The Farmers' Handbook is a free permaculture eBook created by Chris Evans (UK) and Jakob Jespersen (Denmark), who have spent considerable time in Nepal, helping to develop locally appropriate methods and technologies that can help the people of Nepal live better lives, and sustainably so.

Although the information is specifically tailored for Himalayan conditions, almost everyone will find some useful ideas and information in this comprehensive work. The whole handbook is 50 chapters in 5 volumes – a total of 792 pages, including 170 pages of colour photos and illustrations.

Volume Two of The Farmers' Handbook covers the crucial permaculture zones 1 and 2 - those closest to the house, where permaculture cycles really come into play. This free eBook volume covers how to reuse waste water, dealing with sweeping, building a pit latrine, making compost, mulching and double digging in the garden, seed saving, Integrated Pest Management, using liquid manure safely, as well as keeping bees and livestock. It also includes a fascinating description of how to build a non-cement-based water system.

Aside from gleaning valuable ideas for your own region, Chris and Jakob produced this free eBook in the hope it will inspire others to do likewise for their own region and climate zone. This is the kind of information sharing that will move humanity onto a sustainable platform of peace and low carbon prosperity.

Please note: These free eBooks are for personal use and circulation (please just link to this page), but cannot be used for commercial purposes. They are copyright of Chris Evans and Jakob Jespersen. The Farmers' Handbook is also still in a draft form and any suggestions of improvement are welcomed. Chris has the original editable version – if people are interested to translate this production into another language, or offer other suggestions, please contact Chris on: cevans (at) gn.apc.org. The original downloads may be found here