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Organic Gardening Books
Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces
Your patio, balcony, rooftop, front stoop, boulevard, windowsill, planter box, or fire escape is a potential fresh food garden waiting to happen. In "Grow Great Grub," Gayla Trail, the founder of the leading online gardening community (YouGrowGirl.com), shows you how to grow your own delicious, affordable, organic edibles virtually anywhere. "Grow Great Grub" packs in tips and essential information about: - Choosing a location and making the most of your soil (even if it's less than perfect) - Building a raised bed, compost bin, and self-watering container using recycled materials - Keeping pests and diseases away from your plants--the toxin-free way - Growing bountiful crops in pots and selecting the best heirloom varieties - Cultivating hundreds of plants, from blueberries to Thai basil, to the best tomatoes you'll ever taste - Canning, and preserving to make the most of your garden's generosity - Green-friendly, cost-saving, growing, and building projects that are smart and stylish "- And much more " Whether you're looking to eat on a budget or simply experience the pleasure of picking tonight's meal from right outside your door, this is the must-have book for small-space gardeners--no backyard required. GAYLA TRAIL is the creator of the acclaimed top gardening website yougrowgirl.com. Her work as a writer and photographer has appeared in publications including "The New York Times," "Newsweek," "Budget Living," and "ReadyMade." A resident of Toronto who has grown a garden on her rooftop for more than 10 years, she is the author of "You Grow Girl: The Groundbreaking Guide to Gardening. "
The Organic Gardeners Handbook
The Organic Gardeners Handbook" tells you everything you need to know to create a highly productive vegetable garden. Combining European tradition with American creativity it covers the art and science of organic gardening with a depth that is rarely seen in contemporary books. There are chapters on every aspect of organic vegetable gardening, soil dynamics, soil management, cultivation, composting, crop planning, raising seedlings, watering, harvesting, seed saving, greenhouses and much more. Whether you are a complete novice and need your hand holding through every step, or a veteran gardener with a permanent layer of soil under your fingernails, you will find this book both helpful and informative. A book that will soon be covered in dirty fingerprints. "The Organic Gardeners Handbook" is a companion to "The Vegetable Growers Handbook.
The Organic Kitchen Garden 2012 Wall Calendar
The Organic Kitchen Garden 2012 Wall Calendar is a perfect companion to every cook's kitchen. Featuring beautiful photographs of kitchen gardens and the lush produce they offer, this calendar pairs images with twelve months of recipes and tips inspired by the bounty of kitchen gardens and the local farmers market. Each month offers a simple, seasonal and healthful recipe along with tips on growing, harvesting, canning and cooking - all with an emphasis on the importance of an organic approach. Ann Lovejoy is the author of more than twenty gardening books and two cooking books, and is a regular cooking and gardening columnist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. She is also the author of The Essential Rose and A Year of Healthy Living wall calendars. The interior pages of this calendar are printed on 100% recycled, 50% post-consumer paper, processed chlorine free and printed with soy based inks. In addition to printing our products on recycled paper, Amber Lotus Publishing continues to plant trees and offset our carbon footprint with NativeEnergy.
The Farmer's Cookbook: A Back to Basics Guide to Making Cheese, Curing Meat, Preserving Produce, Baking Bread, Fermenting, and Mor
More and more cooks are turning to their own gardens or to local farmers markets to find inspiration for their meals. Eating fresh, local produce is a hot trend, but lifelong Vermonter Marie Lawrence has been cooking with produce from her gardens, buying milk from the farmers up the road, and lavishing her family and lucky friends with the fruits of her kitchen labor since she was a kid. In this book she includes recipes for everything from biscuits and breads to pies and cookies, soups and stews to ribs and roasts. Also included are instructions for making cheese, curing meats, canning and preserving, and much more. Organized by month to coordinate with a farmer s calendar, cooks will find orange date bran muffins and old fashioned pot roast in January, hot spiced maple milk and fried cinnamon buns in March, mint mallow ice cream in July, Vermont cheddar onion bread in October, and almond baked apples with Swedish custard cream in December. Other recipes include grilled chicken with peach maple glaze, veggie tempura, raspberry chocolate chip cheesecake, and dozens of other breads, salads, drinks, and desserts that are fresh from the farmer s kitchen.
