Sustainable agriculture Books

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the age of climate change and the ongoing battles around how we use land to grow food and rear livestock, can an emerging group of visionary farmers utilise new technology to help create a truly communal vision of regenerative agriculture that is networked, engaged, and transformative – and ultimately a force for good in the natural world? In The Great Regeneration, farmer-technologist Dorn Cox and author-activist Courtney White explore this unique, groundbreaking research which is aimed at reclaiming the ground where science and agriculture meet as a shared human endeavour. The Great Regeneration explores the critical function that open-source technology can have in promoting agroecological systems, through data-sharing and networking. If these systems are brought together, there is potential to revolutionise how we manage food production and natural systems around the world, decentralising and deindustrialising the structures of production and governance that have long dominated the agricultural landscape. In this important book, Dorn Cox and Courtney White present a simple choice: we can allow ourselves to be dominated by this new technology, or we can harness its potential and use it to understand and improve our shared environment. The choices made today will affect the generations to come, and The Great Regeneration shows how, together, we can create positive and lasting change.Trade Review“Cox reminds us [that] regenerative farming is not just a set of practices, but an entire world view. . . [and] open-source technology, data sharing, Ag Data wallets, and farmer-to-farmer education are among our most essential tools in this world-changing endeavor.”—Ronnie Cummins, international director of Organic Consumers Association and author of Grassroots Rising“This book is the blueprint for a new spatial practice to repair not only agriculture but community, politics, and the economy besides."—Jo Guldi, author of The Long Land War and The History Manifesto"Timely, The Great Regeneration is a valued contribution to our on-going national discussions concerning sustainable agriculture, food science, and environmental issues. Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, The Great Regeneration is especially and unreservedly recommended."—Midwest Book Review

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe 2024 Maria Thun Biodynamic Calendar, adapted for North American (Eastern Standard Time) dates and times.The original biodynamic sowing and planting almanac, now in its 62nd year. The easy-to-view layout features detailed planting, tending and harvesting information to help growers maximise the yield and vitality of crops and plants. Trusted by generations of farmers and gardeners, the ultimate biodynamic calendar features:-- A clear layout making it simpler to plan what to do and when-- Space dedicated to detailed explanations of the recommended activities-- Information panels make it easy to use-- Clear headings and sections for fast look-ups--- NEW! A lay-flat spine means it's easy to consult the Almanac, keep your place and make notes-- Detailed planting, tending and harvesting information to maximise the yield and vitality of crops and plants-- Suitable for both seasoned biodynamic farmers and beginner gardeners-- Solar and lunar events, plus information on planetary aspects, are given dedicated space The calendar includes a pull-out wallchart that can be pinned up in a barn, shed or greenhouse as a handy quick reference.Trade Review'This little paperback is essential for all organic gardeners. It is the original annual biodynamic planting guide. Incredibly condensed amounts of information are available [here] … Illustrated throughout with some lovely photos and clear diagrams.'-- Organicfood.co.uk'This little paperback calendar is the original of its kind and essential for all organic gardeners. An established following ensures good sales of this useful guide, which has a special feature on the care of bees.'-- Bookseller Buyers' Guide

Read more less

Book Synopsis 'Dirt to Soil is the [regenerative farming] movements’s holy text' The Observer Author and farmer Gabe Brown, featured in the Netflix documentary Kiss the Ground ‘A regenerative no-till pioneer’ NBC News ‘Dirt to Soil confirms my belief that animals are part of the natural land. We need to reintegrate livestock and crops on our farms and ranches, and Gabe Brown shows us how to do it well.’ Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation Soil health pioneer Gabe Brown did not set out to write a book on no-till, regenerative agriculture but that was the end product of his research into a new method of farming that would bring back life to his farm, rather than taking away from it. As a series of weather-related crop disasters put the Brown family farm on the brink of financial ruin, Brown took the bold decision to cut costs by omitting the use of most pesticides, insecticides and synthetic fertilizers. This was the catalyst that led to Brown experimenting with regenerative agriculture, a method of farming that undid the damage of conventional agricultural practices. He switched to no-till planting, started planting diverse cover crops mixes and changed his grazing practices. In doing so, Brown transformed a degraded farm ecosystem into one full of life starting with the soil and working his way up, one plant and one animal at a time. The Brown’s Ranch model, developed over twenty years of experimentation and refinement, focuses on regenerating resources by continuously enhancing the living biology in the soil. Using these principles, Brown’s Ranch has grown several inches of new topsoil in only twenty years! The 5,000-acre ranch profitably produces a wide variety of cash crops and cover crops as well as grass-finished beef and lamb, pastured laying hens and pastured pork, all marketed directly to consumers. The future is regenerative, no-till, organic farming and Dirt to Soil is the perennial bestseller to start you on that journey, for the betterment of the food we consume and the state of our shared planet. Trade Review“Dirt to Soil confirms my belief that animals are part of the natural land. We need to reintegrate livestock and crops on our farms and ranches, and Gabe Brown shows us how to do it well.”—Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation“Gabe Brown’s Dirt to Soil could not be more timely, as farmers are beginning to see an increase in costs of the fertilizers and many other inputs they rely on. Gabe provides us with his complete story of how he transitioned to a largely self-renewing and self-regulating (regenerative) farming system. Even though I have been an organic farmer for 40 years, I was amazed at how much I learned from reading Dirt to Soil. I highly recommend it to all farmers and food entrepreneurs, especially anyone interested in anticipating future changes and preparing for them in advance.”—Frederick Kirschenmann, distinguished fellow, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture; author of Cultivating an Ecological Conscience“Restoring the productivity of agricultural land is one of the most urgent imperatives of our time. In this landmark book, Gabe Brown explains, step by step, how farmers and ranchers can transform lifeless dirt to healthy topsoil, offering a profound yet elegantly simple blueprint for reversing land degradation across the globe.”—Dr. Christine Jones, soil ecologist; founder of amazingcarbon.com“Civilization was made possible by agriculture developed over the centuries by ordinary people domesticating plants and animals using the emerging biological sciences. Today mainstream agriculture—dominated by monoculture cropping and confined animal feeding—is the most destructive industry ever to evolve. Based on chemistry and marketing of technology, current agricultural practices produce twenty times more dead, eroding soil than food, year after year. In this dangerous time, Gabe Brown’s book comes as a breath of fresh air, showing by example what any farmer who cares enough about the future can do by following sound ecological principles and using common sense and imagination.”—Allan Savory, president, Savory Institute“This book is a must read for anybody who thinks that the ‘Green Revolution’ has been a success. Gabe Brown provides a heartfelt personal account of his journey and awakening to a new perspective on the importance of soil biology and the urgent need for a return to regenerative integrated organic farming methods, not just to feed the world but also to save the ecosystem from imminent disaster.”—Stephanie Seneff, senior research scientist, MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory“Dirt to Soil skillfully describes the learning process and rich rewards of perseverance in the conversion from yield-driven farm practices that degrade soils to the regeneration processes that provide pride, productivity, nutrition, health, and sustainability to the basic infrastructure of society—agriculture. The core values of stewardship Gabe Brown describes for managing the agricultural ecology are reinforced by science that links diverse components so they function together to benefit everyone and everything in the dynamic rejuvenation of soils. The principles are exemplified through firsthand experiences that not only explain what, why, and how things need to change, but also provide the motivation to start doing them. The book provides hope that nutrition and health can be guiding principles in food production for successive generations to displace the ‘Band-Aid’ interventions adopted by the past two generations that have resulted in serious, unintended negative consequences.”—Don M. Huber, emeritus professor of plant pathology, Purdue University“Gabe Brown’s dirt-to-soil story is an inspiring example of how land can flourish when a farmer tunes out the textbooks and chemical purveyors and starts listening to nature. Brown has become a folk hero in regenerative agriculture circles, and this book delivers his trademark candor and ability to cut through myth, jargon, and generations of bad advice to reveal essential dynamics of how farm ecosystems work. By keeping it real, this practical, spirited, and timely book can help spark an agricultural shift from conventional wisdom to common sense.”—Judith D. Schwartz, author of Cows Save the Planet and Water in Plain Sight“After hearing a presentation by Gabe Brown, many people picture Brown’s Ranch in North Dakota as some sort of Xanadu where nothing goes wrong. This book provides a realistic perspective on Gabe’s struggles in a challenging environment. Gabe and his family didn’t let the challenges defeat them; they viewed them as opportunities to learn and innovate. This determination has made Gabe one of the leaders in the movement to regenerate soils. He has also helped to push, pull, and drag science toward finding solutions to solve our current farm and food crises. Farmers and ranchers like Gabe Brown and the others whose stories are told in Dirt to Soil are addressing the critical need to develop resilient systems that provide abundant, nutrient-dense food on regenerated soils that efficiently cycle nutrients and water through diverse biological communities.”—Kris Nichols, PhD, soil microbiologist, KRIS Systems Education and Consultation“Gabe Brown’s story is a journey of hope and freedom for all those who care about food, health, and the earth. His passion to heal the land and serve others has shaken the foundations of the industrial agriculture model. The industrial agriculture complex is an insatiable furnace of consumption that devours soil, leaves farm families destitute, and impoverishes rural communities—ultimately destroying nations. Who would have thought that a North Dakota rancher would lead the regenerative agriculture revolution, a campaign that shows us a new way of growing nutritious food—food that is medicine and that nurtures and honors all of creation. Because of Gabe Brown, I have hope for the future of agriculture. Dirt to Soil is a must read!”—Ray Archuleta, “The Soil Guy,” retired USDA/NRCS soil health specialist“If you have interest in your health or saving the earth or eating food that tastes the way food should, you have heard a lot recently about regenerative farming. There are dozens (or hundreds) of self-proclaimed experts on the subject. Here is what I know: Gabe Brown is the Real Deal. He has done more than anyone to bridge the gap between research scientists and practicing farmers. His understanding of how to put the science of soil regeneration into practice is unsurpassed. Dirt to Soil should be required reading for every industrial farmer on the face of the earth.”—Will Harris, White Oak Pastures, Bluffton, Georgia“Dirt to Soil is the perfect title for this new book from Gabe Brown. It is an apt metaphor to describe the Brown family’s escape, through intelligence and determination, from their entrapment in an agricultural model that has failed economically, ecologically, and as a source of quality of life for the family. Their accomplishment stems from their realization that long-term success is possible only when all parts of the soil-plant-animal-wealth-human complex we call a farm/ranch are nurtured simultaneously. The Browns understand that agriculture must be about promoting life. It must be regenerative.”—Walt Davis, author of How to Not Go Broke Ranching“I can no longer drive by a farm without wanting to get out of the car and start planting cover crops. Dirt to Soil is an entertaining, illuminating read that will change the way people think about agriculture.”—Mark Schatzker, author of The Dorito Effect“There is growing awareness that industrialized agricultural methods are doing considerable damage to our soil, farms, and planet. The way we farm needs to change, and Dirt to Soil is about to transform the way agriculture is practiced around the world. This book is filled with excellent advice on how to farm by following Mother Nature’s guidance, seasoned with Gabe’s great sense of humor and humility.”—Colin Seis, agricultural management consultant; owner of Winona, New South Wales, Australia“Reading Dirt to Soil is like having a personal conversation with Gabe Brown about the changes he witnessed as he put regenerative practices into place on Brown’s Ranch. Most important is his clear message about capturing the value of his system by marketing directly to the consumer. In Gabe’s words, he ‘prefers to sign the back of the check, not the front.’”—Dwayne Beck, PhD, manager, Dakota Lakes Research Farm; professor of plant science, South Dakota State University“Civilization after civilization plowed itself out of prosperity by degrading the soil. Gabe Brown’s inspiring story shows why regenerative farming to rebuild healthy, fertile soil is not just an academic theory—it’s already been done on farms like his.”—David R. Montgomery, author of Dirt and Growing a Revolution“Dirt to Soil is an inspiration! Gabe Brown offers a proven model that will help other farmers improve their soils and our planet. More and more growers are starting to realize that they must be soil farmers first and foremost. Gabe helps us imagine what the health of our planet would look like and how the profitability of farms, both large and small, would improve if all of us shift the way we practice agriculture. His message to mimic nature rather than trying to fight against her resonates with everyone who cares about the quality of our food and our future.”—Todd Colehour, founder, Williams and Graham and Tribe Market

Read more less

Book SynopsisCreate a thriving garden or allotment that works in harmony with nature and will flourish in the face of ever-changing environmental conditions.InThe Resilient Garden and Allotment Handbook, expert organic gardener Sally Morgan shares a wide range of ecological concepts from permaculture, regenerative gardening, agroecology and more to boost your garden's biodiversity and enrich your soil. This must-have guide will help you: Build your soil so it's full of healthy organic matter and protect it through no-dig practices,composting, cover crops and mulching Increase resilience through productive plant combinations and polyculture Create wildlife-friendly habitats utilising walls and fences, log piles, water features and wild corners Choose the right plants toattract pollinatorsand plant defenders Combat disease and keep pests at bayusing natural predators, companion planting and trap and barrier crops

