Permaculture Links
The problem with lists of Links is that they just seem to grow and
grow. So it's come to the time when I've had to zone the links. Below
you'll find the following sections.
- Permaculture (UK, Europe, Africa, Middle
East, Latin and South America, Australia/New
Zealand, North America.)
- Sustainable Agriculture.
- Organics.
- General Gardening.
- Other Systems including biodynamics and natural
farming.
- Trees and Agroforestry
- New Crops and other wonderful plants
- Rare Plants/Heritage Seeds.
- Herbs and Medicinal Plants.
- Soaps, dyes and the uses of plants.
- Foraging, wild plants and wilderness advocates.
- They Just Don't Fit other interesting sites
including Hemp, Trees, Compost and Botany.
- Places you can get books from.
- Vegan Stuff
- Genetics and Pesticides
- Communities and Eco-villages.
- Green Building
- Green and Environmental.
A couple of others have split off into their own pages:
- News Groups and Mailing Lists
- One of the best ways for finding answers to specific queries is
to ask others on the internet, Theres a lot of knowledgeable people
out there.
- Databases, Botany and Photos
- Various places where you can find more information about specific
plants: Ethnobotany, Databases, Photos
and pictures.
- UK Permaculture Organisations Offline
- Lots of addresses of useful UK groups.
- Suppliers
- Places world wide where you can find interesting plants ( Fournisseurs de Plantes, Francais rather out
of data).
And if you really want more links the Internet Directory for Botany
has nearly 3000. The internet mining company has two interesting and
comprehensive sections: Vegtable
Gardening and Herbs
For Health. The AgriSurf!
Agricultural Web Index looks promising, a searchable index to
over 6000 agricultural sites. Study
Web has a vast selection of links to Agriculture, Botany, Organics
etc. Scott's
Botanical Links An archive a Botanical Link's of the day
dating back to 1996.
Bugs
If you find any out of date links here please let us know webmaster@pfaf.org.
Permaculture: Must See Sites
I've tried to index by region: UK, Europe,Africa, Middle East, Latin
and South Ammerica, Australia/New Zealand, North America.
Probably the best place to start for permaculture information is the Permaculture FAQ,
which lists most sites and organization as well as introducing some of
the concepts behind the subject.
Another must see is InterGarden
put together by the Lawrence London, the chap who created the
Permaculture mailing list. Contains lots of material culled from the
various news groups and mailing lists with answers to everything.
A big list of
permaculture groups world wide can be found on the Permaculture
Actavist website site.
International
Permaculture Conference has the full text of its proceedings on
the web, with lots of papers about all aspects of permaculture.
A
Permaculture Primer by Dan Earle and Sue Hutchins describes the
principles, components, concepts, resources and the associated
movements of permaculture.
Netscapes Open Directory project, where
anyone can be a editor for a directory page, could turn into one of the
best search engines about. The permaculture page looks promissing, and
they put us at the tippy-top.
The PermaCulture Wiki
and the Permaculture Permacuture,
Forest Gardening and
Organic Gardening
sections in the WikiPedia both which are colabrative
encyclodia type things.
Permaculture Projects by region
UK
See also UK Permaculture Organizations
Offline and Communities and Eco-villages for
other UK projects.
PermaWeb good source
info on UK permaculture.
Permaculture Association
(Britain) The main UK group for Permaculture, has details of Courses
and Events in the UK, and details of services the Association can
offer UK groups.
Permanent Publications
Publish the UK based Permaculture Magazine. The site contains details of
the mag, their book catalogue, and UK Forrest Gardening projects and
regular permaculture
news and several interesting articles reprinted from the mag. Their
Earth Repair Catalogue of 230 permaculture and related books can also
be browsed online.
Agroforestry
Research Trust researches into temperate agroforestry and into all
aspects of plant crops. Lots of info on different types of
agroforestry. You can order lots of plants, seeds and booklets from
them.
Zone Zero
a break-away group from Plants For A Future. Seeking to establish a
pioneering vegan permaculture low impact settlement somewhere in the
Southwest. May the force be with them!
Earthcare garden design and
construction. More friends of Plant For A Future. They specialise in
forest gardens/woodland gardends/veganic gardens and edible
landscapeing.
Primal Seeds a wonderful
campaigning site, not really permaculture but focuses on bio-diversity
and food security. Offers a good critique of the monoculture practices.
With news, actions etc.
Green Adventure
South London project, with lots of good eco-permaculture stuff going on.
Community Orchards being one example. An inspiration to all.
Naturewise
North London project which has set up two forest gardens in an Urban
environment. Run lots of Courses.
Edible
Bristol Project - its all happening in Bristol which has a very
active permaculture group. The focus here is on urban agriculture
with a few pages describing their own urban forest garden and links
to other urban ag. sites. Bristolians may also be intrested in Kebele a vegan cafe, the site
features lots of news from the Bristol area.
TreesponsibilityA local
tree-planting group in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, aiming to prevent
flooding and counter CO2 emissions by planting trees, and to promote
sustainable ways of living.
South East
Essexs Organic Gardners featuring Permaculture a
Beginners Guide a cartoon intro to permaculture. And a whole bunch
of photos of permaculture in action on the authors garden.
Brighton
Permaculture Trust. It looks like they are an active group with
regular meetings.
Graig Arw
Permaculture This South Wales community could turn into something
exciting, if only they can raise the money to get some land.
Permaculture
design at Tir Penrhos Isaf A project in Snowdonia, Wales which
has been going for about ten years. Among the many intresing
articles are one on yields which
actually shows that Gorse can be a useful plant.
Ragman's Lane Farm One of
the premier permaculture sites in the UK with a big range of courses
on offer.
East Suffolk
Permaculture One of these days the PFAF site will look as good as
this. They have all sort of Suffolk type info, meetings, annual
gathering, newsletters, links.
Middlewood
A permaculture project based near Lancaster. Pictures of the various
projects they undertake. The project has a strawbale visitors center
where the run courses and a camping barn which you can rent.
Oakwoods Native Plant
Foundation South Wales project, into wild flowers, conservation and
education. Have a catalogue.
The Living Village Trust
Building a 40 house eco-village in Bishops Castle Shropshire on land
with planning permission and owned by the Trust. It might be
possible to work as a volunteer. A very abitious project which could
become a landmark project.
Permaculture
in the Mersey Basin You could almost call the Basin my second home,
this lot run courses through the area.
New Leaf Scottish
group creating a new sustainable eco-village somewhere south of the
Grampian hills and north of the Cheviots.
The Natty Trust a
community network based in the Brighton area who are buying land for
use in a permaculture fashion by members of the trust. Hold regular
gathering for members of the trust.
Turners
Field Another pioneering permaculture project, in Somerset, run lots
of courses.
Tinkers
Bubble "An environmentally sensitive human settlement, Tinkers'
Bubble is a working example of sustainable living." Bassed in
Somerset Tinkers' Bubble has sucessfully chalanged planning law and
now have five years to show how low impact housing can intergrate
sucessfully with sustainable agriculture. The web page has details
of the book "Low Impact Development" by one of the main movers Simon
Fairlie. You might also find some good info in Chapter
7!
Permaculture farm
and campsite an interesting project in Cwmpencraig, near Drefach
Felindre in Dyfed, Wales.
Steward Community Woodland
A project in Devon being set up to demonstrate the value of integrating
conservation woodland management techniques (such as coppicing and
natural regeneration) with organic growing, traditional skills and
crafts and low-impact sustainable living.
Vegan Organic Trust
Vegan-organics is any system of cultivation that avoids artificial
chemicals and sprays, livestock manures and animal remains from
slaughter houses. Alternatively, fertility is maintained by vegetable
compost, green manures, crop rotation, mulches, and any other method
that is sustainable, ecologically viable and not dependent upon animal
exploitation. This will ensure long term fertility, and wholesome food
for this and future generations.
Becontree
Organic Growers London based co-partnership of local people
working to revitalise disused land by promoting and respecting
natural ecosystems. Very basic site.
