Sepp Holzer has a remarkable tale to tell. Like all good scientists and farmers he is an acute observer of the world around him.

From the age of four was making discoveries about the natural world that have led him to a new kind of permaculture.

One based 1500 meters up in the Austrian Alps were most “ordinary” crops will not grow.

Needless to say, he has over the years moved on from the “ordinary” to the downright extraordinary, and had some great success along the way.

Perhaps his best early discovery was the use of rocks – placed around plants they warm up in the sun’s rays and thereby naturally increase the local temperature.

This has led to earlier ripening of certain crops, or just the ability to grow others at an altitude well beyond the normal range.

He has also had great success with various aquatic developments and provided a wide variety of fish on a commercial basis.

Ultimately this book is rather frustrating as it does not set out to be practical.

It hints at certain techniques, and provides the odd nuggets of wisdom that could be very useful to students experimenting with farming techniques.

It is part–autobiography, part diary and part manifesto.

The author has gone on to take permaculture courses all over the world.

However, too much of the book is devoted to his many, expensive disputes with the various civic authorities.

None of these ever prove anything other than the colossal stupidity of the bureaucracies concerned, but the publishers have made the error of illustrating several letters “In the name of the Republic” without providing a translation.

It is to be hoped that a good English ghost writer will be found, as Sepp has clearly made discoveries that have profound significance for farming and permaculture.

An impartial analysis of his work would be a very welcome addition to any permaculturist. Sepp himself asserts that permaculture could feed the world, and believes that natural farming methods in the so–called third world could solve starvation immediately.

In his own words: “Creation is perfect. Nature is always right. Only we humans make mistakes.”