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn accessible and comprehensive guide, filled with everything you need to set up your own mini-farm and live more self-sufficiently.With the help of this handy book, you can grow all the fruit and vegetables your family needs, raise animals for meat and eggs, keep fish and bees, and even produce firewood on a plot of land of just one acre or less all alongside your work and family life.Whether you have a garden, a paddock or perhaps the corner of a field, Sally Morgan guides you through various useful topics, including growing fruit and vegetables throughout the year, producing fish with aquaponics, and keeping livestock poultry, pigs, sheep and goats. There is also helpful information on how to layout your plot, including fencing, poly tunnels or greenhouses, and tips on managing soil fertility. This updated edition also includes a chapter on coping with extreme weather conditions.Filled with practical advice, Living on One Acre or Less is essential reading for anyone Trade ReviewA good, comprehensive, all-round guide for anyone who aspires to the good life. * Kate Humble, TV presenter and smallholding owner *The book is rich with content and full of wonderful inspiration. I can’t wait to get out into my small garden, to help my family move towards self-reliance. * Kate Blincoe, nature journalist and author of The No-Nonsense Guide to Green Parenting *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part One: Design & groundwork 1. Planning your plot 2. Soil matters 3. Soil fertility & crop rotations Part Two: Growing produce 4. The vegetable & flower garden 5. An abundance of fruit 6. Tree crops & forest gardens Part Three: Keeping livestock 7. Poultry for eggs & meat 8. Pigs for meat 9. Including sheep or goats 10. Aquaponics 11. Beekeeping 12. Coping with extreme weather Appendix: Livestock regulations & good practice Resources Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis‘Powerful, purposeful and persuasive … This book is transformative. We must read, mark and learn, fast’ Michael Morpurgo ‘A call to action – to change our world from the ground up. A vitally necessary book’ Isabella Tree ‘Philip Lymbery pulls no punches in cataloguing the calamitous mistakes we’ve made in our food system, but he has bold and inspiring solutions to offer, too.’ Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall _______________ Taking its title from a chilling warning made by the United Nations that the world’s soils could be lost within a lifetime, Sixty Harvests Left uncovers how the food industry is threatening the planet. Put simply, without soils there will be no food: game over. And time is running out. From the United Kingdom to Italy, from Brazil to the Gambia to the USA, Philip Lymbery, the internationally acclaimed author of Farmageddon, goes behind the scenes of industrial farming and confronts ‘Big Agriculture’, where mega-farms, chemicals and animal cages are sweeping the countryside and jeopardising the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat and the nature that we treasure. In his investigations, however, he also finds hope in the pioneers who are battling to bring landscapes back to life, who are rethinking farming methods, rediscovering traditional techniques and developing technologies to feed an ever-expanding global population. Impassioned, balanced and persuasive, Sixty Harvests Left not only demonstrates why future harvests matter more than ever, but reveals how we can restore our planet for a nature-friendly future.Trade ReviewPRAISE FOR SIXTY HARVESTS LEFT: Philip Lymbery pulls no punches in cataloguing the calamitous mistakes we’ve made in our food system, but he has bold and inspiring solutions to offer, too. It’s time for Big Food, and governments everywhere, to act on them. -- Hugh Fearnley-WhittingstallBeautifully crafted. A compelling, excoriating account of industrial farming – how it is driving the climate and biodiversity emergencies, while also undermining our health. Full of insights and encounters with pioneers of new ways of farming, Sixty Harvests Left is a call to action – to change our world from the ground up. A vitally necessary book. -- Isabella TreeIn this beautifully written book, Philip Lymbery describes how intensive agriculture harms the environment and inflicts suffering on sentient animals. But after visiting and talking to those on the front line – scientists, farmers and food providers – he is able to show that there are sustainable alternatives. And that they are working. There is indeed hope for the future of our planet, and each one of us can play a part. I urge you to read Sixty Harvests Left. -- Dr Jane Goodall, DBE, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of PeaceThe chilling title is the red flag; the contents, however, lay out all the remedies to save the planet and its species, including ours, and make for absorbing and sometimes terrifying reading. Minutely researched, and written for laymen as well as experts, Sixty Harvests Left deserves to be read world-wide and acted upon immediately. I cannot recommend it highly enough. -- Joanna LumleyPowerful, purposeful and persuasive, read Philip Lymbery’s book and we know what has to be done. It’s simple really, look after the land, farm it sensitively, tread softly on this earth and all can still be well. We need to transform ourselves rapidly. This book is transformative. We must read, mark and learn, fast. -- Michael MorpurgoThe true horror story of our current dependence on factory farming and intensive agriculture gets clearer by the day. Philip Lymbery pulls no punches in painting that grim picture. This dependence will bring down our civilisation as surely as our dependence on fossil fuels. But that is not our destiny, and you need to read Sixty Harvests Left more for its utterly convincing alternative vision of farming and food production available to us in the near future – all based on the three Rs: regenerative farming, reduction of animal protein, and rewilding the soil. I’d be very surprised if you don’t end up appreciating this book as much as I did. -- Jonathon PorrittPhilip Lymbery’s great service, through beautiful prose and deep research, is to amplify the siren call from our planet and the web of life. Through him, change becomes not only necessary and desirable, but irresistible. -- Raj PatelThought-provoking. Told through the seasons and finishing with a new start in Spring, Sixty Harvests Left gives us reason to look forward to a brighter farming future and the possibilities that can be achieved through care of our greatest natural asset, soil. Home to a quarter of the world's biodiversity, soil is life and our life depends on it. Lymbery speaks to practitioners with their feet firmly on the ground and gives hope that new ways in farming will provide for a better future. A fascinating and positive read! -- Jake FiennesThis profoundly important book should be read by all who would like humanity to survive beyond one more human lifetime, and the solutions it proposes should implemented as if our futures depend on it – which they do -- Andrew Knight, Professor of Animal Welfare and Ethics, University of WinchesterAn urgent, evidence-based, visionary approach to the most challenging decisions facing humanity. This is a brave, fascinating, game-changing book. -- Sophia PavelleSixty Harvests Left is not only beautifully written, it is jam-packed with the evidence we need to change our lives in order to save our planet. Philip Lymbery draws us in, in a lyrical and seductive manner, whilst imparting vital, life-changing information. Only we can save our planet and Sixty Harvests Left shows us how. Make sure you read it before it’s too late. You won’t regret it. -- Peter EganSixty Harvests Left is excellent – personal and engaging. Lymbery’s life experiences make it very readable, allowing him to speak with authority and honesty … An important challenge to the vested interests that make our life on earth unsustainable. -- Rebecca Nesbit, author of Tickets for the ArkPhilip Lymbery is one of the few who really understand the connections between farming and nature ... He is the most important thinker writing about these crucial issues – and the way forward -- Carl Safina, author of Becoming Wild and Beyond WordsThis is a clever, insightful and well informed work that’s easy to read. While those who know Philip might expect nothing more, it lays out quite clearly for those who do not know the shocking poverty and decrepitude of our chemically farmed landscapes, the great cruelties in our systems of livestock production, the destruction of biodiversity and the pollution of the Earth's soils and water. Philip's book is an eloquent appeal against this being so. Do buy it and enjoy -- Derek GowPraise for Farmageddon: Lymbery brings to this essential subject the perspective of a seasoned campaigner – he is informed enough to be appalled, and moderate enough to persuade us to take responsibility for the system that feeds us * Guardian, Book of the Week *An engaging read ... Anyone after a realistic account of our global food chain, and the changes necessary for a sustainable future, will find much to get their teeth into here * New Statesman *

Read more less

Book SynopsisFossil fuels and livestock grazing are often targeted as major culprits behind climate change and desertification. But Allan Savory, cofounder of the Savory Institute, begs to differ. The bigger problem, he warns, is our mismanagement of resources. Livestock grazing is not the problem, it's how we graze livestock. If we don't change the way we approach land management, irreparable harm from climate change could continue long after we replace fossil fuels with environmentally benign energy sources. Holistic management is a systems-thinking approach for managing resources developed by Savory decades ago after observing the devastation of desertification in his native Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Properly managed livestock are key to restoring the world's grassland soils, the major sink for atmospheric carbon, and minimizing the most damaging impacts on humans and the natural world.This book updates Savory's paradigm-changing vision for reversing desertification, stemming the loss of biodiversity, eliminating fundamental causes 'of' human impoverishment throughout the world, and climate change. Reorganised chapters make it easier for readers to understand the framework for Holistic Management and the four key insights that underlie it. New colour photographs Showcase before-and-after examples of land restored by livestock. This long-anticipated new edition is written for new generations of farmers, eco- and social entrepreneurs, and development professionals working to address global environmental and social degradation. It offers new hope that a sustainable future for humankind and the world we depend on is within reach.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAbout two-thirds of Britain's small, traditional orchards have been lost since 1960. This is a loss in ecological diversity, in community knowledge and the intricacy of local distinctiveness. In 2007 the pomologist Liz Copas and cidermaker Nick Poole began a quest to find and identify old varieties of cider apple trees around Dorset. The search lasted more than a decade, taking them across the county, searching in forgotten orchards, hedgerows and the corners of gardens. The Lost Orchards follows the journey they took to find, propagate and make cider with Dorset's forgotten apple varieties: Golden Ball, Kings Favourite, Yaffle, Dewbit, Golly Knapp, Tom Legg, Best Bearer and Symes Seedlings. The book is also an illustrated guide to the apple varieties they discovered and an important history of West Country Orchards. This hopeful story will resonate far beyond Dorset and will encourage readers to look closely at their surroundings and conserve their local orchards.

Read more less

Book SynopsisChoice Reviews, Outstanding Academic Title Techniques and systems for processing food scraps, manure, yard debris, paper, and more Turning waste into wealth sounds too good to be true, but many worm farmers are finding that vermicomposting is a reliable way to do just that. Vermicast—a biologically active, nutrient-rich mix of earthworm castings and decomposed organic matter—sells for $400 or more per cubic yard. Compare that to regular compost, sold at about $30 a cubic yard, and you’ll see why vermicomposting has taken root in most countries and on every continent but Antarctica. Vermicomposting is also one of the best sustainable solutions for organic waste management. Vermicomposting manure and crop wastes on farms improves crop yields while reducing demand for off-farm inputs. Vermicast has higher nutrient levels and lower soluble salt content than regular compost, and it improves soil aeration, porosity, and water retention. Plus, vermicast suppresses plant diseases and insect attacks. Municipalities, businesses, community gardens, schools, and universities can set up vermicomposting operations to process food residuals and other waste materials. The Worm Farmer’s Handbook details the ins and outs of vermicomposting for mid- to large-scale operations, including how to recycle organic materials ranging from food wastes and yard trimmings to manure and shredded office paper. Vermicomposting expert Rhonda Sherman shares what she has learned over twenty-five years working with commercial worm growers and researchers around the world. Her profiles of successful worm growers across the United States and from New Zealand to the Middle East and Europe describe their proven methods and systems. This book digs into all the details, including: Choosing the right production system Regulatory issues and developing a business and marketing plan Finding and managing feedstocks Pre-composting: why and how to do it Monitoring an active worm bed Harvesting, screening, testing, packaging, and storing vermicast Markets for earthworms and vermicast Food security: how vermicast benefits soils and plants Keys to success: avoiding common pitfalls From livestock farms and restaurants to colleges, military bases, and prisons, Sherman details why and how commercial-scale vermicomposting is a fast-growing, sustainable solution for organic waste management. The Worm Farmer’s Handbook is the first and only authoritative how-to guide that goes beyond small-scale operations and demystifies the science and logistics of the fascinating process that is vermicomposting.Trade ReviewChoice Reviews— “The real value of this work is the applicability of the national and international information brought together in one resource for use by vermicompost operators.”Library Journal— "Sherman offers an important addition to the literature on vermiculture and vermicomposting with an eyes-wide-open approach to planning, starting, and managing a viable commercial-scale operation that steers clear of hype while weighing both the risks and rewards of the venture."Booklist— "Vermiculture, the process of using worms to turn organic food waste into compost, has been around for decades but has been growing in popularity. Vermicompost or vermicast, the product of vermiculture, makes a rich, organic soil amendment or growth medium which has been shown to increase yields, reduce the damage caused by some diseases and pests, and help repair damage to degraded soil. This book covers everything one would want to know about vermiculture, from how it works to designing a harvesting system and laying out postharvest practices. Sherman also profiles a range of worm-farming examples from throughout the U.S. and around the world, including details such as the size of the operation and its setting, the cost of setup, the amount of food waste processed, and the span of time the process takes. While written for use in a mid- or large-scale setting, much of the information here about earthworm biology and living conditions will also be beneficial for smaller-scale use by home gardeners.”“In my 24 years in the worm business, I have read and sold many books about worms. The Worm Farmer’s Handbook is the most comprehensive and detailed collection of information on vermicomposting I have encountered. Rhonda Sherman provides clear instructions and guidance on everything a beginner needs to know to start up and successfully maintain a worm business, from type of beds and feedstocks to how to feed, harvest, package, ship, and much more. Experienced farmers will find plenty of excellent tips and ideas to improve their businesses, too. Well done, Rhonda!”—Mark Purser, co-owner, The Worm Farm, Durham, California“My very first business venture as a child was a worm farm, which failed horribly. Had I had Rhonda Sherman’s mentorship, I can only imagine the worm empire I’d have today. With The Worm Farmer’s Handbook as a guide, anyone can learn the science and art of raising worms.”—Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos; author of Delivering Happiness“Rhonda Sherman masters the art of communicating the technical and biological minutia critical to successful worm farming in a personable and easy-to-understand manner. The case studies in The Worm Farmer’s Handbook bring vermicomposting alive! This book is the next best thing to being on an actual worm farm tour. Kudos!”—Nora Goldstein, editor, BioCycle magazine“Rhonda Sherman’s book has arrived on the scene at just the right time, as vermiculture technology is gaining momentum in research and industry. The book combines Sherman’s hands-on experience with detailed descriptions of current practices and comprehensive documentation of research findings, making it a vital reference for worm farming practitioners and enthusiasts.”—Norman Q. Arancon, PhD, associate professor of horticulture, University of Hawaii at Hilo“The Worm Farmer’s Handbook is a must-read for anyone interested in vermicomposting or vermiculture. With a candid voice, Rhonda Sherman explains the pitfalls and opportunities of worm farming based on her decades of experience. Chock full of tips for replication and lessons learned from model enterprises, the book’s chapters span not only the globe but a plethora of systems and sizes.”—Brenda Platt, director, Composting for Community Project, Institute for Local Self-Reliance“With The Worm Farmer’s Handbook, Rhonda Sherman delivers the first concise book of its kind: The A through Z of vermicomposting for commercial and community-scale enterprises.”—Frank Franciosi, executive director, US Composting Council“Rhonda Sherman sheds light on the mysterious world of worms and provides valuable insight into the worm composting industry. The Worm Farmer’s Handbook is my new first stop for practical, trustworthy vermicomposting information.”—James McSweeney, author of Community-Scale Composting Systems“Rhonda Sherman’s comprehensive new manual covers everything about creating a vermiculture business, from writing a business plan, marketing, and the care and feeding of worms to choosing a system that works for you. I wish her book had been available when I bought my worm farm 25 years ago! For over 20 years I have believed that vermiculture has the potential to revolutionize agriculture. The Worm Farmer’s Handbook can help that revolution go forward, and I heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in vermiculture.”—Jack Chambers, president, TerraVesco“Before reading this book, I made a mental note of topics that I felt would be included, such as history, how-to, underlying science, pitfalls and benefits, and economics. I was not disappointed—these topics and so much more are fully covered and written about in a very readable manner. This book will prove useful to academics and students at every educational level, practitioners of all types, and anyone with an enquiring mind. In an ever-growing field, The Worm Farmer’s Handbook is set to be the must-have guide and is a very welcome addition to earthworm literature.”—Kevin R. Butt, PhD, director, Earthworm Research Group, University of Central Lancashire“With global topsoil depletion reaching alarming levels, this thorough, informed, detailed, and concise manual could not be more timely. Worm farming presents unprecedented hope and enterprising opportunities that are being adopted in every corner of the world. All food security activists, healthy soil advocates, farmers, and educators should read The Worm Farmer’s Handbook. Thank you, Rhonda—this book is a highly useful gift to us all. The world needs more worm farmers!”—Anna de la Vega, director, The Urban Worm Community Interest Company

