The Forest Garden Greenhouse

Publishers Weekly- Osentowski shows how building and maintaining a Mediterranean or tropical greenhouse full of figs, lemons, papayas, and bananas can be both affordable and practical. Drawing on his 30 years of experimentation and teaching in the harsh, dry mountain environment of his Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute, he offers lush descriptions of his five greenhouses and in-depth, layered advice on designing and constructing a balmy winter retreat. His method uses a 'climate battery' consisting of tubes buried underground to collect and hold warm air from the greenhouse, which then recirculate it when the temperature cools, backed up in the coldest days with a pellet or wood stove that can simultaneously heat an attached sauna. Osentowski admits that he prefers a hands-on method of teaching, and his written tours through greenhouses are sometimes hard to follow. Novices may be intimidated by the lack of step-by-step, formulaic instruction. But more experienced gardeners, builders, and tinkerers, and even intrepid beginners willing to carefully observe, compute, and ponder, will find this readable guide jam-packed with enough information and inspiration to help them attempt their own indoor paradises. Booklist- -As an instructor at Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute in Colorado, which he founded almost 30 years ago, veteran gardener and environmental sustainability expert Osentowski teaches what he embodies in his daily life. His passive solar home hugs the side of a mountain, and the produce from his state-of-the-art, one-acre greenhouse provides most of his income. In this groundbreaking, user-friendly guide, Osentowski employs this same structure as the working model for his cutting-edge indoor growing techniques. A key innovation featured here is a solar heat technology called the climate battery, which uses a network of buried tubes that can keep plants warm and thriving even in the dead of winter. Along with clear instructions on installing a climate battery in existing greenhouses, Osentowski provides seasoned guidance on bed layout and soil techniques, successful companion planting, and cultivating microclimates in and around the greenhouse. His well-written, amply illustrated handbook also contains a wealth of information on permaculture-related growing practices that greenhouse amateurs and professionals will find invaluable.- -Living in a cold climate is no excuse for not growing your own tropical fruits and year-round vegetables. The Forest Garden Greenhouse teaches how to harvest not just food but year-round temperateness, based on the real-world experience of a seasoned greenhouse designer and manager. After my last visit to Jerome's greenhouse, I came home to Massachusetts and we built a subtropical greenhouse. Once you read his book, you will want to, too!---Eric Toensmeier, author of The Carbon Farming Solution and Perennial Vegetables -Jerome Osentowski is a master of simple, elegantly frugal, eminently practical indoor gardens that can grow lots of almost anything almost anywhere by not treating soil like dirt. His recipe for rich sheet-mulched soil has so far produced 58 passive-solar banana crops (and over 100 other kinds of higher plants including Bornean tropicals) in my own super-insulated passive-solar home near Aspen. Now The Forest Garden Greenhouse lucidly shares Jerome's deep, versatile, and ever-evolving experience. Read, learn, apply, improve, spread, enjoy!---Amory B. Lovins, cofounder and chief scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute -This revolutionary book captures what Jerome Osentowski has learned in decades of building and tending his high-altitude food forest and extensive permaculture site. Jerome's climate battery is a brilliant idea deserving a broad audience. It brings greenhouse technology into the twenty-first century using simple, appropriate materials. The Forest Garden Greenhouse clearly and elegantly describes the greenhouse, the garden, and the evolution of Jerome's deep wisdom and creativity. This is much more than a greenhouse book; it's a manifesto and guidebook showing how permaculture can help us live regenerative lives.---Toby Hemenway, author of The Permaculture City and Gaia's Garden -In 1997 I had the privilege of visiting Jerome Osentowski's forest garden in Basalt, Colorado. There is no doubt that Jerome learns from nature with enthusiasm and is one of the few with the capacity to translate his observations into a garden that feeds people--and dreams. The Forest Garden Greenhouse not only makes you wonder how you could achieve forest gardens at home and in your community, but it also makes you take action without delay! There is a sense of urgency that we transform our resource use; with wisdom gained from experience, Jerome shows us how we can do just that.---Gunter Pauli, author of The Blue Economy -A grand master of American permaculture, Jerome Osentowski has pioneered school gardens, high-altitude/high-nutrient cropping, bio-islands for organic golf course management, and heritage fruit trees for the mountain West. Of them all, the forest garden greenhouse is the most impressive. A marvel of integration between humans, the built environment, and the natural world, the greenhouse, in a world of climate calamity, will prove indispensable for both home comfort and food production. The Forest Garden Greenhouse surpasses all others on the subject for technical innovation and practical design.