Specialised gardening methods Books

Book SynopsisFirst published in French as Alternatives au gazon in 2011.Trade Review"This tour de force, published in its original 2011 French edition as Alternatives au Gazon, is an expert and inspiring manual on different ways of carpeting a garden with rewarding and distinctive waterwise groundcover. -- Alasdair Aird The Mediterranean Gardener No 84 "Well-researched and scholarly, this book is also packed with practical horticultural advice that is rooted on Filippi's extensive experience of making gardens and studying landscapes. It would be an invaluable resource for anyone struggling to create green spaces in hot, dry climates." -- John Hoyland Gardens Illustrated "An inspiring work on designing with appropriate and stylish plants to create water-conserving landscapes." -- Jeff Rosendale Pacific Horticulture "This is a generously illustrated, thought-provoking and practical book. It is a must-have for anybody interested in creating dry and low-maintenance gardens." -- Jackie Herald Garden Design Journal "What I love about this book is that it will sit on the shelf quite comfortably with Beth Chatto's The Dry Garden, and a select few books on Mediterranean-style gardening, to be referred to time and time again for inspiration. " -- Robert Brett RHS The Plantsman

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Book SynopsisMediterranean garrigue landscapes are extraordinarily beautiful: alternating mounds of silver and green, textured leaves, flashes of colour and intoxicating scents combine to delight the senses and rival any cultivated garden with half the work. This book offers inspiration and expert advice on growing the plants and adopting a new more natural way of gardening. Mediterranean plants are diverse and adapted to a wide range of environments and weather conditions. They are of course ideally suited to regions which experience long periods of seasonal drought but many will also withstand periods of high rainfall and extreme cold making this book essential reading for temperate-zone gardeners seeking the Mediterranean look. Some understanding of plant ecology is essential for success and Filippi shares his expert knowledge acquired from decades of research. How a plant interacts with its environment, other plants, and other living things indicates what it needs to flourish in a garden setting. Filippi's pioneering approach makes for a much closer relationship between gardener and nature that puts few demands on natural resources. Over 400 fascinating photographs capture the effortless beauty of natural plant communities and show gardeners how different gardens can be.

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Book SynopsisAll gardeners and farmers should be plant breeders, says author Carol Deppe. Developing new vegetable varieties doesn't require a specialized education, a lot of land, or even a lot of time. It can be done on any scale. It's enjoyable. It's deeply rewarding. You can get useful new varieties much faster than you might suppose. And you can eat your mistakes. Authoritative and easy-to-understand, Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties: The Gardener's and Farmer's Guide to Plant Breeding and Seed Saving is the only guide to plant breeding and seed saving for the serious home gardener and the small-scale farmer or commercial grower. Discover: how to breed for a wide range of different traits (flavor, size, shape, or color; cold or heat tolerance; pest and disease resistance; and regional adaptation) how to save seed and maintain varieties how to conduct your own variety trials and other farm- or garden-based research how to breed for performance under organic or sustainable growing methods In this one-size-fits-all world of multinational seed companies, plant patents, and biotech monopolies, more and more gardeners and farmers are recognizing that they need to "take back their seeds." They need to save more of their own seed, grow and maintain the best traditional and regional varieties, and develop more of their own unique new varieties. Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties: The Gardener's and Farmer's Guide to Plant Breeding and Seed Saving shows the way, and offers an exciting introduction to a whole new gardening adventure.Trade ReviewReview by John F. Swenson, Volunteer--Plant Information Office, Chicago Botanic Garden There is nothing quite like this book in the world's literature--it is the Hope diamond of horticulture. In the field of edible plants, Carol Deppe is a modest legend who has been a matchmaker and midwife to many new vegetables. In this book, Ms. Deppe explains how she and a few other masters of plant breeding have achieved their success. She encourages the rest of us to try our hands and hearts--and patience--at producing our own culinary gems. Ms. Deppe, who combines a doctorate in plant genetics with insatiable curiosity and soil-stained hands, will continue to inspire growers to participate in a creative process as ancient as farming itself. This book is an intense and readable exposition of the science and art of plant breeding, which will inspire and inform any reader. Even the casual reader who doesn't take up the challenge of developing unique garden specialties will become aware of humanity's debt to our predecessors, who turned wildlings into the organisms that can feed all of us. Ms. Deppe deserves a special pedestal in the company of her kindred spirits for this book, a revised version of a work originally published in 1993. In Good Tilth- “Every serious organic gardener and farmer needs to read this book. Even casual gardeners—in fact, anyone interested in our food supply, whether in its production or its consumption—should find it fascinating and inspiring. No one who reads it will ever look at vegetables or other plant foods in exactly the same way again. Joining Carol Deppe on her plant-breeding adventures throughout these pages is a privilege and a delight. Her mastery of genetics, far-ranging experience and contagious passion in plant-breeding, and wonderful talent for conveying it all through the written word, make her book as unique as her vegetable varieties. The food supply of the future can indeed be flavorful, nutritious, interesting, and sustainable, if we amateur plant breeders learn the lessons she shares.”"Any gardener interested in vegetable plant breeding must have this book. It is the standard reference. But it is also much more than that. Deppe's grasp of the intricacies of plant life will enlighten food lovers as well as general readers. Thank you Carol Deppe!"--Michael MacCaskey, editor-in-chief, NationalGardening.com"Deppe invites you on a journey of discovery to reclaim the lost lore of our ancestors, to relearn the traditions of seed-saving and seed-breeding and to take back control of the seed. Within you will find information not available in other garden books or anywhere else. Learn how to design trials, why and how far apart to isolate varieties for purity, how to understand and appreciate the subtleties of selection and why the detailed artistry of classical plant breeding makes most genetic engineering look like the work of simpletons. Here is a woman who knows seeds, who knows the ineffable joys working with them brings, and who has penetrated deeply into the mysteries of their inner workings. She can be your guide as you chart your own path to restore and renew a time-honored tradition one experiment at a time."--C. R. Lawn, Fedco Seeds"The gardening book of the decade." --Ken Allen"So new and unique that it could truly be called one of a kind . . . [it's] unlike any other book on the market . . . Certain to change the way many growers see the act of gardening."--Don Parker, Publisher, The Growing Edge"Deppe has done Luther Burbank one better. She has bred many significant new varieties and now has provided the instructions for others to follow her lead. Great Work. Great Book."--Suzanne Ashworth, author of Seed to Seed

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Book SynopsisResidences occupy a pivotal position in Japanese architecture. As an extension of the residential space, the Japanese courtyard garden is unique, featuring symbolic garden elements and designs that date back to centuries. This book is a collection of more than 30 residential courtyard design works interpreted for the modern-day home, sometimes extending beyond the traditional defines of a Japanese courtyard. It not only selects a wealth of pictures, which shows their visual beauty, but also provides technical drawings to reflect the design in better detail. The Japanese courtyard pursues the ultimate in being an area of calm, held in nature's embrace, where one may reflect and rest in quietude to contemplate the deeper meaning of life. And every rock arrangement, tree placement, element/nature symbolised, and even scenery framed is meticulously thought out to achieve this. This book seeks to inspire residential and landscape designers to behold nature within a home with fresh eyes and to let rest old methods as new connections and perceptions are sought, in order to build a different kind of residential space that draws on the essence of a Japanese courtyard.

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Book Synopsis"Anyone purchasing a greenhouse should read this book first." -Home Greenhouse Magazine Do you want homegrown tomatoes in the dead of winter? Or to grow succulents and cacti in the coldest parts of the world? All you need is a greenhouse. In The Greenhouse Gardener's Manual, Roger Marshall shares the secrets of successfully growing vegetables, fruits, flowers, and houseplants in a well-maintained greenhouse. You'll learn how to choose the right design, create a healthy environment, use the space for propagation, and maintain the greenhouse year-round. Marshall also includes a plant directory of the 70 best fruits and vegetables and the 88 best ornamental plants for growing in a greenhouse.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A complete toolkit for the gardener looking to create a prairie-inspired home landscape." --Horticulture "A wonderful book for the gardener interested in natural garden design, native plants, plant communities, ecoregions, plant sociability, and more." --The Real Dirt, Garden Club of America "Gives gardeners the tools they need to confidently 'prairie up' their landscape, whether its a garden bed or an entire yard. " --My Northern GardenTable of ContentsChapter 1. Bringing the Prairie Home Chapter 2. Learning about Native Plants and Plant Communities Chapter 3. Planning, Installing, and Managing the Garden Chapter 4. Designing the Garden Chapter 5. Resources A Candid Q&A Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisDesigning, creating, and maintaining a beautiful garden doesn''t need to be time-consuming!Ideal for first time gardeners, Grow Low Maintenance contains everything you need to create a low-fuss garden without compromising on design or beauty. Short on time and want to keep things simple? This gardening book is full of low maintenance plants and techniques, featuring tips and tricks to keep your backyard in top shape with minimal effort! Inside the guide, you will find:-Mini-profiles of easy-care plants including pictures, characteristics, and essential needs-Simple tips and techniques, from choosing a weed control to sowing seeds and planting between paving stones-Essential know-how for minimising maintenance tasks including weeding, watering, and feeding Enjoy the fruits of your gardening!The perfect reference book for beginners or more experienced gardeners looking for easy management hacks, this simple guide debunks the myth that gardening requires hours of hardwork every week. Learn from the experts how to minimise watering, make the most of vertical gardening, and reduce the need to weed. Packed with practical, jargon-free know-how, this easy-to-use reference book includes everything from herb gardening to micro-woodlands and low maintenance water features. Short on space? This gardening guide will teach you which crops are suitable for small easy-care veg beds. Looking to attract animals to your garden? Find instructions on creating your own wildlife pond. Don''t have access to a lawn mower? Now you can transform your lawn into a perennial meadow! Complete the Series: For more expert advice from DK, the UK''s leading practical gardening publisher, discover the Grow series. There you will find know-how about how to garden more sustainably in Grow Eco-Gardening, how to fend off unwanted visitors in Grow Pests & Diseases, how to grow with limited space in Grow Containers, and much more!

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Book SynopsisThis book is for all gardeners (be they amateur or professional), garden designers and landscape architects, who want to learn how to create and maintain a protective environment suitable for any type of plant they wish to grow. From large scale glasshouses, shelters and living boundaries, to modest cold frames and greenhouses, this book will equip readers with the knowledge to manage their protected space successfully and sustainably. Coverage includes: managing light, heat and humidity; the climate future and sustainable practices; soil husbandry and alternatives, including hydroponics; health and hygiene in protected spaces and finally, understanding biodiversity and encouraging natural allies. Industry insights from experts and professionals at internationally renowned gardens and leading manufacturers, as well as exceptional research from NASA, MIT and other leading universities, explore what's happening at the cutting edge of horticulture and how this knowledge can be applied inTrade ReviewAn all-encompassing guide. -- Robin Lock * Head of Living Landscapes, The Eden Project *Guy Deakins guide is far more than the obvious greenhouses and cloches. He also covers creating micro climates with the use of hedges, fences and walls - particularly important as windbreaks - cultivating soil to give plants the best chance, and how to garden more sustainably. Growing in polytunnels, greenhouses or under cloches can also give the perfect conditions for pest and diseases, so there's guidance on how to avoid these and what to do if they strike. Includes lots of pictures and 'Ask the Expert' sections along with highlighted hints and warnings make the information easy to understand. -- The Chatty Gardener * The Chatty Gardener *

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Book SynopsisHow to enjoy thriving fragrant plants in your garden, on your balcony or in your courtyard. Smell the roses! Savour the lavender!Sweet, rich orange blossom; heady, aromatic daphne; sharp, refreshing mint; or subtle, alluring roses - nature's perfumes are a wonder. They tantalise the senses, mark the seasons and evoke memories of people, places and occasions. Fragrant plants - from lovely flowers, vines and herbs to showy shrubs and trees - offer some of the purest joys of the garden. And there's a beautiful selection to choose from. Whether you live in the warm tropics or in a cool climate, whether you have a large backyard, a narrow passageway or a compact balcony/courtyard, there's a scented plant to suit your place. This book brings together the top 50 fragrant plants to stimulate your senses. With information about soil needs, feeding and climate, and stunning, inspirational photos, this handy reference puts growing fragrant plants within reach of everyone, whatever your gar

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Book SynopsisDon’t throw out your kitchen scraps — grow them! Discover how you can transform leftover pomegranate seeds, mango pits, and dried bits of gingerroot into thriving plants. From the common carrot to the exotic cherimoya, you’ll be amazed at the gardening possibilities hidden in the foods you eat.

