Also, as if there isn’t already enough reading to keep one busy for a few lifetimes, I highly recommend “Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food In Hard Times” by Steve Solomon. He was an original back to the lander, tried out the intensive gardening deal, found it too much work and too resource intensive for the slightly yield increase, and has now, 30 years on, written an excellent book that is the beginning of an agricultural education. A few reasons I enjoyed it immensely:
1) Peak Oil is only included as a “gimmick” idea, mentioned in passing. Sure he believes hard times are ahead, but what he’s saying applies to anyone trying to grow food “when it counts.” Peak Oil is just another reason to do it, not THE reason to do it, and thus the advice is better.
2) Much of what he says just seems intuitive. In fact the farmer’s (from 5 to 150 acres, low input or organic) I’ve run some of this by have all agreed, though some were also intrigued by what he had to say in some areas.
3) He starts of telling you he is going to be the grandfather you never had, namely what he is saying SHOULD be relatively common knowledge, but at the same time also relies on many generations to build it up and support it.
4) The bibliography begins by saying he can’t have possibly covered everything in his book, not even close to touching on every subject (he repeats this often), and recommends that if you really want to know your stuff, you should read all these books and all the books they cite, and put it into practice for a good while–except Jeavon’s book, he roundly rejects the Intensivist method.
5) The book gets better as you go, but as he points out, if you just read Chs. 1 and 2 you will still be able to do decently well.

Good sound advice for North America, the UK and many other similar places. Well written. And “just an introduction” but also a complete manual all in 350 pages.

But enough of that.

I’ll be interested to hear what comes of your conversations with Rollnick and Johnstone. The forum post was quite intriguing.