Any news on the book? Stumbled with joy over the carrot cake recipe and I need your book! The swap and healthy is something I always do with my cooking, but a book of suggestions and ingredients expansions would be very welcome!
Thanks for the kind words and thanks for your interest in my upcoming book.
The news is I have published 33 (articles, essays, in depth species profiles and a handful of recipes ) posts that will become the backbone of my next book.
I still have at least 5 species profiles I need to add to that list and when that is complete (and I have had a chance to learn everything from the indigenous knowledge keepers I am working with in relation to the regenerative agroforestry practices of their ancestors) I will create a crowd funding page where pre-orders for physical copies of the book will be available.
I do not want to rush or pressure the few indigenous knowledge keepers I have developed a relationship with as building trust takes time and those retaining and practicing pre-colonial knowledge from those cultures is very rare now a days (as I covered in my recent post on “reconciliation day”.)
Just to get an idea of the depth of research and experimentation that goes into each species profile (that will each become a chapter in my next book) if you have not yet, check out these posts :
The book will be a field guide and manual for creating scalable, biologically adaptable, temperate zone biodiversity enriching food production system that can last for centuries in a self - perpetuating state, so it takes a lot of research and hands on learning to do it right.
I self publish so that I can maintain the creative integrity, historical accuracy and choose the highest quality binding/paper materials for the book, as publishing companies often want to water down or completely cut out controversial information so they do not upset their old paradigm thinking motivated members (I turned down two publishing companies interested in my first book for those reasons). Publishers often choose subpar binding and paper quality for profit reasons and they sell through corporate monstrosities like amazon (I think Jeff Bezos has enough money already so I avoid that). They also tend to try and fit books into little boxes (cutting out anything that does not fit into an established “market niche” or “marketing trend”) as they do not want to risk publishing anything unprecedented in the breadth and depth of topics covered as they have no metric to compare past similar books and their rates of sales. In other words, they wanted me to turn my first book into either a permaculture book or a recipe book, not both. I said no as the book is supposed to be a holistic journey from seed to table, and the book has been doing great, so they were wrong but that is how publishers are most of the time (lacking vision, stuck in old patterns, trying not to “rock the boat”).
Self publishing costs a lot of money, so while crowd funding will cover some of it, I still have to work a day job to save up for printing budget and hiring editor etc. That means I work 6 days a work at a physically demanding day job right now and do not have much time for writing until the winter when that job is seasonally shut down. So I take baby steps towards getting it done and doing it right but I have no set deadline as quality is important to me.
The people that are paid subscribers on here help a lot in enabling me to take steps towards writing full time once that can support my family rather than a day job.
All that said my first book (front cover pic and link shown at end of post above) is available for order in physical format now and it contains an abundance of recipes and suggestions for healthful ingredient cultivation and health benefits.
Hope that helps and thanks again for your interest in my book!
So looking forward to your Garden Food Forest book, could do with a bit more info and love the way you present stuff. I'm starting to grow one, a food forest on my allotment site, and as usual, I'm doing it the hard way by experimenting whilst only having a very basic idea of how to set about making it a success, very hit and miss, but very good to see how all the different plants behave. Luckily it's not a survival necessity, or I'd be up sh!t creek without a paddle😊
I'm also experimenting with fermenting foods, but haven't been that impressed with most of the flavours I've created, so I'll be trying some of your fermenting recipes! What an amazing fellow you are!
I still have a quite a few species profiles to do before I start compiling it but I am feeling really good about how holistic the book will be when it becomes manifest.
The book described in the post above is still in the process of being written but you can learn more about and purchase a hard copy of my first book here:
Thank you for ordering my book, I will add in some seeds for herbs shown in the pics above (like tulsi and lemon balm) saved from my garden with your book so you can get ready to grow some of the ingredients which I will focus on in my next book ;)
Any news on the book? Stumbled with joy over the carrot cake recipe and I need your book! The swap and healthy is something I always do with my cooking, but a book of suggestions and ingredients expansions would be very welcome!
Hi Caroline,
Thanks for the kind words and thanks for your interest in my upcoming book.
The news is I have published 33 (articles, essays, in depth species profiles and a handful of recipes ) posts that will become the backbone of my next book.
I still have at least 5 species profiles I need to add to that list and when that is complete (and I have had a chance to learn everything from the indigenous knowledge keepers I am working with in relation to the regenerative agroforestry practices of their ancestors) I will create a crowd funding page where pre-orders for physical copies of the book will be available.
I do not want to rush or pressure the few indigenous knowledge keepers I have developed a relationship with as building trust takes time and those retaining and practicing pre-colonial knowledge from those cultures is very rare now a days (as I covered in my recent post on “reconciliation day”.)
