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Start a peaceful revolution by planting an edible ecosystem and sharing the experience with your neighbors
Humans have always thrived in rich, diverse, edible ecosystems. Yet most cities and suburbs are blanketed by lawns, ornamentals, and a lack of biodiversity, let alone anything edible. It is within these sterile landscapes that seeds of an edible ecosystem lie.
The Edible Ecosystem Solution is a comprehensive, practical guidebook that looks at underutilized spaces to reveal the many opportunities for landscape transformation that are both far-reaching and immediately beneficial and enjoyable. Contents include:
- Hundreds of full-color infographics, illustrations, and photographs that clearly outline the principles and concepts of edible landscape design and benefits
- How to get started with as little as 25 square feet of land
- How to transition a garden plot into a place of edible abundance and an edible biodiversity hot spot, living laboratory, and a source point for transitioning and transforming community and culture
- Choosing appropriate plants for insects, wildlife, and food production
- Scaling up and networking backyard edible ecosystems at the neighborhood level and beyond to build community food security and resilience.
The Edible Ecosystem Solution is for everyone with access to a bit of yard, a desire for food security, biodiversity, and a beautiful and resilient community, and for anyone who wants to reclaim humanity's place in a rich, abundant, edible ecosystem.
Zach Loeks is an educator, designer, and grower who specializes in Edible Ecosystem Design through landscaping and education. He is director of the Ecosystem Solution Institute, which is dedicated to the education, propagation, and inspiration of ecosystem solutions for land use transition. He consults widely with homes, farms, colleges, schools, and municipalities across Canada and United States, and through many biomes from Guatemala and South Africa to the Yukon and Mongolia. Zach manages an award-winning farm with diversified food forest products, and his innovations have won three provincial awards and are featured in his first book The Permaculture Market Garden. He lives in Cobden, Ontario.
Dedication
Thesis
About This Book
Section 1: The Ecology of Humanity
Precious Place in Space
Biodiversity
Ecosystems
Human Habitat
Ancestral Ecosystems
Section 2: Solutions and Opportunities
Habitat Lost
Modern Ecosystem Services
Big-Picture Services
Opportunities
Livable Community Benefits
Common Lines
Micro-Landscapes
Ecosystem Spot
Section 3: Edible Ecosystem Design
Inspiration to Act
Site Selection and Micro-Environment
Build a Permabed
Site-Suitable Plant Selection
Design an Ecosystem Guild
Plant a Micro-Landscape
Modular Ecosystem Landscape
Section 4: Educate, Propagate, Inspire
Ecosystem Dispersal
Edible Ecosystem Qualities
Catalyzing Land Transition
EPI Is a Model for Success
Section 5: Ecosystem Culture
Transitioning Our Habitat
Land, People, Culture
Change Has Many Stakeholders
Leadership
Regenerative Wealth Security
Habitat Is a Human Right
Endnotes
Index
About the Author
A Note about the Publisher