Books by Patrick Whitefield
To order a book please click on a book title or image.
The Earth Care Manual, a permaculture handbook for Britain and other temperate climates, 480pp large format, £39.95.

This is the complete permaculture book, bursting with useful information, photos, diagrams, tables and plant lists. It’s the first major permaculture book from outside Australia, written specifically for British conditions and highly relevant for other temperate countries. “It contains all the information that I wish we had time for on the 72-hour Design Course,” says Patrick. “While the courses give you the experience of permaculture, the book gives you the details you need to put it into action.”

It covers the principles of permaculture and it’s practical application in: building, gardening, orchards, farming, woodland, wildlife and water supply and purification. There are also two chapters on the nuts and bolts of permaculture design.

“Just occasionally a book is published that fully justifies its title and can even change the reader’s perspective on life. This is one of those rare and inspiring landmark events. A visionary, yet practical book offering the skills for a lifestyle that is kind to the environment. This is a big book in every respect, a pleasure to handle and explore, and deserves a wide celebration.”
The Garden, journal of the Royal Horticultural Society.

NEW

Patrick’s latest book shows you how to read the landscape and looks at what you can expect to find in woods, grassland, heath, moor, wetland, hedgerows and waysides.
At the heart of the book lies the process of succession – the way the landscape changes as soon as we relax our grip on it, how new plants colonise and new ecosystems develop. It explains how the fascinating blend of natural forces and human action creates the landscape around us, and enables us to see our surrounding in a way we have never seen them before. The Living Landscape shows how everything we see is a product of the living dance between the rocks beneath us, the thin layer of soil, the local climate, the plants and animals which inhabit the land and the people who have forged it into their own habitat.
The result of a lifetime spent in the countryside and twenty years of deliberate observation and note taking, the book reveals Patrick’s passion for the subject as well as his deep knowledge of it. The text is interspersed with line drawings and extracts from his notebooks, illustrating the various themes of the book with examples from all over Britain.
Although the book has a great relevance to permaculture – observing and understanding the existing landscape is an important part of the permaculture design process – it has a much wider appeal. It’s for anyone who spends time in the countryside, whether professionally or for pleasure.

“Patrick’s book can open your eyes. Through The Living Landscape he inspires people to reconnect with the land as a living entity, develop an active relationship with nature and the countryside and experience it first hand.” - Ben Law, woodlander, author, teacher and builder of the famous Woodland House.

 

How to Make a Forest Garden, 160pp large format, £16.95.

Fruit trees, soft fruit and perennial vegetables together go to make up a forest garden, on the model of a natural woodland. It’s the most ecologically friendly way to grow food. This book is a compete practical guide, with details of how to choose plants, design the garden and maintain it. There are pictures of many forest gardens and a detailed example design. There are details of over a hundred different plants, including both fruits and perennial and self-seeding vegetables.

“Patrick Whitefield’s excellent book gives numerous practical details of the steps that many of us can take to realise this alluring vision.” Robert Hart.
Permaculture in a Nutshell, 64pp, £5.95.

Completely updated new edition!
This is a concise, readable introduction to permaculture. It explains just what permaculture is and is full of examples of how it can be applied in both town and country. It’s a good book to get you started, or if you already know about permaculture it makes a handy gift to friends and family members who haven’t yet had the pleasure.