Library (BASIL) www.ecologycenter.org/basil
The BASIL Project is part of a growing network of concerned farmers and community gardeners dedicated to conserving the remaining genetic diversity of our planet’s seed stock. They host annual seed swaps and have a library of healthy vegetable, herb, and flower seeds that are available free to the public.
National Plant Germplasm Service (NPGS) www.ars-grin.gov/npgs
Focused on preserving the genetic diversity of plants by acquiring, preserving, evaluating, documenting, and distributing crop germplasms to researchers.
Native Seeds/SEARCH
526 N. 4th Avenue
Tucson, AZ 85705
Phone: 866-622-5561
Fax: 520-622-5591
info@nativeseeds.org
Organic Seed Alliance
PO Box 772
Port Townsend, WA 98368
Phone: 360-385-7192
Planting Seeds Project
New City Institute
#26, 721 Millyard
Vancouver, BC V5Z 3Z9
Canada
Phone: 604-255-2326
www.newcity.ca/Pages/planting_seeds.html
Primal Seeds
From the website: “Primal Seeds exists as a network to actively engage in protecting biodiversity and creating local food security. It is a response to industrial biopiracy, control of the global seed supply and of our food. This evolving tool is designed to empower individuals to participate in the creation of tomorrow.”
7Scatterseed Project
PO Box 1167
Farmington, ME 04938
www.gardeningplaces.com/scatterseed.htm
Seed and Plant Sanctuary for Canada
Box 444, Ganges PO
Salt Spring Island, BC V8K 2W1
Canada
Phone: 250-537-5269
Seed Savers Exchange
3094 N. Winn Road
Decorah, IA 52101
Phone: 563-382-5990
Fax: 563-382-5872
See Chapter 6 for a description.
Seeds of Diversity / Semences du patrimoine
PO Box 36, Stn Q
Toronto, ON M4T 2L7
Canada
Phone: 866-509-SEED
mail@seeds.ca
Sow Organic Seed Co.
PO Box 527
Williams, OR 97544
Phone: 888-709-7333
organic@organicseed.com
Not just another seed company, Sow Organic exists for the purpose of expanding the public domain. Their website contains a ton of useful information. Highly recommended.
Soil
Soil Foodweb, Inc.
An international group of soil biology laboratories analyzing and advising on microbial life in the soil and on plants. I highly recommend this website as a source of information about how to understand and care for your soil community.
Worm Digest
PO Box 2654
Grants Pass, OR 97528
Phone: 541-476-9626
Fax: 541-4764555
mail@wormdigest.org
Appelhof, Mary. Worms Eat My Garbage. Kalamazoo, MI: Flower Press, 1997.
Dale, Tom, and Vernon Gill Carter. Topsoil and Civilization. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1955. A fascinating treatise on the history of agriculture, from ancient Mesopotamia to the 1950s state of American farms. The authors make clear the fact that our future as a species will utterly depend on our ability to steward the soil that feeds us.
Gershuny, Grace, and Joe Smillie. The Soul of Soil: A Soil Building Guide for Master Gardeners and Farmers (4th edition). White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 1999.
Howard, Sir Albert. Soil and Health: A Study of Organic Agriculture. New York: Schocken Books, 1972.
Logan, William Bryant. Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth. New York: Riverhead Books, 1996.
Nancarrow, Loren, and Janet Hogan Taylor. The Worm Book: The Complete Guide to Worms in Your Garden. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 1998.
Sakura Eigasha. Life in the Soil. Video recording. Tawarahon-cho Atami Shizuoka, Japan: International Research Center for Nature Farming / MOA Productions, 1992. Extremely difficult to find but the best video ever made about soil communities. Full-color, microscopic, and time-lapse photography shows soil animals and plants interacting in a variety of natural and agricultural settings. Highly recommended.
Schaller, Friedrich. Soil Animals. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1968.
Tompkins, Peter, and Christopher Bird. Secrets of the Soil: New Age Solutions for Restoring Our Planet. New York: Perennial Library, 1990.
Street Theater
Art and Revolution Convergence
1002-1/2 Dolores Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
Phone: 415-487-5163
www.groundworknews.org/culture/culture
-artrevol.html
A collective of dancers, musicians, puppeteers, and activists, Art and Revolution conducts workshops and organizes street theater around social and environmental justice issues.