The All You Can Eat Gardening Handbook: Easy Organic Vegetables and More Money in Your Pocket
There's never been a better time to grow your own food as we face the converging challenges of the financial crisis, climate change, water shortages, peak oil, and 6.5 billion people worldwide competing for a limited amount of food. Many gardening books are so technical that they are intimidating to the beginning gardener. This book shows how easy gardening can be while providing tips and techniques to ensure success. Whether you live in the country, the city, or the suburbs, you'll learn: How to create lots of rich compost as the basis for vigorous growth Simple techniques to safely deal with pests The most effective techniques for irrigation, including harvesting your rainwater How to store your harvest using canning, freezing, and drying techniques How to build and stock a root cellar How to choose which vegetables to grow based on their nutritional value This book is a step-by-step guide to turning your lawn into a great source of personal satisfaction and economic independence. Having an organic produce department in your backyard creates your own "one hundred-foot diet" to reduce your carbon footprint and keep more money in your pocket. Cam Mather has been gardening organically and market gardening for thirty-five years. His entertaining and informative workshops and DVD have inspired thousands of people to get out and get their hands dirty. He publishes books about renewable energy and sustainability from his off-grid solar and wind-powered home office.
The Veggie Gardener's Answer Book: Solutions to Every Problem You'll Ever Face Answers to Every Question You'll Ever Ask
What happens between the hopeful spring weekend spent planting seeds and the warm summer morning when the gardener wanders back into the rows of vegetable plants with picking basket in hand? Plenty Every healthy vegetable garden represents an entire world of activity and every vegetable gardener, no matter how experienced, wants to know more about what's going on in those tidy rows and how to handle any growing quandary that may arise throughout the season. "The Veggie Gardener's Answer Book" has all the answers, gathered together in a sturdy little book for handy in-the-garden reference. Gardeners will find helpful, uncomplicated responses to questions on planning and planting a vegetable garden, improving soil, caring for crops, and organically controlling pests and diseases. The second section of the book takes readers on a veggie-by-veggie tour of the most popular crops, offering detailed advice on everything from starting seeds to knowing when to harvest. Having trouble choosing tomato varieties? Need advice on staking beans? It's all here in easy-to-access answers to everyday questions. The popularity of vegetable gardening is at an all-time high. Homegrown vegetables taste great, nourish body and soul, and provide the additional security of knowing where the produce comes from and how it was grown. "The Veggie Gardener's Answer Book" feeds readers all the insider's tips and tricks, practical advice, and organic wisdom necessary for growing the very best crops.
Rodale's All-New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening: The Indispensable Resource for Every Gardener
Rodale's All-New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening
What's Wrong with My Vegetable Garden?: 100% Organic Solutions for All Your Vegetables, from Artichokes to Zucchini
More and more home gardeners are discovering the rewards of growing their own vegetables. But along with the pleasures of homegrown produce come a host of problems: bugs, diseases, and mysterious ailments that don't have an obvious cause. What's a gardener to do? Don't panic -- help is at hand. "What's Wrong With My Vegetable Garden?" teaches you how to keep your vegetables healthy so they're less susceptible to attack, and when problems do occur, it shows you how to recognize the problem and find the right organic solution. Among the book's highlights are: Clear information about how to team with nature to create the best growing conditions for your vegetables.Detailed portraits of the most commonly grown vegetables, including growth habit; information on the plant's season; temperature, soil, light, and water requirements; and best garden uses and planting techniques.Illustrated problem-solving guides that enable you to identify at a glance what's ailing your plant.Discussions of the most effective organic solutions, ranging from how to modify the growing conditions in your garden to how to cope with and eliminate specific pests and diseases. If you care about raising the freshest, healthiest, most problem-free vegetables possible, then "What's Wrong With My Vegetable Garden?" will quickly become one of your most essential tools.
