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Paradise Lot: Two Plant Geeks, One-Tenth of an Acre, and the Making of an Edible Garden Oasis in the City
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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
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Paperback, 234 pages
Published
January 25th 2013
by Chelsea Green Publishing Company
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Start your review of Paradise Lot: Two Plant Geeks, One-Tenth of an Acre, and the Making of an Edible Garden Oasis in the City

Paradise Lot is like porn for the permaculture geek. Thought-provoking, easy-to-read, and full of fascinating tidbits, I can't recommend it highly enough. On the other hand, I did just blow $80 buying perennials as a result of Toensmeier's glowing descriptions....
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I really loved this book and will be re-reading it many times. This is not for the casual gardener, though. It is for the permaculture nut who cares about the world at large and your food security intensely.
These two gentlemen took their 1/10th acre Duplex lot and turned it into a food haven of fruits and vegetables of mostly perennials. (that which returns each year)
Some people have not liked their adding personal info to the book about their falling in love with their future wives, but I thou ...more
These two gentlemen took their 1/10th acre Duplex lot and turned it into a food haven of fruits and vegetables of mostly perennials. (that which returns each year)
Some people have not liked their adding personal info to the book about their falling in love with their future wives, but I thou ...more

A feel-good account of an urban permaculture garden. In between the cute stories are some pretty clever ideas for adding more productivity to your site. (I, for one, can't wait to try the tip about harvesting squirrel labor.)
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Paradise Lot: Two Plant Geeks, One-Tenth of an Acre, and the Making of an Edible Garden Oasis in the City is written by Eric Toensmeier with contributions from Jonathan Bates. If Eric Toensmeier sounds familiar, it’s because he wrote Perennial Vegetables, and co-wrote the two volume Edible Forest Gardens.
Whilst his previous work is very detailed, factual and intended for reference, Paradise Lot is a more personal story – it’s about the way Eric and Jonathan developed a forest garden in urban Mas ...more
Whilst his previous work is very detailed, factual and intended for reference, Paradise Lot is a more personal story – it’s about the way Eric and Jonathan developed a forest garden in urban Mas ...more

This is an amazing book. Be warned. This is a book by confessed "two plant geeks" . Whimsical and packed with information. The appendices and recommended resources alone are worth the price of admission. I found it especially helpful because it goes into great detail about a zone that is very close to the zone that my garden is in. Much of the information is applicable to ALL areas of the globe. The discussion of polycultures is very enlightening. There is significant discussion about the philos
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My project took place in Portland OR, his on the other side of the continent in Holyoke MA. My lot was two tenths of an acre, his lot half that. But besides differences in space for trees, and somewhat different plant palettes, Eric Toensmeir's account in Paradise Lot of applied permaculture reads like a parallel universe of my own experimentations with urban lot rehabilitation and perennial polycultures. We each started with infertile and unpromising soil, but guided by permaculture literature
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There are two types of urban farming and permaculture books: heartwarming narratives and detail-oriented textbooks. This one is the first, but the author has penned his own textbooks, so I came into this expecting to see an expert at work. And he built something delightful.
If you've seen any of those Youtube video tours of backyard permaculture gardens, this is next-level. Eric knows more about the underlying systems, site-analysis, and the interactions within a plant guild, and you see it in th ...more
If you've seen any of those Youtube video tours of backyard permaculture gardens, this is next-level. Eric knows more about the underlying systems, site-analysis, and the interactions within a plant guild, and you see it in th ...more

Unfortunately I had to return this to the library before writing my review. I studied Permaculture ~15 years ago as a landscape design student and while this book had a few interesting ideas I don't feel it added to my knowledge on the subject. I was also put off by one of the author's selfish attitude regarding support of a bill to allow people to keep chickens in their town. They had their chickens (illegally) so they didn't want to rock the boat so others could have chickens, really?
Also some ...more
Also some ...more