National Association of
Farmers' Markets. A Farmers' Market is one in which farmers,
growers or producers from a defined local area are present in person
to sell their own produce, direct to the public. All products sold
should have been grown, reared, caught, brewed, pickled, baked,
smoked or processed by the stallholder.
Federation of City Farms and
Community Gardens have details of lots of City Farms all across
the UK many of these you can visit.
Edible
Ecosystems in Sustainable Agriculture A Study of Permaculture in
Britain an online MA dissretation which provides a good review of
the current state of permaculture in the UK. Contains site visits of
several projects in the UK.
Wholesome Food Association a
UK-wide food labelling scheme designed to encourage smaller-scale
food growers and producers to supply local customers with wholesome,
chemical-free produce, identified by a widely-recognised symbol.
Offers a good alternative to the Soil Association.
Alotment regeneration iniative
ARI aims to get more people - individuals and community groups -
growing on urban allotments. It will do this by:
Promoting and supporting innovation and good practice in allotments
management through technical support and advice, site visits,
information materials and networking events.
Projecting a positive and active image of allotments
Raising the profile of allotments with the Government, local authorities and the public.
Dial
House Trust - A Centre for Dynamic Cultural Change birth place of
the band Crass this centre in Essex has been a focus for much
radical activity in the past 30 years. And its now getting right
into permaculture.
Tir Penrhos Isaf We have been
working at Penrhos (or Benthros, as it is known locally) since 1986
and been living here since February 1992 when we gained temporary
planning permission from the Snowdonia National Park. Over that time
we have continued to develop our permaculture design for the holding
through the practical application of the ethics and principles of
permaculture.
This Land Is Ours - A Land
Rights Campaing for the UK
Self Willed Land
An excellent site with a lot
of good thoughtful articles about permaculture,
woodland gardening and farming.
Of particular interest is the article about
self-willed land - the rewilding of open spaces in the UK
about the need to allow true wilderness to develop again
in this country.
Europe
See The European
Permaculture Directory for links to projects throughout Europe.
The EcoForest Garden Trust a
British group who run a raw food eco-village in Southern Spain which
seems to be thriving. Site has a a good set of links to rawfood
and permaculture projects.
Spanish
Permaculture Lots of stuff on permaculture in Spain all in Spanish.
Permacultura-es El
portal de permacultura en lengua española.
The Permaculture Research
Institute Denmark. Still under construction when I last looked
(Sept 00) but look prommising.
La Mohea permaculture
in semi-deserts in Spain. Run working holidays, and courses.
Guía Verde has lots
of good plant links with a Spanish flavour (not particularly
permaculture or or organic though). In English and Spanish.
Sunseed Desert Technology
is a research project in Spain dedicated to developing sustainable
sollutions for Arid lands. These include solar stills for
purifying water, Underground greenhouses and researching trees
and shrubs for desert reclamination. They run an extensive working
volunteers program. I've been to visit in '89 and can highly
recomend the place.
Vida Verde next
door to Sunseed in Almeria provience, Spain. They run a good
catalogue of seeds for unusual edible plants.
Phil Rooksby and Maureen Rooksby are now in Portugal
and busy preparing to open their visitor centre and forest garden to the public.
If you are interested in supporting our work, promoting the ideals of
self-sufficiency & sustainability, please write (in the old-fashioned way) to us at:
Monte da Horta, Sao Pedro, 7630-215, ODEMIRA, Alentejo, Portugal.
At the moment we would be particularly grateful for offers of seeds & young plants of any edible species. Just pack them well and send by airmail. There will also be opportunities for volunteering, especially with planting, in 2005.
Permacultura Montsant,
Spanish project in Tarragona, pages in Spanish.
The
Organic Centre "Ireland's Centre for Information, courses and
workshops on organic gardening and farming."
Beau Champ eight
hectares in the Dordogne, France. Into community, permaculture and
alternative technologies. Some friends spent an good few months there
and came away impressed. Run lots of workshops and visitor weeks. (Version
Française)
Yggdrasil
A Belgian Project.
Die Permakultur
Akademie: A new (Jan 2002) Permaculture Academy for the german
speaking countries Germany, Austria and Swizerland. They will work
in cooperation and with a similar concept as the Permaculture
Academy of Britain. One of our aims is to issue a course programe
for german speeking course.
permakultur austria Info
about the group in Austrian plus contacts in Germany and Austria,
and some other permaculture stuff (most in German).
Austrian Permaculture
(German Language Site)
The German Permaculture
Association (German Language Site)
Agricultura
Ecológica a page in Spanish with lots of good links to
spanish and world wide info. (also in English).
The Earth Village Network
an International foundation based in Holland which is setting up
eco-village permaculture projects. They already have one site in the
foothills of the French Pyrenees.
Ecotopia
Permaculture Francais, Belgium contacts.
Rudina Permaculture Research
Institute Converting a refugee camp in Macedonia into a Permaculture
demonstration gardens. Run lots of courses including a Permaculture
design Course in Sept 2000.
The website of
L'Academie Bretonne de Permaculture.
NORSØK
sitt hovedmål er å fremme utviklinga av økologisk landbruk.
A Norwegien institute who work for increased knowledge and the further development of ecological (organic) agriculture, thus contributing to the implementation of a sustainable society.
Africa
Berg-en-Dal Sustainable dryland permaculture project.
Nice site about this South African eco village.
Permaculture a
group based in South Africa. Good for local contacts.
Permaculture Training Centre
of Uganda (still under construction).
Eco
Carabane Center On a island just south of Senegal, workshops,
permaculture, Aquaculture etc.
PermaGhana
promotes Permaculture in Ghana, do a lot of training in schools and the
community. Has a very fancy front page which chrashes
netscape.
Red de Permacultura Palmera
. Permaculture in the Canarias (in Spanish). Also see Agri-Tourism in La Palma,
Canarias (in English).
The
S.E.E.D Project - South Africa Focussing on environmental education
in townships nead cape town.
Middle East
The Green Kibbutz Group
/ Israel Pc Group Israeli group with a reforestation project and
several courses.
Kibbutz
Lotan, on the road to becoming an ecological
community/ecovillage. May be the current contact for above? They are
running a green
apprenticeship program.
Latin + South America
Educación
Ecológico. Permacultura, Agricultura Orgánica,
Ecología. Mexican group, run courses , have a chat room, and
some articles in Spanish and English. Permaculture
In Cuba
A list of Brazilian permaculturalists can be found Here
Asociación
Gaia An eco-village in Argentina. Page also in Español
Mexico Child Link
a farm for children with learning dificulties run on permaculture principals.
Australia/New Zealand
Permaculture New
Zealand A New Zealand-based e-mail list, to keep in touch about
courses and other permaculture information.
Gaia Trees
are a New Zealand-based nursery based on permaculture principles. Their
site includes some information on native rainforest hardwoods,
medicinal uses for native plants and trees, and species information.
Their on-line garden centre includes a plant search.
Atcros The Web version
of the Australian Tree Crops Sourcebook. Lots of info on different
organizations in Australia and around the world. Plus some lists of
common names and oil yielding plants.
Permaculture
International A journal for PC. The site feature info on the mag, a
good international directory of PC organization, a mail-order catalogue
of Books etc (not plants though), some eco news, and a few articles
from the mag.
Permaculture Global
Assistance Network A group trying to build international cooperation
in the permaculture community. Lots of links and info about the
project.
Permaculture
Visions An Australian Permaculture design company. The site contains
general PC info, seed-saving, IS0 14000 (an environmental quality
standard!) etc. Perhaps the most interesting page is Permaculture
Plants which lists lots of different tropical plants and their uses.
Permaculture material on WWW and the Internet An embryonic page put
together by Dwayne Jones-Evans.
Permaculture
Research Institute Set up by Bill Mollison, run various courses.
Rosneath Farm is an
eco-village development in south-west Western Australia. It is at an
exciting stage; the first houses for residents and the first village
infrastructure are being built over the first six months of 2000. As
at July 2000, there are 41 blocks available for sale.
Holmgren Design
Services in Vistoria, David Holmgren is one of the founders of
Permaculture.