Back to Basics: Traditional Garden Wisdom: Time-Tested Techniques for Creating a Natural, Sustainable Outdoor Space
"When your garden contains lots of earthworms, your soil is good." This maxim may not sound familiar, but before the days of landscapers and lawn-maintenance companies, this type of knowledge was common. Gardening skills were passed down from generation to generation, and yards were personal places that flourished under the care of time-tested wisdom. Today the pace of life is faster, and modern advances make gardening tasks easier, but we can all benefit from the techniques and common-sense advice of the past to have beautiful, fruitful gardens now. With "Back to Basics: Traditional Garden Wisdom," anyone can: Develop a dream, green garden without spending a fortune Grow an organic and eco-friendly garden with minimum fuss and maximum taste Discover how to collect and save seeds Make your own compost and learn "no-dig" gardening Make a cold frame and protect plants from frost Repel moles with castor oil, prevent mice with the right plants, and make herbal insect repellents Find out the best way to prune a hedge, tree, or climbing flower Know which gardening tasks to do for each season Raise a panel fence and use recycled materials for landscaping Plant raised beds and container gardens, and build a natural grape arbor Discover how companion planting can discourage harmful pests and encourage growth "Back to Basics: Traditional Garden Wisdom" has full-color step-by-step illustrated instructions that will bring new knowledge to gardeners of all levels. Soon you'll be adding fireplace ashes to the garden to give it a potassium boost and using your elbow to see if the soil is warm enough for planting. With this insightful book, you'll discover why sage advice never goes out of style.
Rodale's Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening: The Indispensable Green Resource for Every Gardener
Rodale's Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening has been the go-to resource for gardeners for more than 50 years—and the best tool novices can buy to start applying organic methods to their fruit and vegetable crops, herbs, trees and shrubs, perennials, annuals, and lawns. This thoroughly revised and updated version highlights new organic pest controls, new fertilizer products, improved gardening techniques, the latest organic soil practices, and new trends in garden design. In this indispensable work readers will find: - comprehensive coverage for the entire garden and landscape along with related entries such as Community Gardening, Edible Landscaping, Horticultural Therapy, Stonescaping, and more - the most in-depth information from the trusted Rodale Organic Gardening brand - a completely new section on earth-friendly techniques for gardening in a changing climate, covering wise water management, creating backyard habitats, managing invasive plants and insects, reducing energy use and recycling, and understanding biotechnology - entries all written by American gardeners for American gardeners, with answers for all the challenges presented by various conditions, from the humid Deep South and the mild maritime coasts to the cold far North and the dry Southwest Rodale's Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening has everything anyone needs to create gorgeous, non-toxic gardens in any part of the country.
The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Pest and Disease Control: A Complete Guide to Maintaining a Healthy Garden and Yard the Earth-Friendly Way (Rodale Organic Gardening Books)
With growing consumer awareness about the dangers of garden chemicals, turn to The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Natural Pest and Disease Control as the most reliable and comprehensive guide on the garden shelf. Rodale has been the category leader in organic methods for decades, and this thoroughly updated edition features the latest science-based recommendations for battling garden problems. With all-new photos of common and recently introduced pests and plant diseases, you can quickly identify whether you've discovered garden friend or foe and what action, if any, you should take.No other reference includes a wider range of methods for growing and maintaining an organic garden. The plant-by-plant guide features symptoms and solutions for 200 popular plants, including flowers, vegetables, trees, shrubs, and fruits. The insect-and-disease encyclopedia includes a photo identification guide and detailed descriptions of damage readers may see. The extensive coverage of the most up-to-date organic control techniques and products, presented in order of lowest impact to most intensive intervention, makes it easy to choose the best control.