I just finished reading this book, “Paradise Lot: Two plant geeks, one-tenth of an acre and the making of an edible garden oasis in the city” and I enjoyed it a good deal. The author, Eric Toensmeier and his roommate Jonathan Bates, tell the story of their purchase of a tenth of an acre with a duplex in Holyoke MA, and their 5+ year process to turn it into a self-sustaining, edible ecosystem. At times getting really into the weeds (hee hee hee!) about their choices of what to plant, where, when
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"Paradise Lot" offers an inspiring narrative that will appeal to those who fantasize about beautiful, functional gardens in urban environments. Authors Eric Toensmeier and Jonathan Bates weave a cheerful chronicle of the development of a nearly sterile yard into an ecological oasis. Along the way, they successfully justify their self-identification as "plant geeks."
The book lacks substantial quantitative data, but otherwise contains a fair amount of useful information related to the authors' lan ...more
The book lacks substantial quantitative data, but otherwise contains a fair amount of useful information related to the authors' lan ...more

The book, which focuses most of its attention on edible perennials (and not annuals like corn, tomatoes, etc), is divided into four sections -- Sleep, Creep, Leap, and Reap -- offered essentially in chronological order from 2000, when Toensmeier and Bates first rented a farmhouse together and started to put into practice some of their gardening ideas, to 2012, after they had lived in their duplex house in urban Holyoke, MA (zone 6) for about 8 years. Toensmeier writes most of the book, with Bate
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I have mixed feelings about this book. To be sure, the subject matter is interesting and inspiring; I surely would love to have my own "paradise lot" and there is a lot of material in here on examples of just how that has been done in an unexpected and small location. In fact, the sheer number of different things that these two were able to grow on their tiny new-England lot is very cool.
But the writing style is dragging in some parts, and outright cringey in others. The "love story" part where ...more
But the writing style is dragging in some parts, and outright cringey in others. The "love story" part where ...more

This was an interesting read. I will likely not create a permiculture anytime soon but it is certainly a goal to strive for. I grew up with a front yard that was a giant herb garden and the experience (a much as I remember) is similar to the work. We had a variety of birds and bugs and it was little oasis in the middle of the neighborhood. It has since been plowed under.
This book could have had 5 stars if the authors hadn't been so weird about "finding their mate" by saying that they "prepared ...more
This book could have had 5 stars if the authors hadn't been so weird about "finding their mate" by saying that they "prepared ...more

The description on the book says this "is a funny and charming story of two single guys, both plant nerds, with a wild plan." The book I read is neither charming nor funny. It is insufficiently anecdotal and too informational to be funny. It is insufficiently informational to be a good garden resource. I am glad to know that these guys put together a successful permaculture homestead in the middle of urban Massachusetts, but it was a dry read to get through the whole thing.
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The title - Paradise Lot: Two Plant Geeks, One-Tenth of an Acre, and the Making of an Edible Garden Oasis in the City - turned out to be very misleading for me. Mostly because my idea of a city is very different: not a house with a front and back yards in a town, but a flat with a balcony and maybe some roof space. So the inspirational part didn't really work. I was also expecting more helpful suggestions, while the book is mostly an autobiography from a little train that could.
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Besides the descriptions of gardening and so many interesting plants, fruits and vegetables, something I found very interesting about this book was because I had started reading Perenial Vegetables right before starting this book and was surprised to realize that the books were by the same author. I enjoyed reading about the plants in a real life backyard garden and about mistakes, surprises, and all they learned over the course of several years.

A fun little story of two plant nerds who build a permaculture oasis on a scraggly piece of land in Massachusetts. Not great writing, but super informative. It took longer to get through than it should’ve because every few pages they would mention a new plant or technique, and I would pause to write it down or go look it up online. It’s esoteric for sure, but a good fit for permaculture geeks.

Inspiring book for any 1/10th acre permaculture gardener in grow zone 6. The author tells his story of planning, creating and maintaining a garden of his dreams including trials, errors and lessons learned. I enjoyed the personal perspective and insights of "a plant geek"...and it provides a steep learning curve to those who are not familiar with the mentioned 200 plant species.
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It's an informative book if you're new to permaculture and live in zone 6. Unfortunately, I live in 9B and have been studying permaculture for about a decade. But the title was so catchy that I had to give it a go. It won't go on my shelf but will be donated.
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