Restoration agriculture
by Mark Shepard · first published 2013
15mentions
4recommended by
8HN commenters
2015–2023first – last mentioned
50% recommend50% neutral
"Around the globe most people get their calories from annual agriculture - plants that grow fast for one season, produce lots of seeds, then die. Every single human society that has relied on annual crops for staple foods has collapsed. Restoration Agriculture explains how we can have all of the benefits of natural, perennial ecosystems and create agricultural systems that imitate nature in form and function while still providing for our food, building, fuel and many other needs - in your own backyard, farm or ranch. This book, based on real-world practices, presents an alternative to the agri
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This is exciting to see on the front page. If anyone’s looking for more in depth reading on the subject, I highly recommend Mark Shepard’s book, “Restoration Agriculture”. In it he gives a good overview of farming with perennials, and why it can be beneficial for the planet.
on “Perennial Crops” ↗The book that got me into this was Mark Shepard's 'Restoration Agriculture". [1] His "New Forest Farm" in WI has been making use of these ideas for some time now. [2] Shepard got his inspiration from Permaculture [3] and the books, "Tree Crops", [4] and "The One Straw Revolution".…
on “Investors say agroforestry is climate friendly and also profitable” ↗Not OP, but I can recommend these two books: "Making Small Farms Work" by Richard Perkins and "Restoration Agriculture: Real World Permaculture for Farmers" by Mark Shepard Then there are the books by Bill Mollison that arguably started it all: "Permaculture: A Designers' Manual", and "Introduction to Permaculture"
on “Ancient farmers spared us from glaciers but changed Earth's climate: study” ↗You need to look at the work of Mark Shepard. His work is all about farm scale permaculture. He has a book Restoration Agriculture you can find on Amazon, etc.
on “Fruit Trenches: Cultivating Subtropical Plants in Freezing Temperatures” ↗…discovered as a species which apples taste great, and which ones thrive in a certain area had a lot to do with ... growing a lot of different kinds of apples! This isn’t my idea — I learned it from “Restoration Agriculture” by Mark Shepherd. His book was a big inspiration for us in even getting a farm in the first place, and his approach is to grow lots of trees from trees. Reason being that finding a well-adapted variety…
on “Why a Hass Avocado Seed Does Not Give Us a Hass Avocado Tree [video]” ↗If you're interested in looking deeply at alternative agricultural practices, I recommend "Restoration Agriculture". [1] It's rooted in permaculture, but more broadly about restoring biomes that are naturally abundant and diverse. The central hypothesis is that we've become far too invested in annual plants. They…
on “Only 60 Years of Farming Left If Soil Degradation Continues” ↗The Rise and Fall of American Growth Sapiens The Universe in a Single Atom Reality is not what it seems The Organized Mind The Power of Habit Zen Mind Beginners Mind Restoration Agriculture A Random Walk on Wall Street The Life Changing Magic of Tidying-up
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?” ↗“Restoration Agriculture” by Mark Shepard is a great book. It’s about his project, “New Forest Farm”, and is heavily influenced by Permaculture. He pulls from a lot of references like “One Straw Revolution”, etc, with a heavy…
on “Introduction to Permaculture (1994)” ↗…the dream of growing their own food is often coming from a conventional mindset. There are alternative approaches. A few great books are "Permaculture" by Mollison, "One Straw Revolution" by Fukuoka, "Restoration Agriculture" by Shephard. As I mentioned elsewhere in the thread, it doesn't have to be all-or-nothing – you can start with some perennial herbs on your balcony. Larger scale, I'm an advocate for things like agroforestry…
on “‘Less than half’ fresh produce sold globally makes any profit” ↗>"Restoration Agriculture" by Shephard +1 to that book. I don't have a farm (wish to, but life is very busy atm) and is still a book I enjoyed quite a lot. Anyone could get a lot of knowledge out of it.
on “‘Less than half’ fresh produce sold globally makes any profit” ↗…grazing & polycultures (nitrogen fixing perennial plants, like Black Locust), similar to how the ancient prairies were fertilized. Mark Shepard, who's farm is in Wisconsin, has a large scale example of "Restoration Agriculture". He has a silvopasture that feeds his livestock. The livestock fertilize the fields. He also grows nuts. He also saves money by not having to buy fertilizer or pesticides. He also uses keyline design,…
on “The Plan to Feed the World by Hacking Photosynthesis” ↗I’m mostly alluding to Restoration Agriculture by Mark Shepard, and drawing on Tending the Wild, M Kat Anderson.
on “Topsoil Re-Uptake of CO2 Is a Major Solution to Climate Progression” ↗Restoration agriculture done right in rural Wisconsin, by engineer and accidental permaculture expert Mark Shepard.
…providing pathways for water to infiltrate. It hasn’t been scientifically validated. Anecdotal reports from farmers like Mark Shephard are that it works. [1] 1: https://books.google.com/books/about/Restoration_Agriculture...
on “Investing Prophet Jeremy Grantham Takes Aim at Climate Change” ↗And Mark Shepherd at New Forest Farm. http://newforestfarm.us His book "Restoration Agriculture" details his system, which can be likened to agroforestry.
on “Investors say agroforestry is climate friendly and also profitable” ↗