---Peter Bane, author of The Permaculture Handbook: Garden Farming for Town and Country, board member, Permaculture Institute of North America, and former publisher and editor, Permaculture Activist magazine Booklist- As an instructor at Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute in Colorado, which he founded almost 30 years ago, veteran gardener and environmental sustainability expert Osentowski teaches what he embodies in his daily life. His passive solar home hugs the side of a mountain, and the produce from his state-of-the-art, one-acre greenhouse provides most of his income. In this groundbreaking, user-friendly guide, Osentowski employs this same structure as the working model for his cutting-edge indoor growing techniques. A key innovation featured here is a solar heat technology called the climate battery, which uses a network of buried tubes that can keep plants warm and thriving even in the dead of winter. Along with clear instructions on installing a climate battery in existing greenhouses, Osentowski provides seasoned guidance on bed layout and soil techniques, successful companion planting, and cultivating microclimates in and around the greenhouse. His well-written, amply illustrated handbook also contains a wealth of information on permaculture-related growing practices that greenhouse amateurs and professionals will find invaluable. Living in a cold climate is no excuse for not growing your own tropical fruits and year-round vegetables. The Forest Garden Greenhouse teaches how to harvest not just food but year-round temperateness, based on the real-world experience of a seasoned greenhouse designer and manager. After my last visit to Jerome's greenhouse, I came home to Massachusetts and we built a subtropical greenhouse. Once you read his book, you will want to, too! --Eric Toensmeier, author of The Carbon Farming Solution and Perennial Vegetables Jerome Osentowski is a master of simple, elegantly frugal, eminently practical indoor gardens that can grow lots of almost anything almost anywhere by not treating soil like dirt. His recipe for rich sheet-mulched soil has so far produced 58 passive-solar banana crops (and over 100 other kinds of higher plants including Bornean tropicals) in my own super-insulated passive-solar home near Aspen. Now The Forest Garden Greenhouse lucidly shares Jerome's deep, versatile, and ever-evolving experience. Read, learn, apply, improve, spread, enjoy! --Amory B. Lovins, cofounder and chief scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute This revolutionary book captures what Jerome Osentowski has learned in decades of building and tending his high-altitude food forest and extensive permaculture site. Jerome's climate battery is a brilliant idea deserving a broad audience. It brings greenhouse technology into the twenty-first century using simple, appropriate materials. The Forest Garden Greenhouse clearly and elegantly describes the greenhouse, the garden, and the evolution of Jerome's deep wisdom and creativity. This is much more than a greenhouse book; it's a manifesto and guidebook showing how permaculture can help us live regenerative lives. --Toby Hemenway, author of The Permaculture City and Gaia's Garden In 1997 I had the privilege of visiting Jerome Osentowski's forest garden in Basalt, Colorado. There is no doubt that Jerome learns from nature with enthusiasm and is one of the few with the capacity to translate his observations into a garden that feeds people--and dreams. The Forest Garden Greenhouse not only makes you wonder how you could achieve forest gardens at home and in your community, but it also makes you take action without delay! There is a sense of urgency that we transform our resource use; with wisdom gained from experience, Jerome shows us how we can do just that. --Gunter Pauli, author of The Blue Economy A grand master of American permaculture, Jerome Osentowski has pioneered school gardens, high-altitude/high-nutrient cropping, bio-islands for organic golf course management, and heritage fruit trees for the mountain West. Of them all, the forest garden greenhouse is the most impressive. A marvel of integration between humans, the built environment, and the natural world, the greenhouse, in a world of climate calamity, will prove indispensable for both home comfort and food production. The Forest Garden Greenhouse surpasses all others on the subject for technical innovation and practical design. --Peter Bane, author of The Permaculture Handbook: Garden Farming for Town and Country, board member, Permaculture Institute of North America, and former publisher and editor, Permaculture Activist magazine Living in a cold climate is no excuse for not growing your own tropical fruits and year-round vegetables.The Forest Garden Greenhouseteaches howto harvest not just food but year-round temperateness, based on the real-world experience of a seasoned greenhouse designer and manager. After my last visit to Jerome s greenhouse, I came hometo Massachusettsand we built a subtropical greenhouse. Once you read his book, you will want to, too! --Eric Toensmeier, author ofThe Carbon Farming SolutionandPerennial Vegetables Jerome Osentowski is a master of simple, elegantly frugal, eminently practical indoor gardens that can grow lots of almost anything almost anywhere by not treating soil like