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Book Synopsis“Take Clausen's tips, and you just might convince the deer to eat at a restaurant down the street.” —Good House Keeping Are deer destroying your garden? There is a solution, and it doesn’t involve fencing, barriers, or chemicals. Keeping your garden safe from deer is as simple as choosing the right plants. In 50 Beautiful Deer-Resistant Plants, perennial plant expert Ruth Rogers Clausen highlights the best, most versatile plants that deer simply don’t eat. The plant choices include annuals and perennials, shrubs, bulbs, grasses, and herbs. For each suggested plant, Clausen shares helpful growing and design tips. This practical, authoritative, full-color guide is a must-have solution to a common garden problem.

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Book Synopsis“This practical guide is lush with clear, step-by-step advice.” —Real Simple Whether you are a new gardener or a green thumb, The Well-Tended Perennial Garden is here to help you successfully plan, plant, and tend your garden. This hardworking guide includes thorough details on the essential practices of perennial care—included deadheading, pinching, and thinning—along with growing information for specific species and cultivars, on-trend garden design advice, a monthly planting and maintenance schedule, and details on native plants and gardening for wildlife. The Well-Tended Perennial Garden will be your ally in the quest for a beautiful, well-maintained garden.

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Book SynopsisBen Raskin’s wide-ranging work in varied locations makes The Woodchip Handbook a really useful overview of the possibilities afforded by woodchip. Charles Dowding, author of Charles Dowding’s No Dig Gardening The first and only complete guide to sourcing and using woodchip – an abundant, inexpensive and ecologically sustainable material – for savvy growers and landscapers at any scale, from farm to garden to greenhouse. The Woodchip Handbook is the essential guide to the many uses of woodchip both in regenerative agriculture and horticulture. Author Ben Raskin, Head of Horticulture and Agroforestry at the Soil Association, draws on his extensive practical experience using woodchip, provides the latest research from around the world and presents inspiring case studies from innovative farmers. The book explores and unlocks the tremendous potential of woodchip to enhance soil health and plant growth: As a natural mulch for weed suppression, temperature buffering and water conservation As a growing medium for propagating plants As a decomposing source of warmth for hotbeds in the greenhouse or hoop house As a carbon-rich compost ingredient that supports beneficial fungi and microorganisms As a powerful soil health booster when applied as small-sized ramial chipped wood As an ideal substrate for growing many kinds of edible or medicinal mushrooms As a sustainable, versatile and durable material for foot paths and ornamental landscaping Some of these techniques, like mulching – or the renewable harvest potential from coppicing and pollarding trees – have been around forever. Yet there is always new science to be discovered, such as the role that salicylic acid from willow woodchip can play in preventing tree diseases or promoting livestock health when used as a bedding material. Whether you are a commercial grower or farmer, a permaculture practitioner or a serious home gardener producing your own fruit and vegetables, The Woodchip Handbook will show you how to get the most out of this readily available and renewable material. I did not know the world needed a whole book on woodchip, but from the first chapter I could not put this book down. Alys Fowler, author of The Edible Garden and The Thrifty GardenerTrade Review‘In a world desperate for solutions that will allow us to get off the agro-chemical treadmill while tackling the climate challenges ahead, woodchip steps forward. Working with Ben, I’ve learned much over the last few years, and am amazed by the power of this humble resource. This trailblazing book will be invaluable in firing both our imagination and understanding of woodchip’s potential to grow and farm better.’—Helen Browning, chief executive, Soil Association‘I did not know the world needed a whole book on woodchip, but from the first chapter I could not put this book down. Raskin’s thorough, informed and well-referenced research is going to be a must for anyone who cares about soil. Woodchip has such potential to help us create more local, sustainable ways of growing, and this handbook is the resource needed to dispel myths and find the best method and scale for everyone from gardeners to large-scale farms.’—Alys Fowler, author of The Edible Garden and The Thrifty Gardener‘I use woodchip quite extensively in my garden and have for decades. It has been an important part of increasing our soil organic matter and carbon storage. The Woodchip Handbook addresses its many uses and all the technical questions of how to acquire and manage it. If you want to learn more about woodchip for your yard or farm, look no further.’—Eric Toensmeier, author of The Carbon Farming Solution and Perennial Vegetables‘Ben Raskin’s wide-ranging work in varied locations makes The Woodchip Handbook a really useful overview of the possibilities afforded by woodchip. It’s good for soil and good for plants, once you understand how it can work best for you, as he explains in this book.’—Charles Dowding, author of Charles Dowding’s No Dig Gardening‘In a time when the farming and gardening literature seems to be overflowing with information about soil mineralization with rock dusts, cover crop smorgasbords, foliar feeding, liquid carbon pathways and rotational grazing, it is great relief to finally have, in one place, a treasure that describes the missing piece of the complete soil creation process: coarse woody debris! You won’t find a better, more complete summary of the how, the why and the overall importance of woodchip in the process of building the ideal fertile soil for your garden, homestead or farm. Bravo, Ben Raskin!’—Mark Shepard, author of Restoration Agriculture‘Ben Raskin's latest book, on the many, many uses and benefits of woodchip, is the definitive guide to the subject. It’s something every climate-change-savvy gardener must read.’—Kim Stoddart, editor, The Organic Way magazine; coauthor of The Climate Change Garden‘A real “grower’s” guide: comprehensive, informed and, quite possibly, revolutionary. Raskin is a practitioner of soil, and woodchip is his medicine. Through astute observation and keen experimentation, he unravels the burgeoning possibilities of woodchip for soil health and regeneration. The secret to woodchip, Raskin says, is fungi: “Woodchip without fungi is like a sea without fish.” If the future of growing is fungi, this book is the prototype manual for practical application of its unique power.’—Matt Rees-Warren, garden designer and author of The Ecological Gardener‘Ben Raskin covers all the bases when it comes to woodchip. This very useful and abundant by-product improves the soil and the environment. Ben presents a wealth of information in a logical, clear and engaging manner. I’ve been a longtime user of woodchip; after reading this book, I will begin using even more of it in even more ways.’—Lee Reich, author of The Pruning Book and Weedless Gardening‘Woodchip is widely available in most cities and has much potential in container growing – as a sustainable source of nutrients, as an ingredient to help sustain the structure of compost over many years and as a brilliant mulch for fruit trees and other perennials. At last, thanks to Ben Raskin, we have the first authoritative, well-researched book on the subject, packed full of useful information and advice. A superb resource for anyone interested in the magic of woodchip.’—Mark Ridsdill Smith, author of The Vertical Veg Guide to Container Gardening‘Before picking up this book, I considered woodchip simply a nice thing to have around as mulch, but the deep dive Ben Raskin offers really makes the case that this material is an essential and focal part of so many aspects when stewarding healthy plants, soil, livestock and fungi. Readers will find the research and case studies fascinating, and the extensive details helpful in answering some of the most commonly asked questions. In the end, if we are to get serious in the act of regenerative farming and ecosystem repair, it's clear that woodchip will play a critical role and it’s time we get more serious about utilizing it.’—Steve Gabriel, Wellspring Forest Farm; author of Silvopasture‘Tree ecosystems create long-term soil fertility. We tap into lignin potential and fungal doings in our own gardens and orchards by utilizing woodchip in a multitude of ways. Ben Raskin delves into the practical nuance of ramial chipped wood and more to inspire humus building efforts everywhere. Regenerate your soil with the woodchip!'—Michael Phillips, author of The Holistic Orchard and Mycorrhizal Planet‘This is a timely piece of work given the dramatic rise, access and popularity of woodchip technologies. Ben Raskin has done the subject proud: well researched and with a pragmatic approach, there is something for growers and gardeners of all shapes and sizes here. Woodchip is able to offer truly sustainable solutions to some of the problems facing horticulture, in particular the replacement of peat-based products. With woodchip we can now grow our own fertile soil and substrates. This manual gives some great information towards that goal.’—Iain Tolhurst, Tolhurst Organics‘Agriculture has been reinventing itself regularly over the past ten thousand years. The Woodchip Handbook is a practical guide for the next step in that transformation in our backyard gardens and orchards as well as on our largest farms. It’s also a great read. Let the trees lead the way!’—John Bunker, orchardist and author of Apples and the Art of Detection

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Book SynopsisEdible Forest Gardens is a groundbreaking two-volume work that spells out and explores the key concepts of forest ecology and applies them to the needs of natural gardeners in temperate climates. Volume I lays out the vision of the forest garden and explains the basic ecological principles that make it work. In Volume II, Dave Jacke and Eric Toensmeier move on to practical considerations: concrete ways to design, establish, and maintain your own forest garden. Along the way they present case studies and examples, as well as tables, illustrations, and a uniquely valuable "plant matrix" that lists hundreds of the best edible and useful species. Taken together, the two volumes of Edible Forest Gardens offer an advanced course in ecological gardening--one that will forever change the way you look at plants and your environment.Trade ReviewBookwatch- Don't expect the usual light gardening guide reading, Volume 1 of Edible Forest Gardens: Ecological Vision and Theory for Temperate Climate Permaculture packs in serious surveys of the ancient practice of forest gardening, which offers homeowners and gardeners a new way of viewing modern home landscaping and nature. Useful plants can be blended to supply daily needs, the land can be 'untamed' to return support to healthy populations of plant and animal species. Years of experience goes into Edible Forest Gardens; this first volume provides a review of the ecological and cultural foundations for recognizing forest gardening as a viable ecological alternative in modern North America. Dave Jacke runs his own ecological design firm consulting on permaculture and landscapes around the world; his co-author Eric Toensmeier founded the former Perennial Vegetable Seed Company and has worked with the New England Small Farm Institute. A highly recommended pick; especially for college-level and serious collections on permaculture and horticulture.Plants and Gardens News--Patricia Jonas, Brooklyn Botanic Garden- But even if you grow enough organic food to feed yourself, are you doing what's best for the ecosystem? "Many drawbacks of modern agriculture persist in organic farming and gardening," Dave Jacke and Eric Toensmeier write in Edible Forest Gardens, because they do not "mimic the structure of natural systems, only selected functions." Even Quail Hill Farm members are still harvesting mostly annual crops grown in plowed fields. Jacke and Toensmeier offer a radical vision for stepping out of the conceptual continuum of conventional agriculture and organic farming. They point to the productivity of temperate forests--which is twice that of agricultural land in terms of net calories--and take that as their design model. Building on Robert Hart's classic book, Forest Gardening, and incorporating permaculture practice, Jacke and Toensmeier propose a garden where many species of edible perennial plants are grown together in a design that mimics forest structure and function. Edible Forest Gardens is an ambitious two-volume work whose influence should extend well beyond ecologists and permaculturists and, in the best of all outcomes, reach into the mainstream. Volume one lays out the "Ecological Vision and Theory for Temperate Climate Permaculture," and it also includes a very useful analysis of existing forest gardens (one only 50 by 90 feet) and a tantalizing 30-page appendix of "top 100" species. As of this writing, volume two, which focuses on practical design and maintenance considerations, is just being released, but on the evidence of volume one, I have no doubt the set will be an indispensable reference for gardeners and farmers for decades. "When people have food gardens," the authors write, "they usually are tucked out of sight and out of view of the neighbors. They rely on external inputs of energy, nutrients, insect and disease controls, and water and are based primarily on annual plants. For some reason, growing food is considered unsightly, unseemly, possibly antisocial, and in some towns and cities, illegal! The tremendous infrastructure we have built in our cities and towns reflects a culture and horticulture of separation and isolation." The consequences of such attitudes about growing food have been disastrous, and each of us can contribute to the repair effort. Jacke and Toensmeier say that the principles of forest gardening can be applied even in a tiny urban yard or on a rooftop. Containers of edible perennials and annuals on a rooftop are not most farmers' idea of agriculture, but I grow nearly 20 percent of the authors' top 100 species and intend to look for ways to take this small start much further. And what about chocolate and oranges? Clearly there are foods that cannot be grown in a temperate forest. "We do not expect forest gardening to replace regular gardening or the foods we know and love," the authors admit. "Just how far we can take forest gardening in supplying food for ourselves is not yet determined." Finding the answer may be the most optimistic work gardeners and farmers can do."These will be the benchmark works in the field for many years. The level of scholarship and meticulous footnoting is unsurpassed by anything I've seen in permaculture literature."--Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia's GardenTable of ContentsList of Tables and Figures Preface Introduction: An Invitation to Adventure What Is an Edible Forest Garden? Gardening LIKE the Forest vs. Gardening IN the Forest Where Can You Grow a Forest Garden? The Garden of Eden: It Sounds Great, But Is It Practical? An Invitation to Adventure 1: The Forest and the Trees The Primal Forest: A Remembrance Gardening the Forest Forest Remnants Feature Article 1: Natives and Exotics: Definitions and Questions Suburban Ecology Gardening in the Industrial Image Lessons Learned Box 1-1: Shifting the Burden to the Intervenor 2: Visions of Paradise Study of the Household: Ecology Defined Tales of Mimicry Advantages of Forest Mimicry The Limitations of Forest Mimics Spanning the Gamut: Images of Forest Gardens Goals of Forest Gardening Revision--the Garden of Eden? Box 2-1: The Principle of Functional Interconnection Case Study 1: Charlie's Garden Part Two: Ecology: Form and Function in the Forest Garden 3: The Five Elements of Forest Architecture Vegetation Layers Feature Article 2: With All These Layers, What Do I Grow in the Shade? Soil Horizons Density Patterning Diversity Summary Case Study 2: Robert's Garden 4: Social Structure: Niches, Relationships and Communities Species, Species Niches, and Species Relationships Multi-Species Interactions: Frameworks of Social Structure Feature Article 3: Natives and Exotics, Opportunists and Invasives Social Structure Design: Strategies and Anchors Chapter Summary 5: Making A Living In The Dark: Structures of the Underground Economy The Anatomy of Self-Renewing Fertility Feature Article 4: Parent Materials: The Soil's Nutritional Constitution Plant Roots: Engines of the Underground Economy The Soil Food Web Summary: Dabbling In The Underground Economy 6: Succession: Four Perspectives on Vegetation Dynamics Classical Linear Succession and Climax Progressive Succession to Shifting Mosaic Steady State Patch Dynamics: Out of Line and Out of Balance A "Unified Oldfield Theory": Successional Causes Feature Article 5: "Invasive" Plants and the Unified Oldfield Theory Succession Design: Using the Four Models Summary: The Simultaneity of the Four Models Case Study 3: E.F. Schumacher Forest Garden Conclusion: Elements, Dynamics, and Desired Conditions Appendices Appendix 1: Forest Gardening's "Top 100" Species Appendix 2: Plant Hardiness Zone Maps Appendix 3: Publications and Organizations Bibliography Glossary General Index