Bread and Puppet
753 Heights Road
Glover, VT 05839
Phone: 802-525-3031 or 802-525-1271
Fax: 802-525-3618
breadpup@together.net
One of the originators of giant puppet parades, this collective still hosts internships and annual pageants and tours around the world doing shows about social, political, and ecologically relevant topics.
Bolton, Reg, and Jo Hignett. Circus in a Suitcase. Rowayton, CT: New Plays, 1982. Though written specifically for doing children’s shows, this contains such a good overview of low-tech performance ideas that I recommend it for performers of all kinds.
Cohen-Cruz, Jan. Radical Street Performance: An International Anthology. New York: Routledge, 1998.
Kershaw, Baz. The Politics of Performance: Radical Theatre as Cultural Intervention. New York: Routledge, 1992.
Lesnick, Henry. Guerilla Street Theater. New York: Avon, 1973.
Simon, Ronald, and Marc Estrin. Rehearsing with Gods: Photographs and Essays on the Bread and Puppet Theater. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2004.
Van Erven, Eugène. Radical People’s Theatre. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1988.
Transportation, Bicycles
Critical Mass Bicycle Rides
From the website: “Critical Mass is a monthly bicycle ride to celebrate cycling and to assert cyclists’ right to the road.”
Transportation, Biofuels
Biodiesel and SVO Forums
biodiesel.infopop.cc/groupee
Online forums with information on making your own biodiesel and running your diesel engine on SVO/WVO (straight/waste vegetable oil).
Biodiesel Now
Online info on biodiesel, but does not talk about making your own fuel.
Frybrid LLC
1218 10th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122
(by appointment only)
Phone: 206-322-6242
info@frybrid.com
SVO conversion kits.
GoBiodiesel Collective
4684 SE Johnson Creek Boulevard
Portland, OR 97222
A biodiesel consumer co-op.
Golden Fuel Systems (formerly Greasel
Conversions)
HC 73 Box 157D
Drury, MO 65638
Phone: 866-473-2735
charlie@greasel.com
SVO conversion kits.
Grease Works
PO Box 432
Corvallis, OR 97339
Phone: 541-754-1897
justin@greaseworks.org
Biodiesel and SVO services.
Greasecar Vegetable Fuel Systems
221 Pine Street
Florence, MA 01062
Phone: 413-529-0013
info@greasecar.com
SVO conversion kits.
Green Technologies, LLC
150 W. Canal Street, Suite 1
Winooski, VT 05404
Phone: 802-355-3225
sgordon@greentechvt.com
Manufactures biodiesel from WVO.
Local B100
Information on home-brewing biodiesel.
National Biodiesel Board
PO Box 104888
Jefferson City, MO 65110
Phone: 800-841-5849
Industry group with listings of producers and distributors of certified, “street-legal” biodiesel.
Pahl, Greg. Biodiesel: Growing a New Energy Economy. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2004.
Ticknell, Joshua. From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank: The Complete Guide to Using Vegetable Oil as an Alternative Fuel (3rd edition). Tallahassee, FL: Ticknell Energy Consultants, 2000.
Urban and Inner-City Strategies
The City Repair Project
PO Box 42615
2122 SE Division
Portland, OR 97242
Phone: 503-235-8946
Fax: 503-235-1046
An excellent example of how a small group of committed citizens can change a large city for the better. From their website: “Born out of a successful grassroots neighborhood initiative that converted a residential street intersection into a neighborhood public square, City Repair began its work with the idea that localization (of culture, of economy, of decision-making) is a necessary foundation of sustainability. By reclaiming urban spaces to create community-oriented places, we plant the seeds for greater neighborhood communication, empower our communities, and nurture our local culture.”
Liberated Salad
How to grow a mini oasis in one hour a week.
Path to Freedom
Not waiting on the five-acre rural home to begin realizing their dream, the Dervaes family is living an urban homestead project on a city-sized lot. They document their progress in an urban diary, sharing the successful experiences of a self-sufficient lifestyle and providing informational resources for others interested in simple and sustainable living.
Boland, Jeroen. Urban Agriculture: Growing Vegetables in Cities. Wageningen, the Netherlands: Agromisa Foundation and Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, 2002.