Read more less

Book SynopsisGrow your own gorgeous flowers that fill your house with scent. Look after the planet by reducing your blooms' air miles.Trade ReviewWith such a friendly writing style, it is easy to imagine cutting your home-grown blooms in the morning and delivering them to the local florist, with the author at your side. [...] For those who want to grow cut flowers simply for pleasure and to fill their home with blooms, this book is also essential reading. * RHS The Garden *Georgie Newbery gives sound and cheery advice on growing, displaying and - if that is your bag - selling [flowers] in The Flower Farmer's Year. * The Sunday Times *The Flower Farmer's Year gives advice targeted to our mild, dark-in-winter climate, and also gives practical advice on both preparing flowers for sale, and most importantly of all perhaps, how to actually sell them! * The Oak Tree Low Carbon Farm *A real treat for anyone who love to grow flowers for business or pleasure. * All That Women Want *It's the sort of book that will make you want to jack in your day job and start growing sweet peas, dahlias and roses for a living. * The Bath Magazine *Whether you're an amateur gardener or aspiring artisanal florist the book won't be read just once, with its wealth of invaluable information and beautiful pictures you'll find yourself returning to Georgie's blooming corner of Somerset again and again. * RandBConsultants *There's something magical about fresh flowers and this stunningly presented book can't help but captivate the novice and experienced grower alike. * Organic Farmer *Artisan flower farmer Newbery brings horticultural and agricultural logic to the process of farming flowers—planning, planting, growing, harvesting, and then arranging them—in a way that surprises and enlightens. * Publisher's Weekly *I love this book – it’s a beautiful yet practical and accessible guide that will help you transform whatever sized patch you have into an abundant oasis of flowers. -- Gardener, food writer and broadcaster, Mark DiaconoGeorgie has written an inspiring book for anyone who's ever wondered what it would be like to grow flowers on a commercial scale. -- Constance Craig Smith * The Daily Mail Weekend Magazine *If you’re thinking of setting yourself up as a flower farmer, you’ll find Georgie’s book indispensable. And if you’d simply like to grow flowers for pleasure, then I’m sure you’ll really enjoy the book too. Plus it would make a great Christmas present…! -- Rona Wheeldon * Flowerona.com *This coffee table book is both beautiful and practical, with more than 200 pages of well-written and wonderfully illustrated advice and inspiration. A must for the flower lover in your life! * Countryside Magazine *Whether you are actually planning to flog a few flowers or just want decent, straightforward advice on creating a cutting garden for your own use, this book is an excellent choice. -- Naomi Slade * Berks and Bucks Life *Table of ContentsForeword by James Alexander-Sinclair Introduction: Why grow cut flowers? 1. Getting started 2. Annuals 3. Biennials 4. Perennials 5. Bulbs & corms 6. Shrubs 7. Roses 8. Dahlias 9. Sweet peas 10. Herbs 11. Wildflowers 12. Cutting, conditioning & presenting cut flowers 13. Hedgerow Christmas 14. Starting a cut-flower business 15. Where to sell 16. Marketing & social media Afterword Appendix 1: The flower farmer’s year planner Appendix 2: Plant names Resources Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisSepp Holzer farms steep mountainsides in Austria, 1,500 metres above sea level. His farm is an intricate network of terraces, raised beds, ponds, waterways and tracks, well covered with productive fruit trees and other vegetation, with the farmhouse neatly nestling amongst them. This is in dramatic contrast to his neighbours spruce monocultures. In this book, Sepp shares the skill and knowledge acquired over his lifetime. He covers every aspect of his farming methods, not just how to create a holistic system on the farm itself, but how to make a living from it. He writes about everything from the overall concepts, down to the practical details. Sepp offers a wealth of information for the gardener, smallholder or alternative farmer, yet the books greatest value is the attitude it teaches, he reveals the thinking processes based on principles found in nature that create his successful systems. These can be applied by anyone anywhere, and Sepp is increasingly recognised as a leading figure in agriculture.Trade ReviewThere, at an altitude which everyone else has abandoned to low-value forestry, what is probably the best example of a permaculture farm in Europe stands out like a beacon. Patrick Whitefield, permaculture author and teacher

Read more less

Book SynopsisA practical, systems-based approach for a more sustainable farming operation "Ben Hartman has revolutionized his methods, cut down his work hours dramatically, and shrunk the size of his farm, all while making a better income."—Civil Eats To many people today, using the words “factory” and “farm” in the same sentence is nothing short of sacrilege. In many cases, though, the same sound business practices apply whether you are producing cars or carrots. Author Ben Hartman and other young farmers are increasingly finding that incorporating the best new ideas from business into their farming can drastically cut their wastes and increase their profits, making their farms more environmentally and economically sustainable. By explaining the lean system for identifying and eliminating waste and introducing efficiency in every aspect of the farm operation, The Lean Farm makes the case that small-scale farming can be an attractive career option for young people who are interested in growing food for their community. Working smarter, not harder, also prevents the kind of burnout that start-up farmers often encounter in the face of long, hard, backbreaking labor. Lean principles grew out of the Japanese automotive industry, but they are now being followed on progressive farms around the world. Using examples from his own family’s one-acre community-supported farm in Indiana, Hartman clearly instructs other small farmers in how to incorporate lean practices in each step of their production chain, from starting a farm and harvesting crops to training employees and selling goods. Inside The Lean Farm you'll discover how to apply lean practices like: Every Tool In Its Place Ten Types of Farm Waste Establish Pull, Don't Push Limits of Lean Lean for More Profit and much more! While the intended audience for this book is small-scale farmers who are part of the growing local food movement, Hartman’s prescriptions for high-value, low-cost production apply to farms and businesses of almost any size or scale that hope to harness the power of lean in their production processes. Ben Hartman was named a "Grist 50! Fixer" "The Lean Farm should be dissected, digested, and discussed—then applied—on every single farm: big or small, wholesale or retail, livestock or produce. It would make all farms more profitable, productive, and pleasurable.”—Joel Salatin, owner of Polyface FarmTrade ReviewBooklist- "The concept of ‘lean' manufacturing originally began during the 1980s in Japanese auto factories, such as those owned by Toyota, and it embraces a work ethic of eliminating as much waste as possible to give consumers the best value for their purchase. Using his own Clay Bottom Farm in Indiana as a proving ground, Hartman adapted this lean philosophy to support a thriving business, growing and selling enough specialty produce to support himself and his wife by harvesting only a single acre of land. In this lucidly written, well-organized guidebook, Hartman lays out the fundamentals of lean farming for any grower hoping to follow his example, from limiting materials and transportation needs to more efficiently using staff member talents. Along with many useful charts and photos, Hartman includes 10 case studies from his own farm, illustrating how trimming away unneeded practices led to big production gains. Although Hartman’s target audience here is organic, small-scale growers, anyone involved in a larger agribusiness owned operation will find his advice remarkably useful and ultimately very profitable.” “Ben Hartman is diversified farming's Dean of Lean. He walks the talk, sharing insights on how lean principles helped his farm and how they can help yours. ‘Lean’ is the epitome of efficiency, an essential ingredient of any successful farm.”--Richard Wiswall, author of The Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook“With lean principles, what’s good for the farm is even better for the farmer. As we invite new farmers back to the land, into vacant lots, and onto rooftops, we have to give them the tools for success and the ability to sustain. ‘Lean farming’ won’t leave you trying to turn a farm into an automotive factory, but you will get a whiff of what it means when the rubber hits the road.”--Philip Ackerman-Leist, author of Rebuilding the Foodshed “Farming is not just a business, but it's still a business, and Hartman's application of Toyota's efficiency principles to the farm is nothing short of profound. As I read this fantastic book, my mind literally skipped from procedure to place on our farm with new ideas on how to create efficiencies. The Lean Farm should be dissected, digested, and discussed--then applied--on every single farm: big or small, wholesale or retail, livestock or produce. It would make all farms more profitable, productive, and pleasurable.”--Joel Salatin, owner of Polyface Farm, author of You Can Farm and Folks, This Ain't Normal“Anyone who thinks lean is only for a factory should read this book. Ben Hartman, with simple but eloquent prose and delightful figures and photos, demonstrates how all aspects of lean can apply to farming, a process of growing and selling living things. The mysterious uniqueness of farming under constantly changing conditions became clear as Ben learned to understand his customers and his value streams to increase value and eliminate waste. And lean reinforced, rather then replaced, the strong social values of the Hartman farm.”--Jeffrey Liker, author of The Toyota Way“Farmers are good at farming—it is what they enjoy doing! At the same time, planning, organizing, and working out everything most efficiently is often not done as easily. The Lean Farm will help us all easily increase flow, production, and income. It is a treasure trove of possibilities without the need for increased investment!”--John Jeavons, author of How to Grow More Vegetables, executive director of Ecology Action, and developer of sustainable, biologically intensive mini-farming“If you want to see, right now, what food farming will look like in the coming years, this is the book for you. Using the kind of super-efficiency that new-age manufacturing has perfected, author Ben Hartman describes, in great detail and with superb illustrations, how he and his wife reduced their farm size from three acres to one and still make a decent living on it.”--Gene Logsdon, author, The Contrary Farmer"We give every new employee a copy of Ben’s writing to study. Adopting lean principles has been critical for bringing organization, focus, and harmony to our 100-acre fully diversified vegetable farm. ‘A place for every thing, and every thing in its place’ is a refrain we repeat over and over."--Pete Johnson, organic farmer and owner of Pete’s Greens, Craftsbury, Vermont“Clay Bottom Farm is a gem of a place in northern Indiana, where we are repeatedly told that you need a thousand acres to make a living as a farmer. Ben Hartman and his wife Rachel disprove this ‘conventional wisdom’ every day by managing a thriving farm business, not on a thousand acres, but on just one. In The Lean Farm, Ben explains how their elegant approach can be applied by anyone. His writing, like his farm, is clean, well organized, and easy to follow—but his ideas are revolutionary. The Lean Farm is one of the most original and innovative books on food and farming to come out in the last decade.”--Steve Hallett, Professor of Horticulture, Purdue University, and author of Life without Oil and The Efficiency Trap

Read more less

Book SynopsisPrinciples and farm-tested practices for no-dig market gardening–for healthier, more productive soil! From the host of the popular The No-Till Market Garden Podcast – heard around the world with nearly one million downloads! Discovering how to meet the soil’s needs is the key task for every market gardener. In this comprehensive guide, Farmer Jesse Frost shares all he has learned through experience and experimentation with no-till practices on his home farm and from interviews and visits with highly successful market gardeners in his role as host of The No-Till Market Garden Podcast. The Living Soil Handbook is centred around the three basic principles of no-dig market gardening: Disturb the soil as little as possible Keep it covered as much as possible Keep it planted as much as possible. Farmer Jesse then guides readers in applying those principles to their own garden environment, with their own materials, to meet their own goals. Beginning with an exploration of the importance of photosynthesis to living soil, Jesse provides in-depth information on: Turning over beds Using compost and mulch Path management Incorporating biology, maintaining fertility Cover cropping Diversifying plantings through intercropping Production methods for seven major crops Throughout, the book emphasises practical information on all the best tools and practices for growers who want to build their livelihood around maximising soil health. Farmer Jesse does not believe that growers should anguish over what does and does not qualify as “no-dig.” If you are using a tool to promote soil life and biology, that’s the goal. The Living Soil Handbook blends the idea of meeting the soil’s needs with the realities of making a living as a professional grower, no matter where you live.Trade Review“Over my years practicing no-till market gardening, I’ve come to truly appreciate listening to The No-Till Market Garden Podcast and Farmer Jesse’s exploration of no-till systems. Now, this research is inked into Jesse’s very well-written and valuable guide, The Living Soil Handbook. This book is a gold mine filled with tips, tricks, and effective practices you can apply to your crop itineraries. I advise any grower to follow Jesse’s mantra: A no-till system is not a dogma, it’s a direction.”—Jean-Martin Fortier, author of The Market Gardener“The best way to produce healthier soils, fight climate change, and reduce work all at the same time is to disturb the soil less. The Living Soil Handbook shows growers how to do just that. I highly recommend this practical and beautifully designed book.”—Ben Hartman, author of The Lean Farm and The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables“In this wonderful new book, Jesse Frost offers a clear and friendly explanation of why and how you can grow successfully when your methods are fully in tune with nature’s processes. Beautifully illustrated by Jesse’s wife, Hannah Crabtree, The Living Soil Handbook provides a full range of experience-based advice to aspiring growers and gardeners on major topics such as soil fertility and mulches as well as small but important details like bed and path width. Jesse values practicality over dogma, and keeps it achievable: ‘Disturb the soil as little as possible.’”—Charles Dowding, creator of Charles Dowding’s No-Dig Gardening Course“The Living Soil Handbook is a must-read for growers who want to achieve the long-held organic objective of feeding crops by feeding the soil. It goes beyond the mechanics of no-till to explain why it’s important to keep the soil ‘as undisturbed, as well covered, and as fully planted as possible.’ With the understanding of why to do these things, growers can customize their soil care systems for any region. Whether or not your goal is to go completely no-till, Jesse Frost’s book is a great companion to help you figure out how to ‘disturb the soil as little as you possibly can in your context.’ With an emphasis on understanding soil ecosystems, this book allows growers to improvise their own solutions rooted in soil health.”—Andrew Mefferd, editor, Growing for Market magazine; author of The Greenhouse and Hoophouse Grower’s Handbook and The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution“Jesse Frost’s The Living Soil Handbook is a terrific, practical application of the no-till principles for which he and his No-Till Market Garden Podcast have become known and respected. Disturbing the soil as little as possible—even when managing garden paths, for example—is one theme of this book about letting the living soil live and how to do so. Beautifully illustrated, this is a great read full of useful advice that will perfect your growing game.”—Jeff Lowenfels, author of Teaming with Fungi“The Living Soil Handbook is a must-have resource for those who wish to reduce or eliminate tillage, build soil biology, intensify production, and create a more ecological, regenerative, and successful farm. Farmer Jesse integrates the experiences of a multitude of farmers and his years of research with pertinent soil science in this easy-to-read guide to help grow more resilient farms in the face of climate chaos. It all goes back to the soil and building life!”—Elizabeth and Paul Kaiser, founders and farmers, Singing Frogs Farm“As a lifelong farmer who is skeptical of absolute practices and catchphrases like ‘no-till,’ I’m happy to say that Jesse Frost has done an excellent job of compiling resources and information to explain the tenets of healthy living soil. With a skillful, personable writing style, Jesse offers effective farming techniques and provides a compelling case to disturb the soil as little as possible as well as to keep it planted and covered as much as possible. The Living Soil Handbook is a great read for beginning and seasoned farmers alike.”—Clara Coleman, owner and operator, Four Season Farm; creator of #RealFarmerCare“Jesse Frost has made an invaluable addition to the nascent library of no-till market garden manuals. If you want to grow vegetables without tillage, read this book closely and reference it often. Like crops growing from a vibrant soil food web, Jesse’s insights pull from interactions with innovative no-till growers across the United States and beyond—and bear fruit worth savoring. Jesse has synthesized this incredible diversity into a comprehensive manual that takes no-till to a deeper level. I learned something new on almost every page. A magnificent union of information gathering and first-person know-how, The Living Soil Handbook is a must-read for every soil caretaker.”—Daniel Mays, author of The No-Till Organic Vegetable Farm“While no-till growing has been popular for amateur gardeners for some time, it is only more recently that commercial growers have embraced its potential. The Living Soil Handbook is beautifully clear, making both the complexity of soil biology and the technical crop detail engaging and accessible. Jesse Frost demonstrates the benefits of using no till methods and he also takes us through, in some detail, the range of methods possible at different scales. He is no starry-eyed evangelist though. He explores his failures as well as what has worked well, and points out areas where more research and trials are needed, for instance in successful crop termination. Though this book is aimed at the ecological market gardener, anyone with an interest in growing vegetables with the minimal impact on their soil will thoroughly enjoy and learn from Jesse’s sound advice.”—Ben Raskin, head of horticulture and agroforestry, Soil Association; author of The Woodchip Handbook“The Living Soil Handbook speaks to Jesse Frost’s experimental and inquisitive nature whilst seeking out practical and reliable solutions. Garnering wisdom from growers in many regions, as well as from his own experience, Jesse delves deep into what I consider an optimal approach to annual vegetable production. This book explores the pioneering no-dig market gardening system with deep woodchip pathways that I have established at Ridgedale, along with many other complementary approaches for achieving the same outcomes: thriving soil biology, practical workflows, and abundant harvests. It proves once again that it is our pattern-thinking that is important, and that we have a multitude of solutions at our disposal. We are microbe farmers, after all, and this book is a great addition to the literature to help you achieve beautiful and bountiful results.”—Richard Perkins, author of Regenerative Agriculture and Ridgedale Farm BuildsPublishers Weekly— "[A] practical, informative debut. . . .Gardeners interested in sustainable agriculture will find this a great place to start."Booklist Starred Review— "Author Frost offers a comprehensive, science-based, sympathetic, wholly practical guide to soil building, that most critical factor in vegetable gardening for market growers and home gardeners alike. A gift to any vegetable plot that will keep on giving."