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Book SynopsisForest gardening is a way of working with Nature which is not only productive and requires minimal maintenance, but creates great environmental benefits. As Herbert Girardet says in his Foreword, "Robert Hart was a rare person . . . For decades he waged a battle for life, patiently writing books and articles and quietly planting trees on his small farm in Shropshire. Robert created a magnificent forest garden which had a profound influence on the way people cultivated their land. It was a garden dedicated to human needs for fruit, nuts, vegetables and plant medicines. But it was at the same time a celebration of the myriad interactions of life, based on profound observations, both intuitive and scientific, of how different life forms interact in order to stimulate and support one another." Table of ContentsForeword by Herbert Girardet Prologue: The Mini-forest 1. Towards a Forest Economy 2. Unity and Diversity 3. Health & Wholeness 4. Personal Pilgrimage 5. The Wenlock Edge Project 6. Plant Life: Its Infinite Potentialities 7. Design & Maintenance 8. Water and No Water 9. Stored up Sunshine: Energy Yesterday and Tomorrow 10. The Thinking Hand: Skills of the Craftsman 11. Agroforestry Against World Want 12. Green is Real 13. Where Do We Go From Here? Epilogue: A New Twist in the Evolutionary Spiral Appendix 1 Recommended Species: Temperate Appendix 2 Recommended Species: Tropical and Sub-tropical References Suggested further reading Recommended suppliers in the UK Membership organisations Index

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Book SynopsisAt Clay Bottom Farm, author Ben Hartman and staff practice kaizen, or continuous improvement, cutting out more waste—of time, labor, space, money, and more—every year and aligning their organic production more tightly with customer demand. Applied alongside other lean principles originally developed by the Japanese auto industry, the end result has been increased profits and less work. In this field-guide companion to his award-winning first book, The Lean Farm, Hartman shows market vegetable growers in even more detail how Clay Bottom Farm implements lean thinking in every area of their work, including using kanbans, or replacement signals, to maximize land use; germination chambers to reduce defect waste; and right-sized machinery to save money and labor and increase efficiency. From finding land and assessing infrastructure needs to selling perfect produce at the farmers market, The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables digs deeper into specific, tested methods for waste-free farming that not only help farmers become more successful but make the work more enjoyable. These methods include: Using Japanese paper pot transplanters Building your own germinating chambers Leaning up your greenhouse Making and applying simple composts Using lean techniques for pest and weed control Creating Heijunka, or load-leveling calendars for efficient planning Farming is not static, and improvement requires constant change. The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables offers strategies for farmers to stay flexible and profitable even in the face of changing weather and markets. Much more than a simple exercise in cost-cutting, lean farming is about growing better, not cheaper, food—the food your customers want.Trade Review“Ben Hartman and I share similar approaches to growing vegetables; we both run highly productive farms using efficient techniques and well-designed space and procedures. With this book, however, I believe Ben has taken our craft to new levels with fresh ideas and different strategies. The information here provides incredible value for any small-scale farmer seeking a compact, yet profitable farm model. I highly recommend this book.”—Jean-Martin Fortier, author of The Market Gardener“All revolutions require a leap in consciousness plus a set of daily practices to sustain and gain the full benefits of the new consciousness. Ben Hartman is that rare person who could describe the lean farming revolution (in The Lean Farm) and then provide proven practices from his own farm in his new book, The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables, to help fellow revolutionaries grow good food in a lean way for the long term. Together these volumes describe all you need to know for a sustainable lean revolution on your farm. The rest is up to you.”—Jim Womack, founder and senior advisor, Lean Enterprise Institute“This manual of growing follows the lean principles of Ben and Rachel’s farm, its pages are jam-packed with useful advice for efficient organic growing. ‘Lean’ is a great paradigm for directing your time and energy into a fully effective approach, whether in a large garden or small farm. I was fascinated to read all the examples of seeding, planting, and harvesting, and the gorgeous photos show the high productiveness of these methods.”—Charles Dowding, coauthor of No Dig Organic Home & Garden “Everyone strives for efficiency in vegetable farming, but Ben Hartman has actually achieved it. In his lean farming books, he provides a clear-headed approach to achieving efficiency of space, time, and resources. Every vegetable farmer who wants to be profitable and enjoy the farming life would do well to read these books closely.”—Lynn Byczynski, author of Market Farming Success and The Flower Farmer“Ben Hartman is a true innovator for the small farm. The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables takes the lean techniques from his first book even further with new innovations and greater detail. I have been eagerly awaiting this addendum so that I can start trying these practices on my farm. This book is a must for any market grower who wants to push the boundaries of profitability while finding life balance at the same time.”—Curtis Stone, author of The Urban Farmer“Ben Hartman clearly illustrates how the continual process of lean thinking can benefit every farm. From targeted market planning driven by what customers truly value, to effective and efficient production from planning through harvest, and ultimately to putting money into your bank account, this book is full of practical and inventive ideas that will help your farm prosper.”—Richard Wiswall, author of The Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook “This is a great book on the methods that make Clay Bottom Farm a successful compact farm, explaining the thinking behind those methods. Ben gives clear, detailed descriptions of the day-to-day systems, and further illustrates the concepts he first laid out in The Lean Farm. This companion, The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables, reveals a refined system that makes a great jumping off point for any aspiring grower, and gives seasoned growers ideas for how to improve their own systems.”—Josh Volk, author of Compact Farms“Another gem from Ben Hartman. The Lean Farm introduced a dynamic new way of thinking about small farm businesses, pointing us in the right direction. Now, The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables gives us the detail, specifics, and tricks of the trade that show us how to execute lean strategies on a small farm. Ben is a key entrepreneur in diverse, sustainable, small farm agriculture, and is emerging as the Midwest’s heir apparent to Eliot Coleman. The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables is an indispensable resource for all small farmers, new or experienced, young or old.”—Steve Hallett, professor of horticulture, Purdue University; author of The Efficiency Trap; coauthor of Life without Oil“Applications of lean principles to a new arena are often confusing and shallow. The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables is clear and deep. This book is based on real-world experience, drawing on lean principles to develop a radically new approach to farming that gets you more for less.”—Jeffrey Liker, author of The Toyota Way“I’m an impatient reader but always make time for Ben’s writings. Every time I found myself wondering about a nugget of detail in The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables it would appear within the next paragraph or two. This book fully explores production details that most authors skim over, and in vegetable production—as in any craft—details matter.”—Pete Johnson, founder, Pete’s Greens, Craftsbury, Vermont “If you liked The Lean Farm, you’ll love The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables. Ben’s first book was the big picture of what lean principles are and how they can be used to make farms more efficient. This book focuses in for the close-up, with specific examples of how to apply lean principles to vegetable farming and case studies from the author’s own farm experience. Ben’s discussion of kaizen, the practice of continuous improvement, reminds us we can all be more efficient. Read this book with last season in mind and you’ll be inspired with ideas of how to streamline next season. After reading this I have more than a few lean ideas I’m going to apply on my own farm.”—Andrew Mefferd, author of The Greenhouse and Hoophouse Grower’s Handbook

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Book Synopsis"Brimming with ingenuity, hope, and eminently practical advice, The Winter Harvest Handbook is an indispensable contribution."—Michael Pollan "Useful, practical, sensible, and enlightening information for the home gardener."—Martha Stewart With The Winter Harvest Handbook, everyone can have access to organic farming pioneer Elliot Coleman’s hard-won experience. Gardeners and farmers can use the innovative, highly successful methods Coleman describes in this comprehensive handbook to raise crops throughout the coldest of winters. Building on the techniques that hundreds of thousands of farmers and gardeners adopted from Coleman's The New Organic Grower and Four-Season Harvest, this book focuses on growing produce of unparalleled freshness and quality in customized unheated or, in some cases, minimally heated, movable plastic greenhouses. Inside, you'll find Coleman's clear, concise, and meticulous details [including many accompanying illustrations] on: Greenhouse construction and maintenance Planting schedules Crop management Harvesting practices Marketing methods Coleman’s painstaking research and experimentation with more than 30 different crops will be valuable to small farmers, homesteaders, and experienced home gardeners who seek to expand their production seasons. A passionate advocate for the revival of small-scale sustainable farming, Coleman provides a practical model for supplying fresh, locally grown produce during the winter season, even in climates where conventional wisdom says it "just can’t be done." "The incomparable Eliot Coleman is back."—The New York Times "A Renaissance man for a new generation."—Dan BarberTrade Review"If we are going to create a good, clean, fair food system, we've got to learn how to grow affordable, local food year-round and make a living at it. Eliot Coleman knows more about this than anyone I've met. Here he gives the detailed information needed to make it work. The only way to learn it better would be to follow him around for a few seasons. And he won't let you."--Josh Viertel, President, Slow Food USA"How do you produce first-rate food all year-round in northern places? This is the big question facing the local food movement, and Eliot Coleman, one of America's most innovative farmers, has come up with excellent answers. Brimming with ingenuity, hope, and eminently practical advice, The Winter Harvest Handbook is an indispensable contribution."--Michael Pollan "The Winter Harvest Handbook is a treasure trove of practical, proven techniques for producing crops on a year-round basis in any climate. Based on decades of on-farm research, this book is packed with useful ideas, tips and practices that anyone can use in pursuing the increasingly vital dream of local, organic food production using a minimum of precious resources. A masterful book from a master organic farmer. I wish I had had a copy 35 years ago!"--Amigo Bob Cantisano, President, Organic Ag Advisors "'Attention to detail is the major secret to success in any endeavor,' writes Eliot Coleman on page 156 of this absorbing and happily detailed report on his ongoing efforts to grow flawless vegetables without hothouses on the frozen 'back side' of the year. In chapters covering everything from The Yearly Schedule and Greenhouse Design to Weed Control and Marketing, Coleman tracks his own constant search for perfection, a quality that has led more than one young farmer to exclaim 'I'd follow him anywhere.' Well worth reading even if you don't grow vegetables, just to watch a master's mind at work."--Joan Dye Gussow, author of This Organic Life "Eliot Coleman's books have been called Bibles for small farmers and home gardeners. I suspect that's because he writes about not just gardening but about everything that connects to good food and pleasure; a Renaissance man for a new generation, he'll quote Goethe in the same breath as Ghandi, and as a result, you'll dig, weed, eat, think, and live more fully."--Dan Barber, Chef, Blue Hill and Blue Hill Stone Barns "I just finished picking my first carrots, beets, and radishes from my new 'cold house' in Bedford, New York. It is so rewarding to harvest fresh vegetables and salads in the middle of winter and I grow them following the techniques of Eliot Coleman. I have been a devotee of Eliot's for years, fully agreeing with his methods for growing in winter, spring, summer, and fall, tasty, nutritious produce with a minimum consumption of fossil fuels. Congratulations on another volume of useful, practical, sensible, and enlightening information for the home gardener."--Martha Stewart"When does gardening become farming? When are you no longer having dinner parties and running a restaurant instead? For those who are ready to graduate beyond coffee-can retail, the incomparable Eliot Coleman is back with THE WINTER HARVEST HANDBOOK: Year-Round Vegetable Production Using Deep-Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses (Chelsea Green, paper, $29.95). I'm not one to quibble over the details of a "T-post anchor and homemade attaching bracket for securing the corners of a new rolling greenhouse design." Suffice it to say that this serious, meticulous, inspiring farmer and writer solves the problem of growing lettuce in Maine -- in January. Anyone living near Coleman's Four Season Farm is thrice blessed -- 1) to live in intense denial of the back-breaking effort he or she is 2) being spared in order to acquire what is surely 3) the tastiest, most wholesome and pure food available. Coleman's opus is as much a call to action for town planners to embrace local farms as it is a bible for small farmers. This book is for people who know what they're doing."-- The New York Times Book Review "Eliot Coleman is widely recognized as the 'master' of the master gardeners. His new book, The Winter Harvest Handbook--which tells us how to produce local food even in winter in cold climates like Maine, without a lot of energy--now joins his other delightful books as another lovely read, packed with powerful and practical ideas that every gardener will treasure."--Frederick Kirschenmann, Distinguished Fellow, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, and President of Stone Barns Center for Food and AgricultureTable of Contents1. The winter harvest 2. Historical inspiration 3. Getting started 4. The yearly schedule 5. Sunlight 6. The "cold" greenhouse 7. The "cool" greenhouse 8. Winter crops 9. Summer crops 10. Greenhouse design 11. Year-round intensive cropping 12. Soil preparation 13. Sowing 14. Weed control 15. Harvesting in winter 16. Marketing and economics 17. Pests 18. Insects and diseases 19. Tools for the small farm 20. Deep-organic farming and the small farm

