The Permaculture Market Garden - by Zach Loeks (Paperback)

About the Book

"Author Zach Loeks brings together his passion for sustainable permaculture food production systems and beautiful, vibrant illustrations to provide a highly visual guide to the smooth integration of permaculture into the market garden, without use of major equipment or operation changes. Profiling crops and ecosystem-based systems, Loeks demonstrates a profitable, sustainable and approachable model for the future of market gardening."--

Book Synopsis

The illustrated guide to profitable, vibrant and sustainable permaculture-based market gardening

Permaculture tends to be very much in the domain of home gardeners and property owners. But what if we could take it all a step further, and merge the fields of permaculture and market gardening?

In The Permaculture Market Garden , author Zach Loeks brings together his passion for sustainable permaculture food production systems and beautiful, vibrant illustrations to provide a highly visual guide to the smooth integration of permaculture into the market garden, in ways that are scalable to specific situations. Profiling crops and ecosystem-based techniques, Loeks demonstrates a profitable, sustainable and approachable model for the future of market gardening.

Along the way, Loeks introduces his own system of PermaBeds, season extension techniques, intensive and rotational interplanting, in-depth discussions on soil health, and more, bringing activities, designs and prospects of farming to life through illustrations, so the reader can be immersed within the world of permaculture farming. Playful, informative and curious, inspiring and beautiful and packed with accessible practical information, The Permaculture Market Garden will inspire both the seasoned market gardener as well as anyone aspiring to start a business.

Zach Loeks is a market gardener, farm consultant and educator living in the Ottawa Valley. Winner of two regional awards for sustainability and innovation in agriculture, he shares his expertise in farming, design and business through a successful series of on-farm workshops, conferences and schools, as well as a successful year-round CSA.

From the Back Cover

The only fully illustrated guide to profitable, vibrant and sustainable permaculture-based market gardening

Business planning has never before been this colorful, soulful, or needed for the times.
-- PETER BANE, author, The Permaculture Handbook

... before putting spade to earth, before pounding corner stakes in to mark footers, and before calling in the well-drilling rig, take this book and work through it with your property.
-- JOEL SALATIN, Polyface Farm , from the Foreword

PERMACULTURE tends to be very much in the domain of home gardeners and property owners. But what if we could take it all a step further, and merge the fields of permaculture and market gardening? What if we can build a new agriculture with every farm as a profitable and endurable ecosystem?

In The Permaculture Market Garden , author Zach Loeks brings together his passion for sustainable permaculture food production systems and beautiful, vibrant illustrations, to provide a highly visual guide to the smooth integration of permaculture into the market garden, in ways that are scalable to specific situations. Profiling crops and ecosystem-based techniques, Loeks demonstrates a profitable, sustainable and approachable model for the future of market gardening.

Along the way, Loeks introduces his own system of permabeds, leading into a close examination of integrated, rotational and site-appropriate production, along with in-depth discussions on soil health, and more. He brings us activities, designs and the prospects of farming to life through dynamic illustrations, so the reader can be immersed in the world of permaculture farming.

Playful, informative and curious, inspiring and beautiful, and packed with accessible practical information, The Permaculture Market Garden will inspire the seasoned market gardener as well as anyone aspiring to start a farm business.

If you're serious about generating a livelihood in partnership with the land, this book is your compass.
-- JASON GERHARDT, permaculture designer, Real Earth Design

ZACH LOEKS is a market gardener, farm consultant and educator living in the Ottawa Valley. Winner of two regional awards for sustainability and innovation in agriculture, he shares his expertise in farming, design and business through a successful series of on-farm workshops, conferences, as well as managing a year-round community supported agriculture (CSA) network, on-farm festivals, and a mail-order heirloom seed garlic business.

To help bring you the very best inspiration and information about greener, more sustainable lifestyles, Mother Earth News is recommending select New Society Publishers books to its readers. This book is one of them.

Review Quotes

Bringing permaculture's holistic thinking to the problems of market farming, Zach Loeks has done this burgeoning economic sector a world of good with his pithy words and lovely drawings. Not a book about carrots, but one in which vegetables, children, customers, trees, vision, and earthworms shape a matrix of success. Business planning was never before this colorful, soulful, or needed for the times.
---Peter Bane, author, The Permaculture Handbook.

A commendable permaculture guide. If you're serious about generating a livelihood in partnership with the land, this book is your compass. Zach Loeks details an approach to informed ecological decision-making so close to my own work I can be sure this book will improve agricultural landscapes and lives.
---Jason Gerhardt, permaculture designer, Real Earth Design

A legacy of grateful land is surely a memorial that can capture both our imagination and our physical effort. Such a sacred mission deserves the level of thought Zach beckons us to pursue. Engaging in this discovery and planning process is worth the effort, and Zach gives us another tool to engage more strategically. Now get out paper, pencil, ruler, and graph paper. It's that simple, and that rewarding.
---Joel Salatin, Polyface Farm

There are few books that delight the senses, satisfy the scientific itch and leave the inner environmentalist contented. I'm indebted to Zach for his work, not only for my own education, but for the many clients that seek a tome of collected wisdom as they embark into their own farming dreams.
---Javan K. Bernakevitch, B. Comn, All Points Land Design

Zack strikes me as the guy you want to spend a week on your property. Not just for his company, but to access his wealth of knowledge and experience in learning to understand the natural systems at work in any given landscape. The Permaculture Market Garden is playful in approach yet completely pragmatic in reasoning and methodology and should be seen as the permaculturist's guide to placemaking through Homesteading. This chewy tome of goodness will help you assess the ecology, geological history and potential future of the land you live on and work with. A wonderful guidebook to help anyone- with land big or small - to thrive not just survive, in tandem with their natural environment.
---Sharon Kallis, author, Common Threads

About the Author

Zach Loeks is a market gardener, farm consultant and educator living in the Ottawa Valley. Winner of two regional awards for sustainability and innovation in agriculture, he shares his expertise in farming, design and business through a successful series of on-farm workshops, conferences and schools, as well as a successful year-round CSA.