reading (Forest Gardening)
Feb. 28th, 2010 05:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eorI finished this book a couple of weeks ago, but I'm just getting around to reviewing it. That is in part due to the fact that I've been going back and looking up certain bits again and going through the appendices.
I originally bought this book thinking it was a "how to" guide. It is not, though it does some specific examples, it is much more a general book than a step by step guide. The book focuses on the philosophy of Forest Gardening, or multilayer low maintenance food producing planting. This fits well into my desire to make a very productive garden in the small space I have at the back of the yard.
At times the tone steps across the line separating philosophy and religion. There are spots when this religious fervor undermines the credibility of the basic concept. Hart falls into the trap arguing the system can be economically and ecologically sustainable worldwide while at the same time giving examples where people currently living this way are sustained either by external employment or by depending on the consumer culture to purchase their products at premium rates. In current economy, handmade woven reed baskets are not a direct replacement for plastic bins. I'm willing to wager those who purchase the handmade product have sufficient disposable income to allow it to be an art or statement purchase. If everyone started making them, pretty soon the price would go from an art price to a commodity price. That is a good thing for everyone but the person who actually wants to make a living from them. Does that mean a living can't be made? No, but the rules change and wealth becomes much more tied up in the land you have. There are a lot of interactions and effects when you start scaling out a system to regionwide, countrywide, or worldwide, which Hart glances by if he looks at all.
I do think there is a lot to the ideas espoused in this book. If the philosophy found a widespread acceptance it might shift the economics of consumerism somewhat and it would certainly have a positive effect on our environment. Many of the ideas put forward can be acted on in real ways, from the smallest plantings to the largest idea of greening the Sahara. Likewise, you can see a lot of the destruction and devastation talked about in the book by looking at a modern subdivision with a careful eye.
So, can the world "make a living" this way? I'm not convinced, unless we're ready to give up significant amounts of lifestyle. Could large chunks of the world find this to be just the supplement necessary to improve deficiencies in our current system? Quite possibly.
I strongly advise anyone with an interest in small or large scale environment practice and growing things to pick up a copy of this book. Parts may be unrealistic, but much of it is food for thought.
4. Robert Hart "Forest Gardening"
I originally bought this book thinking it was a "how to" guide. It is not, though it does some specific examples, it is much more a general book than a step by step guide. The book focuses on the philosophy of Forest Gardening, or multilayer low maintenance food producing planting. This fits well into my desire to make a very productive garden in the small space I have at the back of the yard.
At times the tone steps across the line separating philosophy and religion. There are spots when this religious fervor undermines the credibility of the basic concept. Hart falls into the trap arguing the system can be economically and ecologically sustainable worldwide while at the same time giving examples where people currently living this way are sustained either by external employment or by depending on the consumer culture to purchase their products at premium rates. In current economy, handmade woven reed baskets are not a direct replacement for plastic bins. I'm willing to wager those who purchase the handmade product have sufficient disposable income to allow it to be an art or statement purchase. If everyone started making them, pretty soon the price would go from an art price to a commodity price. That is a good thing for everyone but the person who actually wants to make a living from them. Does that mean a living can't be made? No, but the rules change and wealth becomes much more tied up in the land you have. There are a lot of interactions and effects when you start scaling out a system to regionwide, countrywide, or worldwide, which Hart glances by if he looks at all.
I do think there is a lot to the ideas espoused in this book. If the philosophy found a widespread acceptance it might shift the economics of consumerism somewhat and it would certainly have a positive effect on our environment. Many of the ideas put forward can be acted on in real ways, from the smallest plantings to the largest idea of greening the Sahara. Likewise, you can see a lot of the destruction and devastation talked about in the book by looking at a modern subdivision with a careful eye.
So, can the world "make a living" this way? I'm not convinced, unless we're ready to give up significant amounts of lifestyle. Could large chunks of the world find this to be just the supplement necessary to improve deficiencies in our current system? Quite possibly.
I strongly advise anyone with an interest in small or large scale environment practice and growing things to pick up a copy of this book. Parts may be unrealistic, but much of it is food for thought.
4. Robert Hart "Forest Gardening"
