Cottage Grove

Thoughts from the desk at Kalapuya Books…

Store owner Hal, in his days as a legendary Hoedad, planted almost half a million trees while Betsy homesteaded with family on land miles from the nearest neighbors. They invested their love of the land in the naming of Kalapuya Books, an intention of respect to a time and people supplanted by our fast-paced world.
Kalapuya Books has kept strong links with people who work the land — these friends. We’ve made a priority of investing in books on sustainability like stories inspiring environmental awareness, handbooks on creating perennial food systems, guides for encouraging pollinators and diversity. We’re also proud to display organic and uniquely local seeds from Green Journey Seeds, a small company from the Veneta area.
This highlights one of the fortunes of living in this community, not just local interest in our natural resource base, but its wealth of local talent. Today, our focus is on Tao Orion, local author and expert on permaculture. Her book “Beyond the War on Invasive Species” is available here at the store.
Rethinking Restoration in this Time of Climate Chaos
We invite you to meet Tao Orion on April 11, a Thursday, at 4 p.m. She will speak at our adjacent space, The Axe & Fiddle, 657 E. Main St., Cottage Grove.
‘Beyond the War on Invasive Species’ Review by Mashall Gause
In “Beyond the War on Invasive Species” from Chelsea Green Publishing, Tao Orion thoughtfully demonstrates how to reframe our perception of opportunistic plants, such as dandelion or Scotch broom, from invaders to be eradicated at any cost, to resilient indicators of adaptive ecosystems in search of balance.
Meticulously researched with hundreds of citations and informed by Orion’s distinguished career in permaculture design, the book examines how chemical pesticides and short-sighted public policy have created a difficult-to-break cycle of ecological destabilization.
Orion elegantly illustrates how, rather than harming an ecosystem, so-called invasive species serve critical functions from providing nitrogen for depleted soils to attracting pollinators and filtering polluted watersheds. Continuously, we learn how many of the perceived problems in our landscapes can be turned into solutions when we challenge the unsustainable practices, such as monoculture farming and clearcutting, that create the conditions for invasion.
Through case studies from around the world, Orion shows how permaculture design principles, rooted in observation of dynamic natural systems, provide the means for ecological restoration of landscapes, whether they are in our cities, suburbs, farms, forests or coastlines.
After first laying out the ethical framework of permaculture that emphasizes caring for the earth, caring for people and investing our energy and resources into regenerative systems, Orion walks the reader through a rational process for putting these principles into action. From a practical approach to site assessment to realistic implementation techniques, readers can find the tools and inspiration needed to heal and nurture our precious ecosystem.
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