Wednesday 25 February 2015

500 Agriculture and Forestry journals listed! (on-line)

Agriculture and Forestry Journal Impact Factor List

This list gives the impact factor for agriculture and forestry journals, so you can see how influential they are. I'm afraid I have no idea how these scores are calculated, sorry! More usefully (for me anyway) it lists almost 500 journals in the field. Unfortunatley the specific focus of each journal is not given, though this can often be inferred from the title. (If you want a rather more concise list, consider The Digest's '7 best permaculture-related journals' instead).

Bio-mimicry and business (book)

 The Nature of Business: Redesigning for resilience

This book sets out a new business paradigm. It challenges the prevailing model, explains the pressing need for change, and reveals the concepts and mindsets necessary to inspire the businesses of tomorrow. It makes the compelling case that the ‘Firm of the Future’ should seek to mimic behaviours and organisations found in nature, which offer fitting models for businesses capable of flourishing in chaotic and uncertain times. A firm of the future builds resilience, optimises, adapts, integrates systems, navigates by values and supports life-building activities. It is a business inspired by nature. Showcasing the pioneers of the new paradigm through examples and case studies, the book presents the tools and techniques required to effect the transformation of business.

Start a new vegetable garden (book)

How to create a New Vegetable Garden: Producing a beautiful and fruitful garden from scratch

Charles Dowding draws on his years of experience, to show how easy it is to start a new vegetable garden.  Any plot -- whether a building site, overgrown with weeds  or unwanted lawn -- can be turned into a beautiful and productive vegetable area.  Charles's no-nonsense and straightforward advice is the perfect starting point for the beginner or experienced gardener. It is filled with labour-saving ideas and the techniques that Charles uses to garden so successfully, and is illustrated throughout with photos and tales from Charles's first year in his new vegetable garden.

The square metre garden (book)

One Magic Square
Grow your own food on one square metre  

The best and cheapest food is the food you grow in your own garden. One Magic Square shows how you can start your own productive food garden in ten minutes a day on a single square metre. With simple plot designs starting with salads and gradually expanding to include beans, tomatoes, corn, roots and much more; you can take the first steps in growing your own food organically. The magic of square-metre gardening is in allowing you to keep your garden manageable even as your self-sufficiency increases.

Outdoor learning for kids (book)

Learning with Nature: A how-to guide to inspiring children through outdoor games and activities

Learning with Nature is full of fun activities and games to get your children outdoors, to explore, have fun, make things and learn about nature and help them grow up happy and healthy. Suitable for groups of children aged between 3 and 16, the graded activities help children develop:
• Key practical and social skills
• Awareness of their place in the world
• Respect for the natural world
all while enjoying the great outdoors. Written by experienced Forest School practitioners, using tried and tested games and activities, it provides comprehensive information for enriching childrens’ learning through nature.

2015 Swedish Model Calendar! (online)

Model Calendar 2015

No, not scantily-clad permaculture pin ups, but something rather more cerebral: 12 scientific models explained and explored over 12 months of the year, ranging from The Cake Model ('We are all part of the biosphere') to Pathways ('The world has many possible futures') by way of Panarchy ('The world is adapting'), Conway's game of Life ('More is different'), and 8 more. Download it now, pin it up in your kitchen, and have your mind expanded every time you make a cup of tea.

Wednesday 4 February 2015

Permaculture radio with amazing guests (online)

21st Century Permaculture - Gardening Your Head
'Revolution disguised as gardening'
A new radio show every fortnight on Sunday at 8pm on www.ShoreditchRadio.co.uk interviewing different guests each time from a pantheon of Permaculturalists - talking about what they're up to and how this feeds into the global movement that is Permaculture today. Hear one hour interviews with Stephen Bairstow, Pandora Thomas, KT Shepherd, Graham Burnett, Ed Sears, David Holmgren, Anna Evely and a host of others.

Tuesday 3 February 2015

Permaculture Activist crowd funder

The world's longest running permaculture magazine, Permaculture Activist wants to launch a digital version, under the new name Permaculture Design Magazine, to supplement the print edition, which will continue under the new title but with its familiar format. In addition the complete back issue content will be made available digitally. And their website is due a major overhaul, better navigation, a clearer user interface, and more capacity. To do these things they need more money than the magazine generates currently. So they are looking to raise $15,000 via a Kickstarter campaign. The Kickstarter site carries a video addressing the need and explaining their plans. Its a great magazine so please help invest in their future!