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Book SynopsisGo beneath the soil with this hand-drawn guide!This book is sure to become your go-to reference for all things bonsai. Beautifully illustrated with details and views a camera simply can't show, Introduction to Bonsai offers a unique and insightful look at these mini ecosystems.This complete guide contains all the information you need to create and maintain your own bonsai: Handy monthly bonsai maintenance schedules detail proper watering, pruning, wiring, transplanting and other upkeep activities throughout the year Leaves, fruits, flowers, and processes are presented up-close to help make growing and upkeep as successful and simple as possible Diagrams show where, how much, and in what direction pruning, wiring, watering and other maintenance should be performed Clear, detailed illustrations of every part of the bonsai ensure that you'll see everything you need to see, exactly as you need to see it—making this a great resource for collectors and enthusiasts at all levels Learn the specific ways to care for more than 40 types of popular bonsai trees, including: Flowering Bonsai—cherry blossom, dogwood, azalea and lilac Fruiting Bonsai—crab apple, persimmon, Chinese quince and burning bush Coniferous and Deciduous Bonsai—maple, Japanese beech, black pine and salt cedar Prepared by the editors of Japan's popular Bonsai Sekai (Bonsai World) magazine,this handbook is designed to make care and maintenance easy for bonsai beginners—from seeds to root systems and from basic watering to your first transplant.

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Book SynopsisA polytunnel can be used as an affordable, low-carbon aid to growing your own food all year round, from crispy salads and fresh vegetables in the dead of winter to juicy melons and mouth-watering grapes in high summer. But once you’ve decided to invest in a polytunnel, there are many questions to be answered, including: • Do you need planning permission? • What are the different sizes and types you can buy? • Where should you put it, and how do you put it up? • What can you use it for, how do you look after it, and what are the likely problems? The Polytunnel Handbook looks at all aspects of using a polytunnel, from planning your purchase to harvesting the rewards, and includes a step-by-step guide detailing how polytunnels are put up and maintained. There are chapters on developing healthy soil and preventing pests, and a jargon-free guide to the range of often mystifying accessories that many tunnel retailers offer. For the DIY enthusiast there is a full set of instructions for building a polytunnel from scratch, and the authors explain how to keep your polytunnel productive in every season.Trade ReviewPolytunnels have a key role to play in the grow-your-own revolution, and a comprehensive guide such as this is long overdue. -- Simon McEwan, Editor * Country Smallholding magazine *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Planning your purchase 2. The big day 3. Self-build tunnels 4. The tunnel environment 5. Planting through the year 6. Preventing pests 7. Thinking outside the tunnel Afterword Appendix 1: Further information and suppliers Appendix 2: Further reading Appendix 3: Glossary

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Book SynopsisSoil is the basis not only for all gardening, but for all terrestrial life. No aspect of agriculture is more fundamental and important, yet we have been losing vast quantities of our finite soil resources to erosion, pollution, and development. Now back in print, this eminently sensible and wonderfully well-focused book provides essential information about one of the most significant challenges for those attempting to grow delicious organic vegetables: the creation and maintenance of healthy soil. Chapter 2, "Understanding the Soil System," is alone worth the price of admission. Gershuny and Smillie give lay readers and experts a clear explanation of subjects--soil life and nutrient cycles--that have confounded most authors. Nowhere will the reader find simpler and more coherent descriptions of key concepts including cation exchange capacity and chelation. There are other books about soil available, including Grace Gershuny's comprehensive Start with the Soil, and there are books that feature chapters on soil building. What distinguishes The Soil of Soilis the authors' concise presentation; they give readers important information, including technical essentials, without getting bogged down in scientific or quasiscientific mumbo-jumbo. In addition, useful tables list specific compost materials, green manures, and other resources that allow growers to translate into action the more general information provided by the book. The soil-building techniques featured include: Organic matter management Building and maintaining humus On-site composting Green manures and rotations Cultivation and weed control Nutrient balances and soil testing Using mineral fertilizers Planning for organic certification Updates to the 1999 edition include analysis of Proposed Rules for the National Organic Standards, and expanded recommendations for private testing services and soil-testing equipment for home gardeners and organic farmers. All of us involved in the cultivation of plants--from the backyard gardener to the largest farmer--need to help regenerate a "living soil," for only in the diversity of the soil and its creatures can we ensure the long-term health of ourselves and our environment. The Soul of Soil offers everyone a basic understanding of what soil is and what we can do to improve our own patch of it. Seen in this light, this practical handbook will be an inspiration as well.Table of Contents1. Understanding the Soil Ecosystem Organic matter and humus Physical factors: Soil structure and tilth Chemical factors: nutrient cycles and balances biological factors; The living soil community 2. Observing and Evaluating Your Soil Recordkeeping Monitoring tilth: reading the field Looking beneath the surface Evaluating biological health: looking at life forms 3. Soil Management Practices Managing physical factors: drainage, irrigation, tillage, and cultivation Organic matter and humus management Animal manures Composting Green manures and other soil-improving crops Rotations Using off-farm nutrient sources 4. The Marketplace and Organic Certification

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Book SynopsisForest Gardening or Agroforestry is a way of growing edible crops with nature doing most of the work. Modelled on young woodland, a wide range of crops is grown in vertical layers. Species are chosen for their beneficial effects on each other, creating a healthy system that maintains its own fertility, with little need for digging, weeding or pest control. Whether a small area in your back garden or a larger plot, here is advice on how to create a beautiful space with great environmental benefits from planning and design (using permaculture principles) to planting and maintenance. With a changing climate, we must grow food sustainably, without compromising soil health, food quality or biodiversity and Forest Gardening offers an exciting solution to the challenge. Creating a Forest Garden also includes a detailed directory of over 500 trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, annuals, root crops and climbers – almost all of them edible and many very unusual. As well as more familiar plants you can grow your own chokeberries, goji berries, yams, heartnuts, bamboo shoots and buffalo currants.Trade Review“The ultimate book on the subject… extremely thorough and beautifully illustrated” * Let's Talk (East Anglia) *"This book is a magnificiently produced and massive tome that is sure to become every forest gardener's horticultural toolkit and bible." * Grow It *"Marting has produced a book that is not only visually beautiful but very practical, offering advice on planning, designing, planting and general maintenance." * Positive News - Summer 2010 *"If you are seriously considering the creation or maitenance of a forest garden then you would do well to have this book on your shelves. Even if you are only looking for novel ground cover suggestions in shaded areas or approaches to inter-planting trees, then this book offers bountiful food for thought." * Green Prophet *"Creating a Forest Garden is a fascniating read for gardeners interested in how to plant communities that work." * Gardens Illustrated *"Martin Crawford has produced a spectacularly useful guide to new horticultural and ecological terrain of great importance." * Permaculture Activist *"This semina piece of work is not only visually entralling, it's incredibly easy to use and it contains a level of detail and explanation that makes it, I believe, a must read for anyone who is serious about building a truly sustainable forest." * WWOOF Ireland *"Martin's book is visually stunning with beautiful photography and illustrations, accompanying very informative and well constructed text." * Self Sufficient-ish Website - 11 June 2010 *"This book is a must if you are interested in producing food from your garden, becoming more self-sufficient or just curious about plants and their uses." * The Cottage Gardener - June 2011 *Table of ContentsForeword by Rob Hopkins Introduction Part 1: How forest gardens work 1. Forest gardens 2. Forest garden features and products 3. The effects of climate change 4. Natives and exotics 5. Emulating forest conditions 6. Fertility in forest gardens Part 2: Designing your forest garden 7. Ground preparation and planting 8. Growing your own plants 9. First design steps 10. Designing wind protection 11. Canopy species 12. Designing the canopy layer 13. Shrub species 14. Designing the shrub layer 15. Herbaceous perennial and ground-cover species 16. Designing the perennial/ground-cover layer 17. Annuals, biennials and climbers 18. Designing with annuals, biennials and climbers Part 3: Extra design elements and maintenance 19. Clearings 20. Paths 21. Fungi in forest gardens 22. Harvesting and preserving 23. Maintenance 24. Ongoing tasks Glossary Appendix 1: Propagation tables Appendix 2: Trees and shrubs for hedging and fencing Appendix 3: Plants to attract beneficial insects and bees Appendix 4: Edible crops by month of use Resources: Useful organisations, suppliers and publications

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Book SynopsisRadical Regenerative Gardening and Farming informs and inspires gardeners, and farmers, who wish to bring quality and integrity into their work with the land. It is about developing close relationships with land that produces our food. This book combines over 40 years of Frank Holzman’s experience in farming, gardening, education, research, and development to provide techniques and concepts for sustainable land use. Radical Regenerative Gardening and Farming is a more spiritual and thoughtful approach to land stewardship, geared toward aspiring gardeners with a desire for a deeper connection with the earth. It is as much about why as it is about how to develop land. Rather than traditional tractor farming, this book provides a better understanding of horticulture, dealing with the biological interactions between soils and plants, and providing a good understanding of living systems. Holzman examines healthy perspectives of how to approach a piece of land as a living organism and transform it into a balanced ecosystem. Frank Holzman provides lots of information and insight for backyard gardeners and professional farmers, alike. Truly a great resource for transforming the garden, as well as the gardener.Trade ReviewWritten for serious food gardeners and small farmers, this text-heavy tome by organic horticulturist and sustainable farming consultant Holzman outlines the basics of biodynamic gardening. Though lacking extensive plant profiles detailing specific growing guidelines, each chapter comes complete with charts and tables that suffice as quick consults. Readers will find chapters devoted to agroecology, design, compost, soil, plant culture, pathology, and propagation, and discover how practical methods of biodynamic gardening regenerate even those areas previously damaged by conventional farming techniques. Holzman explains how edible landscaping and permaculture play a role in transforming desolate landscapes into food-producing powerhouses supporting biodiverse ecosystems. Intended for an audience already familiar with the basic principles of gardening, this book expands upon that general knowledge to introduce more in-depth concepts centered on sustainability. Verdict: A concise, practical handbook for gardeners interested in biodynamic gardening principles. * Library Journal *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Transitioning Ecology into Agroecology 2. Design 3. Compost: What It Is, How to Make It, How to Use It 4. Soil 5. Plant Culture 6. Plant and Seed Propagation 7. Holistic Entomology 8. Plant Pathology 9. Biodynamics in Practice10. Maintenance and Balance 11. Full Circle

