“This remarkable book is not just a manual for market gardeners; it’s a masterpiece.”—Huw Richards, Youtuber, author, and gardener

A highly detailed and beautifully illustrated guide to growing nutritious herbs, flowers, fruit and vegetables, ideal for the home grower and market gardener.

In 2006, Perrine and Charles Hervé-Gruyer set out on a mission to discover a new form of agriculture that provides organic crops and creates meaningful employment in the local community. Using a combination of biointensive methods and permaculture design, with they have named ‘ecoculture’, and backed by scientific research, resulted in their farm producing abundantly, sequestering carbon and freeing up land for Nature.

Perrine and Charles Hervé-Gruyer designed a farm in Normandy that is so productive it provides a living for five people whilst only cultivating just a small percentage of the land, leaving the rest for Nature. In Living with the Earth, Volume 1, they described the overarching principles and influences of ecology and permaculture and share how they work with Nature to create highly productive systems.

Living with the Earth, Volume 2 of this comprehensive series dives deep into the details. Subjects include:
• Growing methods
• Seeding & soil preparation
• Plant densities and replicable crop associations
• Tools, irrigation and harvesting
• Growing year-round
• Vegetables, fruits, microgreens, flowers, mushrooms, tree crops and forest gardens

Beautifully designed and full of useful, descriptive photographs, diagrams and charts, this manual provides a wealth of research and practical experience. These volumes are ground-breaking, with principles and practices that can be used on any scale. They are, however, of particular interest to small- to medium-scale farmers, horticulturalists, forest gardeners, agronomists, and market gardeners.

About The Author

Charles Hervé-Gruyer has been passionate about the relationship between humans and nature since childhood. He circumnavigated the globe for 22 years while operating a floating school focusing on ecology and indigenous cultures, the subject of many of his books and documentaries. Charles then directed his research to exploring our inner world, studying psychology, relaxation therapy, massage, and yoga instruction. Anxious to explore the most environmentally friendly farming practices, Charles created Le Ferme du Bec Hellouin with his wife, Perrine, in 2003. The couple then began an experiment merging various small-scale, intensive, organic, and natural agricultural techniques that would pique the interest of European agencies planning food-security strategy and raise awareness about permaculture in France. The farm also operates a permaculture school.

Perrine Hervé-Gruyer has worked as an international lawyer and head of the legal department of a major company in Asia, and has volunteered with the High Commissioner for Refugees. When she turned thirty, Perrine radically changed lanes, and began taking courses in psychotherapy, specifically in relaxation therapy, publishing a book titled La Relaxation en Famille. With her husband, Charles, she created Le Ferme du Bec Hellouin. Perrine also serves as a Green Party representative with the Regional Parliament of Haute-Normandie, where she oversees a committee focusing on agriculture.