HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Loading...

The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming (1975)

by Masanobu Fukuoka

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
9912120,855 (4.2)5
"Call it Zen and the Art of Farming or a Little Green Book, Masanobu Fukuoka's manifesto about farming, eating, and the limits of human knowledge presents a radical challenge to the global systems we rely on for our food. At the same time, it is a spiritual memoir of a man whose innovative system of cultivating the earth reflects a deep faith in the wholeness and balance of the natural world. As Wendell Berry writes in his preface, the book 'is valuable to us because it is at once practical and philosophical. It is an inspiring, necessary book about agriculture because it is not just about agriculture'. Trained as a scientist, Fukuoka rejected both modern agribusiness and centuries of agricultural practice, deciding instead that the best forms of cultivation mirror nature's own laws. Over the next three decades he perfected his so-called do-nothing technique: commonsense, sustainable practices that all but eliminate the use of pesticides, fertilizer, tillage, and perhaps most significantly, wasteful effort." -- Book cover.… (more)
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 5 mentions

English (19)  Spanish (2)  All languages (21)
Showing 1-5 of 19 (next | show all)
An older title, but one that so many food writers have referenced that I felt it was time to find a copy. The now-deceased author was a longtime advocate of what he called "do-nothing agriculture," which is not literally accurate but that indicates his lifelong success in farming diverges significantly from most. The book takes the reader through his techniques, including allowing a mix of crops with clover, fruit trees, etc. in the same field; no use of pesticides and minimal fertilizer; and planting new grains immediately after the prior harvest so some fields remain productive throughout the year (possible in the mild climate of his native Ehime Prefecture). It is also relatively conversational, so you learn some about Fukuoka's life and the many visitors his farm enjoyed. ( )
  jonerthon | Oct 5, 2021 |
Au cours des 40 dernières années Masanobu Fukuoka a témoigné avec indignation de la dégénérescence de la terre et de la société japonaise. Comme un seul homme, les japonais ont suivi le modèle américain de développement économique et industriel, abandonnant leur riche héritage de travail simple et proche de la terre. Mais M. Fukuoka était déterminé à ne pas abandonner l'agriculture traditionnelle. Il l'affina, au contraire, à tel point que sa méthode d'agriculture sauvage demande moins de travail et cause moins de dégâts à la nature qu'aucune autre méthode tout en maintenant les mêmes rendements à l'hectare que les paysans voisins. Dans cet ouvrage d'une profonde sensibilité et qui fait réfléchir, M.Fukuoka décrit les évènements qui l'ont conduit à développer sa méthode d'agriculture sauvage et l'impact qu'elle a eu sur la terre, lui-même, et les milliers de personnes à qui il l'a enseignée. Il décrit la méthode elle-même et pourquoi il croit qu'elle offre un modèle pratique et stable de société basée sur la simplicité et la permanence. M. Fukuoka fait preuve d'une compréhension profonde des interactions entre l'agriculture et les autres aspects de la culture. Il sent que l'agriculture sauvage a son origine dans la santé spirituelle de l'individu. Il considère que la guérison de la terre et la purification de l'esprit humain sont la même chose et propose une manière de vivre et de cultiver où ce processus puisse se réaliser. Ce livre a pour but de changer les attitudes envers la nature, l'agriculture, la nourriture, la santé physique et spirituelle.
  biblio-lanterne | Aug 16, 2021 |
Calling it cultish is generous. It's mostly just wrong or meaningless at best. The only way to defend this is by claiming it's allegory, like the Bible, and cannot be read literally. ( )
  Paul_S | Dec 23, 2020 |
This is a book that will make you want to be a natural farmer. If only we could all have land to live on. ( )
  SonoranDreamer | May 22, 2019 |
Note: This book was read as part of an upcoming, Books on Tap, summer event sponsored by our county library system and a local cidery, in which folks compete in answering questions about ten different books and ten different movies available through the library. The book starts by concentrating on how the author developed a "close-to-nature" method of agriculture. It is this part of the book, roughly a third, that has attracted so many readers and such high regard for the work. The methods could be described by some as back-to-basics or old fashioned techniques, but crude would be closer to it. It most certainly is not the modern agriculture that has attracted huge corporations. For instance, there is no ground cultivation in the authors method. Before assuming this may be insanity, the reader must accept that his methods have been proven to produce crop production equal to modern methods and with no pollution. The problem is this agricultural debate is only a part of the book, and this is a review of the book and not the agricultural techniques. The rest of the book, which the author would claim is all connected to the part that is so highly regarded, goes far afield from such things as planting techniques. Should most people leave the cities and start small farms? If you think about why you are eating something, does that reduce its nutritional value? Do crops that grow well in any given season do so specifically because that is what humans need to be eating at that point on time? If "true" natural foods taste good and everything else tastes bad, why is cooking or pickling vegetables not unnatural, while adding spices is because you thought about the flavor you wanted? Is it really "do-nothing" agriculture if you have to do it all day long everyday? I have watched four different videos about the author and this book to see what others have thought, and, while they have all praised the author and the book, none have mentioned anything about these or other issues covered in the book. I give full credit to the wisdom of the "natural farming" espoused in the book and consider much of the rest dangerously close to claptrap. ( )
1 vote larryerick | Apr 26, 2018 |
Showing 1-5 of 19 (next | show all)
no reviews | add a review

» Add other authors (9 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Fukuoka, MasanobuAuthorprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Korn, LarryEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lappé, Frances MooreIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
First words
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

"Call it Zen and the Art of Farming or a Little Green Book, Masanobu Fukuoka's manifesto about farming, eating, and the limits of human knowledge presents a radical challenge to the global systems we rely on for our food. At the same time, it is a spiritual memoir of a man whose innovative system of cultivating the earth reflects a deep faith in the wholeness and balance of the natural world. As Wendell Berry writes in his preface, the book 'is valuable to us because it is at once practical and philosophical. It is an inspiring, necessary book about agriculture because it is not just about agriculture'. Trained as a scientist, Fukuoka rejected both modern agribusiness and centuries of agricultural practice, deciding instead that the best forms of cultivation mirror nature's own laws. Over the next three decades he perfected his so-called do-nothing technique: commonsense, sustainable practices that all but eliminate the use of pesticides, fertilizer, tillage, and perhaps most significantly, wasteful effort." -- Book cover.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (4.2)
0.5
1 2
1.5
2 3
2.5
3 11
3.5 7
4 51
4.5 3
5 50

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

NYRB Classics

2 editions of this book were published by NYRB Classics.

Editions: 1590173139, 1590173929

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,253,829 books! | Top bar: Always visible