Two Out-of-Print Classics Republished July 10, 2009

The last time that food issues and edible landscaping swept the nation was in the seventies during the energy crisis. During that time many were traveling the world to learn from obscure agricultural practitioners and others were looking to the urban areas and what they could produce. Out of that time period came two food production classics: The One Straw Revolution, by Masanobu Fukuoka and (Designing and Maintaining) Your Edible Landscape Naturally, by Robert Kourik. Both went out of print in the late eighties and early nineties, but have been recently republished for the benefit of the times we are in. This is part two…

Part 2:

(Designing and Maintaining) Your Edible Landscape Naturally

By Robert Kouri

Early on in my education in “whole systems design” I became infatuated with the world of Permaculture (a design system for creating sustainably-integrated human settlements). One of the first major influences on my design style wasn’t a Permaculture text per se. Permaculture seemed to approach sustainability and design aesthetic in a way that shunned the art of formal garden design. Kourik’s seminal text on the other hand seemed to embrace sustainability and edible landscape design as just another approach to an ancient tradition (and human need) for both domesticating and beautifying the natural world around us. Kourik was also a pioneer in the sense that his work was one of the first to explore temperate edible landscaping while other were still working out techniques in tropical and subtropical climes. Your Edible Landscape Naturally really is a text and reads pretty much like one, though Kourik balances his vast knowledge with a fun sense of humor, insight and wit. The book is full of practical advise, tables, design examples, maintenance techniques and reminders and a whole host of reference tables for the edible landscape designer. The only point of note that I would make is that unless the book has undergone a revision some of the ideas and advise may be a bit dated. Still, coupled with any great design workbook, this text is an absolute essential for anyone interested in taking on task of design their own edible home garden.

The way we produce our food has the potential to collapse or sustain our society. Both The One Straw Revolution and Your Edible Landscape Naturally have paved the way for that sustainable future. Each in their own way helps us to understand the importance of food security and the great field of the unexplored in both urban and rural agriculture. Both books leave the reader inspired to create a world that will sustain itself into the future. Like a perfect guide, neither texts pleads. Both state, “We can do this. We can maintain this. We can have our beauty and eat it too. The only thing stopping us is us.”