Permaculture
Design have some very interesting projects in Madagascar, India and
Sount Africa.
North America
Gardening As
An Anarchist Plot Brilliant site with loads of
organic/holistic/permaculture friendly garden ideas & techniques
plus pages titled 'The Year of the Urban Terracist' and instructions
on downloading your own dinosaur.
Permaculture Drylands
Institute focuses on permaculture concepts and designs for arid
lands, with a heavy focus on New Mexico and Arizona, publish a
quarterly newsletter and run design courses.
Permaculture The Earth New
site which should soon (12 Nov 97) have some on link forums. Got a good
deal with amazon.com where you get permaculture books through them.
International
Institute for Ecological Agriculture Have a Farm, Run Courses, and a
good list of US PC groups, and a recomended reading list.
The Permaculture
Actavist A US based magazine with lots of interesting PC stuff, the
site itself contains a few articles, plus lots of other resources.
Permaculture and
Sustainable Living & Livelihood is the home of a number of
interesting groups, and lots of articles. Plus related material on
Cooperatives, Agriculture and Horticulture, Architecture and Community
etc.
Sustainable Living
News An online newsletter of sustainable and permaculture info, its
becoming Reader Written.
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center
combining permaculture with a educational center. They are very well
established with 10 full time staff and a budget in the $100,000's.
One day we may be able to follow their example.
A
Permaculture Primer offers a good introduction to permaculture,
covering many aspects. Its also has a good list of books and other
resources.
Garden O Vegan
Want a groovy project in a gourgeous spot? Then check out this Hawaiian
project. Plus there good mates of ours.
Dreamtime Village A
Wisconsin project. Especially into Endarchy, hypermedia and radical
education.
Lost Valley Education Center An
Oregon based project permaculture with a spiritual perspective. Run
lots of courses.
Heathcote
Intentional Community Have a permaculture demonstration site and run
some courses.
Larry's Page has info
on permaculture design software, and a few Californian projects.
Permaculture
Hot Spots A good set of links.
Permaculture
Institute of Northern California
La'akea Permaculture
Gardens Hawaii (Good set of links).
FUTPLEX A brand
new web based chat room for permaculture. Also have a look at Colabrative Efforts which is
gathering information on Sustainable Living from all over.
The
Password: Organic Gardening Some interesting links to organics,
permaculture, compost, help full bugs, etc.
Sustainable
Farming of Central Minnesota. The mission of this group is to
promote the use of environmentally and economically sound
agricultural practices and to ensure a healthy future for family
farms and all of the people of central Minnesota.
Central Valley
Permaculture Group Just a set of links at the moment, but watch this
space.
Sustainable Agriculture
Sustainable agriculture's kind of like permaculture but different. To
sus it out you could have a look at some of these.
Sustainable Agriculture Resources on the Net Lists various newsgroups
and site devoted to sust-ag.
Sustainable Agriculture
Network a network of US groups involved in sustainable agriculture.
Have a lot of very good publications, fund research and run a mailing list.
ILEIA Centre for Information on Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture
A welth of information, including a good literature database, lots of links.
Publish a quarterly magazine. Strong emphesis on developing countries.
Sustainable
Farming Connection Lots and lots of useful information for the
farmer.
Food First
The Institute for Food and Development Policy/Food First and the
Transnational Institute. Articles relevant to small-scale farming and
global productivity, as well as a vast list of links to human rights/
sustainable agriculture/ global solutions sites. A brilliant resource
on the academic end of things.
The US Department of Agriculture's Alternative Farming Systems
Information Center has lots of interesting resources covering just
about everything.
The University of California's Sustainable Agriculture
Research and Education Program has lots of books, video's etc, plus
a few web resources notable mentioning cover crops. The have an
interesting page on How to Find
Agricultural Information on the Internet.
The
Tropical Ecological Farm An interesting site and an interesting
project.
The World Sustainable
Agriculture Association A few articles of a global strategy
perspective.
International
Journal of Agricultural Sustainability (ISSN:1473-5903) An academic
journal on the subject.
Sustainable Trees and Shrubs A big list of plants and the types of
conditions they thrive in. Particularly suitable for Southern New
England (USDA Hardiness Zones 7a - 5b) and concentrates on low
maintenance plants.
Mulch-Based Agriculture GroupTheir motto is Sustainable
Agriculture With A Sense of Humus Have extensive citations
bibliographies.
Have a look at Living on the
Earth with Bill Duesing a collection of articles first appearing on
his weekly show on American Public Radio. They make a good read.
The Farm A nice
graphical interface to lots of links about things of interest to
sustainable agriculture.
Educational Concerns for Hunger
Organization A Christian organization who provide technical support
to third world development groups. They specialize in urban gardening,
and providing seeds and information. There's lots of useful info hidden
throughout their site.
Henry A. Wallace Institute for
Alternative Agriculture Independant research institute, publish
alternative agriculture news and several discussion papers.
Organics
I suppose you could say permaculture is to organics as vegan is to
vegetarian. Hence there's lots of organic sites out there here's a
sample. So for those of you who don't fancy Soya milk ...
MidNet
Organic UK based, have info on UK organizations, and some hints and
tips. Plus an organic garden tour. And other UK based resources.
Don't Panic Eat
Organic The home page of an organic farmer in California, who's into
growing Cherimoya a exotic fruit. His page is the best I've found for
Organic
WWOOF: willing
workers on organic farms. Want to learn what organic farms are all
about by volunteering? Click here. Projects in 16 countries. Also see (WWOOF KOREA, Australia, New
Zealand, Canada).
Soil
Association Premier UK group which certifies organic food.
Comprehensive set of leaflets on all sorts of stuff.
GardenZone
This site is for any gardener in the UK who would like to grow their own food: organic vegetables, organic fruit and, last but not least, organic herbs.
A good friedly intro.
Organic Trade Services a good
resource for all in the organic industry in the UK. Includes: a
comprehensive listing of producers and suppliers, news and events.
Aimed more at buisnesses than consumers.
GaiaOne Knowledge Systems Lots of
info on the Canadian Organic Scene, Organic Standards, Farmers Markets,
Organic Growers, Events etc, and an online report on Transition to
Organic Farming.
Organic Gardening from Sierra
Pelona Press A good fun site, with lots of tails about organic pest
control, with readers letters and stuff like that, makes for a good
read.
Canberra
Organic Growers' Society A useful resource for Australian visitors,
listing seed suppliers, organic organizations, and lots of other
goodies.
There's as UK based Organic Gardening Mailing list To subscribe send
a message to: majordomo@steamradio.com
with 'subscribe organic-l (your full email address)' in the body of the
message.
Organic eprints
a archive of 1500 electronic publications of interest to organic
agriculture. A high proportion of German language articles.
Gardening
... and gardening is like meat eating. Still they have their uses.
One Green World US based
on-line catalogue with wide variety of edible plants, nut and fruit
trees, and plant products. No particular emphasis on organic
cultivation. Several good books on edible plants, though.
Chelsea Physic Garden
founded by the Society of Apothecaries in 1673 in order to promote the
study of botany in relation to medicine, then known as the "physic"
or healing arts. As the second oldest botanic garden in England it
still fulfills the traditional functions of scientific research and
plant conservation and undertakes to educate and inform as well as
to provide the amenity of a walled "secret" garden in the heart of
London.
Sensory Garden Project
A garden designed specifically to be Positive About Disabled People.
To stimulate the senses and provide a haven of peace, a place to
chill-out and unwind from the stress of modern living.
Run by North Staffs MS Society.
Guía Verde has lots
of good plant links with a Spanish flavour (not particularly
permaculture or or organic though). In English and Spanish.
Jayne's
Dragon Links to resources for various plants.
Garden Web A big site with
listings of plants societies, businesses and other groups. Lots (50ish)
of online forums which have a good amount of traffic.
GuardenGuides Good links,
plus some info on Herbs. Have details of a couple of hundred Annuals,
Bulbs, Perennials, Vegetables and Herbs.
GardenNet looks quite a
good site with lots of info on gardening, including a comprehensive
list of catalogues.
