By Perrine and Charles Hervé-Gruyer
Can farming a tiny quarter-acre piece of land be sustainable, economic, and fulfilling? In Miraculous Abundance, Perrine and Charles Hervé-Gruyer tackle that very questions and answer it positively in the affirmative. This fascinating book describes the evolution of their farm from its beginnings in 2004, when the authors knew little, over the next ten years as they discovered biointensive agriculture, permaculture, forest gardens, and more. The authors are passionate about small, human-scale farming and the role it can play in the future, and they envisage a future with numerous small farms, enabling many more people to live on the land and lessening the effects of climate change. Their farm in France now attracts farmers, chefs, and scientists and also hosts a school to teach how a diverse edible landscape can be created to both earn a living and make a beautiful space and a fulfilling life. --Martin Crawford, author of Trees for Gardens, Orchards and Permaculture
This book will be a source of inspiration and guidance for those striving toward an agriculture that is not merely sustainable but also regenerative and rewarding. Charles and Perrine are trailblazers, courageous visionaries who have drawn inspiration from sources as varied as 19th century Parisian market gardeners and Amazonian tribes people. As their method is a fusion, so too is the book; practical, historical, and philosophical in tone, it shows us how practicing agriculture as part of the ecosystem is not only economically viable but also spiritually fulfilling. We need people like the Hervé-Gruyers to show us what is possible in reality rather than just theory, and in sharing their journey, they tell an important story for the future of humankind. --Caroline Aitken, permaculture teacher and consultant at Patrick Whitefield Associates; coauthor of Food from Your Forest Garden