dirt. His recipe for rich sheet-mulched soil has so far produced 58 passive-solar banana crops (and over 100 other kinds of higher plants including Bornean tropicals) in my own super-insulated passive-solar home near Aspen. NowTheForest Garden Greenhouselucidly shares Jerome s deep, versatile, and ever-evolving experience. Read, learn, apply, improve, spread, enjoy! --Amory B. Lovins, cofounder and chief scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute This revolutionary book captures what Jerome Osentowski has learned in decades of building and tending his high-altitude food forest and extensive permaculture site. Jerome s climate battery is a brilliant idea deserving a broad audience. It brings greenhouse technology into the twenty-first century using simple, appropriate materials. The Forest Garden Greenhouseclearly and elegantly describes the greenhouse, the garden, and the evolution of Jerome s deep wisdom and creativity. This is much more than a greenhouse book; it s a manifesto and guidebook showing how permaculture can help us live regenerative lives. --Toby Hemenway, author ofThe Permaculture CityandGaia s Garden In1997 I had the privilege of visiting Jerome Osentowski s forest garden in Basalt, Colorado. There is no doubt that Jerome learns from nature with enthusiasm and is one of the few with the capacity to translate his observations into a garden that feeds people and dreams.The Forest Garden Greenhousenot only makes you wonder how you could achieve forest gardens at home and in your community, but it also makes you take action without delay! There is a sense of urgency that we transform our resource use; with wisdom gained from experience, Jerome shows us how we can do just that. --Gunter Pauli, author ofThe Blue Economy A grand master of American permaculture, Jerome Osentowski has pioneered school gardens, high-altitude/high-nutrient cropping, bio-islands for organic golf course management, and heritage fruit trees for the mountain West. Of them all, the forest garden greenhouse is the most impressive. A marvel of integration between humans, the built environment, and the natural world, the greenhouse, in a world of climate calamity, will prove indispensable for both home comfort and food production.The Forest Garden Greenhousesurpasses all others on the subject for technical innovation and practical design. --Peter Bane, author ofThe Permaculture Handbook: Garden Farming for Town and Country, board member, Permaculture Institute of North America, and former publisher and editor, Permaculture Activistmagazine Booklist- As an instructor at Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute in Colorado, which he founded almost 30 years ago, veteran gardener and environmental sustainability expert Osentowski teaches what he embodies in his daily life. His passive solar home hugs the side of a mountain, and the produce from his state-of-the-art, one-acre greenhouse provides most of his income.In this groundbreaking, user-friendly guide, Osentowski employs this same structure as the working model for his cutting-edge indoor growing techniques.A key innovation featured here is a solar heat technology called the climate battery, which uses a network of buried tubes that can keep plants warm and thriving even in the dead of winter. Along with clear instructions on installing a climate battery in existing greenhouses, Osentowski provides seasoned guidance on bed layout and soil techniques, successful companion planting, and cultivating microclimates in and around the greenhouse.His well-written, amply illustrated handbook also contains a wealth of information on permaculture-related growing practices that greenhouse amateurs and professionals will find invaluable. Publishers Weekly- Osentowski shows how building and maintaining a Mediterranean or tropical greenhouse full of figs, lemons, papayas, and bananas can be both affordable and practical. Drawing on his 30 years of experimentation and teaching in the harsh, dry mountain environment of his Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute, he offers lush descriptions of his five greenhouses and in-depth, layered advice on designing and constructing a balmy winter retreat. His method uses a 'climate battery consisting of tubes buried underground to collect and hold warm air from the greenhouse, which then recirculate it when the temperature cools, backed up in the coldest days with a pellet or wood stove that can simultaneously heat an attached sauna. Osentowski admits that he prefers a hands-on method of teaching, and his written tours through greenhouses are sometimes hard to follow. Novices may be intimidated by the lack of step-by-step, formulaic instruction. But more experienced gardeners, builders, and tinkerers, and even intrepid beginners willing to carefully observe, compute, and ponder, will find this readable guide jam-packed with enough information and inspiration to help them attempt their own indoor paradises. A grand master of American permaculture, Jerome Osentowski has pioneered school gardens, high-altitude/high-nutrient cropping, bio-islands for organic golf course management, and heritage fruit trees for the mountain West. Of them all, the forest garden greenhouse is the most impressive. A marvel of integration between humans, the built environment, and the natural world, the greenhouse, in a world of climate calamity, will prove indispensable for both home