Gardening.com Quite a good site
with a well organized set of links. They've also got an on-line database
of plants, unfortunately they concentrate on pretty looking ones with
nice flowers and no uses.
Virtual Garden Giant site: 3000
species database, searchable list of links, big plant catalogue etc.
Kernxotica a site
dedicated to exotic plants in Cornwall.
Northern Pond
A site all about ponds, with lots of links to more aquatic fun.
Journal of New Rare and
Unusual Plants seems to concentrate more on ornamental species. But
might be worth a look. The latest update has lots of article taken
from the magazine.
Lesbian gardens some
interesting stuff on the origins of plant names, plus various garden
tours and chat rooms.
Backyard Gardener Nice
site with articles on several different aspects of gardening,
including Bog Gardens, Herb Gardens. Each page features a list of
plants suitable for that environment.
Earth and Tables A fair
selection of resources for Gardners and Cooks, includes a discussion
list.
Daydreamer
Gardens have some links to water garden web-sites.
Just Gardening quite a
lot of forums for gardening discussions plus a few articles.
Other Systems
The Bio-Dynamic Association
"Biodynamics is part of the work of Rudolf Steiner, known as
anthroposophy -- a new approach to science which integrates precise
observation of natural phenomena, clear thinking, and knowledge of the
spirit." Here this is applied to agriculture and they seem to be
particularly keen on soil health.
Also check out the UK site on Bio-Dynamic Association of
Great Britain, the UK-based version of the above. Lots of
information about training, supplies including seeds and other
Biodynamic equipment, a very comprehensive book list, and an on-line
version of the "Star and Furrow", the journal of the BioDynamic
Association. Also a few links to other biodynamic sites, anthroposophy
and organic gardening.
MOA
Natural Farming
Another system devised in Japan by Mokichi Okada which seeks to "to
respect nature and to adopt its providence as a standard" and "to
bring out the natural strength and great ability of living soil".
The Fukuoka
Farming Website an outgrowth and extension of The Fukuoka Farming
Mailing List, created as a place where people interested in Masanobu
Fukuoka's revolutionary method of sustainable agriculture can
network and share resources. On this website the terms agriculture,
farming, and gardening are considered to be synonymous and
interchangeable, differentiated only by the size of implementation.
International Nature Farming
Research Center All in Japanese, based around Fukuoka's system.
Masanobu
Fukuoka Interview in In Context magazine.
Light Writings has more on
Fukuoka's system and lots about seed balls. Plus annoyingly short
pieces on lots of other systems.
Biointensive
Agriculture dates back 4000 years in China, and includes Double-Dug
Raised Beds, Intensive Planting, Composting and Companion Planting.
Reports of very high yields. Catalogues of rare seeds also available on
the web site.
The Forest Garden Program
Promotes Analog Foresty, which is not far off the PFAF ideal. There are
now 35 villages in Sri Lanka practicing the scheme.
Biological
Control A good site about bugs eating bugs. Lots of links.
Remineralization: grinding up rocks and putting them on your plants.
Reported to have amazing effects recreated the state of soil just after
and ice age. See the Remineralise
The Earth web site. You can read about it at InterGarden
or Turtle
EyeLand Phill Madeley has written a Thesis
on the subject, which contains a good introduction, an experiment using
Lettuces and also a good set of Links and references.
The Future is
Abundant Most of an on-line book of the same title, this seems to
have a lot of inspiration from Fukuoka and Permaculture may also
have reference to companion planting.
Keylines a system where the
contours of a path of land are analyised to pick the best places for
placeing swales, lakes, trees roads, water courses etc. Also see here. The
Keyline Plan is a complete book by P A Yeoman on the subject.
Precision farming is getting a bit of a rep these days. Basically
its about using lots of high tech monitoring to assess just what
nutrients you need to add to get the best growth. Not entirely in
keeping with the organic way but it may attract some conventional
farmers. The Centre
for Precision Farming is a reasonable starting point also have a
look at The
Grain Supply Update which mentions it briefly.
Trees and Agroforestry
The-Tree aims to share
information about the many different facets of knowledge about trees:
Trees and the Environment, Cultivation, Extensive Tree portraits of
British Trees, Tree Medicine, Permaculture and Agroforestry,
Woodcrafts, Myths and Folklore, Philosophy, Customs and Culture inspired
by trees, Forestry news from around the world and lots more!
The Overstory a free
e-mail agroforestry journal for practitioners, researchers,
professionals, and enthusiasts. 93 Issues to date with many an
interesting article.
US Association for
Temperate Agroforestry has info on the Key concepts of Agroforestry:
alley cropping, windbreaks, riparian buffer strips, silvopasture, and
forest farming. Plus Links.
Agroforestry
Research Trust researches into temperate agroforestry and into all
aspects of plant crops. Lots of info on different types of
agroforestry. You can order lots of plants, seeds and booklets from
them.
Home Orchard Society
Publish a newsletter on orchards, website has a few interesting articles.
Forest, Farm, and Community Tree Network
FACT Net was an international network of community groups, development
workers, tree breeders, researchers, students, and farmers. These 2,000
partners in 100 countries shared an interest in the use of multipurpose
trees to improve the soil, protect the environment, and enhance the
well-being of farm families and other land users. Through extension,
communications, and research, FACT Net provided the skills and resources
needed to introduce, improve, and manage multipurpose trees
successfully. Has a good selection on factsheets on many tree crops.
UDSA National Agreoforestry Centre
part of the USDA has a good range of practical publications about
Agroforrestry, Alley Cropping and Forest Farming. Including such clasics as
Marketing Speciallity Forest Products.
Its good to see these ideas being promoted by government agencies.
Temperate
Agroforestry Homepage "Agroforestry encompasses all of the ways
that trees and shrubs, intentionally integrated into agricultural
land-use systems, provide tree products and protect, conserve,
diversify, and sustain vital economic, environmental, human, and
natural resources." Commercially minded but some useful info.
Davies and Company
are forest specalists and their web-site contains lots of intresting
articles including several on Agroforestry
and Tree Crops
Atcros The Web version
of the Australian Tree Crops Sourcebook. Lots of info on different
organizations in Australia and around the world. Plus some lists of
common names and oil yielding plants.
International
Tree Foundation For over eighty years the International Tree
Foundation has been planting and preserving trees around the world.
ITF is a registered charity and does not receive government funding.
We have 2,500 members who come together via our county branches and at
regular events. They plant trees in their local communities and raise
funds for tree planting in the most fragile environments of the world.
Our member schools help foster a love of trees in their pupils and we
help by providing resource packs, activities and competitions for their
students and our younger members. Our aims are to plant and preserve
trees and to educate people about the value of trees. Our projects
worldwide have ranged from planting Jubilee Woods in the United Kingdom
to reforesting the foothills of the Himalayas and to planting a green
belt around the Sahara.
Sustainable Trees and Shrubs A big list of plants and the types of
conditions they thrive in. Particularly suitable for Southern New
England (USDA Hardiness Zones 7a - 5b) and concentrates on low
maintenance plants.
The Willow Bank
A couple of pages about willows and their uses.
International
Oak Society lots of info on Oaks (US centric).
Own-root Fruit
Tree and coppice Orchard project advocating the use of non
grafted fruit trees.
Hedges' News A very
nice newsletter about hedges. In English and French.
PFRA Shelterbelt
Centre A Canadian federal tree nursery that promotes economic
security, rural development and agricultural sustainability by
producing hardy trees and shrubs for prairie farmers and other eligible
clients. The Centre also conducts applied research on tree related
issues including tree improvement, planting technology, weed control,
pest control and agroforestry.
Arboricultural Information Exchange
UK centric site with lots of news clipping on tree related issues and a
good set contacts and links.
Keslick & Son
have composed some useful info about the care of trees.
British Trees A
Good resource for info about British Trees.
The Log Pile
Promoting wood fule in the UK. Good site with lots of contact
and lots on the evrironmental benefits, grants, and different fule
options.
Wetlands and reedbeds
Reeds from Seeds
Supply reeds Norfolk reed (Phragmites australis) and other
marginal wetland plants. Website has good info on Reedbed Treatment Systems.
