Top 14 Best Permaculture Books Updated 04 /2024

In order to make your garden or homestead more sustainable, you should learn about permaculture. This is something you'll want to know about.

However, there is so much information out there about permaculture that it can be hard to figure out where to start at first.

While reading articles and watching YouTube videos can be great, reading a few permaculture books is also a good way to learn everything you need to know about the subject.

If you want to learn more about permaculture, you should read books instead of reading blog posts and articles. In a few thousand words, they can talk about more complicated things that are hard to put into words. So if you want to learn more about permaculture, books are a good way to do it.

If you want to learn more about how to grow food in your own garden, check out these books.

What is Permaculture?

Permaculture is a way to manage land that tries to look like natural ecosystems. Permaculture can be used to make systems that are more durable and diverse by following a number of rules.

Permaculture is a way to use a lot of different plants that work together to make a garden. Monocrop farming isn't what it used to be. Instead, the land is used for a single crop every year. If you want to learn more about how to grow food in a more environmentally friendly way, check out our guide to agroecology.

Permaculture is a whole field of study that we will talk about in some of the books below. Other books focus more on a single permaculture topic. Among other things, how to deal with pests in an organic garden.

No time for a full book right now? If you want to learn more about how to start a permaculture garden, this book is for you! It gives you a good overview of permaculture in just 10 minutes.

“An Introduction to Permaculture” by Bill Mollison

Bill Mollison is a researcher and biologist who came up with the idea of permaculture. So it makes sense to learn about permaculture from the person who came up with it.

If you want to learn more about what permaculture is and how it works, "An Introduction to Permaculture" is a good place to start. Simple words and a lot of pictures help even people who aren't very good at math learn.

“Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual” by Bill Mollison

It may be too simple for you if you already know the basics of permaculture. So, if that's the case, you might want to start with "Permaculture: A Design Manual."

 

The first book on permaculture that Bill Mollison wrote was called "Permaculture." It was written in 1988. In this book, it is a little more complicated and goes a little deeper than the first one did. There are still some used copies to be found even though the book is out of print. The library might have it, too.

 

Those who are interested in permaculture often call it the "big black book" or even "the permaculture bible." It talks about everything from the philosophy and ethics of permaculture to how to actually design things.

People who take this class will learn about climate factors like water, soil and more. They will also learn about trees, aquaculture, earthworks, trees, and more. It won't be the same after you read this book.

 

You should read this book if you can only read one book on this list. This is the one that we think is the best.

“Permaculture: Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability” by David Holmgren

It is said that David Holmgren and Bill Mollison are two of the founders of permaculture. As a leader in the field, he's someone you want to pay attention to.

When you read this book, you get the ideas from Mollison's book, but you also get 25 years of extra thinking and experience with permaculture design principles.

Because this one is more technical and science-based, it reads more like a textbook than an introduction to the subject, so be aware of this before you start reading.

It also talks more about some permaculture topics and looks at them from the point of view of a whole community.

“The Earth Care Manual” by Patrick Whitefield

While David Holmgren and Bill Mollison were the main people who started the permaculture movement in North America, Patrick Whitefield is one of the main people who started the movement in Europe.

This book is only for people who want to do permaculture in the UK or other places with temperate climates. People in the UK might want to pick up the work of Holmgren or Mollison, but this book might be better for people who live there.

This book gives you steps you can take to live a more sustainable life. As a rule, it can be used on any size of land, from small urban plots to large rural farms.

“Earth User’s Guide to Permaculture” by Rosemary Barrow

The authors we've talked about so far tend to think about permaculture in an academic way, which can make their writing more difficult to read. If you want something simple and practical, this book by Rosemary Barrow is a good choice.

"Earth User's Guide" is a great way for people who are new to gardening to learn about things like seed saving, pest and weed control, water use, and more.

“Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World” by Paul Stamets

Here at GroCycle, we love mushrooms and everything to do with them, just like you would expect. This is why we have to include fungi in our list of the best permaculture books.

When it comes to fungi, Paul Stamets is one of the world's best (mushroom scientists). In "Mycelium Running," he talks about a lot of new research about how mushrooms can help a permaculture farm and the whole world.

To learn more about how fungi can help your garden or farm grow, you should read this book. A lot of things you never thought mushrooms could do, like control insect populations and cut down on water runoff, will be found out by you.

“Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond” by Brad Lancaster

"Rainwater Harvesting" is a smaller part of the bigger idea of permaculture.

For people who live in dry places, this book should be a must-have. People who study hydrology and watersheds will teach you about the scientific side of them. Plus, you'll learn practical skills like how to figure out how much rain your site gets and how much water you need.

The book talks about a lot of different ways to store rainwater, and at least one of them will work for you.

It doesn't matter if you live in an area that gets a lot of rain. This book is still worth reading. In droughts, more and more cities and towns are putting limits on when you can water your crops. By taking charge of your own water harvesting, you build a more robust system on your land.

“Permaculture Design: A Step-by-step Guide” by Aranya

If you're a visual learner, you'll get the most out of this book than any of the other ones on the list.

There are a lot of full-color diagrams in it, as well as worksheets that can be used to make your own permaculture plans.

So you can know what to do and why you're doing it, too.

“The Permaculture City” by Toby Hemenway

Permaculture isn't for everyone who wants to learn about it. Some people don't have a lot of land to work with. "The Permaculture City" by Toby Hemenway shows how even people who live in cities or suburbs can use permaculture. Even people who live in cities or suburbs can use it.

In this book, you'll learn how to make a garden for your home in a city. From there, it talks about how to make community gardens and how to make a city that is green. It uses a lot of different methods to save water, make energy that lasts, and even make money and a living through permaculture.

 “Edible Forest Gardens” by Dave Jacke

"Edible Forest Gardens" is a two-volume book that talks about how to use forest ecology ideas in the garden.

Volume I talks about the basics of ecology and what a forest garden is.

In Volume II, Jacke gives more concrete and practical advice on how to grow your own food in the woods. You'll learn how to design and build your forest garden, as well as how to care for it after it's done.

If you want to see how edible forest gardens in the real world are put into practice, the book also talks about a few case studies.

See our article on how to make a forest garden to see if it's something you'd like to do.

“Folks, This Ain’t Normal” by Joel Salatin

Joel Salatin, a farmer, talks about how people used to live close to the land and now we live in a world where we don't know where our food comes from.

It has a good mix of philosophical ideas and practical ideas for how we can change our lives to be healthier and make the world a better place. This book is for people who like to watch environmental documentaries on Netflix, like Cowspiracy and Sustainable. We think you'll enjoy it.

Final Thoughts

Some people think that permaculture is a good idea, but it has been around for more than 30 years. Since then, a lot of books have been written about it. But we still think that the original books on this subject are some of the best ones out there. They just re-explain and add to the original principles of permaculture in many modern books.

This is why we have a lot of books on permaculture pioneers like David Holmgren and Bill Mollison on our list.

If you haven't read any previous books on permaculture, we think these authors are a good way to get a general overview of the subject, whether you want to start a permaculture farm, garden, orchard, or even a whole homestead.

To learn more about permaculture, you can look for books on more specific aspects of the field. When you're ready to take the next step, check out our guide to online permaculture design lessons.

---