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29/3/2016

New Book; "Making Small Farms Work"

38 Comments

Read Now
 
We have decided to self-publish our book, Making Small Farms Work, and aim to have it with you very soon. To achieve this we will be launching a crowd source campaign next week so you can pre-order a copy to raise the funds to print and ship the book to you.  This will be a co-publishing project, a community effort to get this important resource out in the world.  Please be aware the book will only be available direct from the farm, so if you are interested please read on...

You can order a copy on our Kickstarter campaign right now at discounted rates....

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​“Industrial chemical agriculture, producing twenty times as much dead eroding soil as food needed every year, is the most destructive industry of mankind - more so than fossil fuels or any mining.  Developing a new biologically-based, and holistically managed, regenerative agriculture is imperative if civilization as we know it is to survive.  I heartily recommend Richard's book for all socially conscious new and old farmers.”
 
Allan Savory President, Savory Institute & Chairman, Africa Center for Holistic Management. 

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Contents of Making Small Farms Work
The way the crowd source campaign works, early birds get a discount from the retail price; the quicker you purchase a copy the cheaper it will be.  You can sign up below if you are interested to know exactly when the campaign launches.  After the upcoming campaign copies will only be available directly from the farm in Sweden, and can be posted worldwide

This book offers fresh perspective for the Permaculture & Regenerative Agriculture space, and focuses solely on real-world stuff.  A pragmatic and profitable approach to a farming life worth living.  No nonsense and no abstract theory devoid of context.  The aim is very much a 'how-to' approach to designing, installing and managing small farms effectively.  Our own farm Ridgedale Permaculture is small at 10ha,  but our approach to design is scalable from 1- 1000 ha. The book is stuffed full of colour images that explain everything described, as well as sharing financial details, spreadsheets, decision-making processes and other elements required to Making Small Farms Work.


“This might be one of the broadest overviews of designing regenerative farm systems aside from Mollison’s original “black book.” Richard’s book is likely to become an important manual of regenerative farming practices for those starting a farm of any scale.  This is a timely and detailed account of crucial considerations for starting and managing a farm; I cannot think of anyone, from the beginner to seasoned farmer and homesteader, who doesn’t have something to learn from Richard’s work starting and managing Ridgedale Permaculture.”

Ben Falk Whole Systems Design. Author of The Resilient Farm and Homestead

Who would benefit from this book?
  • Farmers interested in a more resilient future (The approach and strategies in this book are scalable from 1- 1000 Ha)
  • Permaculture Designers looking to empower their approach to design
  • Permaculture Educators looking to deepen their knowledge base
  • Homesteaders
  • Project leaders/ NGO workers
  • Landscape Designers who wish to broaden their horizons
  • Ecological/ Social Entrepreneurs
  • Anyone curious about learning about Ridgedale in detail
  • Anyone interested in real food
Why are we self-publishing?
  • We can get the book to you much faster than if we went with a publisher.
  • At our farm we go to great lengths to sell our premium farm produce directly to customers.  We want to post you the book right from the farm. 
  • We want to publish the book exactly how we created it, not edited to someone else's preferences 
  • We want to facilitate translations to other languages though the community networks
A bit more context about the book

I have written this book to share some of my diverse experiences with regenerative design, farming and project management, as well as address the misconception that small farms are not viable.  Our farm in Sweden has quickly become a beacon in Europe as a thriving example of effective farm scale Permaculture & Regenerative Agriculture.  I attribute much of the success to several factors; primarily built upon our approach that draws and integrates practices from other ecological design platforms.  For us, there are three main legs to the stool we use in our work.  Besides Permaculture design we rely primarily on Holistic Management and Keyline design. We also draw a lot of inspiration from pioneering US farmer Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms.
 
Most of us interested in Permaculture & Regenerative Agriculture in Europe look abroad for inspiration.  There is currently no literature in Europe covering the breadth of material presented in this book, and globally there are few financially viable examples of Permaculture farms.  We also see few comprehensive cold climate examples, so it feels great to share our experiences from up here at 59ºN.   Whilst we are situated in the most challenging economic and cultural context I have experienced anywhere on the globe, the approach to design shared in this book is relevant and instructive for people farming in any European climate zone.  Indeed, amazing people have travelled from over 40 countries to the farm to participate in our pioneering education programs.