Rare/Unsual Plants/Heritage Seeds
In the interests of bio-diversity and a more interesting diet here's
some contacts. There's lots of silly government rules restricting what
seeds your allowed to sell (in the UK you can only sell registered
plants and registrations costs a packet) heritage seed programs are an
attempt to get round these rules and maintain a wide genetic base.
A Good intro to the subject at The
Mining Company
A good set of links to seed saving can be found at Seed
Saving Resources
A Manifesto
for Seeds a good radical read.
Rural Advancement Foundation
International is a Canadian NGO which is concerned about the loss of
genetic diversity - especially in agriculture - and about the impact of
intellectual property rights on agriculture and world food security.
They have lots of articles about patenting of genotypes and other such
dastardly deeds.
A good number of articles about seed saving plus links to other
groups can be found on the Garden Diversity
page.
Seed
Savers Exchange A US based organization with 8000 members saving
old-time food crops from extinction.
The Seed Saver Network
Australian Group who been doing the seed saving thing for a long time,
publish a handbook on growing traditional varieties of food plants (not
online) and have a few international projects.
Heritage Seed Curators
Association A group who save seeds from unusual and rare species, in
order to maintain bio-diversity.
Why Save
Seeds? more Australian info also has some legal info.
In the UK the Henry Doubleday Research
Association does a similar task. (Main HDRA page.)
Flora
localeaim is to protect indigenous wild UK plants and plant
communities from introduced species.
Heritage
Fruits Group Whose mission is to Find, Document and Conserve Old
Varieties of Fruit Trees in South East Australia. Are developing a list of all
the Heritage Fruit varieties in SEA.
The Abundant Life
Seed Foundation is a non-profit organization in the State of
Washington into preserving and distributing native and naturalized
seed. They have a network of growers and a World Seed Fund which sends
hairloom seeds overseas.
Seeds
of Texas Seed Exchange The name says it all.
California Rare Fruit
Growers Have a database of 200+ rare and unusual edible plants. They
also run a seed bank (members only) and publish a magazine.
Rare Fruit News Online a
newsletter/ mailing list for Rare Fruits.
Algy's Seed
Exchange a bulletin board dedicated to swapping seed.
A Grandmother's Garden
Interesting site where the author has preserved many old varieties of
flowering plants and vegetables. You can get lots of seeds from him.
Some good links as well.
Wylie House has
some info on Heirloom Gardening, complete with a good bibliography.
Santa Barbara Heirloom
Seedling Nursery This lot sell a good range of seeds.
California
Native Plant Society Extensive site focussing in endangered plants
in California, with details of same. Plant identification quiz's, Kids
pages, etc.
Heirloom Gardens
More stuff on Hairlooms, plus a few other seed providers, including
Native Seeds/SEARCH who do Native Indian seed.
David Ford in PA has a free service to exchange seeds. It is not
commercial and he does not sell the member list. To subscribe simply
send a blank e-mail with the work SUBSCRIBE in the subject to seed@bigfoot.com.
Solomon
Islands Planting Materials Network Makes avaliable non-hybrid
seed of food crops used by village subsistence farmers.
ECHO a Christian non-profit
organization whose mission it is to network with community leaders
in developing countries to seek hunger solutions for families
growing food under difficult conditions. Have a good selection of
unusual plant seeds.
Envirotech
A good list of links to to Seed Saver resources. Added 2003.
Seeds from Bulgria
seed swap / seed exchange A good range of 100+ seeds.
New Crops and other wonderful plants
For lists of online database of plant information see Databases.
Southern
African New Crop Research Association Still in construction but has
some info on interesting plants in their newsletters.
New Crop Resource
Online Program A university department researching lots of new
crops, they have massive amounts of detailed info about lots of plants,
plus loads of links and lots of other goodies. Seems to be growing
rapidly.
Australian New Crops
Project A good resource center. Info on new crops, links, research,
confrences etc.
International Centre for
Underutilized Crops based in the UK, but planning to move south.
Very detail info on a number of intresting crops. Run a mailing
list.
The Lost Crops
of the Incas an online version of this classic book featuring:
Achira, Ahipa, Arracacha, Maca, Mashua, Mauka, Oca, Potatoes,
Ulluco, Yacon, Kaniwa, Kiwicha, Quinoa, Legumes, Basul, Nunas-
Poppomg Beans, Tarwi, Peppers, Squashes, Capuli Cherry, Cherimoya,
Goldenberry (Cape Gooseberry), Highland Papayas, Lucuma, Naranjilla-
Lulo, Pacay- Ice-Cream Beans, Passionfruits, Pepino, Tamarillo (Tree
Tomato), Quito Palm and Walnuts. The format consist of gif images so
leave a lot to be desired, but it is searchable.
Some plants are so cool they have whole web sites dedicated to
them.
For
the Future - the Persimmon Tree Interesting article about the
amazing uses of the wild persimmon. Also a recipe for Lye soap.
Neem Foundation All
about Neem Azadirachta indica. An Indian tree which is know to
control Malaria, Cancer and AIDS, combat desertification and
deforestation, reduce excessive global temperature and even help in
population control. ALso Health
Library plus lots of others with a yahoo search.
Jatropha System An Integrated
Approach of Rural Development in Tropical & Subtropical Countries
Focuses on Erosion control, Women promotion, Rural income generation,
Renewable energy production. Seems to be bassed around a particular
plant Jatropha curcas which can be used as a hedge and for oil.
Jiaogulan (China's Imortality
Herb). In 1976 a Japanese researcher, looking for a sugar alternative,
studied a perennial weed known for its sweetness. He discovered an herb
with many qualities similar to ginseng, even though unrelated as a
plant. This event sparked years of scientific research on jiaogulan,
praised in China as xiancao, the herb of immortality, revealing it to
be a powerful adaptogenic and antioxidant herb with many therapeutic
qualities. These studies led to jiaogulan's use as a prescription
medical treatment in many hospitals in China. A book about the plant is
avaliable.
Some of you may be interested in the use of Hemp for fibers or oils
or in medicinal and industrial uses. I've a few reservations about the
plant, as it could become another cash crop farmed on a large scale and
the hype its receiving may divert attention from the many other useful
plants which appear here, plus I've been told it quite a greedy plant
taking lots of nutrients from the soil. Anyway if you do want to find
out some of the uses of hemp have a look UK Cannabis
Internet Activists.
Pinenut Page some info on
pinenuts.
Home Mushroom
Cultivation with Hydrogen Peroxide a bit of an FAQ on the subject.
See his links page for other mushroom sites.
Mucuna is it's being hailed as the miracle bean. It produces 100
tonnes per hectare of plant matter. Some grow it as a green manure,
some feed it out with the crop to animals, some use the bean seed in
bread mixes. A few links BBC
article, photo,seed
suplier.
Herbs and Medicinal Plants
herbs.startwebseite.net
a good starting point for herbal browsing, lots of links and a
thriving discussion board. In English and Dutch.
The Alternative Nature
On-Line Herbal An excellent set of links to other herbal sites.
Medicinal
Plants and Herbal Medicine Massive database of medicinal plants,
regularly updated. Also database of Samoan plants. Includes
information on chemical constituents of plants, medicinal uses, global
distribution and biological characteristics.
Henriette's
Herbal Homepage Lots of good herb related stuff, including Herb
FAQ's archives of various newsgroups.
HerbNet A giant site, with
links to all kinds of herb related stuff, including links to: medicinal
plants, courses, events, plants in fact everything herbal.
Algy's Herb Page
Lots of stuff about herbs, including Algy's Seed
Exchange a busy bulletin board dedicated to swapping seed and
overcoming the governmental-agribusiness restrictions on what plants we
are allowed to sell.
Southwest School
of Botanical MedicineThis is a good site. Lots of pics of herbs and
other plants plus articles and classic texts on botanical medicine.
Laurie Lacey's Wild World of
Plants A very nicely done page with info about several interesting
medicinal plants.