Read more less

Book SynopsisLearn the difference between a farrow and a barrow, and what distinguishes a weanling from a yearling. Country and city mice alike will delight in Julia Rothman's charming illustrated guide to the curious parts and pieces of rural living. Dissecting everything from the shapes of squash varieties to how a barn is constructed and what makes up a beehive to crop rotation patterns, Rothman gives a richly entertaining tour of the quirky details of country life. Also available in this series: Nature Anatomy, Nature Anatomy Notebook, Ocean Anatomy, and Food Anatomy.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWith decades of knowledge and proven, common-sense methods from The Barefoot Farmer, this practical guide to biodynamic principles and practices will appeal to growers of every scale and experience level.In Barefoot Biodynamics, organic grower Jeff PoppenThe Barefoot Farmercombines tales from his personal history in rural Tennessee with the practical applications of biodynamic principles and the deep aspects of the biodynamic methods that continue to make his farm a success today.Jeff's friendly, direct, and humorous writing will appeal not only to the biodynamic-curious, but also to farmers and gardeners who have experimented with the biodynamic approach and are looking for a deeper understanding of the practice.Rooted in the teachings of biodynamic pioneer Rudolf Steiner, Jeff's unique insights and deep reflections on guiding lines of biodynamic growing are an invaluable resource. Those guiding lines include:<

Read more less

Book Synopsis''If we could all live and eat a little more like Tom the world and the food chain would be in much better shape.'' Anna Jones''This book is like a hybrid of Michael Pollan and Anna Jones. It combines serious food politics with flavour-packed modern recipes. This is a call-to-arms for a different way of eating which seeks to lead us there not through lectures but through a love of food, in all its vibrancy and variety.'' Bee WilsonTom''s mission is to teach a way of eating that prioritises the environment without sacrificing pleasure, taste and nutrition.Tom''s manifesto, ''Root to Fruit'' demonstrates how we can all become part of the solution, supporting a delicious, biodiverse and regenerative food system, giving us the skills and knowledge to shop, eat and cook sustainably, whilst eating healthier, better-tasting food for no extra cost.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn The Regenerative Garden, discover 80 projects that put you and your garden in-sync with nature, which leads to reduced maintenance and a wiser use of resources, and results in a garden that practically cares for itself.Trade Review"Within each chapter are many projects that you can readily accomplish at reasonable cost and time. In fact, you might scratch your head and think….why haven’t I done that. Do not scold yourself because with this book in hand, you can do it! Follow these permaculture suggestions and you will become a better informed and more eco-conscious gardener." * George Graine, The Graine Thumb *"This is a must-need book in your gardening library." -- Maria Colletti, author of Terrariums: Gardens Under Glass * Shepherd.com *"Conservation of materials, eliminating waste and a concern for introducing children to the joys of the garden are present alongside useful tips. Anyone who yearns for planting season will appreciate this book." * Connecticut Horticultural Society *Table of ContentsForewordIntroduction1 | SoilGrowing from the Ground Up2 | WaterEfficiency in Collection and Use3 | PlantsGrowing Life4 | ClimateCreating Harmony5 | EthicsReducing Waste and Encouraging Diversity6 | CommunityBuilding Sharing Spaces for EveryoneResourcesAbout the AuthorAcknowledgmentsCitationsIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisNow with a revolutionary new “Climate Battery” design for near-net-zero heating and cooling "Jerome Osentowski is a master of simple, elegantly frugal, eminently practical indoor gardens."—Amory Lovins In this groundbreaking book, Jerome Osentowski, one of North America’s most accomplished permaculture designers, presents a wholly new approach to a very old horticultural subject. In The Forest Garden Greenhouse, he shows how bringing the forest garden indoors is not only possible, but doable on unlikely terrain and in cold climates, using near-net-zero technology. Different from other books on greenhouse design and management, this book advocates for an indoor agriculture using permaculture design concepts—integration, multi-functions, perennials, and polycultures—that take season extension into new and important territory. Chapters Include: Expanding the Possible with Season Extension The History and Mechanics of the Climate Battery Considerations for Building Your Own Greenhouse Several Off-site Case Studies And much more! Osentowski, director and founder of Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute (CRMPI) incorporates deep, holistic permaculture design with practical common sense. His greenhouse designs, which can range from the backyard homesteader to commercial greenhouses, are completely ecological and use a simple design that traps hot and cold air and regulates it for best possible use. With detailed design drawings, photos, and profiles of successful greenhouse projects on all scales, this inspirational manual will considerably change the conversation about greenhouse design.Trade ReviewPublishers Weekly- "Osentowski shows how building and maintaining a Mediterranean or tropical greenhouse full of figs, lemons, papayas, and bananas can be both affordable and practical. Drawing on his 30 years of experimentation and teaching in the harsh, dry mountain environment of his Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute, he offers lush descriptions of his five greenhouses and in-depth, layered advice on designing and constructing a balmy winter retreat. His method uses a 'climate battery’ consisting of tubes buried underground to collect and hold warm air from the greenhouse, which then recirculate it when the temperature cools, backed up in the coldest days with a pellet or wood stove that can simultaneously heat an attached sauna. Osentowski admits that he prefers a hands-on method of teaching, and his written tours through greenhouses are sometimes hard to follow. Novices may be intimidated by the lack of step-by-step, formulaic instruction. But more experienced gardeners, builders, and tinkerers, and even intrepid beginners willing to carefully observe, compute, and ponder, will find this readable guide jam-packed with enough information and inspiration to help them attempt their own indoor paradises.”“A grand master of American permaculture, Jerome Osentowski has pioneered school gardens, high-altitude/high-nutrient cropping, bio-islands for organic golf course management, and heritage fruit trees for the mountain West. Of them all, the forest garden greenhouse is the most impressive. A marvel of integration between humans, the built environment, and the natural world, the greenhouse, in a world of climate calamity, will prove indispensable for both home comfort and food production. The Forest Garden Greenhouse surpasses all others on the subject for technical innovation and practical design.”--Peter Bane, author of The Permaculture Handbook: Garden Farming for Town and Country, board member, Permaculture Institute of North America, and former publisher and editor, Permaculture Activist magazine“In 1997 I had the privilege of visiting Jerome Osentowski’s forest garden in Basalt, Colorado. There is no doubt that Jerome learns from nature with enthusiasm and is one of the few with the capacity to translate his observations into a garden that feeds people—and dreams. The Forest Garden Greenhouse not only makes you wonder how you could achieve forest gardens at home and in your community, but it also makes you take action without delay! There is a sense of urgency that we transform our resource use; with wisdom gained from experience, Jerome shows us how we can do just that.”--Gunter Pauli, author of The Blue Economy“This revolutionary book captures what Jerome Osentowski has learned in decades of building and tending his high-altitude food forest and extensive permaculture site. Jerome’s climate battery is a brilliant idea deserving a broad audience. It brings greenhouse technology into the twenty-first century using simple, appropriate materials. The Forest Garden Greenhouse clearly and elegantly describes the greenhouse, the garden, and the evolution of Jerome’s deep wisdom and creativity. This is much more than a greenhouse book; it’s a manifesto and guidebook showing how permaculture can help us live regenerative lives.”--Toby Hemenway, author of The Permaculture City and Gaia’s Garden“Jerome Osentowski is a master of simple, elegantly frugal, eminently practical indoor gardens that can grow lots of almost anything almost anywhere by not treating soil like dirt. His recipe for rich sheet-mulched soil has so far produced 58 passive-solar banana crops (and over 100 other kinds of higher plants including Bornean tropicals) in my own super-insulated passive-solar home near Aspen. Now The Forest Garden Greenhouse lucidly shares Jerome’s deep, versatile, and ever-evolving experience. Read, learn, apply, improve, spread, enjoy!”--Amory B. Lovins, cofounder and chief scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute“Living in a cold climate is no excuse for not growing your own tropical fruits and year-round vegetables. The Forest Garden Greenhouse teaches how to harvest not just food but year-round temperateness, based on the real-world experience of a seasoned greenhouse designer and manager. After my last visit to Jerome’s greenhouse, I came home to Massachusetts and we built a subtropical greenhouse. Once you read his book, you will want to, too!”--Eric Toensmeier, author of The Carbon Farming Solution and Perennial Vegetables

Read more less

Book SynopsisFor anyone already practicing, or turning to, biodynamic gardening and farming methods, numerous detailed questions arise, such as:* How do you make and use the key preparations, such as horn manure and horn silica?* How do you develop living, fertile soil?* Which treatments are best for controlling weeds, pests and disease?This manual, fully illustrated with explanatory diagrams and photographs, provides the answers. The book covers* all aspects of making and using biodynamic preparations and composts* managing the health of plants* controlling weeds and pests* working with cosmic rhythms* combatting common diseases such as mildew* working with seeds, pastes and root dips* care of fruit trees and vinesThis second edition also has extensive new chapters on large-scale farming, including livestock and cereal cultivation, and vegetable farming. The whole book has also been completely revised and updated.Although the technical aspects of biodynamic growing are exhaustively covered, the author also considers the human qualities necessary for this kind of agriculture to succeed.This is an invaluable guide for all biodynamic growers to have to hand daily.Trade Review'The definitive practical manual for biodynamic farmers and gardeners, with a section on viticulture.'-- David Lorimer, Scientific Medical Network Review

Read more less

Book SynopsisHealthy chickens are happy chickens. This one-of-a-kind reference book covers the health problems that plague chickens of all breeds and ages. Practical charts identify common symptoms and causes of infection, while an alphabetic listing of diseases provides advice on treatment. You’ll find helpful descriptions of troublesome ailments of all types, from poor egg production to crooked toe syndrome. Practical remedies and gentle preventative care measures will help your beloved flock stay happy, healthy, and safe.

Read more less

Book SynopsisPermaculture design has been the bedrock of the growth of the worldwide network of Ecovillages since the mid 1990s. A well-developed set of educational programmes has evolved too. This book takes as its basis the well-known Permaculture Design Course.This invaluable source book brings together everything students on such courses need to know about Ecovillage design. Starting with a historical survey of the tradition of intentional community, the book covers topics ranging from the size of community, gardening and farming, building and technology, to economics, and tools for helping communities to grow and develop.Additionally, the guide features a number of richly observed Ecovillage case-studies with photographs, alongside lots of tips for facilitators and self-study groups.This comprehensive book will also be of interest to those wishing to contribute to the founding and building of Ecovillage communities for a sustainable future.Trade ReviewPraise for Jan Bang's previous books on Ecovillages and Eco-communities:'A comprehensive review for those who seek to initiate an ecovillage or for those in existing community who seek a transformation to a more sustainable way of life.'-- International Communal Studies Association Bulletin'The book has a clear and anecdotal style, and the details of the worldwide communities keep you inspired.'-- Clean Slate: The Practical Journal of Sustainable Living'A useful guide if you are considering planning or even joining an ecovillage.'-- Building for a Future: The Independent Journal for Green Building'A comprehensive guide to the principles and practice of sustainable communities.'-- Scientific and Medical Network Review'Part life testimony, part textbook for all kinds of sustainable living. An important snapshot of how community life has evolved since the communes of the 1970s. Life-affirming.'-- Camphill Correspondence'Jan Bang clearly has hands-on experience. This is a veritable source book.'-- New View'This book weaves together permaculture and ecovillage design as coherent strategies for sustainable living and is full of practical hands-on information as well as inspiration and insight.'-- Permaculture'Takes an inspiring, serious look at sustainability in alternative communities across the world, Food for thought for anyone wanting to rationalise their carbon footprint.'-- Wave Magazine'Practical in its approach and with a critical eye, the book paints a vivid picture of a variety of communal lives. For those of us not living in communities, it gives an excellent introduction to the problems faced and the joy in overcoming them.'-- Living Lighty'If you are part of a community, are thinking of establishing one or just wondered what makes a successful one work, this book will guide you through the thorny issues and how they can be dealt with. An invaluable handbook.'-- Juno Magazine'A candid, inspiring and practical book - essential reading.'-- Positive News

Read more less

Book SynopsisBiodynamics grew out of Rudolf Steiner's Agriculture Course, a series of lectures he gave in 1924. It is now an inspirational worldwide movement bringing a uniquely holistic, organic agriculture to farms, vineyards and gardens. In this concise and fascinating history, Bernard Jarman, former Director of the Biodynamic Agricultural Association for the UK, charts the development of biodynamics in Britain following its arrival in 1928 through to the present day. He presents engaging personal portraits of biodynamic pioneers, including Daniel Dunlop, George Adams, Lili Kolisko, Marna Pease and Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, and includes accounts of early discoveries, for example the research that led to the development of Maria Thun's Biodynamic Calendar, and later initiatives such as Community Supported Agriculture. Jarman also examines key moments in the history of the movement, including the emergence of two rival biodynamic organisations in the 1930s and 40s, and the flourishing of the wider organic movement in post-war Britain, as well as the challenges posed by genetically modified crops. This insightful book provides an important historical overview and grounding for the biodynamic movement as it looks to its future.

Read more less

Book SynopsisFarmland wildlife has been decimated by intensive crop growing using pesticides, grubbing up hedges, ploughing heathland and draining marshes, etc. With too many sheep grazing our moors, hills and mountains, a range of upland plants, invertebrates and birds has been diminished and the land converted to closely-grazed turf, perfect for heavy rain to cause catastrophic downstream floods. Once common farmland birds have declined by 54% since 1970 with farmland invertebrates declining by 40% in a few decades. Since the 1930s a staggering 97% of our once flower-rich meadows has been lost. Ploughing a New Furrow examines these stark figures and in the context of Brexit considers the unprecedented opportunity for wildlife once again to be nurtured by Britain's farmers alongside food production, reversing the enormous plant and animal losses our farmland has suffered. With its financial largesse, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has encouraged farmers to destroy huge areas of wildlife habitat in Britain's lowlands and seriously damage large tracts of our uplands, depleting Britain's farmed land of much of its wildlife. With responsibility for farm policy to be transferred back to the UK, these enormous losses could be reversed and Britain's farms made wildlife-rich once more. This book is based to a significant extent on conversations with farmers and on the achievements and experiences of some farmers who have made good use of agri-environment payments to reinstate lost habitats and manage their remaining wildlife more sensitively. The author sets out the case for removing or capping subsidies, supporting organic and other more sustainable forms of agriculture and the conservation of soils and the rich life forms they hold. He proposes a set of policy changes and other measures that should be adopted by the Government post-Brexit to make the 70% of our land that farming occupies rich in wildlife again. Literally food for thought!Trade Review`the author has researched his subject admirably. …is an informative read about the myriad ways the policy decisions may impact on farm wildlife across the UK. …the author has made this often impenetrable subject approachable’. Plantlife -------------------- `…considers the unprecedented opportunity for wildlife once again to be nutured by Britain’s farmers alongside food production, reversing the enormous plant and animal losses our farmland has suffered’. Wildlife -------------------- `...a timely publication... ...an easy read with an added light in human touch that enhances the chapters... ...provides an informed perspective on the agriculture industry...' ECOS -------------------- `This is a must-read for agricultural and conservation students alike but it will also appeal to farmers, environmental practitioners and anyone that takes an interest in the health of the farmed landscape. The timing of this book has never been more poignant with the backdrop of Brexit. ...this publication serves as an ideal cue to review where we are at with each of these conservation challenges...' BTO - British Trust for Ornithology -------------------- `This is a balanced and informative book that is timely and relevant - a must read for anyone with an interest in farm wildlife issues and the future of farming in the UK'. Butterfly -------------------- `...must be one of the most thought-provoking with regards to farming in the UK and how farming practices and wildlife might coexist in the future. There is so much in this thought-provoking book you must read it...' Dumfries & Galloway Life -------------------- `Malcolm Smith's book comes at a critical time. Farming is on the cusp of a new era in light of Brexit... ...an intelligent and thorough walk through of the issues surrounding farming and wildlife. The subject matter is successfully brought to life through his narrative and it is clear that he is well-versed in the issues through actual experience...' Kate Priestman, Inside Ecology

Read more less

Book SynopsisA toolkit of 6 regenerative food growing systems which have been tried and tested. These can help farmers and growers transform industrial food production systems into resilient, biodiverse, carbon negative, productive farms and bring about an agroecological revolution. Farms and garden design for growing healthy food from living soil in low input closed loop systems. The circular food economy. The four challenges of climate change mitigation, climate adaptation, offsetting biodiversity loss and producing enough healthy food for a growing population. The author's case study of her Huxhams Cross Farm researches how depleted soil was transformed into a thriving living soil drawing on the toolkit of these 6 sustainable methods. She outlines the six main forms of sustainable food production : biodynamic, organic, permaculture, agroforestry, agroecology and regenerative farming methods. The principles and practices of each approach are explained concisely, with illustrative case studies of successful examples.There are follow up resources including articles, books, film references, and training available around the world. The book concludes with the Huxhams Cross Farm case study with hard research evidence, reviewing the extent to which the four challenges have been met and how a successful farm has been developed from bare land in 5 years. The conclusion addresses how farming can be transformed by tackling such barriers as land access for farmers, the psychology of scarcity and building farmer capacity. The key roles of food choices, policy, community supported agriculture are addressed.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe go-to guide on mushroom farming and cultivation! This is a reference book for the next generation of DIY mycologists. Sandor Ellix Katz, author of The Art of Fermentation A clear, comprehensive guide that is a gift to amateur as well as professional mushroom growers. Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia’s Garden In Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation, professional mushroom grower and biologist Tradd Cotter shares the results of his groundbreaking research gives, giving readers an A to Z guide for cultivating mushrooms – from sourcing laboratory equipment at low cost to starting cultures and spawn generation - without chemical or electrical input. Readers will learn: How to cultivate morels indoors and outdoors Indispensable descriptions of 25+ different genus of mushrooms Training mycelium to respond to specific contaminants Perpetuating spawn on cardboard without the use of electricity Preparing tinctures, powders and mushroom-infused honey Making an antibacterial mushroom cutting board How to grow mushrooms on your old denim jeans! Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation is aimed towards readers wanting to grow mushrooms without the use of pesticides, and the author takes this “organic” drive one step further by introducing an entirely new way of thinking – looking at the potential to grow mushrooms on just about anything, anywhere and by anyone.Trade ReviewLibrary Journal- "Microbiologist Cotter came to mushroom farming in his 20s and quickly became hooked. He shares his enthusiasm for the practice in this wide-ranging book, which covers topics of interest for the beginning hobbyist to the market farmer. Starting with general information about the mushroom life cycle and growing techniques, it progresses into innovative applications for mushrooms and educational ideas using fungi, and then gets into advanced systems. The title concludes with a guide to specific mushrooms and methods for growing them indoors and outdoors. Highlights of innovative techniques include growing media and guerilla urban mushroom producing. More advanced and experimental projects are fascinating, such as the potential for mushroom farming on a space ship and advice on ways to cultivate morels. Emphasized throughout are low-cost and sustainable methods, with several features on how to grow mushrooms without electricity and in disaster areas. Cotter describes the “mushroom rescue modules” he imagines being shipped to disaster relief areas that can provide food, mosquito control, and water purification. ­VERDICT Because this title covers a lot of ground it will be extremely useful for mushroom farming enthusiasts at any level.”Booklist- "Mushrooms 'are part of Nature’s decomposers and constructors, the agent of habitat renewal,' Cotter tells us. And mycoremediation is the use of mushrooms to create an effective biomass that can break down environmental and industrial pollutants. A microbiologist, mycologist, and organic gardener, Cotter takes a holistic approach, mindful of the mushroom’s life cycle and ecological role, in this challenging guide to the indoor and outdoor cultivation of edible mushroom varieties. He also provides information on medicinal, industrial, and ecologically remedial applications. His in-depth exploration extends beyond cultivation to 'healing the people and the planet.' The book’s four sections cover the fundamentals of mushroom cultivation; innovative applications and projects, including alcoholic beverages; advanced techniques and research, including mycoremediation; and detailed descriptions of selected mushrooms. With plenty of photographs and other illustrations and comprehensive back matter, including glossary, bibliography, list of resources and suppliers, and index, Cotter’s advanced how-to is best for those seeking serious mycological knowledge.”Publishers Weekly- "This comprehensive introduction to growing and utilizing fungi has something for all mushroom-inclined readers, be they individuals curious about growing edible fungi in their backyards or basements, prospective mushroom farmers setting up large growing systems, educators from kindergarten to college levels, or innovators experimenting with eco-friendly materials. In addition to providing step-by-step directions for growing mushrooms, the book foodies, amateur scientists, and activists with esoteric and advanced applications for them, such as mushroom-infused beers; 'mushroom modules' that can be used for food, water filtration, or insect control in disaster relief; and mushrooms that can be “trained” to break down specific contaminants. Both practical and passionate, Cotter offers extensive and detailed information about mushroom biology, propagation, and remediation for novices. This refreshing take goes beyond typical how-tos, which only provide rote directions and absolute answers. He has equal interest in encouraging budding mycologists, mushroom growers, and mycoremediators to observe, experiment, and add to the knowledge of this mysterious burgeoning field.”“Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation is a guide and inspiration for new and experienced mushroom cultivators alike. Tradd Cotter has done a great job of combining the complexity of mushroom cultivation with the intuitive simplicity of ‘small steps.’ Highly recommended for fungophiles as a great read and reference!” --Jim Gibson, past president, Colorado Mycological Society“Tradd Cotter has written a clear, comprehensive guide that is a gift to amateur as well as professional mushroom growers. The pages are enlivened by Cotter’s enthusiasm for the many possibilities that fungi offer, and his obvious familiarity with growing these marvelous creatures—not just theoretical knowledge—makes the book particularly valuable. This book opens the doors wide to a diverse and fascinating fungal world.”--Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture“Mushroom cultivation should be playing a much bigger role in our gardens and farms. Tradd Cotter’s Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation provides low-cost, easily accessible techniques for growing mushrooms indoors and outdoors, from home to commercial scale.”--Eric Toensmeier, author of Paradise Lot and Perennial Vegetables“This is a reference book for the next generation of DIY mycologists. It is a great practical guide to mushroom cultivation, starting with basic concepts and building from there to mycoremediation and experimental strain development. Tradd Cotter is a man with a mission, who has done and thought about all this a lot; he has learned to explain it with great clarity and in a simple and well-organized manner.”--Sandor Ellix Katz, fermentation revivalist and author of The Art of Fermentation and Wild Fermentation“Finally, an accessible resource covering a wide variety of mushroom-cultivation approaches. Tradd Cotter’s book fills an enormous need—I’ve been wishing for a resource like this for a long time. This is the kind of book I’ll keep nearby and will turn to often over the years. Any farmer or gardener who wishes to garner food or medicine value from wood needs to understand and cultivate mushrooms. And this is the best all-around manual I’ve seen.”--Ben Falk, author of The Resilient Farm and Homestead“Tradd Cotter has done a wonderful job sharing his practical experience in a well-organized way with illustrations that clearly underline the topics. Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation is an invaluable resource for teaching students about mushroom cultivation.”--Peter Oei, author of Mushroom Cultivation, director of horticulture innovation at InnovatieNetwerk, Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, and founder of MeattheMushroom.nl and spore.nl.“Wow! Tradd Cotter is a genius of organic mushroom production. His step-by-step instructions and beautiful photography make this a must-have book.”--Robert Rogers, author of The Fungal Pharmacy: The Complete Guide to Medicinal Mushrooms and Lichens of North America

Read more less

Book SynopsisLiving With The Earth is a three volume series bringing together years of hands-on organic growing experience and research from the world-renowned Bec Hellouin Farm in France. In 2006, Perrine and Charles Herve-Gruyer set out on a mission to discover a new form of agriculture that provides organic crops, creates healthy soil and brings meaningful employment to the local community. A combination of biointensive methods and permaculture design, which they have named 'ecoculture', and backed by scientific research, has resulted in a highly abundant market garden that sequesters carbon and frees up land for Nature. This beautifully illustrated, comprehensive first volume shows you how natural systems work, and explains how a wide range of simple and effective techniques can create ecologically diverse gardens or highly productive farms. The in-depth chapters on weather patterns, soil types and ecosystem services, give the reader a sound understanding of the environment they are growing in. The book covers everything you need to design a farm and implement a high-yielding food system from scratch, from understanding permaculture and its tools to the full design process, using the successful systems at Bec Hellouin as examples. Chapters on composting, mulching, fertilisers, green manures and working with beneficial microorganisms offer the reader a selection of tools for creating healthy soil within the farm ecosystem. This is a unique, groundbreaking book for gardeners, homesteaders, farmers, agronomists and permaculture designers.Trade Review"Goodness, this book sings! Living With The Earth braids ecological farming, scientific rigor and ancient wisdom with all the practicalities of a manual that actually helps you do the work. The immense beauty of this book, with its lyrical writing, photos and illustrations, pulls you into the world of miracles ... our world tended with loving hands in a simple, effective and regenerative way. This is ecological farming at its best." Erik Ohlsen, Author of The Regenerative Landscaper

Read more less

Book SynopsisPart lyrical nature writing, part storytelling, part solid scientific evidence, part scholarly research, part memoir, the book is an elegant manifesto, an urgent call to stop trashing the Earth and start healing it. the Guardian Perfect for readers of Wilding, Dirt to Soil and English Pastoral! Call of the Reed Warbler is a clarion call for the global transformation of agriculture, and an in-depth look at the visionary farmers who are revolutionising the way we grow, eat, and think about food. Using his personal experience as a touchstone, starting as a chemical-dependent farmer with dead soils, he recounts his journey carefully regenerating a 2000-hectare property to a state of natural health. Massy lays out the facts behind industrial agriculture and the global profit-obsessed corporations driving it. With evocative stories, he shows how other innovative and courageous farmers are finding a new way. It’s not too late to regenerate the earth. Call of the Reed Warbler offers a path forward for the future of our food, our planet and our health. Charles Massy has written a definitive masterpiece that takes its place along with the writings of Aldo Leopold, Wendell Berry, Masanobu Fukuoka, Humberto Maturana, and Michael Pollan. No work has more brilliantly defined regenerative agriculture... Paul HawkenTrade ReviewBooklist— "In the last few decades, a growing movement toward pesticide and GMO-free farming practices has been blossoming throughout the world as a counterbalance to corporate-driven agribusinesses. Piggybacking on terms like sustainability and permaculture, veteran sheepherder and author Massy refers to these environmentally friendly methods as “regenerative agriculture,” and he offers inspiring testimony here on how he and many of his fellow food-growing Australians have transformed their farmlands by respecting the native ecosystems that surround them. In three richly informative sections, Massy recounts the background story of how aboriginal sustainable land use eventually gave way to what he calls mechanical agriculture practices; demonstrates how balancing five landscape functions, such as solar energy and water cycles, can revitalize the soil; and gives abundant examples of Aussie farmers, including himself, using these practices with great success….[Massy’s] message about the dire need for sustainability is one that all readers concerned about food and the environment should closely heed." Kirkus Reviews— "An Australian sheepherder and range specialist looks at his home's biotic communities and how to improve their health with a more thoughtful kind of agriculture. Arachnophobes take note: There's a reason you want to see a lot of spiders in the tall grass, for, as Massy (Breaking the Sheep's Back, 2011, etc.) instructs, it means that good things are happening. 'To sustain millions of spiders,' he writes, 'there must be a corresponding diversity in the food chain, and healthy landscape function above and below ground.' Such a healthy landscape, argues the author in considerable detail, cannot come about through what he calls the 'more-on' approach to agriculture, piling chemicals atop increasingly unproductive soil, but instead is the result of a ‘regenerative' agriculture that necessarily happens at a small scale. The larger scale is what modern agronomists insist is needed in order to feed a growing world population, but at a cost that may be too great. As Massy observes, a livestock grower will always seek to save the herd before saving the range, no matter how shortsighted that strategy may be in the end. The author's prose can be arid and technical at times, as when he writes, 'at a global level, non-regeneratively grazed livestock emissions are a huge source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.' At others, he sounds like a modern butterflies-are-free avatar of Charles Reich: 'an Emergent mind combines elements of the previous Organic and Mechanical minds, but its true difference is an openness to the ongoing processes of emergence and self-organization.' The circularity aside, Massy's book is a useful small-is-beautiful argument for appropriate-level farming that people can do without massive machines or petrochemical inputs. Though less elegant than Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson, he certainly falls into their camp, and their readers will want to know Massy's work as well. A solid case for taking better care of the ground on which we stand."“Part lyrical nature writing, part storytelling, part solid scientific evidence, part scholarly research, part memoir, [this] book is an elegant manifesto, an urgent call to stop trashing the Earth and start healing it.”—The Guardian“Charles Massy has written a definitive masterpiece that takes its place along with the writings of Aldo Leopold, Wendell Berry, Masanobu Fukuoka, Humberto Maturana, and Michael Pollan. No work has more brilliantly defined regenerative agriculture and the breadth of its restorative impact upon human health, biodiversity, climate, and ecological intelligence. There is profound insight here, realized by thirty-five years of farming on the ancient, fragile soils of the Australian continent, discernment expressed with exquisite clarity, seasoned wisdom, and some breathtaking prose of poetic elegance. I believe it takes its place as the single most important book on agriculture today, one that will become a classic text.”—Paul Hawken, author of Blessed Unrest; editor of Drawdown“I first met Charles Massy in 2015 when he visited the ranch of the Africa Centre for Holistic Management in Zimbabwe. Building on the work of many people, Massy has now written a compelling and comprehensive book on the importance of management being holistic—and how that will ultimately lead to a regenerative agriculture capable of restoring even the most degraded ecosystems and marginalized land in any climate and at any scale. He has done this with wonderful stories that take us on a journey of ecological literacy, supported by evocative insights into landscapes, science, and practical farming and living. Call of the Reed Warbler is a massive accomplishment and contribution to our collective work of building a new agriculture, a new Earth, and renewed human society and health.”—Allan Savory, president of the Savory Institute“This book will change the way you think about food, farming, and the place of humans on the planet. Introducing us to leaders of the regenerative agriculture movement, Massy offers real hope that we may yet fashion a society that gives more than it takes.”—Liz Carlisle, author of Lentil Underground; lecturer, School of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University“Conceptually rich and filled with examples of diverse innovators, Call of the Reed Warbler is the most comprehensive and engaging book I’ve read on regenerative agriculture. Charlie Massy contends humans have morphed from an ‘Organic mind’ into a ‘Mechanical mind,’ which is now evolving into an ‘Emergent mind’—a change in consciousness that embraces self-organizing processes. He shows how the minds of the innovators in his book were opened to three key processes: First, they began to understand how landscapes function, how ecological system work, and how they are indivisibly connected. Second, they got out of the way to let nature repair, self-organize, and regenerate these functions. Third, they had the humility to ‘listen to their land,’ change, and continue to learn with that same openness. Massy concludes we can heal Earth, but only by transforming ourselves and our connections with the landscapes and communities in which we live. This book is a thoughtful step in that direction.”—Fred Provenza, professor emeritus, Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University; author of Nourishment“Charles Massy is a leader in the regenerative agriculture movement in Australia with a message of hope for everyone. Using his arid homeland as a touchstone, Massy thoughtfully counterbalances the damage done by industrial agriculture to our land and our prospects with evocative examples from around the world of a hopeful way forward. His beliefs are grounded in practical experience, his vision clear, and his words inspiring. Call of the Reed Warbler is a must-read!”—Courtney White, author of Grass, Soil, Hope“Call of the Reed Warbler not only heralds the sound of an ecosystem functioning but also of a world awakening to regenerative agriculture. Charlie Massy is Australia’s equivalent to Thoreau and Leopold and a practical regenerative farmer to boot. I can’t think of anyone better equipped to pen a book like this, and to do so with such scholarship, integrity, and rollicking prose is a credit to Charlie and those whose journey he’s portrayed. Easily my ‘Book of the Year.’”—Darren J. Doherty, founder, Regrarians Limited

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe earth is in great peril, due to the corporatization of agriculture, the rising climate crisis, and the ever-increasing levels of global poverty, starvation, and desertification on a massive scale. This present condition of global trauma is not "natural," but a result of humanity's destructive actions. And, according to Masanobu Fukuoka, it is reversible. We need to change not only our methods of earth stewardship, but also the very way we think about the relationship between human beings and nature. Fukuoka grew up on a farm on the island of Shikoku in Japan. As a young man he worked as a customs inspector for plants going into and out of the country. This was in the 1930s when science seemed poised to create a new world of abundance and leisure, when people fully believed they could improve upon nature by applying scientific methods and thereby reap untold rewards. While working there, Fukuoka had an insight that changed his life forever. He returned to his home village and applied this insight to developing a revolutionary new way of farming that he believed would be of great benefit to society. This method, which he called "natural farming," involved working with, not in opposition to, nature. Fukuoka's inspiring and internationally best-selling book, The One-Straw Revolution was first published in English in 1978. In this book, Fukuoka described his philosophy of natural farming and why he came to farm the way he did. One-Straw was a huge success in the West, and spoke directly to the growing movement of organic farmers and activists seeking a new way of life. For years after its publication, Fukuoka traveled around the world spreading his teachings and developing a devoted following of farmers seeking to get closer to the truth of nature. Sowing Seeds in the Desert, a summation of those years of travel and research, is Fukuoka's last major work-and perhaps his most important. Fukuoka spent years working with people and organizations in Africa, India, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United States, to prove that you could, indeed, grow food and regenerate forests with very little irrigation in the most desolate of places. Only by greening the desert, he said, would the world ever achieve true food security. This revolutionary book presents Fukuoka's plan to rehabilitate the deserts of the world using natural farming, including practical solutions for feeding a growing human population, rehabilitating damaged landscapes, reversing the spread of desertification, and providing a deep understanding of the relationship between human beings and nature. Fukuoka's message comes right at the time when people around the world seem to have lost their frame of reference, and offers us a way forward. Trade ReviewKirkus Reviews- From the late author of bestseller The One Straw Revolution (1978) comes a similar book about a philosophical approach to natural farming."The fundamental concept of a natural farm," writes Fukuoka (The Natural Way of Farming, 1985, etc.), "begins with intuitively grasping nature's original form, where many varieties of plants and animals live together as a harmonious whole, joyfully and in mutual benefit." In this English translation of the author's last work (first published in Japan in 1996), he decries the "indiscriminate deforestation and large-scale agriculture carried out in order to support the materialistic cultures of the developed countries." This process has created a condition called "desertification," the inability of the soil to grow anything. Because humans have lost their connection with nature, Fukuoka advocates foregoing harmful modern methods of farming in favor of a simpler approach. Based primarily on the success of his farm in Japan, the author believes the solution lies in aerial distribution of a large variety of plants via clay seed pellets, the use of cover crops, and a no-tilling approach to the soil. By seeding a wide variety of species in the desert, nature will select those plants best suited for a particular location. These plants will flourish, drawing water from deep within the earth and thereby allowing other plants and trees to prosper. Taking his philosophy to Africa, India and the United States, among other places, Fukuoka demonstrated that, given sufficient time, seeding fallow earth with vegetables, plants and trees created a lush setting. More a spiritual analysis of farming methods than a hands-on approach, the book still provides viable and simple solutions to the world's increased need for productive land. An enlightened method for reclaiming the barren soils of the world. Booklist- The vision of the late Japanese farmer and philosopher Fukuoka, a pioneer in natural farming techniques and author of the now classic The One-Straw Revolution (1978), extends far beyond agriculture. In his final book, a far-reaching treatise on ‘earth stewardship,’ he considers dragonflies, Darwin, and even a meeting with Einstein’s niece as he reflects on the best possible future for human society. At times Fukuoka’s prose can be striking in its simplicity as when he writes, ‘In nature there are no beneficial or harmful insects,’ and furthermore, ‘this is a human construct akin to saying the right hand is good and the left hand is bad.’ Fukuoka never wastes a word or thought, insisting the reader consider all aspects of how we grow our food everywhere in the world and how the food industry manipulates supply and demand for gross profit in ways both economically and socially damaging. Fukuoka’s techniques have been and still are world-changing; the challenge now is to continue practicing them without the master here to lead the way. ForeWord Reviews- Small-scale and urban farming as well as sustainable living and organic food purchasing are so prevalent right now that these practices are moving from a foodie trend to a fundamental shift in our food system. One of the people to thank for that momentum is Masanobu Fukuoka, whose The One-Straw Revolution became a must-read for organic farmers and their supporters around the world. Before his death in 2008, Fukuoka spent decades working on natural farming techniques that he felt could benefit the world. He didn’t plow his field, use fertilizer, or flood his rice fields, in keeping with the methods traditional to many indigenous cultures. Commonly referred to as ‘Do-Nothing Farming,’ his techniques are part of a wider philosophy about respecting nature’s own principles and rhythms. The success of his work sent Fukuoka from his small village in Japan to speaking engagements across the world, where he spent a great deal of time addressing issues of limited resources in areas like Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. In this, his last major book, Fukuoka draws from those experiences to create, once again, a timeless work that has the ability to create a revolution in agriculture. Beyond Fukuoka’s important philosophy, his book is a lyrical, lovely valentine to nature. He’s passionate about bringing other people to the near-enlightenment state in which he lived, where every single leaf moved him to appreciation. Expertly argued and backed by experience, anecdotes, and simple logic, Fukuoka’s last work shines just as brightly as his first.Publishers Weekly- Renowned Japanese agriculturist and philosopher Fukuoka’s (The One-Straw Revolution) final work calls on modern-day farmers to reconsider their methods and heed the needs of the land. Navigating work with international organizations—particularly in Africa, South Asia, and the United States—he illuminates regional disparities in environmental and agricultural thought and practice. Through trial-and-error and years of acute observation, Fukuoka developed a pioneering vision to ‘avoid unnecessary work, especially work that was created as an adverse side effect of previous actions.’ He describes these misguided experiments and failures, such as leaving an orchard completely on its own, as ‘not natural farming; it was abandonment.’ In clarifying popular misconceptions about organic and natural farming, he advises that we must not focus on cash crops, because ‘there is no good or bad among life-forms on earth.’ Only by the co-existence of myriad micro-organisms and vegetation will we be able to preserve and maintain our land. More important, the best farming was simple, ‘rather than the modern approach of applying increasingly complex techniques to remake nature entirely for the benefit of human beings.’ Though elimination of mechanization might be tough for modern agriculturalists to swallow, Fukuoka’s last message provides a spiritually and environmentally enriching alternative to the farming conditions we know today."Masanobu Fukuoka ran a course on natural farming, and gave our Howard lecture at Navdanya's biodiversity farm in the Doon valley of India, and we even have a cottage named the Fukuoka hut. He was a teacher ahead of his time. 'Sowing seeds in the desert' is what all of humanity has to learn to do, whether it is in economic desert created by Wall Street, or an ecological desert created by globalized corporate agriculture."--Vandana Shiva, founder of Navdanya Research Foundation for Science Technology & Ecology "Distilling what he has gathered from a lifetime of learning from nature, Masanobu Fukuoka offers us his gentle philosophy and a wealth of practical ideas for using natural farming to restore a damaged planet. Sowing Seeds in the Desert will persuade any reader that the imperiled living world is our greatest teacher, and inspire them to care for it as vigorously as Fukuoka has."--Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia's Garden "This book is a bombshell. Forget the gentle and retiring farmer of The One-Straw Revolution fame, replaced now by a flaming, world-travelling revolutionary. To achieve the kind of natural farming that can avoid worldwide collapse, Masanobu Fukuoka bluntly and fearlessly insists that we must first reject traditional ideas about God, the after life, accepted economic systems--especially capitalism--much of current agricultural thinking including organic farming, and even parts of science which he says are based on mistaken notions about the connection between cause and effect. Once we return to a way of life dictated by nature, not institutional religions, he says, we can apply his unorthodox farming methods to make the deserts bloom and the green fields stay lush without much expense or even labor involved.Be prepared to be mystified, irritated, shocked, and maybe even, if you persevere to the end, enlightened and encouraged by this trail-blazing book. Disagree with Fukuoka's provocative pronouncements at your own risk. Some of what he predicted in this book, originally written in Japanese in the 1990s has already happened, especially the collapse of the Japanese economy in recent years and the spread of deserts throughout the world."--Gene Logsdon, author of A Sanctuary of Trees "From our first meeting with Masanobu Fukuoka Sensei in the late 1970's at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, he has served as a primary guide, teacher, and inspiration in the engaged practice of organic farming and Zen meditation. Now with Sowing Seeds in the Desert, Fukuoka Sensei's teaching of Natural Farming continues to grow, sending deep roots down into the terrain of global restoration and food security for a hungry world. This wonderful book is to be celebrated and savored for its grounded, encouraging wisdom."--Wendy Johnson, author of Gardening at the Dragon's Gate "Fans of Fukuoka's The One-Straw Revolution will be delighted by Sowing Seeds in the Desert, his last book. It is a rich treasure trove detailing how his own philosophy of farming evolved and how he decided to apply what he learned on his own farm in Japan to other parts of the world. His insights into the tragedies of taking Western, industrial agriculture to places like Africa to 'enrich the national economy,' and his alternative approach of working with indigenous farmers to enable them to become self-sufficient, is instructive for all of us."--Frederick Kirschenmann, Author of Cultivating an Ecological Conscience: Essays From a Farmer Philosopher "This book is not a breath of fresh air, it's a howling gale from the East. It challenges us to think outside our normal, rational frames and venture into a whole new way of relating to spirituality, the earth, and the growing of food. As I read, I was tempted to pick holes in Fukuoka's prescriptions for greening the world's deserts, but I kept coming back to the inescapable fact that he farmed his own land according to these principles over many years and produced a lot of food."--Patrick Whitefield, author of The Earth Care Manual Table of Contents1. The call to natural farming 2. Reconsidering human knowledge 3. Healing a world in crisis 4. Global desertification 5. Revegetating the earth through natural methods 6. Travels on the west coast of the United States

Read more less

Book SynopsisFirst published in 1977, this book—from one of America’s most famous and prolific agricultural writers—became an almost instant classic among homestead gardeners and small farmers. Now fully updated and available once more, Small-Scale Grain Raising offers a entirely new generation of readers the best introduction to a wide range of both common and lesser-known specialty grains and related field crops, from corn, wheat, and rye to buckwheat, millet, rice, spelt, flax, and even beans and sunflowers. More and more Americans are seeking out locally grown foods, yet one of the real stumbling blocks to their efforts has been finding local sources for grains, which are grown mainly on large, distant corporate farms. At the same time, commodity prices for grains—and the products made from them—have skyrocketed due to rising energy costs and increased demand. In this book, Gene Logsdon proves that anyone who has access to a large garden or small farm can (and should) think outside the agribusiness box and learn to grow healthy whole grains or beans—the base of our culinary food pyramid—alongside their fruits and vegetables. Starting from the simple but revolutionary concept of the garden “pancake patch,” Logsdon opens up our eyes to a whole world of plants that we wrongly assume only the agricultural “big boys” can grow. He succinctly covers all the basics, from planting and dealing with pests, weeds, and diseases to harvesting, processing, storing, and using whole grains. There are even a few recipes sprinkled throughout, along with more than a little wit and wisdom. Never has there been a better time, or a more receptive audience, for this book. Localvores, serious home gardeners, CSA farmers, and whole-foods advocates—in fact, all people who value fresh, high-quality foods—will find a field full of information and ideas in this once and future classic.Trade ReviewThe Ethicurean- In Small-Scale Grain Raising, Logsdon lays out clearly just how easy it can be to grow grains for your family and your livestock, from his beloved "pancake patch" up to acre-sized plots. Interspersed with good-humored vintage anecdotes and his usual Contrary Farmer commentary, this primer elevates the status of grain-growing on farms of all sizes (from the backyard on up) to a happy essential. As he states repeatedly, there's nothing so delicious -- or so economical -- as home-baked goods made with fresh grains you grew and milled yourself. And when those same home-grown grains can also feed your animals and build soil fertility… well, what's stopping you?Logsdon's book covers all of the well-known grains and several of the lesser ones: barley, buckwheat, corn, millet, oats, rice, spelt, sorghum, triticale, wheat, and others. He also devotes a chapter to soybeans and dried beans, despite their classification as legumes, because they partner so well with grains both in growing and in eating. For at least the major grains he discusses varieties, yields, nutritional value, and uses (both for human and animal consumption as well as other farm uses). He describes how to prepare the soil, how to plant the grain seeds (including optimal space requirements), what diseases and pests to watch for and how to deal with them, how to harvest and dry the grains, how to store them, and, finally, how to turn those seeds into food for your family.Drawing on his personal experience growing almost all of the major grains, Logsdon describes "how we do it" even when it contrasts with conventional wisdom. He touts the value of open-pollinated seed, despite advances in hybrids, because of their superior taste and the satisfaction of not being beholden to agribusiness. He also demonstrates that old hand tools and techniques can sometimes be the most efficient when growing on a small scale. For example, though corn may be harvested by machine, he outlines how to bundle corn stalks into shocks for easy, inexpensive drying and storage (and aesthetic value). He claims to keep a basket full of old socks to slip over ripening ears of corn to prevent wild animals from dining on his crops. (I'd like to see that!) And for his money, the best weed control -- the one to which pests never develop resistance -- is the hoe."Gene Logsdon could just say, 'I told you so.' Instead, he has revitalized Small-Scale Grain Raising with bushels of new information, thirty additional years of insight, and the welcome leavening of his wonderful and cranky (with a wink and a nod) voice. He makes sowing sexy, and shifts the food revolution from his back 40 to your back yard."--Michael Perry, author of COOP: A Year of Poultry, Pigs and Parenting"Small-Scale Grain Raising, 2nd ed., is the definitive book on how to grow, thresh, process, and use grains in the amounts that matter to a family--from enough wheat for a single batch of pancakes up to an acre or two--all the grain needed for a family with a cow, a pig, a few sheep, and a flock of chickens. The first edition has long been a cult classic, decades out of print, decades before its time, eagerly begged, borrowed, and handed around in bootleg copies. The second edition is updated and expanded to include virtually every grain grown in North America. Particularly useful is the state-of-the-art information about threshing and dehulling of various grains for those without access to specialized equipment. Even more useful than the specific information, however, is the portrayal of the overall pattern--the full integration of appropriate grain-growing, appropriate cover-cropping, appropriate livestock keeping, appropriate economics, and appropriate philosophy, all woven together into a powerful model of a coherent framework for gardening, farming, and living. This book is the Small is Beautiful of grain growing, by Gene Logsdon, one of the founding curmudgeons of modern garden farming and sustainable agriculture."--Carol Deppe, author of Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties: The Gardener's and Farmer's Guide to Plant Breeding and Seed Saving "Home bakers rejoice! Gene's book is back just in time to help you grow those flavorful, old, heirloom grain varieties you have always wanted to try. Bon appétit!"--Eliot Coleman, author of The Winter Harvest Handbook and The New Organic Grower "Interspersed with good-humored vintage anecdotes and his usual 'Contrary Farmer' commentary, this primer elevates the status of grain-growing on farms of all sizes (from the backyard on up) to a happy essential."--Jennifer McMullen, reviewed in The EthicureanTable of Contents1. Homegrown grains: the key to food security 2. Corn: America's amazing maize 3. Wheat: the main source of the staff of life 4. The sorghum family 5. Oats: the high-protein cereal grain 6. Dry beans: the "poor man's meat" 7. Rye and barley 8. Buckwheat and millet 9. Rice: the oldest garden grain 10. Some uncommon grains, old and new 11. Legumes: the overlooked partner in small-scale grain raising 12. Feeding grain to animals

Read more less

Book Synopsis[F]or anyone who has ever sat in a city office dreaming of owning a smallholding one day and living off the land, this book will inspire them to take the plunge. Rated 5 stars by The Telegraph I raced through this beautiful story with mounting awe and excitement. What Lynn and Sandra have achieved on their croft in Scotland is a miracle of rebirth on land Isabella Tree, author of Wilding The inspiring story of two courageous women who took the leap and embraced a whole new way of life. Kate Humble, author of Home Cooked As seen on the BBC’s This Farming Life Our Wild Farming Life is what happens when you follow your dreams of living on the land; a story of how two people became farmers – and how they learned to make a living from it, their way. Lynn and Sandra left their friends, family and jobs in England to travel north to Scotland to find a small piece of land they could call their own. They had no money, no plan and no experience in farming. They had in mind keeping a few chickens, a kitchen garden and renting out some camping space, but instead, they fell in love with Lynbreck Croft – 150 acres of wild Scottish Highlands filled with opportunity and beauty, shrouded by the Cairngorms mountains. This is the inspirational true story of Lynbreck Croft – a regenerative Scottish croft rooted in local food and community – and the dreams of two women in search of a new, wilder existence. In Our Wild Farming Life, Lynn and Sandra recount their experiences as they rebuild their new home and work out what kind of farmers they want to be. They learn how to work with Highland cattle, become part of the crofting community and begin to truly understand how they can farm in harmony with nature to produce wonderful food for themselves and the people around them. Through efforts like these, Lynn and Sandra have been able to combine regenerative farming practices with old crofting traditions to keep their own personal values intact.Trade Review‘I raced through this beautiful story with mounting awe and excitement. What Lynn and Sandra have achieved on their croft in Scotland is a miracle of rebirth on land that most would have considered beyond hope. Their success is testament to the wisdom of working with nature rather than battling against it and their pragmatism, honesty and openness to new and old ideas shines through on every page. I hope it inspires legions of new farmers.’—Isabella Tree, author of Wilding‘A ripping good account of the guts, luck and perseverance it takes to create a productive and healthy farm or croft that jumps the rails of our conventional industrial agriculture.’—Nick Offerman‘Full of refreshing honesty and a burning passion to reconnect food, communities and nature, what Lynn and Sandra have achieved is nothing short of incredible. These two are the real deal; humble pioneers during a critical time working selflessly to empower others. Lynbreck Croft is the embodiment of how humans should approach food production, and this book serves as an invaluable resource for anybody who has an interest in a regenerative future.’—Huw Richards, author of The Vegetable Grower’s Handbook‘The inspiring story of two courageous women who took the leap and embraced a whole new way of life. Lynn and Sandra, I salute you!’—Kate Humble, broadcaster and author of Home Cooked‘This is a story that needed to be told. I defy anyone to be in the presence of Lynn and Sandra for ten minutes and not come away inspired and with a smile. Arriving in the Highlands with a dream and very little else apart from determination, enthusiasm, passion, warmth and humility, they were not afraid to learn from mistakes and to seek help and advice. ‘The Highlands can be a welcoming place, but you have to earn it. Folk here won’t beat a path to your door unless you leave it wide open. And they did it. Neighbours embraced their dream and wanted to make it happen. To be a part of it. The gift of a cow. The gift of fuel. The gift of thousands of years of experience, knowledge and a love for the land.’—Euan McIlwraith, BBC TV and Radio presenter‘Many of us dream of going “back” to the land. Lynn Cassells and Sandra Baer have made it happen. In this inspirational, honest and quietly revelatory book they show how farming is not a lifestyle fantasy but a way of living, working and eating that is in partnership – with the land, the community, animals and each other. This is not a step back but the key to all our futures.’—Patrick Barkham, author of Wild Child "Their work on the croft is a true community endeavor....Our Wild Farming Life is a warm yet realistic chronicle of the world of the small-time farmer, sharing a vision of how we humans can feed ourselves sustainably and ethically while living in harmony with the natural world."—Booklist

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book SynopsisAt the heart of the biodynamic method are the eight preparations used to enhance the health and vitality of the soil: horn manure, horn silica, yarrow, chamomile, nettle, oak bark, dandelion and valerian. In this deeply insightful book, renowned biodynamic expert Manfred Klett explores the principles that underlie the preparations. He looks in detail at each preparation, describing their different properties, how their substances are enhanced and transformed through the stages of preparation, and the effect each preparation has on the soil and plants. Throughout, Klett advocates a holistic approach, which sees farms and gardens as integrated living organisms with the preparations playing a key role in improving the quality of the soil and producing healthy plants. This is essential reading for biodynamic practitioners who want to delve more deeply into the origins and theory of the preparations, and who want to better understand the spiritual principles that underpin how they work.Trade Review'This must be the definitive book on the topic, based on Steiner's 1924 agriculture course that metamorphosed into biodynamics. Here he explained 'how the health of the soil and of the plants depends upon bringing nature into connection with spiritually creative forces that stream in from the cosmos.' The eight spray and compost preparations are intended to revitalise the soil and are based on the cycle of seasons characterised by summer, air and warmth, and winter, water and earth.'-- Paradigm Explorer'For those engaged in trying to orientate themselves in the riddles that the agriculture course presents through theory and understanding, this book is recommended as a thorough and diligent attempt at providing some answers.'-- Star and FurrowTable of ContentsForewordThe Spray Preparations1: Horn Manure (500)2: Horn Silica (501)The Compost Preparations3: Yarrow (502)4: Chamomile (503)5: Stinging Nettle (504)6: Oak Bark (505)7: Dandelion (506)8: Valerian (507)9: Equisetum Tea10: How the Six Compost Preparations Work TogetherNote on SourcesEndnotesBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book Synopsis‘A windswept love letter to Scotland’s heritage sheep and to the Orkney farming community too.’ Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment The Lost Flock is the story of the remarkable and rare little horned sheep, known as Orkney Boreray, and the wool-obsessed woman who moved to one of Scotland’s wildest islands to save them. It was Jane Cooper’s passion for knitting that led her to discover the world of rare-breed sheep and their wool. Through this, Jane uncovered the ‘Orkney Borerary’ – a unique group within the UK’s rarest breed of sheep, the Boreray, and one of the few surviving examples of primitive sheep in northern Europe. As her knowledge of this rarest of heritage breeds grew, she took the bold step to uproot her quiet suburban life in Newcastle and relocate to Orkney, embarking on a new adventure and life as farmer and shepherd. Jane was astonished to find that she was the sole custodian of this lost flock in the world, and so she began investigating their mysterious and ancient history, tracking down the origins of the Boreray breed and its significance to Scotland’s natural heritage. From Viking times to Highland crofts and nefarious research experiments in Edinburgh, this is a so-far untold real-life detective story. It is also the story of one woman’s relentless determination to ensure a future for her beloved sheep, and in doing so revealing their deep connection to the Scottish landscape. An unforgettable story of a heritage breed and the importance of its existence. ‘Rare-breed sheep, Scotland’s most dramatic landscapes and a woman on a mission. All the perfect ingredients for an ovine true-life adventure.’ Sally Coulthard, author of A Short History of the World According to SheepTrade Review‘A windswept love letter to Scotland’s heritage sheep and to the Orkney farming community too. Jane Cooper gives a hands-on account of her quest to save a ‘lost flock’ of primitive sheep – of historic notability.’ Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment‘Rare-breed sheep, Scotland’s most dramatic landscapes and a woman on a mission. All the perfect ingredients for an ovine true-life adventure.’ Sally Coulthard, author of A Short History of the World According to Sheep‘A delightful tale about one woman’s passionate commitment to save a unique breed of sheep. Small, with hairy neck ruffs of black and tan, her chosen wards are not just any sheep; obscure and ignored by the commercial sheep farming community, Jane’s flock in Orkney were in danger of dying out. The story of their enchanting history, promotion and salvation is a tribute to how individual dedication can avert the very worst of outcomes.’ Derek Gow, author of Bringing Back the Beaver‘Starting with the history of the Boreray, one of our rarest sheep breeds, The Lost Flock tells the fascinating and rather romantic story of the so-called Lost Flock, a group within the breed that got left behind when the rest were added to the official register. An extremely useful and very well-written addition to the library of books on our native livestock breeds.’ Christopher Price, CEO of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust‘Beautifully written and impeccably researched, Jane Cooper is deeply committed to her flock of Borerays. Cooper proves to be the ultimate ovine detective, solving the three-thousand-year mystery of the Lost Flock while simultaneously securing the future of smallhold farming in Orkney. She is a treasure to the industry and a hero to the breed.’ Linda Cortright, founder of Wild Fibers magazine and author of Twisted Tales‘Jane Cooper combines intelligence, heart and passion to create a life of integrity not only for herself but for one of the rarest breeds of sheep on the planet – and, ultimately, to build a community that promotes the well-being of all its members, two-foot and four-foot, and of the earth. Her trials and triumphs offer a stellar example for others to follow in their own ways. Bravo!’ Deborah Robson, coauthor of The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook ‘I fell in love with this craft, these sheep, their islands, this determined woman and her story: how a knitter and spinner of wool became a shepherd and changed the fortunes of a rare and ancient breed of sheep; how, if you are bold and passionate enough to pursue, pull and ‘roo’ the threads of a craft, it will take you to the wildest heart of things.’ Nicola Chester, author of On Gallows Down‘The Lost Flock is a hugely readable ode to obsession and how one woman’s knitting project led her to fall in love with the rarest of rare breeds and follow her passion to the ends of the earth. Part history lesson, part life lesson, Jane Cooper extols the virtues of preindustrial farming and cultivating a deeper connection with food, land and biosphere. The lost flock shows the power of one committed individual to enact positive change and save part of our shared natural heritage from extinction.’ Ross Barnett, author of The Missing Lynx‘There’s so much interesting historical information threaded through Jane Cooper’s book about her adventures to preserve the Lost Flock of Boreray.’ Suzanna Crampton, author of Bodacious: The Shepherd Cat

Read more less

Book SynopsisLearn how to make the essential biodynamic preparations with the help of these practical tips from biodynamic expert, Hugh J Courtney.

Read more less

Book SynopsisDiscover how humanely handling your livestock can improve the day-to-day operation and profitability of your farm. Stressing the importance of understanding livestock behavior, Temple Grandin shows you how to develop a respectful working relationship with your animals to promote their health and productivity. With detailed construction plans for animal-friendly facilities of all sizes and dozens of low-stress methods for moving your livestock on pastures, padlocks, and feedlot pens, this guide has everything you need to know to create a comfortable atmosphere for thriving, happy livestock.

Read more less

Book Synopsis“I love your ideas, but I only have a few acres. How do I do this at my scale?” Success with domestic livestock does not require large land bases. Joel Salatin and his family’s Polyface Farm in Virginia lead the world in animal-friendly and ecologically authentic, commercial, pasture-based livestock production. In Polyface Micro he adapts the ideas and protocols to small holdings (including apartments)! Homesteaders can increase production, enjoy healthy animals, and create aesthetically and aromatically pleasant livestock systems. Whether you’re a new or seasoned homesteader, you’ll find tips and inspiration as Joel coaches you toward success and abundance.