The Flower Farmer: An Organic Grower's Guide to Raising and Selling Cut Flowers
Acre-for-acre, flowers are the most profitable--as well as the most beautiful--crop on the farm. In "The Flower Farmer" expert flower grower Lynn Byczynski provides a complete introduction to raising a cornucopia of cut flowers for home use and for sale to retail customers, florists, and other markets. The book offers detailed, manageable plans for flower growing on a scale ranging from a backyard border to a half-acre commercial garden. It will appeal to a broad spectrum of readers, including: Home gardeners who want growing tips from professionals, so that they can enjoy an abundance of flowers year-round in fresh and dried bouquets Passionate gardeners and small-scale growers who want to raise and sell cut flowers in season for additional income Small commercial farmers who want to increase farm revenue or even make a living from selling field-grown, specialty cut flowers. "The Flower Farmer" provides a clear, realistic look at both the benefits and the challenges of growing flowers organically for local markets. Chapters include information on: The best varieties of cut flowers--an A-Z list of more than one hundred recommended annuals and perennials, spotlighting the cultivars that are grown by professional flower farmers How to cut, store, and preserve flowers for long-lasting beauty How to dry flowers for crafting or for a dried-flower business Flower-arranging basics from a designer's perspective Extending the season with woody shrubs and trees Marketing options for commercial growers, including sales at farmer's markets, supermarkets, florists, and wholesalers. Sprinkled throughout are profiles of successful flower farmers--from Vermontto California, Texas to Wisconsin--each of them providing a unique perspective proving that growing flowers can be as profitable as it is satisfying.
The All-New Illustrated Guide to Gardening: Planning, Selection, Propagation, Organic Solutions
The best just got better. Readeras Digestas best-selling gardening book is totally revised and updated with hundreds of new plant varieties and all 4-color photos illustrations, plus ALL-ORGANIC solutions and simple projects for eco- friendly gardening. Written by experts, this full-color edition contains all new illustrations, photos, tips, and tricks for everything from organic fertilizing and composting to rotating a vegetable garden. Diagrams on beneficial bugs, weeds, and plant disorders, sections on bulb care for both outdoor and indoor planting, proper sowing of annuals, and properly planting perennials help make your garden beautiful, every year. And itas all presented in clear, easy-to-understand language. This practical guide is a refreshing gardening sourcebook that features: *All-new 2,500 full-color stunning photographs and 800 full-color practical step- by-step diagrams and illustrations *An extensive plant directory of more than 700 plantsaplus hundreds of new plant varietiesalisted by common and botanical names *New information on eco-friendly gardeningaincluding recipes for non-toxic fertilizer and disease & pest controlsaas well as recommendations for planting to attract hummingbirds or repel deer *Over 200 pages of charts that provide easy-to-access information on the latest trends in plants, problem-solving tips, new hardiness zone maps, and more *All-new organic garden guidanceahow to garden safely without nasty chemicals, from planting and fertilizing to pest control *Directions for specialized and trustworthy gardening websites where gardeners can get additional information *Comprehensive index that features cross-referenced common and botanical names for absolute accuracy With "All New Illustrated Guide to Gardening" as your guide, youall be designing and implementing a gorgeous organic garden in no time.
Organic Manual: Natural Organic Gardening and Living for Your Family, Plants, and Pets
Around the world everyone is talking about environmental issues and the concept of "going green." Natural organic gardening and landscaping are among the most important parts of that movement. Howard Garrett in "The Organic Manual" explains in detail what to do instead of using chemicals. He tells readers how to go green. The book starts with advice on how to stop using toxic chemicals, pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers and explains the practical alternatives that we can utilize. This book is effective for use coast to coast and border to border; it has no geographic boundaries. Whether it's growing beautiful landscapes or delicious healthy food crops, "The Organic Manual" explains bed preparation, planting, pest control, and how to make compost. It also covers pet management and natural living advice. The organic method is the most efficient, most cost effective, and most fun of any gardening and household approach to the natural way. It also produces the best trees, shrubs, flowers, fruits, and vegetables that you will ever grow. The book also gives the consumer a 6-month, free subscription to the "Dirt Doctor," a magazine about healthy, organic living.
The Organic Garden Book
This work shows how to cultivate everything from fruit and vegetables to flowers, trees, shrubs and lawns organically. It explains the principles of organic gardening, with practical sections on how to enhance the texture and fertility of soil. The book discusses natural methods of pest and weed control, with special emphasis on attracting a balance of vegetation and helpful predators. It explains all of the basic gardening techniques such as digging, pruning and propagation in easy-to-follow steps and it also includes chapters on greenhouse and container gardening and herbs.
Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces
Your patio, balcony, rooftop, front stoop, boulevard, windowsill, planter box, or fire escape is a potential fresh food garden waiting to happen. In Grow Great Grub, Gayla Trail, the founder of the leading online gardening community (YouGrowGirl.com), shows you how to grow your own delicious, affordable, organic edibles virtually anywhere. Grow Great Grub packs in tips and essential information about: - Choosing a location and making the most of your soil (even if it’s less than perfect)- Building a raised bed, compost bin, and self-watering container using recycled materials- Keeping pests and diseases away from your plants—the toxin-free way- Growing bountiful crops in pots and selecting the best heirloom varieties- Cultivating hundreds of plants, from blueberries to Thai basil, to the best tomatoes you’ll ever taste - Canning, and preserving to make the most of your garden’s generosity - Green-friendly, cost-saving, growing, and building projects that are smart and stylish- And much more! Whether you’re looking to eat on a budget or simply experience the pleasure of picking tonight’s meal from right outside your door, this is the must-have book for small-space gardeners—no backyard required. GAYLA TRAIL is the creator of the acclaimed top gardening website yougrowgirl.com. Her work as a writer and photographer has appeared in publications including The New York Times, Newsweek, Budget Living, and ReadyMade. A resident of Toronto who has grown a garden on her rooftop for more than 10 years, she is the author of You Grow Girl: The Groundbreaking Guide to Gardening.
All New Square Foot Gardening
Do you know what the best feature is in All New Square Foot Gardening? Sure, there are ten new features in this all-new, updated book. Sure, it's even simpler than it was before. Of course, you don't have to worry about fertilizer or poor soil ever again because you'll be growing above the ground. But, the best feature is that "anyone," "anywhere" can enjoy a Square Foot garden. Children, adults with limited mobility, even complete novices can achieve spectacular results. But, let's get back to the ten improvements. You're going to love them. 1) New Location - Move your garden closer to your house by eliminating single-row gardening. Square Foot Garden needs just "twenty percent" of the space of a traditional garden. 2) New Direction - Locate your garden "on top" of existing soil. Forget about pH soil tests, double-digging (who enjoys that?), or the never-ending soil improvements. 3) New Soil - The new "Mel's Mix" is the perfect growing mix. Why, we even give you the recipe. Best of all, you can even "buy" the different types of compost needed. 4) New Depth - You only need to prepare a SFG box to a depth of 6 inches! It's true--the majority of plants develop just fine when grown at this depth. 5) No Fertilizer - The all new SFG does not need any fertilizer-ever! If you start with the perfect soil mix, then you don't need to add fertilizer. 6) New Boxes - The new method uses bottomless boxes placed aboveground. We show you how to build your own (with step-by-step photos). 7) New Aisles - The ideal gardening aisle width is about three to four feet. That makes it even easier to kneel, work, and harvest. 8) New Grids - Prominent and permanent grids added to your SFG box help you visualize the planting squares and know how to space for maximum harvest. 9) New Seed Saving Idea - The old-fashioned way advocates planting many seeds and then thinning the extras (that means pulling them up). The new method means planting a pinch- literally two or three seeds--per planting hole. 10) Tabletop Gardens - The new boxes are so much smaller and lighter (only 6 inches of soil, remember?), you can add a plywood bottom to make them portable. Of course, that's not all. We've also included simple, easy-to-follow instructions using lots of photos and illustrations. You're going to love it!
Renovation Nation: Gardening - Watch Your Green Grow
How Does Your Garden Grow?Learn how to get the biggest environmental benefit from your own backyard. From simple water conservation techniques to plant selection and placement, it s all about keeping your landscaping in tune with nature. Join Steve Thomas, former host of This Old House, as he travels the nation visiting eco-sensitive homeowners and plant experts to see how they re including the planet in their growing plans. In this eight episode series, Steve shows us how planting smart can reduce runoff, boost the ecosystem, clean and filter water and provide a healthy, organic food source. It also means less maintenance and long-term expense. Get ready to trade your lawnmower for a long-handled shovel as we show you how to go green in the garden.Steve Thomas, former host of This Old House, travels the country in search of the most innovative, cutting-edge ideas for green building and design.EPISODES INCLUDESandy Springs: Drought Resistant GardenCambridge: Zero-Scape GardeningChelsea: Drought Resistant PlantingAlbuquerque: Grey Water Garden Irrigation Fishtown: Planting Without Fertilizer or WaterBoston: Edible Organic Garden with Composting