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    Miraculous Abundance: One Quarter Acre, Two French Farmers, and Enough Food to Feed the World
    Miraculous Abundance: One Quarter Acre, Two French Farmers, and Enough Food to Feed the World
    Miraculous Abundance: One Quarter Acre, Two French Farmers, and Enough Food to Feed the World
    Audiobook8 hours

    Miraculous Abundance: One Quarter Acre, Two French Farmers, and Enough Food to Feed the World

    Written by Perrine Hervé-Gruyer, Charles Hervé-Gruyer and Eliot Coleman

    Narrated by Tim Bruce

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    The Bec Hellouin model for growing food, sequestering carbon, creating jobs, and increasing biodiversity without using fossil fuels



    When Charles and Perrine Hervé-Gruyer set out to create their farm in an historic Normandy village, they had no idea just how much their lives would change. Neither one had ever farmed before. Charles had been circumnavigating the globe by sail, operating a floating school that taught students about ecology and indigenous cultures. Perrine had been an international lawyer in Japan. Each had returned to France to start a new life. Eventually, Perrine joined Charles in Normandy, and Le Ferme du Bec Hellouin was born. 



    Bec Hellouin has since become a celebrated model of innovative, ecological agriculture in Europe, connected to national and international organizations addressing food security, heralded by celebrity chefs as well as the Slow Food movement, and featured in the inspiring César and COLCOA award-winning documentary film, Demain ("Tomorrow"). Miraculous Abundance is the eloquent tale of the couple’s evolution from creating a farm to sustain their family to delving into an experiment in how to grow the most food possible, in the most ecological way possible, and create a farm model that can carry us into a post-carbon future—when oil is no longer moving goods and services, energy is scarcer, and localization is a must. 



    Today, the farm produces a variety of vegetables using a mix of permaculture, bio-intensive, four-season, and natural farming techniques--as well as techniques gleaned from native cultures around the world. It has some animals for eggs and milk, horses for farming, a welcome center, a farm store, a permaculture school, a bread oven for artisan breads, greenhouses, a cidery, and a forge. It has also become the site of research focusing on how small organic farms like theirs might confront Europe’s (and the world’s) projected food crisis. 



    But in this honest and engaging account of the trials and joys of their uncompromising effort, readers meet two people who are farming the future as much as they are farming their land. They envision farms like theirs someday being the hub for a host of other businesses that can drive rural communities—from bread makers and grain millers to animal care givers and other tradespeople. 



    Market farmers and home gardeners alike will find much in these pages, but so will those who’ve never picked up a hoe.  The couple’s account of their quest to design an almost Edenlike farm, hone their practices, and find new ways to feed the world is an inspiring tale. It is also a love letter to a future in which people increasingly live in rural communities that rely on traditional skills, locally created and purveyed goods and services, renewable energy, and greater local governance, but are also connected to the larger world.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherChelsea Green Publishing
    Release dateJul 20, 2017
    ISBN9781603587235
    Author

    Perrine Hervé-Gruyer

    Perrine Hervé-Gruyer has worked as an international lawyer and head of the legal department of a major company in Asia, and has volunteered with the High Commissioner for Refugees. When she turned thirty, Perrine radically changed lanes, and began taking courses in psychotherapy, specifically in relaxation therapy, publishing a book titled La Relaxation en Famille. With her husband, Charles, she created Le Ferme du Bec Hellouin. Perrine also serves as a Green Party representative with the Regional Parliament of Haute-Normandie, where she oversees a committee focusing on agriculture.

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    Reviews for Miraculous Abundance

    4.5/5

    54 ratings7 reviews

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    • 1/5
      Listen to this if you want to hear about how great fresh lettuce is for 8 hours, not if you want to learn anything
    • 5/5
      Incredibly insightful. Full of great science and ideas re agriculture, and also a meaningful reflection on the state of society, resource scarcity and how we can adapt for the future.
    • 3/5
      I didn't hate the book. It was OK. It was just a bit meandering and the point of the book from the outset wasn't quite clear. There's some stories, some related, some interesting, some irrelevant. The "quarter acre" part of the title is a little misleading. These people farm in several acres, and somewhere in the middle of the book discuss a nonetheless very interesting study they did on how much could be produced on a quarter acre of land using permaculture methods. But this wasn't an extremely large part of it he book. I expected to hear more detail on "what" and "how", but the book discusses more of their motivations and future ideas. All good stuff, just not what I expected based on the title. If the title were different such that expectations were more clearly set, I would have given it 4 stars. And if the information was more organized, I'd have given it 5. Not a bad book. Just expect to have to glean nuggets here and there rather than getting a deep dive on anything.
    • 5/5
      This is an exceptional book packed with pertinent and unifying information. And it helps me gain a grander vision of what I had hoped and planned to do in a community setting in my area of the United States. I look forward to going to the website and seeing more helpful information to put my plans into action more effectively. Thank you!
    • 5/5
      Most resourcefull book on theme of micro gardening and farming!
    • 5/5
      What a delightful book! Full of wonderful, applicable information and gardening inspiration.
    • 4/5
      I liked the story and description of the farm. There could be a bit less visions.