comfort and food production.The Forest Garden Greenhousesurpasses all others on the subject for technical innovation and practical design. --Peter Bane, author ofThe Permaculture Handbook: Garden Farming for Town and Country, board member, Permaculture Institute of North America, and former publisher and editor, Permaculture Activistmagazine In1997 I had the privilege of visiting Jerome Osentowski s forest garden in Basalt, Colorado. There is no doubt that Jerome learns from nature with enthusiasm and is one of the few with the capacity to translate his observations into a garden that feeds people and dreams.The Forest Garden Greenhousenot only makes you wonder how you could achieve forest gardens at home and in your community, but it also makes you take action without delay! There is a sense of urgency that we transform our resource use; with wisdom gained from experience, Jerome shows us how we can do just that. --Gunter Pauli, author ofThe Blue Economy A grand master of American permaculture, Jerome Osentowski has pioneered school gardens, high-altitude/high-nutrient cropping, bio-islands for organic golf course management, and heritage fruit trees for the mountain West. Of them all, the forest garden greenhouse is the most impressive. A marvel of integration between humans, the built environment, and the natural world, the greenhouse, in a world of climate calamity, will prove indispensable for both home comfort and food production. The Forest Garden Greenhouse surpasses all others on the subject for technical innovation and practical design. --Peter Bane, author of The Permaculture Handbook: Garden Farming for Town and Country, board member, Permaculture Institute of North America, and former publisher and editor, Permaculture Activist magazine This revolutionary book captures what Jerome Osentowski has learned in decades of building and tending his high-altitude food forest and extensive permaculture site. Jerome s climate battery is a brilliant idea deserving a broad audience. It brings greenhouse technology into the twenty-first century using simple, appropriate materials. The Forest Garden Greenhouseclearly and elegantly describes the greenhouse, the garden, and the evolution of Jerome s deep wisdom and creativity. This is much more than a greenhouse book; it s a manifesto and guidebook showing how permaculture can help us live regenerative lives. --Toby Hemenway, author ofThe Permaculture CityandGaia s Garden In 1997 I had the privilege of visiting Jerome Osentowski's forest garden in Basalt, Colorado. There is no doubt that Jerome learns from nature with enthusiasm and is one of the few with the capacity to translate his observations into a garden that feeds people--and dreams. The Forest Garden Greenhouse not only makes you wonder how you could achieve forest gardens at home and in your community, but it also makes you take action without delay! There is a sense of urgency that we transform our resource use; with wisdom gained from experience, Jerome shows us how we can do just that. --Gunter Pauli, author of The Blue Economy Living in a cold climate is no excuse for not growing your own tropical fruits and year-round vegetables.The Forest Garden Greenhouseteaches howto harvest not just food but year-round temperateness, based on the real-world experience of a seasoned greenhouse designer and manager. After my last visit to Jerome s greenhouse, I came hometo Massachusettsand we built a subtropical greenhouse. Once you read his book, you will want to, too! --Eric Toensmeier, author ofThe Carbon Farming SolutionandPerennial Vegetables This revolutionary book captures what Jerome Osentowski has learned in decades of building and tending his high-altitude food forest and extensive permaculture site. Jerome's climate battery is a brilliant idea deserving a broad audience. It brings greenhouse technology into the twenty-first century using simple, appropriate materials. The Forest Garden Greenhouse clearly and elegantly describes the greenhouse, the garden, and the evolution of Jerome's deep wisdom and creativity. This is much more than a greenhouse book; it's a manifesto and guidebook showing how permaculture can help us live regenerative lives. --Toby Hemenway, author of The Permaculture City and Gaia's Garden Living in a cold climate is no excuse for not growing your own tropical fruits and year-round vegetables. The Forest Garden Greenhouse teaches how to harvest not just food but year-round temperateness, based on the real-world experience of a seasoned greenhouse designer and manager. After my last visit to Jerome's greenhouse, I came home to Massachusetts and we built a subtropical greenhouse. Once you read his book, you will want to, too! --Eric Toensmeier, author of The Carbon Farming Solution and Perennial Vegetables Jerome Osentowski is a master of simple, elegantly frugal, eminently practical indoor gardens that can grow lots of almost anything almost anywhere by not treating soil like dirt. His recipe for rich sheet-mulched soil has so far produced 58 passive-solar banana crops (and over 100 other kinds of higher plants including Bornean tropicals) in my own super-insulated passive-solar home near Aspen. NowTheForest Garden Greenhouselucidly shares Jerome s deep, versatile, and ever-evolving experience. Read, learn, apply, improve, spread, enjoy! --Amory B. Lovins, cofounder and chief scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute