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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

Eric Toensmeier,

Jonathan Bates

3.97 · Rating details · 781 ratings · 116 reviews

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 ...more

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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

Dec 06, 2012 Anna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: gardening-homesteading

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.... ...more

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Mar 15, 2013 Debbi Cobern rated it it was amazing

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

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Nov 22, 2016 Wendy Wagner rated it it was amazing

Shelves: gardening, permaculture

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.) ...more

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Apr 27, 2014 Emma Doughty rated it really liked it

Shelves: gardening, permaculture

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 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 Massachusetts, and the way their lives developed as they did.

There’s a saying about perennial plants, that they sleep in their first year after planting, creep in their second, and leap in their third. Paradise Lot is divided into parts with those titles – adding ‘Reap’ as a fourth section.

The early years are covered in ‘Sleep’, explaining Eric’s history before he met Jonathan, and their decision to start growing perennial edibles together. You follow their journey to find the right place, which in many ways most people would consider the wrong place – why put a edible perennials garden in an urban setting, with horrible soil and restricted light? Because that’s what most urban gardeners have to start with.

Parts two and three (Creep and Leap) were where I took the most notes, as it’s where I found the most interesting snippets about perennial plants. Ideas of things I want to try growing myself, to see whether they are hardy in my climate (they should be, if they’re happy in Massachusetts, but hardiness relies on a complicated set of variables). I fancy the cranberry hibiscus, which is apparently a shrub that grows eight feet high, with burgundy foliage and sour leaves that dye eggs neon magenta.

It’s at this point that we run into my only real niggle with the book – the plant names. Throughout the main text, the authors use common plant names, with no reference to the scientific names. As we all know, when you’re sourcing a new edible plant, it’s critical to get the right one. There’s an appendix at the back of the book of various species by plant layer. It’s not alphabetical, so it’s hard to find a particular plant, and it doesn’t include every plant that’s mentioned in the book. Cranberry hibiscus is listed – as Hibiscus acetosella – but there were plenty of other plants I had to Google.

Individual chapters are dedicated to different types of plants, including their tropical planting in the front yard, their edible water plants, things they grew in a greenhouse and the perennial vegetables and berries.

Part four continues the story as the garden becomes the center of a new kind of life for both men, looking beyond the garden gate to the wider world, and planning for a future in which they may move on.

Paradise Lot is an enjoyable story of a forest garden and its owners. If you’re in to edible plants, and particularly perennial edibles, then I can recommend reading it. But read it for pleasure, and inspiration, rather than cold, hard facts. You can find those elsewhere, and there’s a decent list of recommended resources at the back, to get you started. ...more

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Apr 22, 2013 Stefan rated it it was amazing

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 ...more

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Jul 10, 2018 Norris Thomlinson rated it liked it

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 ...more

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Sep 16, 2018 Dave rated it really liked it

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

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Nov 12, 2019 Robyn Puffenbarger rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Inspiring!

Wow, what they have done with a lot in New England is just inspiring. I am looking forward to reading more about permaculture and applying the techniques.

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Feb 25, 2015 Diana rated it it was ok

Shelves: memoir, farming, permaculture

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

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Mar 08, 2013 Jeffrey rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sustainability, garden

This is a wonderful book for anyone wanting to do urban food forest gardening. They give lots of detail about which combinations and guilds worked or failed and why. The authors also include the story of how the development proceeded and fit in to the different stages of their lives.

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Apr 20, 2015 Annie Oosterwyk rated it really liked it

Shelves: gardening

Two friends with a common vision transform an urban yard into a complex, permaculture farm. I am inspired to look through those plant catalogs and order some trees.

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Aug 14, 2018 Ryan rated it it was amazing

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 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 and why, they show how a knowledgeable and creative approach, respectful of the natural order of things, can successfully guide an ecosystem to be healthy, beautiful and productive. Within 5 years of planting they were growing and harvesting pawpaws, berries, apples, grapes, peanuts, groundnuts, “yamberries” and raising chickens all on one-tenth acre which had previously been hard-scrabble urban fill and compacted clay.

Another quality of the book I appreciate is Toensmeier’s ability to remain, on the whole, politically neutral and to concentrate on the inner workings of the garden itself. Bates, in his contributions, waxes a bit more and rhapsodic, but altogether they focus on encouraging community and small scale oriented changes rather than wasting their time on the more typical environmentalist spiels about mega-systems and international orders and corporations and such.

Finally, what most sticks with me are these two excerpts from one of the last chapters:

“As a budding ecologist in the 1970’s and 1980’s, I learned that the best we can possibly do as environmentalists is to minimize our impact on nature. The ideal footprint would be no footprint at all. That doesn’t really give us a lot of room to breathe, and with that as its model it’s easy to see why the environmental movement has not won wider acceptance. The most profound thing I have learned from indigenous land management traditions is that human impact can be positive – even necessary – for the environment. Indeed it seems to me that the goal of an environmental community should not be to reduce our impact on the landscape but to maximize our impact and make it a positive one, or at the very least to optimize our effect on the landscape and acknowledge that we can have a positive role to play.”

“I’m all for hammocks and fruit, but I’m learning to embrace the idea of gardens that need us not to toil against weeds and bugs but rather as part of the ecosystem, to hold the rudder and help steer nature in a direction of delightful abundance and elegant complexity.”

Especially that last paragraph seems to me to embody a truly Catholic ideal of both the nature and dignity of human work and its relation to the environment.

Take as a whole the book also highlights why so much of our agricultural practice is destructive and ultimately exploitative not just of the environment but, which is much more important, of other people. The approach described in this book requires a deep knowledge and love of their little miniature ecosystem, and of all the plants that made it up, informed by a love of the community they were building and a desire to share the abundance that they knew the earth was capable of with others. It requires work, understanding, patience, and trust. It is much simpler and easier to strip the ground bare, plant it with all one kind of seed, spray it with chemicals to kill all other kinds of plants, spray it with more chemicals to kill all the insects (good and bad), to harvest by machine or underpaid labor, and then to sell it on the hope of breaking even with enough left over to put food on the table and pay the mortgage.

This leads to my final point about this book which is that the authors do not recommend that everyone cease their agriculture practices, burn down the agri-business and return to an urban-hipster-perma-agrarian way of life. They are practical and sensible in realizing the costs, risks and possible outcome of a permaculture system. They are aware that only the fact of an established and intricate economic network enables them to have the time to devote to their hobby and to make it as successful as they were able to make it. Their self-proclaimed goal is to build a foundation of mistakes and lessons learned from them in the hopes that in 20-years their successes will be regarded as obvious and simply take for granted, while other interested people can build on their knowledge and experience to build communities and networks of communities growing more food in a more sustainable way.

Altogether, I enjoyed it, it has given me a lot to think about it, and as my family plans an eventual move to some land of our own, we will be giving a permaculture approach a hard look and some serious thought. ...more

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Jul 23, 2018 KB rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, permaculture, homesteading, gardening, greenhouses, ecology, horticulture

"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

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Aug 31, 2017 Molly rated it liked it

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 ...more

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Aug 16, 2017 Niklas Braun rated it liked it

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

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Jan 26, 2020 T. rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, 2020

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

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Nov 05, 2017 Brian rated it it was ok

Shelves: non-fiction

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. ...more

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Nov 05, 2018 Anna Nesterovich rated it it was ok

Shelves: housekeeping, non-fiction, plants

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. ...more

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Feb 23, 2019 J. rated it really liked it

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.

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Jan 07, 2020 Sharie rated it really liked it

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.

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Jan 24, 2021 jkdze rated it really liked it

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. ...more

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Feb 27, 2019 Rebecca rated it really liked it

This book is charming and fun to read. I especially enjoyed reading about the beginnings of the garden and all the setbacks and missteps in the early days. It makes the this kind of project seem more approachable.

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May 08, 2019 Luke rated it really liked it

Shelves: environment, design

A permaculture memoir-of-a-garden, always in progress with failures and successes and as subtitled, some exceptionally happy plant nerds. Inspiring towards perennial vegetables and fruits, though overwintering Massachusetts freezes is no longer so relevant for me.

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Sep 28, 2019 Ginger rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019

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. ...more

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Dec 11, 2019 Rachel Vryhof rated it really liked it

Excellent memoir of a pair of friends creating a new urban permaculture test garden and the joys and trials it brought, including the creation of new families. Great for inspiration and the resources appendix was especially helpful.

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Feb 08, 2020 Michelle rated it really liked it

Fascinating to read the story of these two friends who undertook a big permaculture project together and really made it work.

I would love to read a similar book by someone who has done it in the Pacific Northwest, where I live!

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