Episode 272 - Living with the Earth
Perrine Bulgheroni is a renowned farmer who, along with Charles Herve-Gruyer, co-authored the Living with the Earth series of books and co-founded the famous Bec Hellouin, an ecoculture farm in Northern France. We talk about growing produce, closed loop farming, how food growing helps capture carbon and how to manage your natural environment for maximum benefits for people, wildlife and ecosystems.
What we talk about
What ecoculture is
Does it take up less space than traditional agriculture?
The ecoculture approach to rainfall and soil
Volumes two and three of Living with the Earth
Ideal land area for a plot
The Flow of Organic Matter
How ecoculture contributes to carbon capture
About Living with the Earth: A Manual for Market Gardeners - Volume 1: Permaculture, Ecoculture: Inspired by Nature
by Perrine and Charles Hervé-Gruyer
Living With The Earth is a three volume series bringing together years of hands-on
organic growing experience and research from the world-renowned Bec Hellouin Farm
in France.
In 2006, Perrine and Charles Hervé-Gruyer set out on a mission to discover a new form
of agriculture that provides organic crops, creates healthy soil and brings meaningful
employment to the local community. A combination of biointensive methods and
permaculture design, which they have named ‘ecoculture’, and backed by scientific
research, has resulted in a highly abundant market garden that sequesters carbon and
frees up land for Nature.
This beautifully illustrated, comprehensive first volume shows you how natural
systems work, and explains how a wide range of simple and effective techniques can
create ecologically diverse gardens or highly productive farms. The in-depth chapters
on weather patterns, soil types and ecosystem services, give the reader a sound
understanding of the environment they are growing in.
The book covers everything you need to design a farm and implement a high-yielding
food system from scratch, from understanding permaculture and its tools to the full
design process, using the successful systems at Bec Hellouin as examples. Chapters
on composting, mulching, fertilisers, green manures and working with beneficial
microorganisms offer the reader a selection of tools for creating healthy soil within the
farm ecosystem.
About the Authors
Perrine Hervé-Gruyer pursued a career as a lawyer in Asia before devoting herself to
psychotherapy. She is now a farmer. An educator by training, Charles Hervé-Gruyer
travelled the globe aboard the training sailboat ‘Fleur de Lampaul’ for 22 years. He is the
author of several books. Perrine and Charles became certified permaculture teachers in 2013.
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