Wolfspirit's
Apothecary Forum A beautifully designed site with loads of
information about herbal preparations, uses, concoctions. Ample links
with "weird stuff" sites.
Wise Weeds Herbs,
Aromatherapy and Earth-Based Healing. Mainly a site for ordering
herbal products, but several herbalism, organics and alternative
remedy links. Also an on-line herbals newsletter.
United Plant Savers Their
mission is protect native medicinal plants of the United States
and Canada and their native habitat while ensuring an abundant
renewable supply of medicinal plants for generations to come.
Have an at risk list of Medicinal Plants plus a newsletter with lots of
intresting articles.
Herbage A database of
information about medicinal uses of plants, site has details of about
200 of the more common plants.
Horizon
Herbs have details on about 200 herbs.
the Herb Society (UK)
Details on the society and some articles on medicinal herbs.
National Institute of
Medical Herbalists (UK) Will soon have a list of praticioners in
the UK.
Herb Quarterely a magazine about herbs, not much on website.
The Herb Society of America
a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the knowledge, use
and delight of herbs through educational programs, research, and
sharing the experience of members with the community. The Society is
committed to protecting our global environment for the health and
well-being of humankind and all growing things. They encourage
gardeners to practice environmentally sound horticulture. The Herb
Society of America does not give advice on the medicinal uses of
herbs, but many of our members are interested in ethnobotany and the
medicinal uses of plants. Their website includes herb profiles and
information about HSA projects, programs, research grants,
publications, events, and library resources.
The National Herb Centre
UK visitors centre for Herbs. Also do research.
Botanical.com list 800+ types of
herbs taken from a 1931 Herbal book.
Mining Company: Herbs
for Health Lots of herb resources here, and regularly maintained.
Rainforest Medical
Foundation highlights some of the medicinal uses on rainforest
plants. Useful herbal medicine links. Plus articles taken from their
magazine. The Dec 98 edition as an article about the founder of
Ethnobotany.
RainTree Pharmacy to the World,
Details of about 100 Rainforest medicinal plants, good links. Also sell
various extracts.
Weeds and
Wild Things A weekly column, with a good set of links.
Herbal Hall 'Possibly
the Internet's most complete library for Herbs..' Not quite but still
worth a look.
Howie
Broursters Home Good set of herb links, and up to date as well. Some
interesting articles as well.
Herba Italica Italian
herbal site (in Itallian).
La Red Mexicana
de Plantas Medicinales, Aromáticas, Condimenticias y
Cosméticas está conformada por cinco grupos de
productores ecológicos de los estados de Tlaxcala (Cuaxomulco,
Teacalco, Aztatla, Tepeyanco) y Puebla (Zapotitlán de Salinas y
Yeolixtlahuaca) así como por técnicos, asesores y
consultores con formación en las ciencias biológicas,
argonómicas y sociales. Promueve la conservación
ecológica, el manejo sustentable, la certificación
botánica, el cultivo orgánico, el procesamiento, el
control de calidad y el comercio justo de más de 150 especies de
nativas y extranjeras con alta demanda local, nacional e
internacional. Estos recursos herbolarios tienen importancia en
fitoterapia, acupuntura, homeopatía, aromaterapia,
cosmetología, microdosis, medicina alópata, industria
alimentaria y mercado orgánico.
Susun Weed's Herbal medicine
resources for women's health, a few articles and a good set of
links.
British Association of Holistic
Nutrition and Medicine a not for profit organization dedicated to
the scientific research and promotion of holistic methods of animal
management, nutrition and medicine.
Soaps, dyes and the uses of plants
Pretty soon after these pages went on line I got an email asking how to
make soap, and I was stumped. Its taken almost a year but I found a
useful page in the end. I'm still interested in finding other pages on
the uses of plants.
National Non-Food Crops Centre
"Provide a single, independent and authoritative source of information on
the use and implementation of non-food crop products and technologies in
the UK. The Centre will disseminate scientific and technical information
on these issues as widely as possible in order to increase knowledge and
understanding, to initiate and facilitate technology uptake and to meet
the Government's and society's wider objectives for sustainable
development." (Dec 03).
Soap Making
Past and present soap making.
Everything You Wanted To
Know About Soap But Were Too Afraid To Ask a brief history of soap.
Files about soap making Including an FAQ.
Algy's Herb Lore +
Crafts has list of colours you can get from different plants, and a
few links for soap/dyeing/incense.
Northern
Groves Bamboo catalogue with detailed information about different
bamboo species, as well as several bamboo links and instructions on how
to care for them. There is also a bamboo discussion site at Giant Grass for
sharing information on all the wonders of Bamboo for landscaping,
construction, musical instruments, and food.
There's a couple of mailing lists you may find interesting.
Weaving (mostly weaving): e-mail to majordomo@quilt.net with
'subscribe weaving' or 'subscribe weaving-digest' at the message. Amy
Norris manager AmyFibre@aol.com
DyersList: e-mail to DyersLIST-request@list.emich.edu
with the words
SUBSCRIBE
The Fiber Resources
Page the best place I've found to start looking for links to fibers,
dyeing and spinning.
BEnTroS
details of a database all about bio-engineering in the tropics, i.e. for
uses like erosion control, reclamation, soil conservation,
re-vegetation.
Candle
Cauldron A good starting point for finding out about candles, but
nothing much on using vegetable waxes.
Willow Pool
Designs Bunch of folk who sell willow products online but also run
some interesting courses in willow. Some beautiful photographs of
willow installations, advice about living willow dwellings, and tips on
planting and growing willow. For details of their courses, see Willow Pool Courses.
Agro Tech Fibers Produce
a regular newsletter about agricultural fibers, a few sample issues,
but you will have to pay for the rest.
Sustainable Transformation of Rural Areas (SuTRA)
is a Programme Unit of the Society for Innovation and
Development, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Since 1997, SuTRA
has been implementing a rural development project in a cluster of 8
semi-arid villages of Karnataka State. In the process SuTRA has put
together technologies to empower farmers in
semi-arid tropical areas to manage their local natural resource base of
land, water and sunshine in a sustainable way. SuTRA is technologies
when linked together provide solutions to the main problems that farmers
in semi-arid tropical areas face -
water and
energy,
and help them to triple their land based income.
Wild Plants
There's lots of yummy stuff out there, such as 'Chicken in the Woods' a
bracket fungus which has both the taste and texture of chicken. But
watch what you take you: there's been a bit of a fuss in the UK over
lots of posh London restaurants sending out teams to get the rarest
mushroom and decimating the populations.
Wild Ones Native Plants, Natural Landscapes.
Promote the establishment of native communities
around homes and businesses, using ecologically sound practices.
Have some good info on Native Eco-regions, ie. growing plants
native to your region.
Publish a regular journal for subscribers.
The Edible Wild Kitchen has
lots of good articles on Edible WIld plants with lots of recipies. Good
link section and home to a very active email group WildForager.
The
Forager Home Page A good place to start looking for info on wild
foods.
Wild Plants
Beautiful photographs to aid identification of wild plants.
The Natural-List Online
shopping site. All products are foraged. Main interest in medicinal,
wild food and crafts.
The
Wild Herb Kitchen Lots of recipies for wild plants, including
botanical information on their distribution and history.
Wildman Steve Brill
Excerpts from his book on harvesting wild plants and info on half a
dozen plants.
Dining on the
Wilds Good set of links, big list of edible plants (but no details),
and details of the courses they run.
The
Wilderness a UK based project promoting wild unmanaged nature. Well
radical.
The Wild Flower
Page Lots of good UK based info in wild flowers, including
bibliography, places to see wild flowers, conservation organizations,
lists of plants protected in the UK, common names of plants and a good
set of links. The news section is very good revised monthly with lots
of articles.
Also check the Ethnobotany
Cafe mentioned above.
The School of
self-reliance has a wild plant of the week and some wild food
advocacy. One of the few survivalist pages which isn't all about
guns. They are in the process of moving to a new site self-reliance.net includes
a wild edibles chat room.
Wildlife Need Habitat
Off-Limits To Humans! Full on human free wilderness advocacy.
