The world of permaculture is a lush and vibrant place, where nature’s gifts are cultivated and shared in abundance. Here, we can learn the art of living lightly on the land, growing our own food with care, and how to get out of the way of nature so that it may offer its gifts freely and abundantly.
As you begin to explore this incredible way of life, these seven books offer an invaluable guide to getting started with permaculture – from understanding its principles to designing your own homesteading projects. With their help, you’ll be well on your way to creating a sustainable future that works in harmony with nature!

1. Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture: Best Infographics
Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture is the best and a must-read for anyone interested in sustainable edible forests and gardening. Written by Toby Hemenway, the book provides a comprehensive guide to permaculture, a design philosophy that emphasizes the use of natural systems for food production and self-sufficient ecosystems.
Gaia‘s Garden is one of the most influential and recommended books with around 250,000 copies sold. It is one of the best permaculture books to start if you want a thorough understanding of what this movement is all about.

Hemenway has done an excellent job of breaking down complex concepts and making them easy to understand for readers of all levels. He has provided a wealth of practical information and tips, including detailed instructions for creating a permaculture garden at home in one book.
- Easily understandable for readers of all levels
- This book contains easy-to-understand Infographics to help grow food using the permaculture approach
- Some information might be hard to digest
2. The Backyard Permaculture Homestead for Beginners: A simple step-by-step guide for self-sufficient living; grow your soil and organic food for free with container, raised bed, and vertical gardening: Best For Backyard Spaces
You don’t need several acres of space to start your own homestead. This guide provides you with everything you need to know to get started with permaculture homesteading, even in a small space.
The author, Laura Garret, lays out a clear and concise step-by-step approach to creating a self-sufficient living space, complete with the container, raised bed, and vertical gardening techniques.
The book focuses on practical tips and tricks for growing edible forests and improving soil health, all while keeping costs low.
This user’s guide to permaculture focuses more on building a backyard homestead using permaculture principles. It provides a comprehensive introduction to permaculture gardening and design, including the ideas and practices of permaculture. It addresses issues including setting up a sustainable food system, choosing the best plants, and constructing and planning a permaculture homestead.
Laura Garret’s writing style is easy to understand and the book is well-organized, comprehensive, and easily understandable by home gardeners and readers of all levels, making it easy to follow along and implement the techniques discussed. I highly recommend this book to anyone starting as a beginner in permaculture and backyard homesteading.
- Easy to read and understand for basic understanding of permaculture
- Clear Step-by-Step Guide on the subject of permaculture
- May require consultation for better understanding
3. The Practical Permaculture Project: Connect to Nature and Discover the Best Organic Soil and Water Management Techniques to Design and Build your Thriving, Sustainable, Self-sufficient Garden: Best for Garden Planning
Next on our book list is a thorough yet easily understandable guide on permaculture design gardening named The Practical Permaculture Project. This book covers a wide range of subjects, such as organic gardening methods, water conservation, and soil management. Both seasoned and inexperienced gardeners can easily understand the information because of how it is presented by the author Sophie McKay.

This book has comprehensive directions and step-by-step graphics, the book makes it simple to follow along and put the ideas covered into practice. Overall, it’s an excellent resource book for anyone wishing to implement permaculture principles to design a sustainable garden and a self-sufficient permaculture setup.
- Comprehensive information for permaculture enthusiasts
- Easy-to-understand infographics to get a good grasp of permaculture
- Basic permaculture information suited for only beginners
4. Practical Permaculture: for Home Landscapes, Your Community, and the Whole Earth: Best Hands-on Advice
Practical Permaculture is a great, comprehensive book on permaculture design. The book offers precise step-by-step thoroughly guided instructions on how to apply permaculture principles to develop sustainable communities and landscapes. Numerous subjects are covered by the authors, such as soil health, water management, plant selection, and community development for those who are planning to start with Permaculture for their land.

Along with case studies of productive permaculture projects, they also offer useful advice and methods for applying permaculture on a modest scale. And, Illustrations by Mr. Paul Kearsley are beautiful, reader-friendly, and easily understandable. In conclusion, Practical Permaculture is a great resource for anyone curious about permaculture practices and their many advantages.
- A comprehensive introduction to permaculture concepts
- Easy-to-Read and Understand
- Might be a bit too advanced for beginners
5. Permaculture Design: A Step-by-Step Guide: Best Design Concepts
Permaculture Design is one of the best permaculture books to read that offers an easy-to-follow step-by-step guide. It is an excellent resource for those interested in learning about sustainable land management and principles of permaculture. Written by Aranya, the book provides a step-by-step approach to designing sustainable landscapes, from initial observations and site analysis to the final design and implementation which is an excellent resource for anyone interested in learning about permaculture gardening.
Because of the author’s straightforward and understandable writing style, both beginners and seasoned designers can benefit from this book. The permaculture book outlines permaculture design and is also well-illustrated with diagrams and photographs that help to visualize the concepts discussed. Patrick Whitefield’s foreword provides valuable insights and adds credibility to the book.
- Useful Information for foundational understanding of permaculture
- More theories with less practical “How-Tos“ on the application of permaculture
6. Permaculture for the Rest of Us: Abundant Living on Less than an Acre: Best for Small Areas
Permaculture for the Rest of Us by Jenni Blackmore is an excellent guide for anybody interested in starting with permaculture gardening. The book focuses on permaculture in small areas, is fairly easy to read, and provides practical, actionable advice for creating a permaculture garden on a small scale. Blackmore’s writing style is engaging and the book is filled with helpful tips and personal anecdotes that make the concepts more relevant.
The author covered a wide range of topics such as soil health, composting, plant selection, and natural pest control in the book. Overall, this book is a valuable resource for anyone looking to create a sustainable, low-maintenance garden on a small piece of land.
- Pleasant read on the concept of permaculture
- Informative guide for beginners to develop a good understanding of permaculture
- Not for experienced permaculture practitioners
7. Creating your Permaculture Heaven: Design and Principles for Creating Your Own Backyard Food Forest: Best Exercises
Creating Your Permaculture Heaven is a comprehensive guide to designing and implementing a permaculture food forest in your backyard. The book is well-organized and easy to understand, making it accessible to both experienced and beginner gardeners.
The author does a fantastic job of laying out the fundamentals of permaculture and how to use them to create a backyard food forest. They offer comprehensive guidelines on how to construct and organize your food forest as well as how to choose and take care of the plants and animals that will live there.