Just to get an idea of the depth of research and experimentation that goes into each species profile (that will each become a chapter in my next book) if you have not yet, check out these posts :
Apple:
https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/the-apple-inviting-the-pollinators
Oak:
https://open.substack.com/pub/gavinmounsey/p/oak-nurturers-protectors-and-sovereign?r=q2yay&utm_medium=ios
Hazelnut:
https://open.substack.com/pub/gavinmounsey/p/hazelnut-she-is-the-evoker-of-wisdom?r=q2yay&utm_medium=ios
The book will be a field guide and manual for creating scalable, biologically adaptable, temperate zone biodiversity enriching food production system that can last for centuries in a self - perpetuating state, so it takes a lot of research and hands on learning to do it right.
I self publish so that I can maintain the creative integrity, historical accuracy and choose the highest quality binding/paper materials for the book, as publishing companies often want to water down or completely cut out controversial information so they do not upset their old paradigm thinking motivated members (I turned down two publishing companies interested in my first book for those reasons). Publishers often choose subpar binding and paper quality for profit reasons and they sell through corporate monstrosities like amazon (I think Jeff Bezos has enough money already so I avoid that). They also tend to try and fit books into little boxes (cutting out anything that does not fit into an established “market niche” or “marketing trend”) as they do not want to risk publishing anything unprecedented in the breadth and depth of topics covered as they have no metric to compare past similar books and their rates of sales. In other words, they wanted me to turn my first book into either a permaculture book or a recipe book, not both. I said no as the book is supposed to be a holistic journey from seed to table, and the book has been doing great, so they were wrong but that is how publishers are most of the time (lacking vision, stuck in old patterns, trying not to “rock the boat”).
Self publishing costs a lot of money, so while crowd funding will cover some of it, I still have to work a day job to save up for printing budget and hiring editor etc. That means I work 6 days a work at a physically demanding day job right now and do not have much time for writing until the winter when that job is seasonally shut down. So I take baby steps towards getting it done and doing it right but I have no set deadline as quality is important to me.
The people that are paid subscribers on here help a lot in enabling me to take steps towards writing full time once that can support my family rather than a day job.
All that said my first book (front cover pic and link shown at end of post above) is available for order in physical format now and it contains an abundance of recipes and suggestions for healthful ingredient cultivation and health benefits.
Hope that helps and thanks again for your interest in my book!
Thank you so so much! Extraordinary work. Following and staying near.
So looking forward to your Garden Food Forest book, could do with a bit more info and love the way you present stuff. I'm starting to grow one, a food forest on my allotment site, and as usual, I'm doing it the hard way by experimenting whilst only having a very basic idea of how to set about making it a success, very hit and miss, but very good to see how all the different plants behave. Luckily it's not a survival necessity, or I'd be up sh!t creek without a paddle😊
I'm also experimenting with fermenting foods, but haven't been that impressed with most of the flavours I've created, so I'll be trying some of your fermenting recipes! What an amazing fellow you are!
Thanks so much for the kind comment Suzi! :)
I look forward to sharing the book with you.
I still have a quite a few species profiles to do before I start compiling it but I am feeling really good about how holistic the book will be when it becomes manifest.
How can I buy a hard copy of your book to ship to BC Canada... please :)
Exceptional photography as well very pleasing to the eye!
Greetings!
The book described in the post above is still in the process of being written but you can learn more about and purchase a hard copy of my first book here:
https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/reviews-for-recipes-for-reciprocity?
Hope this helps!
Thank you for your kind words about my photography.
thank you! I've ordered your first book and am excited to have it soon!
Thank you for ordering my book, I will add in some seeds for herbs shown in the pics above (like tulsi and lemon balm) saved from my garden with your book so you can get ready to grow some of the ingredients which I will focus on in my next book ;)
I will email you once the package is shipped out.
I'm in Canada - hoping you are also :)
Tulsi sounds lovely! Lemon Balm & mint in general, however, doesn't agree with me, but I so appreciate the thought :)
Yes, we are in southern Ontario.
Okay i`ll switch out the lemon balm for another medicinal herb.
Since you are in Canada, how about some heirloom cannabis seeds? (I have been working on breeding a cold hardy strain for organic growing outdoors)
(For more info on how we use that plant in the kitchen and in the medicine cabinet read: https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/raw-cannabis-in-the-kitchen-the-medicine? )
Fantastic! :)
Thank you! I’m checking out the links to your book! 📕
Sounds wonderful. A feast for the eyes!. Look forward to some real medicine. Inspiring stuff Gavin
It all looks pretty yummy but it isn't healthy for something who is para-sympathetic dominant like myself.
Glad you resonate with the content, always grateful to connect with a kindred spirit.
Thanks for the comment.