Aranya has been experimenting with what permaculture can do since his design course epiphany in 1996. In the years that followed he designed a collection of gardens, along with a few other non-land based designs, writing them all up to gain his Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design 2003. Since that time he's followed a teaching pathway, that now involves delivering on average ten two-week design courses a year. Along the way he's met many amazing people that give him hope for the future and who in no small way have influenced the content of this guide. Aranya is also a long-term barefooter, certain that this helps him be more aware of nature, stay grounded and walk lightly on the Earth. He is the author of Permaculture Design: A Step-by-Step Guide.
<p> For most people, taking the permaculture design course is a major life event. It opens the door on a new way of looking at the world, a new way of being in the world. It affects you on so many levels that, however well you took notes, inevitably some of what you learnt passes you by. That's why Aranya wrote this book: so that people could go away from the design courses he teaches and have a reference to the design methods he'd taught them. In effect it's a toolbox of permaculture design methods. Some people keep their tools in a higgldy-piggledy pile, chipped, blunt and uncared for. Others keep them in perfect order in a neat box, each one in its place, oiled, sharpened and ready to go. Aranya is one of the latter and this book reflects the keen clarity of his mind. Open its pages and you can put your finger right on the design tool you need, from triangulation to the enticingly-named desire lines. It's all there, described and illustrated, clearly and comprehensively. --Patrick Whitefield, author of The Earth Care Manual, and How to Make a Forest Garden