When Eric Toensmeier and Jonathan Bates moved into
a duplex in a run-down part of Holyoke, Massachusetts,
the tenth-of-an-acre lot was barren ground and bad soil,
peppered with broken pieces of concrete, asphalt, and
brick. The two friends got to work designing what would
become not just another urban farm, but a "permaculture
paradise" replete with perennial broccoli, paw paws,
bananas, and moringa all told, more than two hundred
low-maintenance edible plants in an innovative food
forest on a small city lot. The garden intended to
function like a natural ecosystem with the plants
themselves providing most of the garden's needs for
fertility, pest control, and weed suppression also
features an edible water garden, a year-round unheated
greenhouse, tropical crops, urban poultry, and even
silkworms. In telling the story of Paradise Lot,
Toensmeier explains the principles and practices of
permaculture, the choice of exotic and unusual food
plants, the techniques of design and cultivation, and,
of course, the adventures, mistakes, and do-overs in the
process. Packed full of detailed, useful information
about designing a highly productive permaculture garden,
Paradise Lot is also a funny and charming story of two
single guys, both plant nerds, with a wild plan: to
realize the garden of their dreams and meet women to
share it with. Amazingly, on both counts, they
succeed.
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