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  • From: venaurafarm <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] Desert or Paradise, Restoring Endangered Landscapes Using Water Management, Including Lake and Pond Construction, by Sepp Holzer - Chelsea Green
  • Date: Mon, 07 Jan 2013 22:27:41 -0500



Desert or Paradise
Restoring Endangered Landscapes Using Water Management, Including Lake and Pond Construction
by Sepp Holzer
http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/desert_or_paradise

Sepp Holzer farms steep mountainsides in Austria 5,000 feet above sea level. His farm is an intricate network of terraces, raised beds, ponds, and waterways, well covered with productive fruit trees and other vegetation, in dramatic contrast to his neighbors’ spruce monocultures. Fans of Sepp Holzer have come from all over the world to see the productivity of his farm, a veritable permaculture paradise. His first book, Sepp Holzer’s Permaculture, offers a detailed guide to what Holzer has achieved on his farm. Many readers might have wondered—but how can we achieve this on a global scale? Luckily, his newest book, Desert or Paradise, examines Holzer’s core philosophy for increasing food production, earth health, and reconnecting mankind with nature, applied to reforestation and water conservation across the world.

Through years of consultation with other countries, Holzer has developed a core philosophy for reconnecting mankind with nature even in arid or otherwise “lost-cause” regions. He details a process he calls “Grundierung,” a term from painting meaning “base coat,” which goes into great detail as to the importance of water, and Desert or Paradise offers his concept and guide to construction of large water reservoirs in arid, rainfall-dependent regions with examples from Greece, Turkey, Spain, and Portugal. Holzer describes the ecological and economic benefits of these changes, as well as the use of a variety of plant and animal species for further integration and regeneration of the surrounding areas, including reasons for reforestation and the cause and use of forest fires.

Holzer also outlines his ten points of sustainable self-reliance and how these methods can help feed the world, such as the need to regulate the water budget, eliminate factory livestock farming, bring more fallow or unused areas into production, enlarge crop areas by using terracing and Holzer-style raised beds, regionalize instead of globalize, fight for land reform and engage in community building, go back to the ancient farming wisdom, and change the educational system. Also included are Holzer’s ideas on beekeeping, humane slaughtering, nature spirits, the loss of roots in our society in general, and in politics especially.

Sepp Holzer

Josef ("Sepp") Holzer was born in the Province of Salzburg, Austria. He is a farmer, author and an international consultant for natural agriculture. He took over his parents' mountain farm business in 1962 and pioneered the use of ecological farming, or permaculture, techniques at high altitudes (1,100 to 1,500 meters above sea level) after being unsuccessful with regular farming methods. Called the "rebel farmer" because he persisted in these practices despite being fined and even threatened with prison for practices such as not pruning his fruit trees (unpruned fruit trees survive snow loads that will break pruned trees). He has also created some of the worlds best examples of using ponds as reflectors to increase solar gain for passive solar heating of structures, and of using the microclimate created by rock outcrops to effectively change the hardiness zone for nearby plants. He has also done original work in the use of Hugelkultur and natural branch development. He is conducting permaculture ("Holzer Permaculture") seminars at his farm and worldwide, while continuing to work on his alpine farm. His farm now spans over 45 hectares of forest gardens, including 70 ponds, and is said to be the most consistent example of permaculture worldwide. He is author of several books and the subject of the film The Agricultural Rebel. He works nationally as permaculture-activist in the established agricultural industry, and works internationally as adviser for ecological agriculture.

Sepp's Upcoming Events

Sepp Holzer 5-Day Intensive in California
, Loma Mar California
March 21, 2013, 12:00 pm

Sepp Holzer will be traveling to the United States this spring to instruct 3 AgroEcology workshops in California, Montana, and Minnesota. This is the first Holzer certification program to be offered in the United States. The 5-day intensive workshop in California will be held March 21-25 in Loma Mar. For details on the curriculum and how to register, visit: http://www.holzeragroecology.com/workshops.html
Sepp Holzer 5-Day Intensive in Montana
, Bozeman Montana
March 27, 2013, 12:00 pm

Sepp Holzer will be traveling to the United States this spring to instruct 3 AgroEcology workshops in California, Montana, and Minnesota. This is the first Holzer certification program to be offered in the United States. The 5-day intensive workshop in Montana will be held March 27-30 in Bozeman. For details on the curriculum and how to register, visit: http://www.holzeragroecology.com/workshops.html
Sepp Holzer 5-Day Intensive in Minnesota
, Duluth Minnesota
April 6, 2013, 12:00 pm

