By Sepp Holzer

 Chelsea Green Press, ISBN: 978-1603583701 , $29.95

Originally published in German, Holzer’s book was translated for American audiences in the past year.  When I first saw the book, I must admit that I didn’t think it held much applicability for the North American pasture-based farmer.  However, as I spent more time with it, discovering the extreme climate and landscape conditions that Holzer confronts daily on his own mountain farm, I became fascinated.  Holzer’s interpretation of permaculture will be mind-candy to the pasture-based farming movement.  We have a tendency to think of ourselves as limited in what and how we produce by our landscape and climate; but Holzer shows how, by simply reconsidering the resources available to us in our natural environments, we can tremendously diversify what we produce, and draw incredible sustenance from even the most seemingly hostile landscapes.  I think this is a mind-expanding book that will lend itself beautifully to inspiring new ingenuity in the pasture-based farming movement.