Bryan, John E. Small World Vegetable Gardening: Growing Your Own in Limited Spaces. San Francisco: 101 Publications, 1977.
Cheema, G. Shabbir. Urban Agriculture: Food, Jobs and Sustainable Cities. New York: United Nations Development Program, 1996.
Corp Rooftop Gardens Task Force of San Francisco Beautiful. Rooftop Gardens: From Conception to Construction. San Francisco: San Francisco Beautiful, 1997.
Gardiner, Nancy. Gardening in Small Spaces: Including Townhouse, Courtyard, Patio, Balcony, Rooftop, Containers. Welgemoed, South Africa: Metz Press, 2004.
Guerra, Michael. The Edible Container Garden. New York: Fireside, 2000.
Olkowski, Helga and Bill. The Integral Urban House: Self-Reliant Living in the City. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1979.
Watkins, David. Urban Permaculture. East Meon, Hampshire, England: Permanent Publications, 1993.
Wiland, Harry, and Dale Bell with Joseph D’Agnese. Edens Lost and Found: How Ordinary Citizens Are Restoring Our Great American Cities. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2006.
Wilson, Peter Lamborn, and Bill Weinberg. Avant Gardening: Ecological Struggle in the City and the World. Seattle, WA: Autonomedia, 1999. An anthology of essays by ecological gardeners from around the country, this is a little treasure of a book. The last essay in particular, “Paradise Gardening” by Joe Hollis, became a major turning point for my personal philosophy and inspired me to visit Mr. Hollis at his home in North Carolina, where I learned the tenets of paradise gardening and adopted the term for my own work.
Wingate, Marty, and Jacqueline Koch. Big Ideas for Northwest Small Gardens. Seattle, WA: Sasquatch Books, 2003.
Wolfe-Erskine, Cleo. Urban Wilds: Gardeners’ Stories of the Struggle for Land and Justice. Oakland, CA: WaterUnderground, 2001.
Voluntary Simplicity
Culture Change Magazine
PO Box 4347
Arcata, CA 95518
Phone: 215-243-3144
Northwest Earth Institute
317 SW Alder, Suite 1050
Portland, OR 97204
Phone: 503-227-2807
Fax: 503-227-2917
They organize community learning opportunities with the goal of “motivating individuals to examine and transform personal values and habits, to accept responsibility for the earth, and to act on that commitment.”
Callenbach, Ernest. Living Poor with Style. San Francisco: Bantam, 1972.
Elgin, Duane. Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich. New York: Quill, 1993.
Grigsby, Mary. Buying Time and Getting By: The Voluntary Simplicity Movement. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2004.
Levine, Karen. Keeping Life Simple: 7 Guiding Principles, 500 Tips and Ideas. Pownal, VT: Storey, 1996.
Savage, Scott, ed. The Plain Reader: Essays on Making a Simple Life. New York: Ballantine, 1998.
VandenBroeck, Goldian. Less Is More: The Art of Voluntary Poverty: An Anthology of Ancient and Modern Voices Raised in Praise of Simplicity. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 1996.
Wigginton, Eliot. Foxfire 1–7. Garden City, NY: Anchor Doubleday. This series of books documents the lives of real people practicing simple and rural traditions, with topics such as animal care, homemade banjos and dulcimers, hide tanning, butter churns, water systems, wood carving, hog dressing, log cabin building, mountain crafts and foods, planting by the signs, snake lore, hunting tales, faith healing, moonshining, shoemaking, gourd banjos, and much more. Highly recommended.
Yeoman, John. Self Reliance: A Recipe for the New Millennium: A Practical “Cookbook” of Tested Ideas to Secure Your Family’s Future. East Meon, Hampshire, England: Permanent Publications, 1999.
Water
Alexandersson, Olof. Living Water: Viktor Schauberger and the Secrets of Natural Energy. Wellow, Bath, UK: Gateway Books, 1990.
Christopher, Thomas. Water-Wise Gardening: America’s Backyard Revolution. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994.
Emoto, Masaru. The Hidden Messages in Water. Hillsboro, OR: Beyond Words, 2004. The Hidden Messages in Water introduces the revolutionary work of Dr. Masaru Emoto, who discovered that molecules of water are affected by our thoughts, words, and feelings. Since humans and the earth are composed mostly of water, his message is one of personal health, global environmental renewal, and a practical plan for peace that starts with each one of us. Also see www.hado.net.