Making Small Farms Work does not aim to be encyclopedic or claim to offer all the answers. There are no radical innovations that will suddenly make farming an easy profession.  It does, however, share an approach that looks far into the future, takes full responsibility for our actions and imparts deep insight and practical experience in the context of well planned and holistically managed operations.  My primary educational objective is to support others into professional design and regenerative enterprises of their own, so this book is super pragmatic, down-to-earth and focused on getting on with it in a well thought out, well planned and holistically managed manner.  Most books about design in this field are heavily theoretical. Not this one. This book is written for anyone wanting to farm in a way the restores the soil, reinvigorates local economy and food systems whilst maintaining a good livelihood for the farmer.  

"Richard and Yohanna are an invasive species in Sweden; threatening to destroy our traditional culture of hopelessness.  This book may seem harmless, full of sweet pictures and practical advice for small farms, but it is actually spreading revolutionary seeds that jeopardise agribusiness and the alienation between people and nature.  Romantic dreamers have been advocating rural livelihoods before, whilst struggling to make a living off the land.  Ridgedale Permaculture seem to actually know what they are up to.  These folks are walking the talk of Holistic Management, enabling them to manoeuvre within complexity without losing sight of what they really want to achieve.  So, good people, if you are standing up for your rights as victims of your circumstances, stay away from these people, and this book."  

​
Jörgen Andersson (Fjällbete) Nordic Savory Hub

Translations 

The first translation will be into Swedish and Polish and the process is already begun.  We will be running a separate campaign for the Swedish version which we will also print and distribute. We will announce details to the relevant people when we know them.  We hope the Swedish copy will be available at the end of the summer. The Polish copy is being translated, printed and distributed by our friends at 
CoHabitat and should be available late this year.  We are open to offers for translation into German, French and Spanish from professional translators and independent publishing houses, but please not contact us regarding this until the crowd source campaign is over as we will not be able to respond. 

Thank you so much to all those who have supported us so far. This book is eagerly awaited by many folks and will only go to print (along with subsequent translations) if the campaign is a success.  If you are excited about this, please consider sharing this page personally on your timeline/ relevant pages and let’s get it out there...
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...Farming, innovating & educating for the benefit of all....

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38 Comments
SPG link
29/3/2016 03:25:50 am

Hi,

Will there be an e-version or is it just the print version?

Thanks

Reply
Richard perkins
29/3/2016 03:45:35 am

No Ebook version I'm afraid. Hard bound top quality real books only

Reply
Mark Plemel link
22/8/2018 11:02:58 am

an ebook is now available http://www.makingsmallfarmswork.info/

Reply
Robert Morgan
29/3/2016 03:53:42 am

Where do I sign up for the book?

Reply
Richard perkins
29/3/2016 04:08:26 am

If you read the post you will find the email subscription. We will email everyone regarding the campaign start date, and you can buy a copy there. After the campaign books will only be available from our website, more details will be available at that point...

Reply
Robert Morgan
29/3/2016 04:51:06 am

Thanks

I have subscribed , so I will look forward to the announcement.

Leslie Newhall
29/3/2016 04:43:19 am

I can't wait!!! Can you imagine a volume 2 after a couple more years??!

Reply
wesley roe link
29/3/2016 07:17:31 am

hi Richard
please let me know when you are ready to accept pre-orders of your book
thanks wes
ps looking forward supporting you by purchasing the book

Reply
Richard
30/3/2016 11:39:52 pm

Thank you so much Wes

Reply
Fernán Silva
9/12/2016 10:45:02 pm

Hola: quisiera comprar el libro. Saludos

Reply
Justas
29/3/2016 08:57:43 am

Hi, can you say the cost of the book:)

Reply
Richard
30/3/2016 11:39:28 pm

The book will retail at 350 SEK. During the crowd source campaign there will be different 'tiers' of pricing; early backers will get up to 20% discount.

Reply
Konstantin
30/3/2016 04:51:24 am

Hi Richard. What you think about russian translation?

Reply
Richard
30/3/2016 11:40:55 pm

I think it is a very good idea. We need to make connection with NGO/ independent publishers

Reply
Bryce Ruddock
31/3/2016 06:08:07 am

Looking forward to the book. It will fill in some of the holes in design applications that exit and open up new possibilities for Permaculture explorations.

Reply
Shane
3/4/2016 01:30:47 am

It sounds like an excellent addition to my permaculture library, however it wasnt clear if the book is going to be published in English also. Can you clarify this for me please. Cheers.

