This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Re: Book reviews

Hi Fran,

Here's a recent one for you from the SoC eNewsletter.



All the best, Scott



Scott Vlaun

Moose Pond Arts &Ecology

35 Moose Pond Rd.

Otisfield, ME 04270

207 539 9042





Farming with the Wild: Enhancing Biodiversity on Farms and Ranches
Written by Dan Imhoff and designed by Roberto Carra
Softcover, 184 pages

JPEG image


One of the great ironies of our time is that the very places that we think of as abounding with nature may in fact be a primary cause of its demise. For many, the idea of farming conjures up images of pastoral landscapes full of birds and bees, native flowers, and wildlife among rolling fields of grazing cows and rows of vegetables and grains. Family farmers work the fields while children swing over the farm pond and drop with a scream and a splash or build a fort in the hayloft. Unfortunately, the story of modern farming couldn't be farther from this idyllic picture.

Our pollinators and songbirds are under the assault of pesticides and loss of habitat. Wildflowers and native fauna have succumbed to herbicides and the eradication of native habitat in the name of efficiency. The mixed agriculture of the family farm has given way to the massive scale of corporate agribusiness, while the farm ponds and waterways that haven't dried up or been paved over in the relentless suburban sprawl are often polluted to the point of being toxic to human and other life. But there is a burgeoning movement to halt this eradication of nature in the name of feeding our growing population. As water tables drop, species disappear, and topsoil flows into the sea, many are realizing that this downward spiral of environmental degradation has to be reversed if we are to survive as a species with any semblance of what we think of as "nature" intact.

This trend towards attempting to preserve and restore wild nature, while facing the realities of feeding an evermore populated planet, is coming from many places and unlikely coalitions are being formed. In an effort to seek out the pioneers of this movement and create a greater connectivity among their often disparate efforts, Dan Imhoff and Roberto Carra traveled many thousands of miles to visit farms, gardens, and ranches in twenty-two states across North America. What they've revealed through Imhoff's words and Carra's photographs and design, is a hopeful picture of possibility: they call it "farming with the wild."

Through thirty-six examples, as well as the accompanying essays, the authors show an alternative to the status quo-farmers and describe the researchers, ranchers, and environmentalists, who are gradually coming together with a common goal. Through the authors' thoughtful words and vivid photographs, we begin to see a portrait of a highly productive agriculture that can exist in harmony with, and actually benefit from, healthy, wild ecosystems. Through their explorations we come to realize that for a truly sustainable food future, the two cannot exist in isolation.

Farming With The Wild covers a broad range of ideas and strategies for healing the land and restoring biodiversity, while establishing economically viable land use options for private lands. After an introduction that makes "The Case for Farming with the Wild," the book is divided into sections exploring various approaches: some are bioregional initiatives such as the Sky Islands Wildlands Network, in which ranchers and ecologists from southern New Mexico, Arizona, and northwestern Mexico are working together to restore the fabric of biodiversity to a broad area. In particular, they are connecting protected public lands with private lands to provide habitat for many threatened species, including Mexican wolves and other large predators. Another chapter looks at efforts in California's Sacramento Valley: a handful of forward thinking farmers are setting examples of how farming can coexist with nature in one of the nation's most beleaguered agricultural areas.

In other sections of the book, the authors link widely scattered practitioners working toward similar goals. One such section, entitled "Natural Systems Farming," looks at six different approaches to sustainable farming, from a deeply diversified 500 acre farm in Oregon's Willamette Valley to a small-scale, intensive vegetable growing operation in the challenging climate of downeast Maine. Through the application of various crop rotations and other methods adapted to their specific conditions, both farms produce a wide array of crops in rhythm with the seasonal cycles. Other thematically related chapters include "Wild Garden Farmers," "Ecolabels and Local Marketing Initiatives," Building a Matrix of Farmland Habitat," and "Corridors, Wildways and Citizen Monitoring."

Whether you are a farmer looking for ideas and inspiration to enhance the way your farm supports the local ecology and utilizes ecosystem services, a gardener in search of a deeper understanding of the role you and your garden might play in creating habitat for wildness, or someone who is concerned about how your purchasing power can make a difference for the future of the planet, this book will expand your knowledge of the complexity of the fabric of life and your understanding of how direct action on any scale or level can make a difference. The final chapter is a practical primer on "Getting Started": it contains detailed information on managing for wildlife, bird-friendly farming, and landowner incentive program. The chapter ends with the platform of the Wild Farm Alliance, of which Dan Imhoff is a founding member, as well as a long list of supporting organizations.

As Farming With The Wild dramatically demonstrates, there are real, practical, on-the-ground solutions to many of the myriad ecological problems caused and exacerbated by our prolonged embrace of a non- sustainable food system. This book is much more than a collection of insightful essays and well documented examples of sustainable systems: Imhoff and Carra have created a call to action, weaving together many threads of a widely dispersed, but vital and rapidly developing movement towards "ecosanity," a movement that is working to reconcile the gulf between the destructive forces of conventional farming and ranching with the restorative impulses of wild nature.

Reviewed by Scott Vlaun, Editor

To read an interview with author Dan Imhoff, click here.

On Sep 13, 2005, at 12:11 PM, Fran wrote:

Dear Writers,

Please contact me if you would be willing to review a book that you feel
is worthy of sharing with readers of HortResources. Many of you have
taken part in the HortResources Annual Book Review Issue before and that
time of year is nigh. Just a reminder that this is a non-profit
organization so I can't offer you monetary remuneration but I can offer
you publicity and thanks.

Fran Gustman
Editor
HortResources Newsletter
Ecological Landscaper
Greenscapes
Boston, MA
Zone 6
_______________________________________________
gardenwriters mailing list
gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gardenwriters

GWL has searchable archives at:
http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters

Send photos for GWL to gwlphotos@hort.net to be posted
at: http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos

Post gardening questions/threads to
"Gardenwriters on Gardening" <gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org>

For GWL website and Wiki, go to
http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters


_______________________________________________
gardenwriters mailing list
gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gardenwriters

GWL has searchable archives at:
http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters

Send photos for GWL to gwlphotos@hort.net to be posted
at: http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos

Post gardening questions/threads to
"Gardenwriters on Gardening" <gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org>

For GWL website and Wiki, go to
http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index