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

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.

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.