Reply
Lorenzo
3/4/2016 10:01:45 pm

The book is first published in english, and then there will be translations, the first being in polish and swedish

Reply
Sumaiyyah
5/9/2016 02:01:57 am

Hi sir, can you please check my order status #1636220189

Reply
Doug Shears
4/3/2017 09:09:51 am

I'd love to purchase a copy, if only I could only find the link ....and pay w paypal?

Reply
Iryna Biliavska
7/4/2017 09:20:39 am

Hi there! I'd love to purchase a copy of your book! Please let me know when it's available!

Reply
Louis Howe
5/5/2017 10:47:44 am

How do I order an English edition and what is the price and shipping in dollars. Thank you Louis Howe

Reply
abdallah h . mwachui
28/9/2017 07:52:36 am

i am in kenya and would like to order for an english edition,please advise on price &shipping in us dollars,

Reply
Jorge Ferreira
22/1/2018 07:42:49 am


Hi! can you offer for a translation into Português.
And can you say the cost campaign of the book :)

HubTranslation
Of course you have the original pdf, than you can translate with tool pdf pro online, because I,m Looking forward to the book.
I am in Portugal and would like to order for an Portuguse and english edition, (I don,t speak very well english, but help if translate are bad) please advise your price in euros. To this email.
Thanks.

Reply
lucinda appleby
24/3/2018 06:04:14 am

hello there. I am currently at the planning stage for a 50 plus acre farm here in England, S.W.
I feel so over whelmed by the whole prospect but also very excited. I sometimes think I should ask Richard to come here to run a course, whilst planning my farm set up and projects. There is a river at the lower end of the farm and there is a small area of woodland, to the lower end of the farm too. The whole place is so degraded at the moment! Over 40 years of neglect and robbery, Oh dear...
Anyhow, I would like a copy of your book(s).
Yours faithfully, L. Appleby

Reply
Davis Bonk
25/3/2018 11:30:20 am

I signed up as a co-publisher way back but never received a book. Did I fail to submit properly or was it lost in shipping? It would be under my name or Toad Hill Farm. Thank you!!

Reply
Gabriel Edland
22/5/2018 09:29:39 am

I have seen several videos and I am interested in the book.

Reply
FERNANDO GOMEZ GOMEZ
17/10/2018 05:03:35 am

I like to order a copy of your book

Reply
Jena Jakubowski
27/1/2019 07:02:29 pm

I would like to purchase a paper back or hard cover copy of your book please.

Reply
Eric Luther
6/9/2019 07:55:03 am

I would really love to read your book, but every single one is sold out. Maybe u can help me out?
Kind regards

Eric

Reply
Calum McHale
11/2/2020 03:35:06 am

Can we still buy this book? Can you please post a link for any one wanting to buy the book and if you can’t purchase it any more please post that too. I’ve looked and clicked all over your website with no luck. Cheers

Reply
Michael Gilbert
5/5/2020 07:55:50 am

I'm with the other guys here. Can't find your book.
Thank you for your inspiration!
Regards
Michaek

Reply
Christopher Mc Anearney
10/6/2020 11:13:24 am

Can't find your book, can we still get it?

Reply
Paul Yeaney
14/8/2020 08:30:29 pm

I am also wondering if it is possible to get a copy of this book. Could you please let me know if it is possible Cheers

Reply
Teresa Lees link
5/10/2020 07:51:03 pm

What was the email to send photos of our market garden to?

Reply
Denise Downes
30/12/2020 08:35:16 am

Hi Richard
We were very excited about this book and looked forward to reading it, we went through the right channels to purchase this book, unfortunately it's been almost a year and we still have not received it. We are from South Africa and my sister lives in the UK, is there any possible way of sending it to her instead?

Reply
Marlies Tauber
13/1/2021 05:13:10 am

Hello,

can I order a copy of your book?
Is it also in german available?

Kind Regards

Reply
Danielle Pardiac
17/2/2021 02:45:50 pm

Hi,
I live in Quebec Canada and I'm trying to get your book: Making Small Farms Work and I keep getting a book from Joel Salatin. They don't seem to be the same book. Is there a place I can buy your book.

Have a wonderful day and thank you for making your experience available to other.

Danielle Pardiac.

Reply
C T McHale
17/2/2021 06:20:01 pm

I purchased a copy of the book. And also found it difficult/ confusing. I believe the new updated version is called “Regenerative Agriculture” (a practical whole systems guide to making small farms work) hope this helps!

Reply



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