Wild Food Forager's of America
Publish a monthly newsletter (free subscription required) which goes into
detail on a particular wild plant. There is also a
forum
where the topic of the month can be discussed.
Self Willed Land
An excellent site with a lot
of good thoughtful articles about permaculture,
woodland gardening and farming.
Of particular interest is the article
"self-willed land - the rewilding of open spaces in the UK"
about the need to allow true wilderness to develop again
in this country.
Commercial use of wild and traditionally managed plants in the UK
Very interesting project run by Centre for Economic Botany at Kew.
It has carried out an indepth study of how non mainstream crops are
being used in this country. A Hundred page report for your reading pleasure.
Book publishers and suppliers
There quite a few people out there selling lots of good permaculture
and related books. Don't forget the Plants For A Future, Edible and
Useful Plants for a Healthier World and several other good books are avaliable from us.
Permanent Publications
UK based, their Earth Repair Catalogue of 230 permaculture and
related books can also be browsed online.
Eco-logic Books UK
based, sell a wide variety of gardening, permaculture, AltTech and
related books.
Rodale Institute BookStore
US Based, Good set of Permaculture Books including Plants For A
Future
The Permaculture
Activist in the US has a good range of books.
Yankee
Permaculture Publications Lots of good pc books including, The
International Permaculture Species Year Book, The Resources of
International Permaculture (2000+ resources), The International
Permaculture Solutions Journal, Permaculture Design Course Pamphlets
& Robin Newsletter. The courses run by Elfin Permaculture are
listed at ASSN
Home Page - ELFIN Soil and
Health Library A free public library offering an online of books on
holistic agriculture, holistic health, self-sufficient living, and
personal development. Most of the titles in this library are out
of print. It it includeds such clasices as Yeomans Keyline
plan.
Permaculture The Earth Got a
good deal with amazon.com where you get permaculture books through
them.
A
Permaculture Primer offers a good introduction to permaculture,
covering many aspects. Its also has a good list of books and other
resources.
Permaculture Resources
Based in New Jersey and New Mexico, have a large book catalogue, and
list of events in the US.
The University of California's Sustainable Agriculture
Research and Education Program has lots of books, video's etc, plus
a few web resources notable mentioning cover crops.
The Fresh Network UK
based network of Raw Food fans, with good set of links and lots of
books on the subject.
Native Nursery Has a
good selection of books on native Australian plants.
Intermediate
Technology Publications Has a wide range of books in intermediate
technology, and related issues. Has big sections on agriculture and
permaculture. You can order online from them.
Some good bibliographies can be found on the Intergarden Site here here
and here.
Courses
BSc Herbal Medicine Degree at Middlesex University, UK Not quite the
right URL, but.
They just don't fit
Some interesting sites which go beyond the bounds of my
classifications.
Soil and Health
Library a selection of articles and online books on Radical
Agriculture, Voluntary Simplicity and spiritual issues. The Ag
section has about 20 titles ranging from texts from roman times to
talks by Lady Eve Balfour (founder of organics) and Yeomans on
keylines.
Ecological Engineering has been
defined as "the design of the human society with its natural
environment for the benefit of both". Ecological engineering
integrates various existing environmental fields such as classical
ecology, agro-ecology, and restoration ecology. The skills of these
fields are used to design low-impact systems for waste treatment, food
and energy production, habitat restoration and other benefits.
Water Recycling Massive
site dedicated to water recycling, research, waste-water systems,
irrigation, water conservation. Many databases around the world for
research, and a comprehensive links page. Some ace pictures of
innovative water recycling projects around the world.
Energy Efficiency
& Renewable Energy Network (EREN) A look at what US govt
officials are up to, and various projects in the States. A detailed
overview of Advanced Integrated Pond (AIP) Systems as well as other
pioneering projects. A wee bit of a PR job but lots of good info.
The SWAMP
Project Much less scary than the Blair Witch Project. A non-profit
cooperative agency of Parks Canada, involved in research into cold
climate use of Constructed Wetlands for wastewater treatment.
If you want to talk to people about gardening and the sacred
connection we have to the earth through organic cultivation and
foraging, try joining the mailing group at Spirit Garden
Madagasan
Vegetation A tour through the the different habitats in Madagascar.
With lots of info on how to find out just how many plants there are.
The Wildlife Trust UK
group, big on creating wildlife reserves etc. particularly liked Southwark.
New Millennium Gardening
A soon to be out newsletter covering permaculture, Heirloom varieties
Ark Institute Well into
food self-sufficiency, and food security (i.e. the think we could be in
deep shit nosh wise). Publish lots of books and the Grain Supply Update
which has lots of interesting stuff about how well different crops are
doing.
Smallholders
Webring UK based, but mainly devoted to animals. Quite into
self-sufficiency.
The City Farmer Lots of
stuff on Urban Agriculture. In the UK you might want to have a look at The National
Federation of City Farms
Compost Guide
Instructions on how to compost, which materials to use, and how to deal
with common composting problems.
RotWeb
all you ever wanted to know about compost. The Compost
Resource Page is another good resource on the subject with
discussion groups and info on vermicomposting, compost toilets etc.
Humanure
is a complete online book about composting human waste.
Community Compost
Network Live in a city, don't know what to do with all your organic
waste? Well the community compost network is for you.
The Slow Food Movement
an international response to the effect = fast food has on our
society and life. It questions the validity of the fast food
philosophy as an unconscious credo that erodes our culinary =
heritage in the guise of efficiency.
The
Pollination Scene Lots of info about bees an pollination.
Oxford Bee Company has info
about the Red Mason Bee, Osmia rufa which has great potential as a
managed pollinator. They also sell nest kit to encourage the bee.
The
Problematical Subject of Microclimatology An interesting piece of UK
mirco-climates. (To see click on the Useful Bit). Quite a nice
catalogue of unusual ornamentals to go with it.
Not forgetting that esential reading matter: Compost Toilet World
Actually a very good site on the subject with worldwide lists of
suppliers, consultants etc.
Flower
Sense An interesting article describing how plants respond to light,
touch, smell and sound. Much is on the level of proteins and genes but
it does emphasize how rich plants reactions are.
Minerals
Nothing to do with plants at all, but heck its my web page. A really
nice guide to all the minerals your likely to find.
Bioneers a fancy web-site with
a good set of links to sustainable agriculture, natural design and
all sorts.
Agrodesierto A page
devoted to arid zone development and permaculture with some useful
info on arid plants. Mainly in Spanish.
Kernxotica 'Ihe
only website dedicated to the culture of tropical and exotic flora
in Cornwall'.
Genetics and Pesticides
Primal Seeds a wonderful
campaigning site, not really permaculture but focuses on bio-diversity
and food security. Offers a good critique of the monoculture practices.
With news, actions etc.
Pesticide Action Network
North America Campaigns against the use of pesticides and for
sustainable agriculture. Lots of good info on the Dirty Dozen
Pesticides and lots more.
Living
in a GM world a special feature in New Scientists magazine on the
whole GM thing. Lots of good articles highlighting some of the possible
consequences.
Other Genetic Engineering sites (shamelessly stolen from Cornerstones
Links page).
Physicians and
Scientists for Responsible Application of Science and Technology -
The best, easy to understand, breakdown of the genetics issue that I've
seen (go to the open
letter link)
Genetic Engineering Network
- Info and Direct action information point against Genetic Engineering
Super Heroes
Against Genetics - Catch up on some of the Super Hero's actions
One
world Genetic Engineering site - Good links
Communities and Eco-villages
For some strange reason a lot of permaculture stuff seems to happen in
small communities or in eco-villages (larger communities). Don't ask me
why ≤smirk≥?
You might like to have a look at our page on Housing
Co-ops.
The Eco Village Information Service
and International Communities websites
are the best starting place. Between then they list most of the
interesting projects going.
The Global
Eco-Village Directory Global listing of Eco-Communities and similar
set-ups, search is by region. Also some good information about
visiting eco-villages, and several links. Because it's a global site
the individual country detail leaves a bit to be desired - tends to
list only the communities everyone knows about!
