If you do much reading about permaculture, you’re going to find references to sixties counterculture, Stewart Brand, and the Whole Earth Catalog. Here’s how the genesis of the Whole Earth Catalog is described by Wikipedia:

Brand’s intent with the Catalog was to provide education and “access to tools” so a reader could “find his own inspiration, shape his own environment, and share his adventure with whoever is interested.”

And now, the available archives of all the Whole Earth publications are available online. For free. At WholeEarth.com. It’s an incredible treasure trove of ideas and resources, from the first Catalog pulished in 1968 to the more contemporary Whole Earth Review and CoEvolution Quarterly magazines. Here’s a screenshot of a page from the Millenium Whole Earth Catalog from 1994:

It takes some practice to get used to the interface, but there’s hours of delightful reading and browsing here. The beauty of the Whole Earth Catalog and its offshoots was that it was so much more than a collection of product reviews and essays. Stewart Brand and his merry band of authors have a knack for writing reviews that actually expand your knowledge of a subject. AND they give you the confidence and enthusiasm and confidence to take on new projects. This work holds up to the test of time; you’ll understand why this is so closely aligned with the practice of permaculture when you realize how much of this content is utterly relevant today.

It was, and now is again, a tremendous gift to our culture.

Link: Whole Earth Catalog: Access to Tools and Ideas.