Soil & Health
Association of New Zealand Inc (est 1941) Healthy
Soil - Healthy Food - Healthy People |
New Zealand's leading source of information on Organics & Sustainable Living
Organic NZ Book Club
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A Tohunga's Natural World: Plants, Gardening and Food Dr. Paul Moon $29 Travelling deep into Tuhoe territory, Dr. Paul Moon reveals his encounters with the tohunga Hohepa Kereopa and his world, including traditional plants, cultivation, gardening, foods and medicines. This book is for anyone with an interest in customary Maori Life and provides a unique perspective on the work of a great tohunga at the height of his powers. |
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Design Your Own Orchard – Bringing Permaculture Design to the Ground in Aotearoa Kay Baxter $28 |
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Earth User's Guide to Permaculture Rosemary Morrow $39 Permaculture is both a philosophy and a practical approach to land use based on care for peopole and care for Earth. This book is a straightforward and simple approach to achieving self-sufficiency while nuturing and restoring the earth. There are plenty of easy-to-understand diagrams to help you set up a sustainable food production system. This book will allow you to reduce your carbon footprint and adopt energy-saving strategies and technologies. There are also chapters on seed saving, integrated pest management, water-saving techniques and dealing with weeds. Highly recommended |
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Natural Farming – A Practical Guide Australian expert Pat Coleby $45 - Highly recommended Natural farming carries a simple message: healthy soil makes healthy plants, which in turn makes healthy animals and healthy people. This book explores the consequences in the soil of applications of superphosphate and other artificial fertilisers over decades, and explains soil chemistry in terms that every farmer can understand. It describes the exact role of each mineral and vitamin, both in soil and in the body. And it explains how to prevent expensive disease outbreaks and minimise the use of costly artificial sprays and fertilisers. The prescriptions are simple and can be applied to any farming enterprise—market gardens, orchards, crops and pasture—to restore the natural balance and fertility of the land, improve soil health and increase productivity. Natural farming equips the farmer to get the best from the land using environmentally sustainable methods to save time, expense and worry and to supply the rising global demand for pure food. Pat Coleby is Australia’s foremost authority on farming without chemicals and has written, published and lectured widely on the subject. |
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Organic Futures - The Case for Organic Farming Adrian Myers $39 Adrian Meyers, an English orchardist, has put together some compelling arguments for sustainable farming. He has researched the history and politics of organic farming and has done exhaustive research on the deterioration of soil life within conventional agriculture. He discusses nutrition and GE and devotes a large section to understanding the "living soil". The main purpose of the book is to show that only sustainable growing methods have any future at all in the production of our food, and that means sustainable over centuries and not years. Meyers suggests that organic husbandry will not stand still, being "based on an evolving knowledge of soil ecosystems as understood by the biological sciences" It is user-friendly with a great index, a list of further readings and is not overly dense or scientific for the lay people among us. |
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Organic Garden Calendar for Kapiti to Manawatu By Kath Irvine $15 A month-by-month guide on growing, with info on compost, planting and pruning trees, pest control, extending winter crops, comfrey, mulch, herbs, storing harvest & using up your crops. You can order this book from the Soil & Health National Office or the Levin Branch |
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Organic Gardening - A Guide by Organic NZ $9.90 - highly recommended An excellent introduction to the principles and practise of organic gardening. This book is highly recommended by experienced tutors and practicioners in the field of organic growing. This book doesn't tell you specifically how to grow your lettuc or tomatoes. What it does tell you about are the fundamentals of organic growing. A very good summary capturing the best organic advice since we were established in 1941! |
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Resource Guides for Growing Organically Published by the Soil & Health Association, Earthwise Consulting Ltd and the Bio Dynamic Association.
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Passion for Earth Marion Bridge, Graeme North & Jackie O'Brien $39 This book is a visual celebration of New Zealand's Earth building renaissance. Twenty-four earth houses are studied and discussed with their owners. Includes colourful photos and technical notes. |
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Practical Organics for NZ Farmers Trisha Fisk $39 Practical Organics is an accessible guide to natural and sustainable farming. In this book Trisha Fisk shares her indepth knowledge of the land and her passion for organic farming. Farmers wanting to understand the processes that take place on their land will find this book enormously useful. Topics include; the soil, plants, animals, practical on-farm management advice, going official, marketing and conservation. |
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The Sustainable Dream - Lifestyle blocks working for you John Pearce $16 For anyone contemplating buying a rural property there are lots of questions to ask and answers to seek. This book by John Pearce, one of NZ's most experienced organic farmers, is a must for anyone seeking a place in the country with a comfortable home and a crop that pays the bills. |
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What’s Happening? – Manage your Permaculture Garden/Orchard Month by Month Kay Baxter $28 |
Books not listed in Organic NZ magazine
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Green House Plans Architects present Eco-Friendly plans and ideas for.....Mudbrick, Strawbale, Stone, Passive Solar, Rammed Earth, and Poured Earth Homes. |
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Strawbale Home Building Earth Garden Books $20 Strawbale is the eco-friendly home building method. This book details practical strawbale building you can use to build anything from a small cabin to a mansion. There are even plans for building your own backyard strawbale chicken shed. |
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The House That Jackie Built By Jackie French $20 A Simple guide to Building In Stone With Formwork. Includes garden walls, pathways, ponds, stone floors or a whole house. Even if you don't plan to build a stone city, you'll feel confident to tackle paving, stone floors and maybe even a whole house! |
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The Mud Brick Adventure Andrew Bianco. An Earth Garden Magazine Publication. $28 From beginning to end a step-by-step, fully illustrated guide to building your own earthy home. Includes fold-out copy of Andrew’s house plan. |
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Soil & Health
Association of New Zealand Inc (est 1941) Healthy
Soil - Healthy Food - Healthy People |