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Book SynopsisLearn how to transform dark and shady areas of your garden with lush, vibrant and colourful planting. Trade Review"The ultimate planting guide for any urban garden: Susanna's knowledge is extensive and her taste impeccable. I dream of a London full of Linda planting. Until then, this book will help. What a gorgeous, inspiring guide – I shall be relying on it heavily." -- Alice Vincent * author and Sunday Telegraph gardening columnist *"Susanna's take on shade planting is both practical and accessible, yet encourages experimentation, which is the joy of low-light gardening. Shady plants deserve ambassadors like Susanna: someone who can view a dim corner as an opportunity rather than obstacle." -- Matt Collins * Head Gardener at the Garden Museum *

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Book SynopsisThe UK''s leading gardening publisher brings you a horticultural handbook to fulfil your every need and seed! Get your gardening gloves on and join the green-fingered journey to growing fruit successfully at home. A must-have volume for first-time gardeners, Grow Fruit has tons of tips and tricks to sow, grow, plant and propagate a diverse range of fruit, from plums to persimmons, blackcurrants to blueberries, this grower''s guide truly has it all! Try your hand at more than 40 different varieties of fruit trees, bushes, canes and vines, including allotment plot staples such as damsons and blackcurrants, as well as lesser-grown options like kiwis and pineapple guavas.With passion in every page, you can enjoy:- A jargon-free practical guide to harvesting home-grown fruits.- Easy to follow step-by-step instructions of fundamental gardening techniques.- Exploration of popular fruits as well as lesser-known options.In today''s

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Book Synopsis_____________Everything you need to know about keeping plants in your house... lovely pictures, tips, tricks... I love it. (Zoe Sugg a.k.a Zoella)Love plants, but short on outdoor space? Keen to fill your home with greenery but don''t know where to start? Or perhaps you''ve been labelled a house-plant serial killer? Then this is the book for you.With stunning photography and expert step-by-step tips, Bring The Outside In reveals everything you need to know to help your plants thrive, from dramatic statement foliage and miniature citrus trees to table-top terrariums and hanging planters. With chapters on orchids, cacti, herb gardens and chilli plants, your home will be flourishing in no time.Trade ReviewEverything you need to know about keeping plants in your house... lovely pictures, tips, tricks... I love it. * Zoe Sugg a.k.a Zoella *Lots of ideas and sound advice. * The Sunday Times *Create stunning terrarium gardens with this book complete with step-by-step guides. * Urban Outfitters *Easy peasy... sit back, relax and enjoy your low-key, no-fuss terrarium * The Anna Edit *

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis Strategies and techniques for making a living with intensive food production in small spaces There are 40 million acres of lawns in North America. In their current form, these unproductive expanses of grass represent a significant financial and environmental cost. However, viewed through a different lens, they can also be seen as a tremendous source of opportunity. Access to land is a major barrier for many people who want to enter the agricultural sector, and urban and suburban yards have huge potential for would-be farmers wanting to become part of this growing movement. The Urban Farmer is a comprehensive, hands-on, practical manual to help you learn the techniques and business strategies you need to make a good living growing high-yield, high-value crops right in your own backyard (or someone else''s). Major benefits include: Low capital investment and overhead costs Reduced need for expensive infrastructure Easy access to markets. Growing food in the city means that fresh crops may travel only a few blocks from field to table, making this innovative approach the next logical step in the local food movement. Based on a scalable, easily reproduced business model, The Urban Farmer is your complete guide to minimizing risk and maximizing profit by using intensive production in small leased or borrowed spaces. Table of ContentsForeword, by Diego Footer Preface 1: A Farm in the City Why Urban Farming? Connecting the Dots: An Urban Farmer's Place in the Community Quick Breakdown of Economics 2: A Viable Farming Business On ½ Acre Or Less The Zones of Your Farm and Your Life Crops Better Suited for the City Introdution to Urban Infrastructure Start-Up Farm Models 3: The Business of Urban Farming Starting Small Market Streams Working with Chefs Labor Software and Organization Self-Promotion Finance Options 4: Finding the Right Site Scouting for Land Urban, Suburban and Peri-Urban Land Multiple or Single-Plot Farming Urban Soil Land Agreements and Leases Urban Pests 5: Building Your Farm, One Site at a Time Turning a Lawn Into a Farm Plot Choosing A Site Garden Layout The Perimeter Irrigation 6: Infrastructure and Equipment Base of Operations Tools Special Growing Areas Inexpensive Season Extension Transportation 7: Operations Work Smarter not Harder Harvesting Post-Harvest Processing Portioning and Packing 8: Production Systems Beds for Production Planting Microgreens Extending the Season 9: Basic Crop Planning Determine Your Outcome The Base Plan 10: Crops for the Urban Farmer Parting Words Acknowledgments Glossary Endnotes Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisOffering clear and comprehensive instructions for low-tech growing for a range of budgets, interests, and scales, this book offers practical inspiration and a sense that hey, I can do this! DANIELLE STEVENSON, owner, DIY FungiDIY Mushroom Cultivation is full of proven, reliable, low-cost techniques for home-scale cultivation that eliminate the need for a clean-air lab space to grow various mushrooms and their mycelium.Beautiful full-color photos and step-by-step instructions accompany a foundation of mushroom biology and ecology to support a holistic understanding of the practice. Growing techniques are applicable year-round, for any space from house to apartment, and for any climate, budget, or goal. Techniques include: Setting up a home growing space Inexpensive, simple DIY equipment Culture creation from mushroom tissue or spores Growing and using liquid cultures and grain spawn Growing mushrooms on waste streams Indoor fruiting Outdoor mushroom gardens and logs Harvesting, processing, tinctures, and cooking. Whether you hunt mushrooms or dream about growing and working with them but feel constrained by a small living space, DIY Mushroom Cultivation is the ideal guide for getting started in the fascinating and delicious world of fungiculture.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments IntroductionMushrooms and Humans: Past, Present, and Future A Bit about Me and My Approach to Mushroom Cultivation 1 Mushroom Basics What Are Mushrooms? Mushrooms in Ecosystems What Mushrooms Need to Survive and Thrive 2 Overview of the Cultivation Process Cultivation Flow Preparation 3 Workspaces, Tools, and Equipment Lab Infrastructure and Aseptic Transfer Spaces: Flow Hoods, Still Air Boxes, and More The Lab Environment and Tools Where to Inoculate Bulk Substrates Where to Incubate Growing Mycelium Fruiting Space: Factors to Consider Options for Home-Scale Fruiting Chambers Environmental Control in Fruiting Spaces Other Spaces 4 Sanitation and Techniques to Avoid Contamination Vectors of Contamination and Management Strategies Common Contaminants: Recognition and Management 5 Starting and Maintaining Cultures Get Cultured Liquid Culture Agar Culture Long-Term Culture Storage Methods 6 Making and Using Grain Spawn Making Grain Spawn Using Grain Spawn 7 Fruiting Substrate Formulation and Preparation Containers for Mycelial Growth and Fruiting The Substrates Substrate Treatments Sterilization Pasteurization and Alternatives 8 Outdoor Growing and Mushroom Gardening Growing Mushrooms on Logs and Stumps Mushroom Beds Next-Level Applications 9 Harvest, Processing, and Use When and How to Harvest Basic Cooking Techniques Preservation Methods Mushrooms and Mycelium for Medicine In Conclusion: Substrate for Thought—Toward Further Applications Mycopermaculture Mycoremediation on a Home Scale Mycoarts and Fungi as Functional Materials Community-Based Cultivation Efforts Appendix 1: Species Profiles Agrocybe aegerita— Pioppino Coprinus comatus—Shaggy Mane Cordyceps militaris—Caterpillar Fungus Flammulina velutipes and allies—Enoki Ganoderma lucidum and allies—Reishi Hericium species—Lion's Mane and allies Hypsizygus tessulatus—Shimeji H. ulmarius—Elm Oysters Lentinula edodes—Shiitake Pholiota nameko and allies—Nameko Pleurotus species—Oyster Mushrooms Stropharia rugoso-annulata—Wine Cap Trametes versicolor—Turkey Tail Appendix 2: Resources General Annual Mycology Gatherings Bibliography Index About the Author and Illustrator A note about the publisher

