Permaculture Design Companion by Jasmine Dale

I give this book 10 out of 10 acorns!

Jasmine Dale's book Permaculture Design Companion: A Practical Workbook for Integrating People and Places does a splendid job of being "a practical workbook to mentor you through a personal project" and a "helping hand to compliment the excellent courses and books already out there." Most of all, I think the book really helps to "deepen and create connections between people and places!"

I find it delightful how well-organized Permaculture Design Companion! The book is divided logically into four parts- Awakening Our Inner Design Beast, Seeing Things Anew, Weaving the Web, and Going Forth. Each Part of the book is subdivided into sections and subsections that have particular focuses. In each section and subsection, there are plenty of exercises and room to do the exercises, so, that the user of Permaculture Design Companion can take ownership of the knowledge they are acquiring and make it directly relevant to their own life and desired projects. Awakening Our Inner Design Beast focuses on What is Permaculture?, Observation, Patterns, and Permaculture Principles. I found that Part One did a nice job of introducing the basic ideas behind permaculture in a simple and succinct manner that I believe most people without any idea of what permaculture is would understand. Seeing Things Anew hones in on Design Processes, Vision, Landscape Survey, Mapping, and People Survey. I think that Part Two explains different methods of design and information collection in a practical and straightforward manner; I felt that the partially filled-in exercises helped to spark more ideas in my mind and give me a better understanding of what I was supposed to do in those exercises. Weaving the Web works on Introduction to Analysis, Key Planning Tools (Sector Analysis; Slope, Elevation, & Aspect; Zone; and Network Analysis), Input <-> Output Linkages, Elements & Functions, and Synthesis. I found that I liked Part Three for its Sector Analysis section and subsections, because with each subsection, there is a detailed chart that suggests numerous aspects about Soil, Wind, Water, Sun & Shade, Wild, and View that I normally may not have considered or thought up on my own. Going Forth focuses on The Design, Implementation, Evaluate and Tweak, An Ethical Foundation, and Next Steps. I love how hands-on Part Four is with its cut-outs that encourage modeling and spatial thinking/reasoning in making designs happen! It kinda makes me feel more playful and imaginative, like a kid! Finally, at the end of the book, there are Additional Resources, which to me, kind of functions like a Too-Long-Did-Read for the book. I found that Additional Resources summarizes and refreshes the essence of Permaculture Design Companion in a short and sweet manner!

I found the exercises throughout the book to be a wonderful resource for understanding permaculture, collecting information, and thinking through the process of creating a design. Since this is a workbook that is meant to be written in and used in the field, I think that it would be advisable to do the exercises in a separate notebook/notepad or to use a new copy of the book for each major design that you do. There is plenty of room provided in the book to work on the exercises, and there are partially filled-in spots in many exercises to help get someone started on each exercise. I think that a filled-up copy of Permaculture Design Companion would make for a nice gift that an active designer and implementer could give to their clients.

I enjoyed all of the beautiful drawings and sketches inside the book that complimented Jasmine's explanations and exercises! I found that the drawings and sketches made Permaculture Design Companion aesthetically pleasing to read and look at, and I found the font used in the book to be easy on the eyes.

Overall, I think that Permaculture Design Companion is a great practical workbook for implementing designs!

I give this book 10 out of 10 acorns.

I used it at a workshop on design. It's a workbook that guides you through the design process from beginning to end. I got this book initially because I hoped a more artistic approach would complement my more analytical one and I was right!

Thank you Susan, heartened to hear the book is being used in training.

I love these permies forums for book reviews!!  I think I will become a pauper soon for all the books in here that I want to buy.

I have never heard of this book but I NEED it. Thanks!

I also wanted to post a comment that my husband made about permaculture design

A little-known fact about Permaculture
1. Breaking up your "Zones of Use" into smaller areas you’ve given names to, helps!

So for instance, I’ll focus on “The Shady Walk” or the “Backyard Kitchen Garden.”  Once you have named a place, it means you’re invested in it, and it sort of forces you into paying attention to that particular space more than if you hadn’t named it.  Might be something to do with how our brains like categorization.

Link to a YouTube video where my husband talks about Permaculture Sector Map Analysis

https://www.youtube.com/live/yhjSxb5MYQI?si=zyYzrIm6eHd6E1Ue