———. The True Power of Water: Healing and Discovering Ourselves. Hillsboro, OR: Beyond Words, 2005.
Gould, John. Rainwater Catchment Systems for Domestic Supply: Design, Construction and Implementation. London: Intermediate Technology, 1999. Design, construction, and implementation of low-tech strategies for collecting and storing rain water, including how to build various types of rainwater storage vessels.
Kourik, Robert. Gray Water Use in the Landscape: How to Help Your Landscape Prosper with Recycled Water. Santa Rosa, CA: Edible Publications, 1988.
Lancaster, Brad. Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands. Vol. 1: Guiding Principles to Welcome Rain into Your Life and Landscape; vol. 2: Water-Harvesting Earthworks. Tucson, AZ: Rainsource Press, 2005.
Leopold, Luna B. Water: A Primer. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1974.
Logsdon, Gene. Getting Food from Water: A Guide to Backyard Aquaculture. Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press, 1978.
Ludwig, Art. Create an Oasis with Greywater: Your Complete Guide to Choosing, Building, and Using Greywater Systems. Santa Barbara, CA: Oasis Design, 2000. Just one of several excellent and essential books by the same author on graywater use in the landscape.
Matson, Tim. Earth Ponds: The Country Pond Maker’s Guide to Building, Maintenance, and Restoration. Woodstock, VT: Countryman Press, 1991.
Pacey, Arnold, and Adrian Cullis. Rainwater Harvesting: The Collection of Rainfall and Run-off in Rural Areas. London: Intermediate Technology, 1986.
Riotte, Louise. Catfish Ponds and Lily Pads: Creating and Enjoying a Family Pond. Pownal, VT: Storey, 1997.
Schwenk, Theodor. Sensitive Chaos: The Creation of Flowing Forms in Water and Air. London: Rudolf Steiner Press, 1996.
Solomon, Steve. Water-Wise Vegetables: For the Maritime Northwest Gardener. Seattle, WA: Sasquatch Books, 1993.
Yeomans, P. A. Water for Every Farm: Yeomans Keyline Plan. Southport, Queensland, Australia: Keyline Designs, 2002. Available through Frank Espriella, PO Box 206, Guinda, CA 95637. The premier guide to designing and maintaining farms and garden beds that make best use of land contours to conserve water. Also visit www.keyline.com.au.
Wilderness and Wildcrafting
Columbine School of Botanical Studies
(See under “Health and Healing”)
Lomakatsi Restoration Project
Walama Restoration Project
Gibbons, Euell. Stalking the Wild Asparagus. Chambersburg, PA: Alan C. Hood, 1962.
McQuarrie, Jack. Wildcrafting: Harvesting the Wilds for a Living: Brush-Picking, Fruit-Tramping, WormGrunting, and Other Nomadic Livelihoods. Santa Barbara: Capra Press, 1975.
Pilarski, Michael. Resource Guide to Sustainable Wildcrafting and Medicinal Herbs in the Pacific Northwest. Bellingham, WA: Friends of the Trees Society, 2000.
Thie, Krista. A Plant Lover’s Guide to Wildcrafting: How to Protect Wild Places and Harvest Medicinal Herbs. White Salmon, WA: Longevity Herb Press, 1989.
Tilford, Gregory L. The Ecoherbalist’s Fieldbook: Wildcrafting in the Mountain West. Conner, MT: Mountain Weed, 1993.
Where to Find These Publications
Many of the titles listed here are obscure, out of print, or otherwise difficult to find in a mainstream outlet.
The first place to check is the library. If your local public or university library doesn’t carry a book you want to read, ask them to buy it or order it through interlibrary loan, usually a free service.
If you want to expand your own library, be sure to purchase books directly from the authors or their publishers, usually found easily enough through a keyword search on www.google.com. Most publishers will be happy to send you a catalog. Contact them via their websites or send a SASE by snail mail.
Only as a last resort, buy books through your local bookstores or online stores like www.powellsbooks.com, www.abebooks.com, or www.amazon.com, where you can find used copies of even very rare books, as well as most anything else, but the author receives little or none of the purchase price.