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsIntroduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 2 Where to Go from Here 3 Part 1: Digging Into the Basics of Vegetable Gardening 5 Chapter 1: Vegetable Gardening 101 7 Having a Garden: Yes or No 7 Planning a Veggie Garden 8 Growing a Cornucopia of Vegetables 9 Tomatoes 9 Peppers and eggplants 9 Carrots, onions, and potatoes 10 Peas and beans 10 Cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and squash 11 Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower 11 Lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, and specialty greens 12 An array of other great veggies 12 Non-vegetable edibles 12 Getting Down to Growing 13 Choosing between seeds and transplants 13 Working the soil 13 Keeping your garden growing and enjoying the rewards 14 Trying for a bigger bounty 14 Chapter 2: Eyeing the Popularity and Benefits of Vegetable Gardening 15 Food Gardening: It’s Popping Up Everywhere 15 Identifying a Few Good Reasons to Grow Your Own Food 17 Better tasting and higher quality food 17 Improve your health 18 Save some cash 18 Help the environment 20 Increase your quality of life 21 Self-reliance 21 Chapter 3: Planning Your Veggie Garden 23 Deciding Where to Put Your Vegetable Garden 23 Considering different sites 24 Letting the sun shine 26 Checking your soil’s drainage 27 Understanding Veggie Varieties 28 Timing Your Planting Wisely 30 Some like it cool, some like it hot 30 Frost dates and the length of the growing season 31 Your local forecast trumps frost dates 33 Designing Your Garden 33 Deciding on hills, rows, or raised beds 34 Spacing your plantings properly 36 Following the paths 37 Sketching it out 37 Part 2: Focusing on All Things Veggies 43 Chapter 4: Tomatoes: The King of Veggies 45 Checking Out Tomato Varieties 46 Categorizing tomatoes 46 Classifying tomatoes by their appearance 48 Enjoying classic red, round tomatoes 48 Surveying all the other colors of tomatoes 50 Sweetening the pot with cherry, grape, and pear tomatoes 51 Considering some saucy tomatoes 52 Introducing the tomato’s relatives 53 Growing Tomatoes with Ease 54 Jump-starting tomatoes 54 Planting, trellising, and pruning 55 Fertilizing and maintaining your plants 57 Eliminating pests and other problems 59 Harvesting tomatoes 61 Chapter 5: Meeting the Tomato’s Cousins: Peppers and Eggplants 63 Producing Plenty of Peppers 64 Those sweet bells 64 Long and round sweet peppers 66 Peppers that turn on the heat 67 Pretty peppers: The ornamentals 71 Distinguishing Eggplants by Shape 71 Large and oval 72 Cylindrical 72 Small and round 73 Growing Peppers and Eggplants 73 Starting and planting 74 Fertilizing and watering tips 75 Patrolling and controlling pests 76 Harvesting peppers and eggplants 76 Chapter 6: Growing Underground Crops: Carrots, Onions, and Potatoes 79 A Rabbit’s (and Gardener’s) Favorite Root: Carrots 80 Classifying carrots by type 80 Examining some varieties 81 Onions: The Bulbs with Layers of Sweet and Pungent Goodness 82 Choosing your onion varieties 83 Looking at scallions and perennial onions 85 Potatoes: No Longer a Boring Spud 87 Potatoes classified 87 Selecting a few potato varieties 87 Growing and Gathering Root Crops 89 General guidelines for all your root crops 89 Cultivating carrots 90 Growing onions 91 Producing potatoes 92 Keeping Your Root Crops Healthy and Pest Free 95 Chapter 7: Sweet and Simple: Beans and Peas 99 A Bevy of Beans: Filling Your Rows with Bean Family Plants 100 Bushels of bush beans 101 Pole beans: The long and tall crop 102 The versatile shell and dried beans 103 Miscellaneous beans not to be forgotten 104 Growing Peas, Please! 106 English peas: The reliable standby 107 Sweet and tender snap peas 108 An earlier harvest: Snow peas 109 Get ’Em in the Ground: Growing Beans and Peas 109 Planting legumes for an ample harvest 110 Thwarting pests and diseases 113 Keep on pickin’: Harvesting your crop 115 Chapter 8: Vigorous Vines: Cucumbers, Melons, Pumpkins, and Squash 117 Checking Out Cool Cukes 118 Before you choose: Brushing up on some cucumber vocabulary 118 Surveying common cucumber varieties 119 Melons: The Sweet, Juicy Vining Plant 121 Distinguishing different types of melons 121 Perusing popular melon varieties 122 Unearthing the Humble Squash 123 Identifying different squash types 124 Recognizing popular squash varieties 125 Great Pumpkins: Counting the Uses for This Versatile Squash 127 Growing Those Vines 129 Planting and feeding 129 Watering and watering some more 131 Ensuring proper pollination 132 Controlling pests and diseases 133 Harvesting your vining crop 135 Chapter 9: Cool Weather Staples: Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, and Cauliflower 137 Paying Attention to the Often-Overlooked Cole Crops 138 Easing into cole crops with broccoli 138 Brussels sprouts: The little cabbages 140 Choosing cabbage: The age-old and dependable cole crop 141 Considering cauliflower in a rainbow of colors 143 Growing Your Own Cole Crops 145 Giving cole crops what they want 145 Nurturing cole crops 146 Putting a stop to pesky pest problems 148 Harvesting cole crops 149 Chapter 10: A Salad for All Seasons: Lettuce, Spinach, Swiss Chard, and Specialty Greens 151 Lettuce Get Together 152 Crisphead lettuce 153 Romaine lettuce 154 Loose-leaf lettuce 154 Popeye’s Pal: Spinach 155 Savoy spinach 156 Smooth spinach and some spinach-like friends 156 The Attractive and Hardy Swiss Chard 157 Going Wild with Specialty Greens 158 Growing Great Greens 160 Timing is everything: Determining when to plant your greens 160 Putting your greens to bed 162 Adding nitrogen-rich fishy fertilizer 163 Thin and bare it: Thinning your greens 163 Watering to win the war against wilt 163 Working out the bugs (and other common ailments) 163 Your bowl runneth over: Harvesting greens 164 Chapter 11: Sweet Corn and an A to T of Other Worthy Veggies 167 Sweet Corn and Its Relatives 168 Sweet corn 168 Popcorn 170 Considering Other Great Vegetables 171 Arugula 171 Asparagus 172 Beets 174 Bok choi 175 Broccoli raab 176 Celeriac 176 Celery 177 Chinese cabbage 178 Collards 179 Endive 179 Escarole 179 Florence fennel 180 Garlic 180 Globe artichokes 183 Gourds 183 Horseradish 184 Kale 185 Kohlrabi 186 Leeks 186 Mizuna 187 Okra 187 Parsnips 188 Peanuts 189 Radicchio 190 Radishes 191 Rhubarb 192 Rutabagas 193 Shallots 194 Turnips 194 Chapter 12: Edible Landscapes: Fruits, Herbs, and Pretty Things to Eat 197 Sweetening Your Garden: Berries and Trees 198 Strawberries 198 Blueberries 199 Blackberries and raspberries 199 Unusual fruits 200 Focusing on Herbs 201 Basil 203 Chives 204 Cilantro 205 Dill 205 French tarragon 206 Mint 207 Oregano 208 Parsley 209 Rosemary 210 Sage 210 Thyme 211 Blossoming Edible Flowers 212 Part 3: Getting Down and Dirty in Your Vegetable Garden 215 Chapter 13: On Your Mark, Get Set Grow! 217 Choosing Seeds or Transplants 218 Deciding on Your Seeding Method and Decoding a Seed Packet 219 Starting Seeds Indoors 220 Picking a pot to plant in 221 Using a mix that doesn’t include soil 222 Sowing your seeds 222 Providing the right amount of light and heat 225 Watering your seedlings 225 Thinning and transplanting indoors 226 Feeding your seedlings 227 Transplanting Indoor Seedlings and Starter Plants 228 Buying starter plants 228 Toughening up all types of transplants 229 Making the big move to the ground 230 Sowing Seeds Directly in Your Garden 232 Deciding on a seed-planting method 233 Thinning seedlings in your garden 237 Chapter 14: Workin’ the Dirt 239 Razing Your Garden Spot 239 Killing weeds and aggressive grasses 240 Stripping sod 242 Analyzing and Improving Your Soil 243 Distinguishing different types of soil 244 Testing your soil 245 Adjusting soil pH 247 Adding organic matter (aka the dead stuff) 249 Turning Your Soil 251 Making Your Own Compost 252 Building a compost pile 253 Avoiding materials that don’t belong in a compost pile 255 Moistening and turning your compost pile 255 Chapter 15: Maintaining Your Vegetable Garden 257 Addressing the Basics of Watering 258 Knowing when your veggies need a drink 259 Discovering ways to water your vegetable garden 260 Conserving water with a few handy tips 266 Keeping Your Plants Cozy and Weed Free with Mulch 267 Spreading organic mulch 267 Laying inorganic mulch 269 Deciding which mulch to use 271 Determining Important Nutrients Your Soil Needs 272 Macronutrients 273 Secondary nutrients and micronutrients 274 Fertilizing Your Vegetable Garden 275 Examining a fertilizer label 275 Choosing a fertilizer 276 Side-dressing 277 Supporting Your Vegetables 281 Beans and peas 282 Melons and cucumbers 283 Tomatoes 283 Fighting Weed Wars 283 Making a preemptive strike on weeds 284 Battling weeds after planting 285 Chapter 16: Surveying Some Cool Planting Techniques 287 Adding Nutrients and Stability with Cover Crops and Green Manures 288 Eyeing the advantages of cover crops 288 Choosing cover crops 289 Planting cover crops 290 Giving Your Plants Some Friends: Companion Planting 291 Making Your Garden Work Double Time with Intercropping 292 Extending Your Harvest with Succession Planting 293 Rotating Crops to Preserve Soil Nutrients and Maintain a Pest-Free Bed 295 Planting by the Phases of the Moon 296 Building a Hügelkultur-Raised Bed 297 Growing Plants in Strawbales 297 Adding an Herb Spiral to Your Yard 298 Combining Fish with Plants: Aquaponics 299 Chapter 17: Keeping Your Plants Healthy 301 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Controlling Pests 302 Recognizing the good bugs 302 Rounding up the bad bugs 303 Considering the best form of attack 309 Gardening to Eliminate Diseases 312 Avoiding diseases with good habits 312 Watching out for common diseases 313 Keeping the Animal Kingdom at Bay 315 Chapter 18: Containing Your Veggies 319 Considering a Few Container Characteristics 320 Filling Up Your Container: Potting Soil Made Simple 322 Knowing Which Vegetables Grow Well in Pots 323 Identifying some common container veggies 323 Some bee-u-tee-ful vegetable combos 325 Planting Your Veggies in Pots 326 Caring for Container Veggies 327 Chapter 19: Harvesting, Storing, and Preserving Vegetables 329 Knowing When to Harvest 329 Putting Away Your Vegetables 332 Freezing, Drying, and Canning Veggies 335 Saving Vegetable Seeds 336 Part 4: The Part of Tens 339 Chapter 20: Ten Tools of the Trade 341 Watering Hoses and Cans 342 Hand Trowels 343 Hand Cultivators 343 Garden Hoes 343 Spades and Shovels 345 Garden Forks 345 Garden Rakes 345 Buckets, Wagons, and Baskets 346 Wheelbarrows and Garden Carts 347 Power Tillers 348 Chapter 21: Ten (or So) Ways to Extend Your Growing Season 351 Plant in Clever Locations 352 Time Your Planting Wisely 352 Protect Plants with Hot Caps 353 Add Elegance to Your Garden with Glass Cloches 353 Buy or Build Cold Frames 354 Drape Row Covers over Veggies 355 Place Wall O’ Waters around Plants 356 Try Portable Greenhouses and Hoop Houses 357 Appendix: Planning Guidelines and Other Resources 359 Index 383

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Book SynopsisThe top 50 indoor houseplants for brightening your interiors - what's best and how to keep them alive. Bring the outdoors in and breathe new life to your home with plants! House plants are well and truly back on trend - they instantly lift an area, make a room feel fresh and welcoming, and brighten your mood.On top of this, indoor plants are great for purifying the air and creating a healthier home.Together with microbes in the soil, plants work wonders to reduce harmful pollutants released from indoor furniture. (It's true: look at the study conducted by the University of Technology, Sydney.)If you feel like your rooms need a splash of colour and a breath of life, there's no better starting point than this book. Whether your style is dramatic jungle plants or to sweetly shaped succulents, you'll find something to suit. With loads of glorious illustrations for inspiration, data on which plants are suitable where, and clear advice on how to pot, prune and pet your plants, this is the

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Book Synopsis"If you wish to live well and eat well no matter what is going on in the rest of the world, this book is for you. . . . Will Bonsall will help you enjoy the good life under any and all conditions."—Eliot Coleman, author of The New Organic Grower "Society does not generally expect its farmers to be visionaries." Perhaps not, but longtime Maine farmer and homesteader Will Bonsall does possess a unique clarity of vision that extends all the way from the finer points of soil fertility and seed saving to exploring how we can transform civilization and make our world a better, more resilient place. In Will Bonsall's Essential Guide to Radical, Self-Reliant Gardening, Bonsall maintains that to achieve real wealth we first need to understand the economy of the land, to realize that things that might make sense economically don't always make sense ecologically, and vice versa. The marketplace distorts our values, and our modern dependence on petroleum in particular presents a serious barrier to creating a truly sustainable agriculture. For him the solution is, first and foremost, greater self-reliance, especially in the areas of food and energy. By avoiding any off-farm inputs (fertilizers, minerals, and animal manures), Bonsall has learned how to practice a purely veganic, or plant-based, agriculture—not from a strictly moralistic or philosophical perspective, but because it makes good business sense: spend less instead of making more. What this means in practical terms is that Bonsall draws upon the fertility of on-farm plant materials: compost, green manures, perennial grasses, and forest products like leaves and ramial wood chips. And he grows and harvests a diversity of crops from both cultivated and perennial plants: vegetables, grains, pulses, oilseeds, fruits and nuts—even uncommon but useful permaculture plants like groundnut (Apios). Inside Will Bonsall's Essential Guide to Radical, Self-Reliant Gardening you'll also find: Milling, baking and sprouting Freezing and vermentation Best practices to handle plant disease and animal pests Collecting and storing seeds And so much more! In a friendly, almost conversational way, Bonsall imparts a wealth of knowledge drawn from his more than forty years of farming experience. "My goal," he writes, "is not to feed the world, but to feed myself and let others feed themselves. If we all did that, it might be a good beginning."Trade ReviewPublishers Weekly- "Homesteader, organic farmer, and visionary Bonsall offers a thorough, albeit apocalyptic, farming guide to surviving the current times and, if need be, the end times. The title is misleading; the book is not so much a gardening guide as a set of survival instructions, and not for the casual gardener. Drawing on 40 years of personal experience growing his own food, Bonsall emphasizes three principles: economic exigency that requires making do; planning to survive a future catastrophe; and transforming civilization. To this end, the book focuses on staple foods, including grains, dried legumes, and oilseeds, as well as the usual greens and root crops, while discussing such fundamentals as assessing soil fertility, composting, using manure (including human), mulching, grafting, pollinating, seed saving, milling, malting, freezing and fermenting. The book will not suit everyone, but those who share Bonsall’s vision will be well served and firmly grounded. Over 200 full-color photos.” “Every gardener and small farmer can benefit from Will Bonsall's decades of focused, quality experience. Will's book is one of the key practical resources you should read—as you reach for full sustainable soil fertility in your garden or farm!”--John Jeavons, author, executive director of Ecology Action, and developer of sustainable biointensive mini-farming"Will Bonsall’s homestead is a 'thinking farm,' not one engaged in armchair musings about agriculture, but where difficult questions are addressed by intense experimentation. This book pairs the incredible depth of Bonsall’s gardening knowledge with his infectious enthusiasm. It is both a magnificent reference and an inspiring call to action. Every practical lesson throughout is guided by the vision that our humble gardens can affect the world."--Steve Conaway, Conservation and Outreach Director at Greenwich (CT) Land Trust“Every gardener and small farmer can benefit from Will Bonsall's decades of focused, quality experience. Will's book is one of the key practical resources you should read—as you reach for full sustainable soil fertility in your garden or farm!”--John Jeavons, author and developer of sustainable biologically intensive food-growing“Here is a bright star in the constellation of voices for land-based sustainability. Not only is Will Bonsall incredibly learned – the result of decades of careful studies in the field and out – he is bawdy and brave and bold. His credibility is a Ph.D. in homesteading and his rambunctious wisdom is very worth reading. If you want to learn from a master, you need this book.”--Janisse Ray, author of The Seed Underground"The risk of describing Will Bonsall’s Essential Guide to Radical, Self-Reliant Gardening as a gardening book is that the aspiring reader may miss the reality that it is really a book on life, centered as a good life should be, around a garden. Will is a patient teacher with encyclopedic knowledge. His writing style is warm and authentic, accentuated by his dry New England humor. To read this book is akin to having Will stop by and visit by the glowing kitchen cookstove. He shares a lifetime of observations and conclusions – both useful and essential – and a deep respect for those who have come before us."--Jim Gerritsen, certified organic seed potato grower and owner of Wood Prairie Farm"Will Bonsall—Mr. Scatterseed himself—has done it all, and this book covers it all, from maintaining soil fertility with minimal external inputs to growing annual and perennial vegetables, fruit, nuts, grain, beans, and even oilseed crops. Will’s methods are all vegan based and garden scale, with little resort to tools beyond hand tools and a rototiller and shredder. His description of making oil-seed seed meals and cooking with them is particularly interesting. Will’s book is a great introduction to gardening for the beginner, and it also offers enough brand new original material to delight even the most expert. Best of all, the interweaving of Will’s coherent personal philosophy, decades of gardening experience, down-to-earth style, and touches of humor all make for an interesting, entertaining read."--Carol Deppe, author of The Tao of Vegetable Gardening and The Resilient Gardener"Eco-efficiency is the key new word and gardens-without-borders is the key new concept with which Will Bonsall illuminates 'this experiment we call civilization.' His view is wide and deep. You can accept his warm, witty invitation to explore the big questions. Or/and you can, with grace and ease, pluck out practical, hands-on directions as needed for all aspects of cyclical food production and use. I will read it again and again for reference, guidance, inspiration, and delight."--Eva Sommaripa, pioneering organic farmer at Eva's Garden in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, and the hero of Wild Flavors by Didi Emmons"If you wish to live well and eat well no matter what is going on in the rest of the world, this book is for you. Thresh your own grain and press your own oil. Can't buy seeds, no problem. Can't buy fertilizer, no problem. Will Bonsall will help you enjoy the good life under any and all conditions."--Eliot Coleman, author of The New Organic Grower and The Winter Harvest Handbook

