Green Wizardry: Conservation, Solar Power, Organic Gardening, And Other Hands-On Skills From the Appropriate Tech Toolkit

by John Michael Greer

Overview

Tested skills for thriving in the age of limits

Merlin, Gandalf, Voldemort-these well-known sorcerers from popular culture are famed for their amazing spells and spectacular magical powers. In ancient times however, a wizard was actually a freelance intellectual whose main stock in trade was good advice, supported by a thorough education in agriculture, navigation, political and military science, languages, commerce, mathematics, medicine, and the natural sciences-in essence, the true Renaissance man.

Greer proposes a modern mage for uncertain times; one who possesses a startling array of practical skills gleaned from the appropriate tech and organic gardening movements forged in the energy crisis of the 1970s. From the basic concepts of ecology to a plethora of practical techniques such as composting, green manure, low-tech food preservation and storage, small-scale chicken and rabbit raising, solar water heating, alternative energy sources, and more; Green Wizardry is a comprehensive manual for today's wizard-in-training.

Providing a solid practical introduction to the entire appropriate tech toolkit, this book is a must-read for anyone concerned about decreasing our dependence on an overloaded industrial system and, in a world of serious energy shortages and economic troubles, making life a great deal less traumatic and more livable.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780865717473
Publisher:	New Society Publishers
Publication date:	09/01/2013
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

John Michael Greer — Archdruid, historian, and one of the most influential figures in the peak oil movement, writes the widely cited weekly blog "The Archdruid Report" and has published more than twenty books on nature, spirituality and the future of industrial society. His involvement in sustainability issues dates back to the early 1980s, when he was active in the Appropriate Technology movement and became certified as a Master Conserver. He is the author of numerous titles, including The Long Descent, The Ecotechnic Future and The Wealth of Nature. He lives in Cumberland, MD, an old mill town in the Appalachians, with his wife Sara.

Table of Contents

Foreword: A Time for Wizardry vii

Part 1 Principles 1

Lesson 1 Introducing Energy 1

Lesson 2 Introducing Matter 7

Lesson 3 Introducing Information 13

Lesson 4 Thinking in Systems 19

Lesson 5 Flows and Funds 25

Lesson 6 Sustainability and Resilience 32

Resources for Part One 37

Part 2 Food 45

Lesson 7 The Small Garden 45

Lesson 8 Understanding Soil 50

Lesson 9 Composting and Mulching 55

Lesson 10 Keeping Them Healthy 62

Lesson 11 Season Extenders 67

Lesson 12 Saving Seeds 71

Lesson 13 Breeding New Varieties 76

Lesson 14 Wild Helpers 80

Lesson 15 Home Livestock 85

Lesson 16 The Unwanted 91

Lesson 17 Storing the Harvest 96

Lesson 18 Using the Harvest 101

Resources for Part Two 105

Part 3 Energy 111

Lesson 19 Using Less Energy 111

Lesson 20 Caulking and Weatherstripping 117

Lesson 21 Insulation 122

Lesson 22 Window Coverings 126

Lesson 23 Conserving the Differences 131

Lesson 24 Hayboxes and Sunboxes 135

Lesson 25 Solar Hot Water 141

Lesson 26 Passive Solar Heat 146

Lesson 27 Solar Electricity 150

Lesson 28 Wind Power 155

Lesson 29 Other Energy Sources 160

Lesson 30 Transportation 166

Resources for Part Three 171

Part 4 Whole Systems 175

Lesson 31 Putting It Together 175

Lesson 32 The New Alchemy Option 181

Lesson 33 The Down Home Funk Option 186

Lesson 34 The Retrofit Option 191

Lesson 35 The Way of Dissensus 196

Lesson 36 The Long View 201

Resources for Part Four 206

Afterword: Why It Matters 211

Notes 228

Index 230

About the Author 235

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Using an integrated systems approach to ecologically sustainable living strategies, John Michael Greer tackles energy, economics, technology and organic production practices with approachable precision in Green Wizardry . Interested in a real "Green" revolution? Let Green Wizardry show you the way AND the why!"
—Oscar H. Will iii, editor-in-chief, GRIT magazine and author, Plowing with Pigs and Other Creative, Low-budget Homesteading Solutions

"Wanted: real wizards. Must be capable of guiding their communities through difficult times by exercising practical skills and applying down-to-earth knowledge of how things work. If you're interested in applying for the job, then read this marvelous book. Greer is the ideal guide; his wisdom and gentle humor animate every page. A magical career awaits you."
—Richard Heinberg, author, The End of Growth

"Greer races back down the muddy track we've slogged up this past half century and shouts that he has found a turn we missed. It was clearly marked – flagged by economist Vince Taylor as "the Easy Path" and physicist Amory Lovins as "the Soft Path" – but we all just blew right by the signpost in our headlong rush up the hard and wide asphalt highway. We overestimated the difficulty of this road, and our skill at climbing, but that soft and easy path is still clearly marked, and open to us, if we just go back down a little ways. We actually have to. It is the only way forward."
—Albert Bates, founder, Global Village Institute for Appropriate Technology and author, The Post-Petroleum Survival Guide and The Biochar Solution

"This is book is part nostalgic trip through what once could have been, and could have saved us, before we decided to go all in on unbounded economic growth and endless militarism, and part survival guide which, now that the results of this bout of folly are coming in, can allow families and communities to cut their burn rate in comfort and style. And it also lays out the foundations of a very useful and very necessary vocation to which all of us, young and old can aspire: Green Wizardry ."
— Dmitry Orlov, author of Reinventing Collapse and The Five Stages of Collapse

"Just as someone starting a business would get a book on business planning, this is the book for planning a greener life. Rather than being split into chapters, Green Wizardry is split into 36 lessons, each with an exercise at the end, where you are challenged to apply your new-found knowledge to your own life or delve more deeply into a subject. If there were a class on green living, this would be the ideal text!"
— Deborah Niemann, author of Homegrown and Handmade , Ecothrifty , and Raising Goats Naturally

Editorial Reviews

Using an integrated systems approach to ecologically sustainable living strategies, John Michael Greer tackles energy, economics, technology and organic production practices with approachable precision in Green Wizardry. Interested in a real “Green” revolution? Let Green Wizardry show you the way AND the why! —Hank Will, editor-in-chief, GRIT magazine, and author, Plowing with Pigs and Other Creative, Low-budget Homesteading Solutions

Wanted: real wizards. Must be capable of guiding their communities through difficult times by exercising practical skills and applying down-to-earth knowledge of how things work. If you’re interested in applying for the job, then read this marvelous book. Greer is the ideal guide; his wisdom and gentle humor animate every page. A magical career awaits you.
— Richard Heinberg, author, The End of Growth

This is book is part nostalgic trip through what once could have been, and could have saved us, before we decided to go all in on unbounded economic growth and endless militarism, and part survival guide which, now that the results of this bout of folly are coming in, can allow families and communities to cut their burn rate in comfort and style. And it also lays out the foundations of a very useful and very necessary vocation to which all of us, young and old can aspire: Green Wizardry.
—Dmitry Orlov, author of Reinventing Collapse and The Five Stages of Collapse

Just as someone starting a business would get a book on business planning, this is the book for planning a greener life. Rather than being split into chapters, Green Wizardry is split into 36 lessons, each with an exercise at the end, where you are challenged to apply your new-found knowledge to your own life or delve more deeply into a subject. If there were a class on green living, this would be the ideal text!
—Deborah Niemann, author of Homegrown and Handmade , Ecothrifty , and Raising Goats Naturally

From the Publisher