The definitive guide to UK communities is Diggers and Dreamers,
which lists 80+ UK communities. Available from Edge
Of Time and maybe elsewhere.
Living Lightly
Travels in Post-Consumer Society. A book detailing lots of intresting
communities and groups (PFAF included). Inspiring.
Cornerstone Housing Co-op
is a groovy place just round the corner from me in Leeds. Lots of
radical groups are based there and they have a good set of links,
especially to the co-operative movement. Their resource centre can now
be found at Cornerstone
Resource Centre.
Zegg a German
eco-village project which seems to be sucessful. Oneday PFAF will be
like this. (Also in German).
Stepping Stones housing
co-op, and Upstart Workers co-op. A new venture in the Why valley.
Consisting of lots of people who helped get Cornerstone going.
Catalyst
Colective Know loads about how to set up workers and housing co-ops.
Radical Routes A co-op of
co-op's who's members include Cornerstone, Catalyst.
The Natty Trust a
community network based in the Brighton area who are buying land for
use in a permaculture fashion by members of the trust. Hold regular
gathering for members of the trust.
A Raw Food
Eco-village is being set up by the The Fresh Network in
Spain.
A few more with Web presence are listed at Co-Construction
but this is a bit out of date.
In the UK housing Co-ops are a good way to start you can have a look
at our own page or some one else's.
You might also like to have a look at this community come
eco-village: Findhorn
Foundation a Scottish spiritual community famous for growing massive
veg. And Redfield
in Buckinghamshire. and EarthBallance
A sustainability Center/community in Northumberland.
And then there's Christiania
Probably the largest alternative communities going, and its right in the
heart of Copenhagen to boot. An inspiration to us all.
Parliamentary
State Graciosa A small newly formed independent state on the west
cost of Africa.
Vegan and Raw Food Stuff
Vegan Organic Trust
UK-based vegans. Produce a newsletter with several friendly articles about
veganism, organic gardening and other stuff. Run a certification scheme and
a visitors centre in the pipeline.
Vegan Views is a UK
magazine started in 1975 by a group of vegans who wanted to make
contact with others interested in creating a more harmonious way of
living based on veganism. The website has a well maintained news
section lots of articles and good links to other Vegan groups.
The Movement for
Compassionate Living Some interesting articles and other info on
all things vegan.
Center for Vegan Organic Education
a US based non-profit education and research organization
that teaches people about healthy, sustainable, and compassionate vegan
organic gardening techniques.
National Vegan Festival September 16th, 2001, London. The essential
gathering for UK vegans.
Vegan Village Best
starting point for UK vegans.
Vegan Society UK
Vegan Outreach A
few interesting articles.
The Fresh Network
UK based network of Raw Food fans, with good set of links and lots of
books on the subject. They also are building a Raw Food
Eco-village in Spain.
The EcoForest Garden Trust a
British group who run a raw food eco-village in Southern Spain which
seems to be thriving. Site has a a good set of links to rawfood
and permaculture projects.
Empowering Detox retreats and Health courses in Spain: Home
Colonics, Juice fasting, Yoga, Meditation, Nutrition & TLC. Tel:
(0034)-678-014-534, info@home-colonics.com,www.home-colonics.com.
Making Waves A Vegan Guest
House in St Ives, Cornwall. Good friends of Plants For A Future.
Towards
Common Ground; Permaculture and the Vegan Way an essay on the
relationship between permaculture and veganism.
Solent Vegitatians and Vegans
Veggie group based in Southhampton, good supporters of PFAF.
Green Building
Underground (earth
berm and earth sheltered) Homes A good starting point for
exploration into underground homes. There's lots of interest in these
at PFAF and Lee Flier who was first to put the database online has got
an Earthship.
Built Environment Network
UK group focusing on green building, architecture and planning. Site has
a dozen or so articles of various aspects of same. Inc Walter Segal
Self-Build, Straw Bale, etc.
Low Impact News UK group
into low impact living, stawbales, eco-villages that sort of stuff.
Cob
Cottage Company seems to have some good info on Cob building.
Association
for Environment Conscious Building UK based. Reasonable Links, very
extensive reading lists, and UK contacts.
British Straw
Bale Building Association Info about the group.
Yahoo's
Sustainable Construction has a good few places to start.
Natural
Building Resources Has a good overview of the main natural building
methods.
Timber Framers Guild of North Ammerica
Heaps of info.
Green and Environmental
The bigger picture, beyond the garden.
Primal Seeds a wonderful
campaigning site, not really permaculture but focuses on
bio-diversity and food security. Offers a good critique of the
monoculture practices. With news, actions etc.
Low Impact Living Initative a
UK non-profit making organisation dedicated to helping protect
the global environment by researching and promoting sustainable,
low-impact alternatives to various aspects of everyday life. We
believe that by incorporating these ideas into their lives, people
can help protect the environment, improve their quality of life
and save money. Run courses and have information on
Biodiesel, Compost toilets, Solar electricity, Solar hot water,
Straw-bale building etc.
BioRegional
Development Group: founded on the green ideal of local
production for local needs. The Group takes a market-led approach to
sustainable development and promotes the application of appropriate
technology.
Environmental Organization
WebDirectory probable the best directory to environmental
organization on the web.
Plymouth Alternative News: a webring linking and promoting Plymouth websites that feature culture, music, arts, self-activity and politics.
Envirotech-ist
A good set of environmental links.
OneWorld an online media
gateway to inform a global audience about human rights and
sustainable development. Has sections on news, jobs, campaigns and
events. There are editions for every part of the world.
Women's Environmental Network a
very active UK group campainging on environmental and health issues
from a women's perspective. Two of their campaings are especially
relavent local
food promoting locally grown food and genetic engenering.
The
Appropriate Technology Source book very comprehensive list of AT
resources.
Aboriginal Living Skills
School A self-proclaimed "let's-get-ready-for-Y2K-as-best-we-can"
site, with numerous links to environmental, seed-saving, heirloom
seeds, appropriate technology and other sites.
LetsLink
UK Lets stands for Local Exchange Trading Schemes, which lie half
way between a barter system and normal money. They are normally base in
local communities and offer an alternative to the old jobs/dole
dilemma.
Resurgence
Magazine has been publishing articles that promote creativity,
ecology, spirituality and frugality for the last 30 years. Resurgence
questions trade without responsibility and the sanity of money without
morality. (UK based).
GreenLine magazine. A
good radical green read. Has some online articles and a big diary of UK
green events and demos.
Intermediate Technology
Founded in 1966 by Dr E.F. Schumacher, author of Small is Beautiful,,IT
believes that sustainable development is achieved only if the
participants in the process are its architects. It regards
'development' as a process of increasing people's economic power by
improving their access to technologies appropriate to their skills,
incomes and environments.
The Solar
Cooking Archive Shows you how to make a solar cooker for only two
dollars! Very practical alt-tech.
Managing Wholes a
frequently updated set of articles on whole system design, esp forestry
and sustainable agriculture.
Sustainable Agriculture Food
and Environment a UK umbrella group of farmers, environmental,
consumer, animal welfare and development
organizations, working towards Sust Ag.
This Land Is Ours UK
land rights campaign not afraid of ocuppying a bit of land and growing
food on it. Celebrating 350 years of the Diggers. And includes
"Defining Rural Sustainability : Fifteen Criteria for Sustainable
Developments in the Countryside together with Three Model Policies for
Local Plans.
Quoditch Moor
A nature reserve near to PFAF's Devon site, its got some on the Culm
grassland that we have.
Howard
Lyman Interview The story of a man who turned from buying $1,000,000
worth of agro-chemicals a year to an organic advocate. Part of the McSpotlight site.
In Context Magazine
44 onlines issues of a sustainable living magazine, with articles
ranging from Cyber-Activists to Sustainable Habitats.
The UN's report on the state of the planet can be browsed online at United Nations Environment
Programme: Global Environmental Outlook The book contains a wealth
of information about global environmental trends and potential future
action.
My Home Page I've got quite a few
eco-links to UK activists here, you will also find some maths and
taoisms links.
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