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Book Synopsis“A useful and a wonderful resource whether you grow on a balcony, rooftop or in the ground.” —Yolanda Burrell, owner of Pollinate Farm and Garden Supply Once a fringe topic, permaculture is moving to the mainstream as organic gardeners discover the wisdom of a simple system that emphasizes the simple idea that by taking care of the earth, the earth takes care of you. The Vegetable Gardener's Guide to Permaculture is for home gardeners of every skill—with any size space—who want to live in harmony with nature to produce and share an abundant food supply with minimal effort. Christopher Shein highlights everything you need to know to start living off the land lightly. You’ll learn how to create rich, healthy, and low-cost soil, blend a functional food garden and decorative landscape, share the bounty with others, and much more.

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Book Synopsis“A practical guide to maintaining a shade garden with a useful calendar of seasonal tasks, plant directory and inspiring design ideas.” —Gardens Illustrated Shade is one of the most common garden concerns homeowner’s have, but with the right plant knowledge, you can learn to embrace shade as an opportunity instead of an obstacle. In Glorious Shade, Jenny Rose Carey celebrates the benefits of shade and shows you how to make the most of it. This information-rich, hardworking guide is packed with everything you need to successfully garden in the shadiest corners of a yard. You'll learn how to determine what type of shade you have and how to choose the right plants for the space. The book also shares design and maintenance tips that are key to growing a successful shade garden. Stunning color photographs offer design inspiration and reveal the beauty of shade-loving plants.

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Book Synopsis“If you want to grow plants indoors, you need this book.” —Niki Jabbour, author and staff writer at savvygardening.comGardening Under Lights is a highly-detailed, accessible guide for seed starters, plant collectors, houseplant fans, and anyone who wants to successfully garden indoors any time of the year. You’ll learn the basics of photosynthesis, the science of light, how to accurately measure how much light a plant needs, and details about the most up-to-date tools and gear available. Also included are tips and techniques for helping ornamental plants (like orchids, succulents, bonsai, and more) and edible plants (arugula, cannabis, oregano, tomatoes, and more) thrive indoors. Whether you are a vegetable gardener who wants to extend the growing season, a balcony gardener short on outdoor space, or a specialty plant collector, Gardening Under Lights is a must-have.

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Book Synopsis“A note-takers dream. . . . These botanically themed BuJos will help you keep track of your gardens and the natural world. . . . the format is orderly but flexible to suit your style. The illustrations beg to be colored.” —Country GardensA Year in the Garden is for vegetable gardeners, plant fanatics, and everyone looking to track the success of their gardening year. Organized by season, it features blank monthly calendars and weekly planners, productivity tools, a dot-grid on high-quality paper, a ribbon marker, lay-flat binding, and an elastic closure. Filled with ample space for note taking and doodling, illustrations for coloring, and tons of creative exercises and prompts, it is a must have item for your gardening tool kit.

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Book Synopsis"Plant a tea plant and watch it grow! Grow Your Own Tea is truly a masterpiece how-to guide to cultivating and enjoying the sacred leaf. It will delight even the armchair gardener and casual tea lover." —James Norwood Pratt, author of James Norwood Pratt’s Tea Dictionary Tea lovers, make a fresh pot, sit down with this delightful guide, and discover the joys of growing and processing your own tea at home. Tea farmer Christine Parks and enthusiast Susan Walcott cover it all from growing tea plants and harvesting leaves, to the distinct processes that create each tea’s signature flavors. In this comprehensive handbook, you’ll discover tea’s ancient origins, learn about the single plant that produces white, green, oolong, and black teas, and discover step-by-step instructions for plucking, withering, and rolling. Simple recipes that highlight the flavor of tea and creative uses for around the home round out this must-read for tea fans.

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Book SynopsisAre you facing drought or water shortages? Gardening with Less Water offers simple, inexpensive, low-tech techniques for watering your garden much more efficiently — using up to 90 percent less water for the same results. With illustrated step-by-step instructions, David Bainbridge shows you how to install buried clay pots and pipes, wicking systems, and other porous containers that deliver water directly to a plant’s roots with little to no evaporation. These systems are available at hardware stores and garden centers; are easy to set up and use; and work for garden beds, container gardens, and trees.

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Book SynopsisForeword by Gillian Burke This is a lovely little book that could and should have a big impact....Let’s all get rebugging right away! Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Meet the intelligent insects, marvellous minibeasts and inspirational invertebrates that bring life to our planet. Discover how we can ‘rebug’ our attitudes and embrace these brilliant, essential insects, so that we can avoid an ‘insectageddon’ and help each other thrive. In Rebugging the Planet, Vicki Hird shows us that bugs are beautiful, inventive and economically invaluable. They are also responsible for pollinating plants, feeding birds, defending crops and cleaning water systems. But with 40% of insect species at risk of extinction and a third more endangered, our planet is headed towards an insect apocalypse. We have to start giving worms, spiders, beetles, ladybirds and butterflies the space they need to flourish! Discover how to: Grow your garden a little wild and plant weedkiller-free, wildlife-friendly plants Take your kids on a bug treasure hunt and build a bug palace in your garden Rebug parks, schools, pavements, verges and other green spaces Make bug-friendly food choices and support good farming practices Rebugging the Planet shows how small changes will have a big impact on our littlest allies – and our planet. Hird’s joy in bug life is infectious and her knowledge encyclopaedic...If you’ve ever asked what bugs have done for us, read this book! Caroline Lucas, Green Party MPTrade Review"This is a lovely little book that could and should have a big impact. The decline of insect life in the UK and globally is one of the biggest concerns of our biodiversity crisis. We often feel so helpless about nature loss, so it’s hugely inspiring to find out that there is something we can actually do about it. Let’s all get rebugging right away!"—Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, multi-award-winning writer and broadcaster"A bold and educational call to action and call to arms in one of the most crucial challenges facing society – halting the dreadful destruction of the amazingly little animals we call invertebrates or bugs. Time to get rebugging!"—Matt Shardlow, author and chief executive of Buglife – The Invertebrate Conservation Trust"Everyone should read Vicki’s delightful bug book! She’s been a committed environmentalist and campaigner for nature ever since the 1980s, when I first met her. Like me, she’s a Londoner, but unlike me, she’s realised that her lifelong fascination for nature in general and insects in particular can be explored in an urban setting. Her passion for bugs is palpable and wonderfully illuminated through individual bug stories, which makes this book totally accessible. Vicki has done a service to the planet and the insects we share it with."—Patrick Holden, CBE organic farmer, and founding director and chief executive of the Sustainable Food Trust"What a fantastic, timely and important book! For too long, our society has taken bugs for granted when in reality they represent the very foundations of our food system, our economy, our civilisation. With her well-researched but personable and highly readable writing style, Vicki Hird offers an engaging and hopeful narrative about what we can and must do to make insects matter, and reverse the appalling declines in insect populations that have taken place these last few years. In doing so, she doesn’t just stick with the easy stuff like what needs to happen in your garden or local park – much as she covers this brilliantly. She also tackles the need for system level change; in agriculture, in politics, in the economy, in culture, if we’re going to succeed in rebugging the planet – all while gaining fascinating insights from the remarkable world of insects."—Craig Bennett, chief executive of the Wildlife Trusts"Rebugging the Planet is a joyous and impassioned song to the insect life on which we all depend. Brimming with wisdom but accessibly written, it is a call to arms to avert Insectaggedon. Without bugs, we’re in deep trouble!"—Guy Shrubsole, environmental campaigner and author of Who Owns England?"A passionate, accessible, and in-depth introduction to the wonderful world of ‘bugs’. Packed with eye-opening facts and leaving not a stone unturned in her efforts to understand and explain the causes of their decline, Vicki inspires each and every one of us to re-evaluate our relationship with these magnificent minibeasts. Whoever we are, whatever our circumstances, there is always more that we can do to help if we only knew how. This book provides us with the tools and advice we need to ‘rebug’ our gardens, our lives and our world."—Brigit Strawbridge Howard, author of Dancing with Bees"Hird’s joy in bug life is infectious and her knowledge encyclopaedic. I defy even the most bug-phobic reader not to finish Hird’s book without, if not sharing her love of them, at least joining in her admiration. Bugs are essential to a thriving natural world, and indeed to our own future on this planet, yet they’re under threat like never before. If you’ve ever asked what bugs have done for us, read this book – and then join the movement to protect them!"—Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP"In 1987 E.O. Wilson told us that ‘bugs’ were the little things that run the world. We didn’t listen and instead have forced millions of species of these essential creatures to the brink of extinction. Just in time, Vicki Hird tells us how and why we need to change our cultural relationship with ‘bugs’ and reverse these disastrous declines. Despite the serious nature of this subject matter, Rebugging the Planet is a light-hearted and delightful read."—Douglas W. Tallamy, author of Nature’s Best Hope"This book is a delightful exploration into the world of ‘bugs’ – broadly defined to include insects, spiders, centipedes, and even snails – replete with creative use of words like ‘rebug’, ‘rewild’, ‘insectageddon’, ‘invertosphere’, ‘entomophage’ (the practice of eating bugs) and ‘fog basking’ by the Namib beetle to obtain water. Full of colourful stories about specific novel species like the cockchafer, the hummingbird hawkmoth and money spiders, it is also a call to action to do everything we can to stop the modern assault on bugs. The author shows how so many aspects of modern life – chemical-based agriculture, EMFs, plastics and forever chemicals – are forcing many species into extinction, but she also warns that we will come to appreciate what bugs do for us best when we see the carnage left behind when they are gone."—Stephanie Seneff, author of Toxic LegacyPublishers Weekly— "Brimming with tips and tools, this [book] is sure to leave nature-lovers inspired."

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Book SynopsisEven with the best planning and care, every garden can run into a problem or two. Whether you are beset with beetles or blighted by blackspot, The Garden Problem Solver has the solution.Guided by the team of experts at Gardeners' World - including advice from Monty Don, Alan Titchmarsh, Carol Klein, Arit Anderson, Adam Frost and more - The Garden Problem Solver contains the practical tips, tricks and techniques to deal with the obstacles that every home gardener has to face.Broken down into easy-to-follow steps, this handy guide will help you anticipate, avoid and troubleshoot the most common garden problems which crop up when growing your favourite fruit, veg, flowers and more.With a foreword by Adam Frost and complemented with hand-drawn illustrations, The Garden Problem Solver holds the secrets to making your garden look its very best.