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book Synopsis“Ben Hartman is a true innovator for the small farm.”—Curtis Stone, author of The Urban Farmer It’s time to think big about small farms. Award-winning author and “green leader” (Grist) Ben Hartman shares practical how-to tips, personal stories, and surprising examples of cutting-edge farmers and innovators around the world to show us how. In the early 1970s, US Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz infamously commanded farmers to “get big or get out.” In The Lean Micro Farm, author Ben Hartman rejects that disastrous suggestion and instead takes up the charge of the late agrarian thinker Gene Logsdon: “Get small and stay in.” Taking inspiration from the groundbreaking ideas of E. F. Schumacher and Mahatma Gandhi, The Lean Micro Farm shows how small, hyperlocal farms can be both ecologically and economically superior to industrial-scale operations geared toward export and commodity markets. The Lean Micro Farm details the author’s remarkable journey to downsize his farm from one acre to a third of an acre in an effort to prioritize family and community over work, all without taking a pay cut. In addition, Hartman profiles six innovative farmers from across the globe who embody this “get small” mindset. These pioneering farmers show all of us a path toward resilience in the face of supply chain disruption, globalization, and climate change. They model a gentler, more ecological approach to farming that produces less waste and uses less plastic, petroleum, and fertilizer. Like his previous two books, The Lean Farm and The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables, Hartman’s The Lean Micro Farm doesn’t just explain why smaller is better, it shows readers exactly how it can be done with step-by-step guides on how to turn a profit from a tiny, but productive, parcel of farmland. Readers will find not just philosophical justifications for a minimalist approach to agriculture but also actionable information for starting your own profitable micro farm, including: A description of the “deep mulch” method for building fertility Instructions on two-step bed flipping to increase production on a small footprint A guide for choosing essential tools and technologies “with a human face” An easy-to-follow process for making your micro farm lean and efficient A detailed plan for selling $20,000 worth of produce from your backyard It’s time, Hartman makes clear, to pivot to a new kind of farming—one that builds upon ancestral knowledge, nourishes communities, and puts human joy, not technology, at its center. “Hartman has revolutionized his methods, cut down his work hours dramatically, and shrunk the size of his farm, all while making a better income.”—Civil EatsTrade Review“Oftentimes, the desire in farming is to open up more land, grow more crops, and get bigger. In The Lean Micro Farm, Ben Hartman doesn’t just illuminate the enormous potential in getting small—for communities, for the environment, for the profitability of farms—he lays out a roadmap for how to achieve it. “As Ben eloquently demonstrates, small doesn’t mean less, small can just as easily mean more. Small can mean better. Small can mean, in the immortal words of economist E. F. Schumacher, beautiful. More importantly, when the desire is to grow more and earn more, sometimes getting smaller is actually the answer. “I was delighted and a bit terrified to pick up Ben Hartman’s new book, because every time I read something Ben wrote, significant portions of my farm change. And The Lean Micro Farm is no exception. Chapter by chapter you see the ways in which shrinking their farm has led Ben and his wife Rachel to a happier, healthier, more sustainable, more localized farm without risking income. Each section is filled with examples and strategies for how they got small and what it looks like in practice. It’s well-written, thought-provoking, and potentially life-altering. I immediately found myself penciling out ways to make our farm smaller. “So fair warning, this book will change your farm.” —Jesse Frost, author of The Living Soil Handbook“The Lean Micro Farm is a game changer for farming and food production. With well-thought-out principles and innovative techniques for planning and maintaining profitable tiny farms, Ben Hartman opens the door to a future of micro farms everywhere, rather than fewer and fewer large farms in rural locations only. This easy-to-read book is full of time-saving and ecologically sustainable techniques, such as flipping beds of both short and tall-growing crops with minimal soil disturbance so that multiple crops can be grown well each year in a small space. Ben’s tested methods can be applied to gardens and homesteads as well as small farms. Thank you, Ben, for bringing the ideas of my hero, E. F. Schumacher, into the 21st century and showing that they are as relevant as they were when his book, Small Is Beautiful, was first published!” —Helen Atthowe, Woodleaf Farm, Montana; author of The Ecological Farm“Ben is a shining example of the powerful ideas and efficient methods he describes. He has a way of making things simple and a simple way of explaining them! Small is beautiful and small makes sense, now more than ever. Ben’s one third of an acre is understandable, achievable, and hugely productive of nutritious food. It’s my pleasure to learn more about and endorse his approach. Here’s to health with Hartman.” —Charles Dowding, author of No Dig Gardening, No Dig Cookbook, and No Dig Children's Gardening Book“We urgently need to be experimenting with new ways of producing food locally, keeping an eye on future uncertainties, present realities, and past wisdom. Few have done so with more thoughtfulness and rigorous practicality than Ben Hartman, as showcased in this excellent book. I wish its treasure trove of hard-earned insight had been available when I was starting my own small market garden. It’s sure to help a new generation of small-scale growers hit the ground running.” —Chris Smaje, author of Saying NO to a Farm-Free Future“In the field, Ben never zags. The crops are in perfect alignment. Zagging would be wasteful motion. However, in a world that’s obsessed with scaling, whether the business is technology or ‘never-enough farming,’ Ben has zagged by getting small. For the sake of his family and community, Ben simply wants to live better and work less. Don’t we all? In this book, he explains how to achieve that goal by getting small with lean thinking. In other words, he explains how the philosophy of ‘just enough’ is a zag we should all consider putting into practice.” —Josh Howell, president and executive team leader, Lean Enterprise Institute“I am immensely grateful to have come across this book and its older siblings—they have helped us so much on our farm. The mindset of doing better instead of growing more is the best advice a young farmer can receive. In this new book you will be immersed in the ideas of great thinkers like Schumacher, Pareto, Gandhi, as well as Japanese philosophy, while also receiving concrete steps to be productive and profitable. Clay Bottom Farm is the most productive small farm we have visited, measured in income by square meter, and we are still trying to catch up.” —Francisco Vio, Huerto Cuatro Estaciones, Aysén, Chile

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisBeyond organic-- a practical guide to nutrient-dense food.Trade ReviewThis practical step-by-step guide shows all is not lost as Steve Solomon shows us the link between healthy soil, healthy food and healthy people. - Sandra Barrera, The Daily Breeze If you garden, no matter if you're an omnivore, vegetarian, or carnivore I think this book is a good read., blogger, Throwback at Trapp Creek The nutrient density of the crops we grow and the remineralization of our soils have been almost constantly on our minds and usually on the tips of our tongues. Our biggest inspiration has come from reading Steve Solomen's new book The Intelligent Gardener. - Shannon Jones and Bryan Dyck, bloggers, Broadfork Farm Any agriculture or home gardening library will find this an accesible, popular lend. James Cox, Midwest Book ReviewTable of Contents Acknowledgments Preface - Erica Reinheimer Introduction Chapter 1: Why Nutrient-Dense Food? Chapter 2: History from a Nutritional Viewpoint Chapter 3: The Shit Method of Agriculture (SaMOA) Chapter 4: Complete Organic Fertilizer Chapter 5: Remineralization Chapter 6: Le Batterie de Cuisine Chapter 7: The Soil Prescription Chapter 8: Soils with Excesses Chapter 9: Compost Chapter 10: Epilogue Appendices Index About the Author

Read more less

Book SynopsisRegenerative practices for the farm, garden, orchard, forest, and landscape Mycorrhizal fungi have been waiting a long time for people to recognize just how important they are to the making of dynamic soils. These microscopic organisms partner with the root systems of approximately 95 percent of the plants on Earth, and they sequester carbon in much more meaningful ways than human “carbon offsets” will ever achieve. Pick up a handful of old-growth forest soil and you are holding 26 miles of threadlike fungal mycelia, if it could be stretched it out in a straight line. Most of these soil fungi are mycorrhizal, supporting plant health in elegant and sophisticated ways. The boost to green immune function in plants and community-wide networking turns out to be the true basis of ecosystem resiliency. A profound intelligence exists in the underground nutrient exchange between fungi and plant roots, which in turn determines the nutrient density of the foods we grow and eat. Exploring the science of symbiotic fungi in layman’s terms, holistic farmer Michael Phillips (author of The Holistic Orchard and The Apple Grower) sets the stage for practical applications across the landscape. The real impetus behind no-till farming, gardening with mulches, cover cropping, digging with broadforks, shallow cultivation, forest-edge orcharding, and everything related to permaculture is to help the plants and fungi to prosper . . . which means we prosper as well. Building soil structure and fertility that lasts for ages results only once we comprehend the nondisturbance principle. As the author says, “What a grower understands, a grower will do.” Mycorrhizal Planet abounds with insights into “fungal consciousness” and offers practical, regenerative techniques that are pertinent to gardeners, landscapers, orchardists, foresters, and farmers. Michael’s fungal acumen will resonate with everyone who is fascinated with the unseen workings of nature and concerned about maintaining and restoring the health of our soils, our climate, and the quality of life on Earth for generations to come.Trade ReviewPublishers Weekly- "Phillips, the inimitable author of The Apple Grower (2005) and The Holistic Orchard (2011), once again charms and instructs with an in-depth philosophical and practical exploration of fungi. Branching off from Paul Stamets’s Mycelium Running, Phillips focuses on fungi’s intimate relations with the plant community, revealing their essential roles in botanical and soil health and how we can nurture them for our benefit and that of the entire biosphere. The book includes extensive and specific information about the science of fungi and their symbiosis with plants; nurturing and propagating fungal networks and functions; minimizing soil disturbance in gardens, forests, farms, and orchards to build soil, capture carbon, and assist mycelial integrity and relationships; and gathering and growing edible mushrooms. In refreshing contrast to the pared-down utilitarianism of many books in the genre, Phillips’s poetic, conversational, rambling, humorous writing encourages readers to settle in for a thoughtful read. Organic, biodynamic, and permaculture practitioners will value this book, but Phillips writes for a general readership too.” “Mycorrhizal Planet isn’t just a book about wild-running fungi. It covers in great detail all the benefits, scientific research, and technical information known about mycorrhizae. It also outlines methods of how to manage soils with the use of organic fertilizers, crops grown, and proper tillage to get the biology to flourish—including mycorrhizae. Because if a grower knows why, he or she will teach themselves how.”--Gary Zimmer, founder, Midwestern BioAg; author of The Biological Farmer“The world desperately needs the information in Mycorrhizal Planet! I am so glad Michael Phillips wrote this book. His approach is creative, inspired, and down-to-earth. A worthy effort with many useful practices laid out for all.”--Dave Jacke, coauthor of Edible Forest Gardens“I firmly believe that the next big advancement in organic farming is learning how to harness the power of soil ecology by replacing mechanical tillage with biological tillage. Mycorrhizal Planet is an awesome book because it not only describes the importance of respecting living soil dynamics, it teaches how to act upon it. The chapter on practical nondisturbance techniques is especially enlightening to any serious market gardener.”--Jean-Martin Fortier, author of The Market Gardener“How lucky are we to be alive and growing plants right now? The humbling interconnectedness and relationships realized through Mycorrhizal Planet will fill you with wonder and have you questioning your role in the garden, orchard, or farm. This is the manual for upping your growing game!”--Eliza Greenman, restoration orchardist and fruit explorer “Michael Phillips is an emissary from the fungal realm, and he’s here to tell us, through both study and practice, how our partnership with fungi is not only crucial but how it can be carried out practically on our homesteads and farms.”--Ben Falk, author of The Resilient Farm and Homestead“Mycorrhizal Planet offers fascinating science and practical ideas for gardeners, farmers, foresters—for everyone, in fact. Learning how we can work with beneficial soil fungi is deeply relevant, not only to support optimal plant health and nutrition but as part of a lasting climate change solution.”--Eric Toensmeier, author of The Carbon Farming Solution“In Mycorrhizal Planet, Michael Phillips takes us on a journey into the realm of cutting-edge soil science, while always maintaining a playful sense of passion, excitement, and levity. As deep as Phillips goes into sharing his immense knowledge of the mechanics of vibrant living soils and their role in plant health, he never loses sight of the bigger picture—that of regenerating the planetary ecosystem. To that end, he offers robust practical applications for agricultural enterprises of all sizes. The beauty of this timely and important book is that we now know not only how but why we must embrace and cooperate with the innate intelligence of the biological world as we develop the agroecosystems that will sustain us in the future.”--Scott Vlaun, executive director, Center for an Ecology-Based Economy“Mostland plants depend on symbiotic fungi in their roots—mycorrhizas—to help them to grow. Some, like orchids and many pines, depend on them absolutely. In fact, with no mycorrhizas: no land plants to speak of, and hence no land animals, including human beings. Like dung beetles and flies and microbes in general, root fungi are the largely unsung heroes of nature, cryptic creatures that make the world work. Michael Phillips’s Mycorrhizal Planet brings them centre-stage—where, despite their modest demeanour, they deserve to be.”--Colin Tudge, founder, The College for Real Farming and Food Culture“Mycorrhizal Planet is a thoroughly researched treatise on the impact of root fungi on the functioning of our biosphere. It is written in Michael Phillips’s usual unique, enjoyable, and easily readable style. It is a must-read for all individuals seriously interested in the quality of human life and future of our planet.”--George W. Bird, professor, Michigan State University“Mycorrhizal Planet awakens the reader to the interconnected, interdependent network of souls working on behalf of the earth right under our feet. The mycorrhizal fungi are our allies in promoting health for forests, orchards, and fields. Michael Phillips’s comprehensive scientific knowledge, along with an abundance of practical information for the grower, and a good dose of positive vibes for the future of our planet, make this new book one to add to your collection.”--Linda Hoffman, orchardist, Old Frog Pond Farm“Our knowledge of how habitat restoration and regenerative agriculture work—how they proceed or falter—is being renovated as we speak. A new sense of how symbiotic mycorrhizae shape plant establishment and succession has been slowly emerging over the last quarter century. In his new book, Mycorrhizal Planet, Michael Phillips weaves his own web of astounding connections regarding what holds this earth together. Not since Paul Stamets's pioneering inquiry, Mycelium Running, have we been blessed by such a synthesis that tells how symbiotic fungi are the true and most trustworthy stewards of this planet. With his usual genius of explaining complex science in ways farmers and restorationists can grasp, Phillips reminds us that those in Washington, DC, have never really ‘run this country,’ our fungal allies have.”--Gary Paul Nabhan, author of Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land“Let’s make soil great again. Michael Phillips and Mycorrhizal Planet have a plan. This book focuses on the tangible things you can do on the land you love to make it healthier and more productive. In forty years doing USDA research and producing mycorrhizal fungi, I have read and reviewed thousands of mycorrhizal articles. Michael Phillips gets it. Finally we have a mycorrhizal book that is entertaining, practical, and vibrant. We truly live on a mycorrhizal planet, and people who read this book will emerge with a profound understanding of how these little creatures shape our earth and our future."--Dr. Mike Amaranthus, founder, Mycorrhizal Applications“Fungi are not just decomposers, they are composers of soil and orchestrators of soil biodiversity. Mycorrhizal Planet pays tribute to the small and unseen, the uncredited collaborations beneath our feet, and Michael Phillips leads the tour underground for everyone with a warm and crafted writing style that anyone can understand and put to use. Mycorrhizal Planet offers readers a whole new dimension in propagating mycorrhizae, with cover crop considerations and noninvasive soil preparation techniques, and encourages readers to complete the loop by creating more balanced and efficient cultivation systems with the mental tools to harmonize almost any soil and plant condition. Distilled from other complex texts and real world experience, Michael Phillips delivers a gem when the planet needs it the most."--Tradd Cotter, Mushroom Mountain, author of Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe illustrated guide to profitable, vibrant and sustainable permaculture-based market gardeningTrade ReviewBringing permaculture's holistic thinking to the problems of market farming, Zach Loeks has done this burgeoning economic sector a world of good with his pithy words and lovely drawings. Not a book about carrots, but one in which vegetables, children, customers, trees, vision, and earthworms shape a matrix of success. Business planning was never before this colorful, soulful, or needed for the times. ---Peter Bane, author, The Permaculture Handbook. A commendable permaculture guide. If you're serious about generating a livelihood in partnership with the land, this book is your compass. Zach Loeks details an approach to informed ecological decision-making so close to my own work I can be sure this book will improve agricultural landscapes and lives. ---Jason Gerhardt, permaculture designer, Real Earth Design A legacy of grateful land is surely a memorial that can capture both our imagination and our physical effort. Such a sacred mission deserves the level of thought Zach beckons us to pursue. Engaging in this discovery and planning process is worth the effort, and Zach gives us another tool to engage more strategically. Now get out paper, pencil, ruler, and graph paper. It's that simple, and that rewarding. ---Joel Salatin, Polyface Farm There are few books that delight the senses, satisfy the scientific itch and leave the inner environmentalist contented. I'm indebted to Zach for his work, not only for my own education, but for the many clients that seek a tome of collected wisdom as they embark into their own farming dreams. ---Javan K. Bernakevitch, B. Comn, All Points Land Design Zack strikes me as the guy you want to spend a week on your property. Not just for his company, but to access his wealth of knowledge and experience in learning to understand the natural systems at work in any given landscape. The Permaculture Market Garden is playful in approach yet completely pragmatic in reasoning and methodology and should be seen as the permaculturist's guide to placemaking through Homesteading. This chewy tome of goodness will help you assess the ecology, geological history and potential future of the land you live on and work with. A wonderful guidebook to help anyone- with land big or small -- to thrive not just survive, in tandem with their natural environment. ---Sharon Kallis, author, Common ThreadsTable of Contents Introduction 1 Farm Ecosystem EARTH SYSTEMS AND NATURAL SCIENCE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES 2 Whole Farm Mapping WHY MAP YOUR FARM? 3 Holistic Planning DEFINING THE WHOLE AND MAKING A HOLISTIC GOAL HOLISTIC BUDGETING FOR PROFIT RESILIENCE GUILD ENTERPRISE PRODUCTION 4 Design Management WHY DESIGN? DESIGN MANAGEMENT 5 Our Permabed System THE PERMABED SYSTEM PERMABED PRINCIPLES LAYOUT AND LAND PREPARATION ORGANIZED GARDEN PATTERNING GUILD CROP PRODUCTION GUILD CROP DESIGNS PERMA INVESTMENT Conclusion Glossary Resources Index About the Author About New Society Publishers

Read more less