Tree Crops
by J. Russell Smith · first published 1978
7mentions
2recommended by
3HN commenters
2019–2022first – last mentioned
67% recommend33% neutral
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Classic book on tree crops for permaculture: Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture https://www.amazon.com/Tree-Crops-Permanent-Agriculture-Frie...
on “Perennial Crops” ↗…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". [5] 1: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16441733-restoration-agr... 2: https://newforestfarm.us 3: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/381988.Permaculture 4:…
on “Investors say agroforestry is climate friendly and also profitable” ↗“Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture”, by Russel Smith (1929) is an excellent, well sourced book on the subject. The title also hints at the origin of the term “permaculture”, popularized by Bill Mollison. There’s…
on “Investing Prophet Jeremy Grantham Takes Aim at Climate Change” ↗One of the best books I’ve ever read on this subject is “Tree Crops”, Smith, 1929. Soil erosion is his main focus and he quotes FDR who says that a nation that destroys its soil destroys itself. The subtitle of the book, A Permanent Agriculture, inspired Permaculture…
on “Soil Erosion: Why soil is disappearing from farms” ↗…a system with trees. Plants have various solar requirements — some are shade tolerant. This means you can have crops, shrubs, trees, all occupying an area of land. This was first explored in the book Tree Crops: A permanent Agriculture, in the 1930s. If you lookup closely at that subtitle, you’ll see the roots of the word Permaculture.
on “Vertical farming does not save space” ↗…Deeply tap-rooted species like walnuts and hickories don't require supplemental watering once established. I can't find it at the moment but last year I read a study of energy flows for North American tree crops, and the ERoEI of Shagbark Hickory was rated at 55,000. Going forward, anytime there is discussion of energy or efficiency of plant vs animal agriculture vs fake meat, etc, if tree crops aren't factored…
on “How sustainable are fake meats?” ↗…“first principles” in this context, and get a new appreciation for what Mollison was trying to do with Permaculture. Fun fact: the phrase “permanent agriculture” goes back to a book from the 1930s called “Tree Crops”. It contains a great quote by FDR: “The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.”
on “Introduction to Permaculture (1994)” ↗