Permaculture Market Garden

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.

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

• Introduction 1 Farm Ecosystem EARTH SYSTEMS AND NATURAL SCIENCE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES 2 Whole Farm Mapping WHY MAP YOUR FARM? 3 Holistic Planning DEFINING THE WHOLE AND MAKING A HOLISTIC GOAL HOLISTIC BUDGETING FOR PROFIT RESILIENCE GUILD ENTERPRISE PRODUCTION 4 Design Management WHY DESIGN? DESIGN MANAGEMENT 5 Our Permabed System THE PERMABED SYSTEM PERMABED PRINCIPLES LAYOUT AND LAND PREPARATION ORGANIZED GARDEN PATTERNING GUILD CROP PRODUCTION GUILD CROP DESIGNS PERMA INVESTMENT Conclusion Glossary Resources Index About the Author About New Society Publishers