To help readers grasp the ideas covered, this permaculture manual also offers useful drawings and pictures. Furthermore, to help people who are new to permaculture, the author also offers a variety of resources, including suggestions for many permaculture books, websites, and organizations to learn more about permaculture.
- Detailed and Easy to Follow guide on permaculture system
- Informative book on the subject
- Might be confusing for people who are looking to learn the basics of permaculture
And The Best Book Is…The Backyard Permaculture Homestead For Beginners
The Backyard Permaculture Homestead for Beginners: simple step-by-step guide for self-sufficient living; grow your soil and organic food for free with container, raised bed, and vertical gardening as it focuses on several permaculture methods to help you out with the permaculture design process. It is one of the best permaculture books for beginners that dives into permaculture design principles and will be a great addition to your permaculture library.

Here are some of the most important topics discussed in the book:
- Unveiling the practices of permaculture to transform your humble abode into a self-sustaining ecosystem full of diversity.
- Learning how to optimize composting, soil health, and water management for both you and Mother Earth’s benefit.
- Key tips that can help make a permaculture garden come alive. Selecting the right plants for your climate and location is essential, as well as strategically placing them in order to maximize their potential.
- Drawing inspiration from nature, you can create a sustainable and self-sufficient home using greywater systems, renewable energy sources, and natural building materials that optimize efficiency.
- Are you looking for solutions to preserve our planet? By reducing your carbon footprint, utilizing materials multiple times, and conserving resources, you can help minimize waste and promote a healthier environment.
With her knack for translating even the most intricate tasks into fun and accessible experiences, Laura Garrett is a celebrated cookbook author and hobby book writer. Her passion for culinary creations and hobbies shines through in all of her work, endowing others with the knowledge to explore new interests.
FAQs

What does permaculture mean?
Simply put, permaculture refers to the sustainable development and growth of agricultural ecosystems. It is a form of self-sufficient agriculture system that is inspired by the nature for building synergetic farming systems that focuses on natural productivity, resilience, and sustainable crop diversity.
What is the main goal of permaculture?
The main goal of permaculture it to realize and cultivate new ways of seeing, act on ethical thinking in systems, and finally develop sustainable and self-sustaining systems.
What are the 3 principles of permaculture?
The three basic permaculture principles, also known as permaculture ethics, are earth care, people care, and fair share. These three principles are the basis of permaculture design, and are used to guide the way people interact with their environment. These principles help us to achieve sustainable living and reduce our ecological footprint.
Can you make money from permaculture?
Yes, it is possible to make money from permaculture – either through selling produce grown in your permaculture garden, or through offering permaculture services such as consulting, design, and implementation. If you are running a professional permaculture business it is also possible to make money from selling products related to permaculture such as books and tools.
Can you do permaculture in the city?
Yes, it is possible
The Bottom Line: 7 Books About Permaculture
I hope that this guide to the best permaculture books on the market helps you to find the perfect earth care manual for your permaculture design and self-sustaining lifestyle.
Whether you are a beginner interested in permaculture or an expert looking for more detailed information, these books will provide valuable guidance on the subject of sustainable living.
Keep learning and growing your permaculture knowledge!
Want to read more books that will help you get the permaculture lifestyle down pat? Check out these other book reviews I’ve written:
- Preserve Your Vegetable Bounty with the 7 Best Books on Canning
- The Buzz on the Best Beekeeping Books: 6 Great Reads For Beginners
- Perfect Your Fermentation Skills with the 7 Best Books on Fermenting
- The Best Homesteading Books To Unlock Your Dreams of Self-Sufficiency
- Choosing The Best Dutch Oven Cookbook: Easy Home Cooking Solutions
- What Is The Best Sous Vide Cookbook? My Top 5 Choices
- 5 Best Juicing Books For 5 Juicing Goals
- Perfect Your Pickle Knowledge With the 5 Best Books on Pickling Food
Happy Homesteading!