permaculture

[venaurafarm <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>]

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.

<>


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.