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Page Count:216
Images:Black & White Images + Color Section
Dimensions: × × A
Publication Date:May 06, 2025
ISBN:9781774060032

Mulberries in the Rain

Growing Permaculture Plants for Food and Friendship

The plants in our world not only nourish and sustain us, they also root us within our human and ecological communities. Mulberries in the Rain explores these vital connections, combining evocative storytelling with detailed crop profiles, accessible growing guides, and permaculture design tools to mentor and inspire.

Book Awards

GOLD | 2026 Independent Press Award: Home & Garden

Earn up to 30 Points.

Connecting with plants—a guide to belonging, ecological resilience, and permaculture design

The plants in our world not only nourish and sustain us, they root us within our human and ecological communities. Mulberries in the Rain explores these vital connections, combining evocative storytelling with detailed crop profiles and permaculture design tools to mentor and inspire you.

Central to permaculture is the art of creating beneficial relationships—crafting inherently regenerative food systems modeled on nature. As growers, we tend to interpret this idea literally—think companion planting, edible ecosystems, and food forests. Where do social relations and community-building fit in?

Authors and permaculture experts Ryan Blosser and Trevor Piersol:

  • Demystify plant guilds, showing how to create biodiverse, low-maintenance ecological systems
  • Integrate tried-and-tested permaculture frameworks such as the Scale of Permanence and the Ecology of Self, with tools from economics, mental health, and other disciplines
  • Provide cultivation primers for permaculture plants classified according to function, identifying out- standing anchor plants, nitrogen fixers, barrier plants, beneficial attractors, and dynamic accumulators
  • Use plant narratives to illustrate how our inner landscapes are inextricably intertwined with the way we show up in the world.

This unique, beautifully illustrated handbook breaks new ground in social permaculture while providing a deep hands-on dive into creating thriving foodscapes. Required reading for anyone who seeks a deeper connection to people and place, and a more resilient future.

Table of Contents

Coming Soon

Accessibility Information

Product Page Accessibility Display

Conformance Status: EPUB Accessibility Compliant | WCAG 2.2 AAA Compliant
Screen Reader Compatibility: Designed for an optimal screen reader experience and fully accessible to persons with disabilities.

Content Enhancements

Alternative Text for Images: Descriptive text is provided for all images, ensuring visual content is fully accessible.
Table of Contents: Easy, direct navigation through a clean, structured table of contents.
Reading Order: Enforces a logical and consistent reading order for sequential, uninterrupted content consumption.
Page List: Includes an accurate page list for physical book page referencing and exact academic citation synchronization.
Structural Navigation: Built with a clear hierarchical layout for easy content traversal and section hopping.
Semantic Structure: Employs appropriate semantic markup to ensure absolute text clarity, meaning, and text-to-speech accuracy.

Reading Optimization

Unrestricted Formatting Preferences: User-configured assistive tools, custom typography scaling, line-spacing modifications, and native reading application options are never locked or disabled.
Color Independence: Textual layouts, data states, and links use distinct styles or symbols so that color changes are never the sole method of conveying critical information.
High-Contrast Design: Typography contrast levels comfortably exceed standard baseline parameters to reduce eye strain under any lighting environment.
Non-Visual Accessibility Support: All non-decorative editorial text and data visualizations are optimized to support reading entirely without sight.
Language Tagging: Embedded text attributes direct text-to-speech engines to use correct pronunciation defaults automatically.
Blank Page Removal: Unnecessary blank pages are completely eliminated to ensure a streamlined, smooth reading flow.

Book Extras and Resources

Meet the Author

Ryan Blosser, in a green beanie and blue hoodie, smiles outdoors on a bright day.

Ryan Blosser is a farmer, educator, permaculture designer, writer, and mental health professional. He is co-founder of the Shenandoah Permaculture Institute and owner/operator of Dancing Star Farm. In addition, he holds a teaching license in the State of Virginia and earned an MA and Ed.S. in clinical mental health counseling from James Madison University. Ryan served as Executive Director of Project GROWS, an educational non-profit farm dedicated to growing healthy communities. He also taught permaculture design and gardening in Staunton Public Schools before accepting a position with Waynesboro School, where he directs the continued development of the Waynesboro Education Farm. The intersection of his twin passions for growing food and helping people fuels his unique perspective on building community health and resilience through permaculture design. Ryan lives in Churchville, VA.

Trevor Piersol, a man with short hair and a beard, smiles while wearing a reddish-brown shirt, with trees in the background.

Trevor Piersol is a farmer, permaculture designer, and educator. He is co-founder of the Shenandoah Permaculture Institute and owner/operator of Wild Rose Orchard, a diversified pick-your-own orchard and nursery. Trevor is dedicated to the advancement of regenerative agriculture with a particular focus on perennial fruits, medicinal herbs, and easy-care native plants. He holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia and is a graduate of Allegheny Mountain Institute’s Food and Farming fellowship. A longtime self-confessed “plant geek” who loves spending time in the forests of Appalachia, foraging, wild crafting, and continually learning from nature, Trevor has been practicing, teaching, and writing about Permaculture Design since 2012. He lives in Mount Sidney, VA.

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About the Publisher

New Society Publishers has been a leader in sustainable living books since 1980. Our books are printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper to support the health of the planet.

B Corporation, SDG, and FSC Mixed Paper.
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