About this project – Help fund this project @ Kickstarter
Help us to raise the money to print and ship a copy of this book to you this summer. We humbly invite you to participate as a co-publisher and are offering discounts on the first 1000 copies during this campaign. Thank you for enabling us to further our work farming, innovating & educating for the benefit of all….
Making Small Farms Work brings a fresh perspective to the Regenerative Agriculture & Permaculture space, offering a deeply pragmatic and profitable approach to a farming life worth living. This is a visually rich and down-to-earth ‘how-to’ approach to designing, installing and managing small farms. Presented in our no-nonsense style, this book is short on theory; it’s a book about getting things done, and going about it in a well planned, holistic and effective manner. This book is written for anyone wanting to farm in a way that restores the soil, reinvigorates local economy and food systems whilst maintaining a good livelihood for the farmer.
“Industrial chemical agriculture, producing twenty times as much dead eroding soil as food needed every year, is the most destructive industry of mankind – more so than fossil fuels or any mining. Developing a new biologically-based, and holistically managed, regenerative agriculture is imperative if civilization as we know it is to survive. I heartily recommend Richards book for all socially conscious new and old farmers.”
Allan Savory President, Savory Institute & Chairman, Africa Center for Holistic Management. www.savory.global
Contents of Making Small Farms Work
“This might be one of the broadest overviews of designing regenerative farm systems aside from Mollison’s original “black book.” Richard’s book is likely to become an important manual of regenerative farming practices for those starting a farm of any scale. This is a timely and detailed account of crucial considerations for starting and managing a farm; I cannot think of anyone, from the beginner to seasoned farmer and homesteader, who doesn’t have something to learn from Richard’s work starting and managing Ridgedale Permaculture.”
Ben Falk Whole Systems Design. Author of The Resilient Farm and Homestead
I have written this book to share some of my diverse experiences with regenerative design, farming and project management through the lens of our own farm, as well as to address the misconception that small farms are not viable. Our farm in Sweden has quickly become a beacon in Europe as a thriving example of effective farm scale Permaculture & Regenerative Agriculture. Our own farm is small at 10ha (25ac), but our approach to design presented in the book is scalable from 1- 1000ha. The book is stuffed full of colour images that illustrate everything described, as well as sharing financial details, spreadsheets, decision-making processes and all the other often-neglected elements fundamental to Making Small Farms Work.
Who would benefit from this book?
- Farmers interested in a more resilient future
- Homesteaders
- Permaculture Designers looking to empower their approach to design
- Permaculture Educators looking to deepen their knowledge base
- Project leaders/ NGO workers
- Landscape Designers who wish to broaden their horizons
- Ecological/ Social Entrepreneurs
- Anyone curious to learn about Ridgedale in more detail
- Anyone interested in real food
A very beneficial aspect of this book is the synthesis of my experience in pioneering education alongside my work as a full-time farmer. Participants from our training programs in different parts of the globe consistently reflect back the potency of this mix. We are not into wild and fantastical theories or following the latest trends in the movement; just a solid and scientific approach to building the sort of future we want our children to grow up in, shared in a way that you can fully understand. We believe this book is written in a manner that is simultaneously comprehensible to a beginner, and yet will offer much to experienced farmers, designers and homesteaders. It really captures the process of starting a farm of this sort from scratch, the most critical time for any farm or project.
To help get this regenerative project off the ground see there Kickstarter Page
