Call it ‘Zen and the Artwork of Farming’ or a ‘Little Green Reserve,’ 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 meals. At the same time, it really is a spiritual memoir of a guy whose innovative system of cultivating the earth shows a deep beliefs in the wholeness and stability of the organic world. As Wendell Berry writes in his preface, the book ‘is precious to us since it reaches once practical about The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Organic Farming and philosophical. It really is an inspiring, required book about agriculture since it is not just about agriculture.’

Trained as a scientist, Fukuoka declined both modern agribusiness and centuries of agricultural practice, choosing instead that the very best forms of cultivation mirror nature’s personal laws. Over the next three years he perfected his so-called ‘do-nothing’ technique: commonsense, lasting practices that but eliminate the usage of pesticides, fertilizer, tillage, as well as perhaps most considerably, wasteful effort.

Whether you’re a guerrilla gardener or a kitchen gardener, dedicated to slow food or just looking to live a wholesome life, you will find something here-you may even be moved to start a revolution of your own.