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Book SynopsisDaffodils and tulips herald the arrival of spring, but from the earliest snowdrops to autumn crocosmias, bulbs bring colour and interest to gardens all year round. They can be naturalized in lawns, planted in containers, fill gaps between shrubs or form the basis of stunning borders. This definitive guide gives you Alan Titchmarsh's advice on how to plant bulbs for best effect in your garden.* A-Z directory of Alan's recommended bulbs, corms, tubers and rhizomes* Easy-to-follow plans show how to use bulbs in various situations and at different times of year* Practical tips for growing bulbs in grass, rockeries, containers, indoors and for cutting* Planting and growing techniques* Seasonal planting for year-round colour and scent

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Book SynopsisEdible Forest Gardens is a groundbreaking two-volume work that spells out and explores the key concepts of forest ecology and applies them to the needs of natural gardeners in temperate climates. Volume I lays out the vision of the forest garden and explains the basic ecological principles that make it work. In Volume II, Dave Jacke and Eric Toensmeier move on to practical considerations: concrete ways to design, establish, and maintain your own forest garden. Along the way they present case studies and examples, as well as tables, illustrations, and a uniquely valuable "plant matrix" that lists hundreds of the best edible and useful species. Taken together, the two volumes of Edible Forest Gardens offer an advanced course in ecological gardening--one that will forever change the way you look at plants and your environment.Trade ReviewHortIdeas- We reviewed the first volume of this two-volume set in September 2005 HortIdeas--in fact, we were so impressed by it that we devoted that month's Book Reviews section entirely to it. Until Mycelium Running--another amazingly important and well-done book--appeared, we were considering doing the same this month for the second volume of Edible Forest Gardens, which is much thicker (by more than 270 pages!) than the first volume. The shorter length of this review certainly does not reflect the relative importance of the volumes--we recommend that anyone interested in experimenting with temperate-zone "gardening in the image of the forest" should study both. Although Volume 2 ostensibly emphasizes "practical" information building on the "theoretical" ideas in Volume 1, it is clear that both volumes are essentially theoretical. That's because (as we discussed in our review of Volume 1) nobody has yet convincingly shown the viability of forest gardening (relying heavily on perennial crops) in temperate areas as a sustainable alternative to conventional gardening (based mainly on annual crops). Jacke and Toensmeier are, admirably, attempting to disseminate ideas gathered from a variety of source that might enable such viability. Ultimately, at this stage development of temperate-zone forest gardening techniques, virtually all approaches are experimental and in need of validation. We simply do not currently know their limitations. Understanding that knowledge on "nest practices" for temperate-zone forest gardening needs to be established experimentally can be exciting for those willing and able to adopt the scientific attitude: no matter how they turn out, the results of an experiment, performed appropriately (meaning especially that adequate control treatments are provided), are never "bad." In other words, we think that would-be temperate-zone forest gardeners who are sincerely interested in helping to establish this novel form of agriculture should proceed by trying to test some of Jacke and Toensmeier's numerous design, site preparation, species choice and establishment, and management guidelines. We view Volume 2 of Edible Forest Gardens not as a recipe book for what works but rather as a compendium of possibilities for what could work--an invitation par excellence to experimentation instead of complacency. Right on! -- Greg WilliamsPlants and Gardens News--Patricia Jonas, Brooklyn Botanic Garden- But even if you grow enough organic food to feed yourself, are you doing what's best for the ecosystem? "Many drawbacks of modern agriculture persist in organic farming and gardening," Dave Jacke and Eric Toensmeier write in Edible Forest Gardens, because they do not "mimic the structure of natural systems, only selected functions." Even Quail Hill Farm members are still harvesting mostly annual crops grown in plowed fields. Jacke and Toensmeier offer a radical vision for stepping out of the conceptual continuum of conventional agriculture and organic farming. They point to the productivity of temperate forests--which is twice that of agricultural land in terms of net calories--and take that as their design model. Building on Robert Hart's classic book, Forest Gardening, and incorporating permaculture practice, Jacke and Toensmeier propose a garden where many species of edible perennial plants are grown together in a design that mimics forest structure and function. Edible Forest Gardens is an ambitious two-volume work whose influence should extend well beyond ecologists and permaculturists and, in the best of all outcomes, reach into the mainstream. Volume one lays out the "Ecological Vision and Theory for Temperate Climate Permaculture," and it also includes a very useful analysis of existing forest gardens (one only 50 by 90 feet) and a tantalizing 30-page appendix of "top 100" species. As of this writing, volume two, which focuses on practical design and maintenance considerations, is just being released, but on the evidence of volume one, I have no doubt the set will be an indispensable reference for gardeners and farmers for decades. "When people have food gardens," the authors write, "they usually are tucked out of sight and out of view of the neighbors. They rely on external inputs of energy, nutrients, insect and disease controls, and water and are based primarily on annual plants. For some reason, growing food is considered unsightly, unseemly, possibly antisocial, and in some towns and cities, illegal! The tremendous infrastructure we have built in our cities and towns reflects a culture and horticulture of separation and isolation." The consequences of such attitudes about growing food have been disastrous, and each of us can contribute to the repair effort. Jacke and Toensmeier say that the principles of forest gardening can be applied even in a tiny urban yard or on a rooftop. Containers of edible perennials and annuals on a rooftop are not most farmers' idea of agriculture, but I grow nearly 20 percent of the authors' top 100 species and intend to look for ways to take this small start much further. And what about chocolate and oranges? Clearly there are foods that cannot be grown in a temperate forest. "We do not expect forest gardening to replace regular gardening or the foods we know and love," the authors admit. "Just how far we can take forest gardening in supplying food for ourselves is not yet determined." Finding the answer may be the most optimistic work gardeners and farmers can do."A tree de force! A must-have set of books for anyone serious about polyculture, integrated organic garden and landscape design, permaculture in the temperate zones and, of course, food forests. The charts of condensed information alone are worth the price of admission. The best book on these topics in years Keep these books within arm's reach at all times!"--Robert Kourick, author of Designing and Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally

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Book SynopsisWhile there have been numerous developments and advances in biodynamic agriculture methods since Ehrenfried Pfeiffer first introduced readers to its foundational principles and practices, the key elements remain. Even though this book was originally published in 1938, it remains a foundational text for biodynamic farmers and gardeners. Pfeiffer outlines the basic practices for successfully operating a biodynamic farm, including the principles behind each technique and practice. These methods are backed up by scientific research and data, as well as his own experience as a farmer and researcher, describing what works and what doesn't. Pfeiffer covers soil qualities, making compost, crop rotation, best planting practices, using biodynamic preparations and sprays, and much more -- all with the goal of growing the highest-quality foods by using sustainable methods, working with nature and caring for the earth. A classic resource for all biodynamic farmers and gardeners.

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Book SynopsisNo matter how small the outdoor space you have, this book will get you started on a new way of growing.Grow up! If you have limited outdoor space and would like to grow your food, this practical illustrated guide will help you transform previously plant-free zones into thriving, beneficial and utterly beautiful food-growing areas.Using special containers, either bought or homemade, as well as conventional methods such as growing frames, wall boxes, hanging baskets and ladder allotments, you can grow a wide range of edible crops. This book also includes guidance on creating edible roof gardens and how to plan and grow crops on green roofs, including on sheds. There is also a directory of plants suitable for vertical growing fruit, flowers and herbs as well as vegetables with advice on how to cultivate them.Whether you have an apartment with just a wall, windowsill, balcony or small flat roof; a school with nothing but a tarmac playground; or just a paved courtyard in your commuTable of ContentsIntroduction Part 1: Planning your space 1. Practicalities 2. Edible living wall 3. Green roofs 4. Larger containers for small spaces 5. Choosing your plants Part 2: Plant directory 6. Vegetables 7. Fruit 8. Herbs 9. Edible flowers Resources Index

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Book SynopsisBiodynamic techniques recognise that plant life is intimately bound up with the life of the soil; that the soil itself is alive and that the degree of vitality influences the health of the crops. You will soon be able to grow quality produce which possesses vitality and has the highest flavour, through the nurture of the soil.Whether you are an experienced gardener or not, whether or not you have used permaculture or grown organic produce before, this book offers valuable, easily accessible tips

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Book SynopsisCovering everything from basic plant care and re-potting, to plants suited to pets and propagating, this book will inspire you to create your own indoor rainforest. At the core of the book are profiles of 22 tropical indoor plants, organised from the most low-maintenance species through to exotic varieties requiring more care. In addition, the book offers styling advice on how to decorate different rooms in your home with plants, as well as suggestions on pots and planters to give your interior spaces more personality. Interspersed throughout the book are interviews with `plant people’ from around the world, who reveal the creative ways in which they've incorporated amazing collections of tropical plants into their lives and homes. Creating a tropical oasis in the city really can be this simple and fun!

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Book SynopsisMicroscopic organisms are as important to plant growth as water and light. Microbe Science for Gardeners highlights the essential role of microbes in plant biosystems and health, provides practical how-to gardening advice for enhancing plant microbiomes and preventing disease, and debunks common gardening myths.Trade Review"Robert Pavlis' newest book, Microbe Science for Gardeners beautifully breaks it down in his usual no-nonsense way. If you want to learn anything about the science of soil, and what's in it, this book will help you easily understand the vital role microbes play in bringing soil (and everything growing in it) to life!" –Joe Lamp'l, founder, joegardener.com, The Online Gardening Academy™, creator/ executive producer, Growing a Greener World® "Robert Pavlis' Microbe Science for Gardeners is an accessible and understandable dive into the amazing relationship between microbes and plants. Useful and practical gardening advice." –Jeff Lowenfels, author, the Teaming Series and DIY Autoflowering Cannabis "Microbe Science for Gardeners is deeply in-tune with the current science and Pavlis also introduces us to lesser-known and developing ideas in soil microbiology that we will see grow over the next few years. No matter your understanding of soil biology, I suspect Microbe Science for Gardeners will leave you deeply enriched, as it has me. From backyard to farm-scale, this is a book every grower should possess." –Jesse Frost, author, The Living Soil Handbook: The No-till Grower's Guide to Ecological Market Gardening "This fascinating book by Robert Pavlis presents the latest science on what is known (and not known) about the multitude of bacteria, fungi, and other microbes that fill the soil, cover leaves, and interact with roots. This is an outstanding resource and should be in the hands of anyone interested in gardening!" –Linda Gilkeson, author, Backyard Bounty: The Complete Guide to Year-Round Organic Gardening in the Pacific Northwest "A must-have for gardeners who want to understand the unseen worlds above and below the soil, Robert Pavlis' latest book explains the hidden life keeping our plants thriving." –Rebecca Martin, technical editor, Mother Earth News "Robert Pavlis has a unique ability to communicate complex topics with ease and clarity. He has done it again with Microbe Science for Gardeners. This comprehensive exploration of soil ecology examines the dynamic relationships between plants and the microbiome of the soil, providing the reader with a guide to understanding the role of bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microbes in the creation and maintenance of healthy soil." –Darrell Frey, owner, Three Sisters Farm, and author, Bioshelter Market Garden: A Permaculture Farm Table of Contents1. Introduction Why Learn About Microbes? Terms Used in This Book 2. The World Under a Microscope Microbes by the Numbers Microbes Are Important to Plants Microbes Can Harm Plants Gardeners Affect Microbes How Do Microbes Move Around? How Much Do We Really Know? 3. Bacteria How Do Bacteria Eat? Where Do Bacteria Live? Life Cycle of Bacteria Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria 4. Fungi What do Fungi Eat? Where Do Fungi Live? Life Cycle of Fungi Pathogenic Fungi Mycorrhizal Fungi 5. Yeast Life Cycle of Yeast Yeast-Plant Interactions Yeast in Hellebore Nectar Yeast Creates Alcoholics Yeast on Leaves Yeast in Soil A Bioindicator of Air Quality A Possible Solution to Plastic Pollution 6. Nematodes 7. Protozoa Life Cycle of Protozoa Nutrient Cycling Protozoa-Plant Interactions Plant Diseases 8. Viruses Viruses in Soil Life Cycle of a Virus The Spread of Viruses Virus Infection of Microbes Virus Infection of Plants Rapid Mutation Beneficial Interaction with Plants 9. More Microbes Archaea Actinomycetes Cyanobacteria Algae 10. Microbe Communities Microbe Communities and Microbiomes Signaling Between Microbes Microbes Attack Microbes Mycorrhizal Interactions Lichens 11. Plants Love Microbes Nutrient Availability The Phyllosphere Rhizosphere Rhizophagy Cycle Seed Microbiome 12. Manipulating Microbes Fungal-to-Bacterial Ratio Effect of Agriculture Biodiversity 13. Bioinoculants for the Garden Bioinoculants for Seeds Bioinoculants as a Foliar Spray Bioinoculants for Soil Microbes Are No Longer Living Should Gardeners Use Commercial Bioinoculants? Compost Tea 14. Pathogens You Suspect a Disease—What Now? List of Plant Diseases Fighting Plant Diseases Commercial Pesticides Human Diseases Endnotes Index About the Author Also by the Author About New Society Publishers

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