Fingerlakespermaculture mailing list

[Dave Jacke <davej AT edibleforestgardens.com>]

Sorry for any cross-postings!  Please pass this along.
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Hello friends! 

We hope this message finds you fulfilled and healthy after a wonderful summer/autumn.  I'm writing because Mark Krawczyk and I have begun writing what will be, to our knowledge, the first North American manual on coppice agroforestry, and we have two favors to ask of you.  

For those of you who don't know, coppicing is a traditional forest management practice where deciduous trees get cut during dormancy and then regrow from the stump.  We can later harvest these sprouts to make crafts, fuel, fodder for livestock, and many other useful products. Though humans have coppiced for over 6,000 years, no comprehensive resource exists that describes coppice system design, management, and establishment for our continent, well-suited North American species and projected yields, and the economics of coppice systems.  It's a big gap to fill and we're eager to fill it as best we can! 

We're already well underway, writing, researching, and building connections and a portfolio of case studies.  Mark will travel to the west coast and Midwest this December to learn more about how folks have been using coppice there.  Dave has begun combing the literature for any and all existing research on the subject so we can consolidate what researchers know.  He is also building a database of species and their coppicing characteristics.  We hope to complete our first draft by winter's end. 

The first favor: while we've contacted publishers about this project (and they are interested), we've elected to self-fund our manuscript development.  We ask you, our friends, colleagues, students and supporters, to help make it happen by engaging in our Kickstarter campaign.  If you're not familiar with it, this wonderful web-based service enables folks to financially support creative projects in return for various creative rewards and a connection to the project’s creative process.  Like Community Supported Agriculture, this Community Supported Authoring structure helps us maintain our financial viability while we create a resource the permaculture community needs. Even small amounts—$5 and $10 offerings—will help us achieve and pass our $5,000 goal so we can travel to interview and photograph practitioners, acquire resources from overseas, and cover at least some of our living expenses while we work.  Check out the write-up, video, and rewards on our campaign page at:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/coppiceagroforestry/dave-and-mark-write-a-coppice-agroforestry-book.

The second favor: if you or someone you know already uses coppicing as a way to produce crafts, biochar, animal fodder, or other products, we would LOVE to hear about it.  Please send the person’s contact information to both of us at the email addresses above.  Also, if you have or know of any written materials, research papers, or references, we’d also love to hear about those.  You can send references to Dave at davej AT edibleforestgardens.com or at 308 Main St. #2C, Greenfield, MA 01301.

We feel grateful for whatever support you can provide (moral and otherwise) and will deeply appreciate you passing this email along to friends, listservs, and networks that may also be interested in helping support our work.  (I guess that makes three favors!  Thanks!  :-)

With sincere thanks,

Mark and Dave

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Dave Jacke
Dynamics Ecological Design
308 Main St. #2C • Greenfield, MA • 01301
603-831-1298 • davej AT edibleforestgardens.com

Visit www.edibleforestgardens.com for information on or to purchase my award-wining two-volume book, Edible Forest Gardens.

Mark Krawczyk and I are now writing a new book on Coppice Agroforestry!  Find out more and support our effort at 
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/coppiceagroforestry/dave-and-mark-write-a-coppice-agroforestry-book.

It is not the strongest species that survives,
nor the most intelligent,
but the one most responsive to change.
   Charles Darwin