Sepp Holzer will be traveling to the United States this spring to instruct 3 AgroEcology workshops in California, Montana, and Minnesota. This is the first Holzer certification program to be offered in the United States. The 5-day intensive workshop in Minnesota will be held April 6-10 in Duluth. For details on the curriculum and how to register, visit: http://www.holzeragroecology.com/workshops.html


Sepp's Books

Sepp Holzer's Permaculture
A Practical Guide to Small-Scale, Integrative Farming and Gardening

In this book, Sepp Holzer shares the skill and knowledge acquired over his lifetime. He covers every aspect of his farming methods, not just how to create a holistic system on the farm itself, but how to make a living from it. Holzer writes about everything from the overall concepts, down to the practical details.
Desert or Paradise
Restoring Endangered Landscapes Using Water Management, Including Lake and Pond Construction

Through years of consultation with other countries, Holzer has developed a core philosophy for reconnecting mankind with nature even in arid or otherwise "lost-cause" regions. Holzer's latest book is a guide to the construction of large water reservoirs in arid, rainfall-dependent regions, with examples from Greece, Turkey, Spain, and Portugal. Holzer also outlines his ten points of sustainable self-reliance and how these methods can help feed the world, such as the need to regulate the water budget, eliminate factory livestock farming, and more.

Desert or Paradise
Restoring Endangered Landscapes Using Water Management, Including Lake and Pond Construction

Through years of consultation with other countries, Holzer has developed a core philosophy for reconnecting mankind with nature even in arid or otherwise "lost-cause" regions. Holzer's latest book is a guide to the construction of large water reservoirs in arid, rainfall-dependent regions, with examples from Greece, Turkey, Spain, and Portugal. Holzer also outlines his ten points of sustainable self-reliance and how these methods can help feed the world, such as the need to regulate the water budget, eliminate factory livestock farming, and more.

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Save 25% on Desert or Paradise : Chelsea Green
http://www.chelseagreen.com/content/save-25-on-desert-or-paradise/

Posted on Monday, January 7th, 2013 at 9:00 am by jmccharen

Sepp Holzer was doing permaculture before he even knew what permaculture was. He started playing around in his mother’s garden as a little boy, learning how nature functioned and what helped plants thrive. When permaculture practitioners visited Holzer’s homestead, they were astonished to find the theories they learned from Bill Mollison and David Holmgren applied to beautiful effect — and in a steep, northern, high-altitude (read: really harsh) climate.

Since then, Holzer has been recognized as one of the premier permaculturists on the planet, and has consulted on landscaping projects around the world. Especially important to the success of Holzer’s landscapes is his use of ponds and terraces to manage water, especially in semi-arid climates. His latest book, Desert or Paradise, focuses on these water control methods. This week only you can get it for 25% off.

In the excerpt below, read about Holzer’s understanding of how water affects a landscape, and his attitude toward nature.

“My most important rule is to put myself in the position of the other. I imagine that I am the tree…the same goes for the pig, the earthworm, the ladybird, the nasturtium or the sunflower and of course the other human being. Would I feel good in their place? If the answer is ‘yes’, I am doing everything right. If the answer is ‘no’, I have to find out what is wrong. When I am lacking sun or shade, when I realize my feet are in the water or that my movements are limited I have to change things. All beings need to feel good and then they function at their best. I need to remember that, and so do you.”

Desert or Paradise is full of case studies from Holzer’s work around the world, especially in the Mediterranean region, which suffers from rampant desertification after millenia of agricultural overuse (and a few especially bad centuries of industrial fertilizers and pesticides).

If you’re interested in learning from Holzer himself, check out his upcoming US workshops, here. He will be holding three multi-day intensives on agroecology in Loma Mar, California from March 21-25; Bozeman, Montana from March 27-31; and Duluth, Minnesota April 6-10.


Through years of consultation with other countries, Holzer has developed a core philosophy for reconnecting mankind with nature even in arid or otherwise "lost-cause" regions. Holzer's latest book is a guide to the construction of large water reservoirs in arid, rainfall-dependent regions, with examples from Greece, Turkey, Spain, and Portugal. Holzer also outlines his ten points of sustainable self-reliance and how these methods can help feed the world, such as the need to regulate the water budget, eliminate factory livestock farming, and more.



  • [permaculture] Desert or Paradise, Restoring Endangered Landscapes Using Water Management, Including Lake and Pond Construction, by Sepp Holzer - Chelsea Green, venaurafarm, 01/07/2013

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