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Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre
Start a mini farm on a quarter acre or less, provide 85 percent of the food for a family of four and earn an income. Mini Farming describes a holistic approach to small-area farming that will show you how to produce 85 percent of an average family’s food on just a quarter acre—and earn $10,000 in cash annually while spending less than half the time that an ordinary job would require. Even if you have never been a farmer or a gardener, this book covers everything you need to know to get started: buying and saving seeds, starting seedlings, establishing raised beds, soil fertility practices, composting, dealing with pest and disease problems, crop rotation, farm planning, and much more. Because self-sufficiency is the objective, subjects such as raising backyard chickens and home canning are also covered along with numerous methods for keeping costs down and production high. Materials, tools, and techniques are detailed with photographs, tables, diagrams, and illustrations.
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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 Backyard Idea Book: Easy Organic Techniques and Solutions for a Landscape You'll Love
To help organic gardening novices face the daunting task of landscaping an entire backyard, professional arborist and city landscaper Kris Medic offers practical, simple advice on designing and maintaining a yard with minimal fuss. Medic, who has worked at such prestigious gardens as Callaway Gardens, Longwood Gardens and the Morris Arboretum, suggests time-saving alternatives to typical high-maintenance green lawns, including wildflower meadows or wildlife areas and the addition of decks and patios, which also increase living space. With 175 color photographs, 80 illustrations, 15 garden designs, and recommendations for all regions of the country, this book will inspire homeowners to envision their own dream landscape. Hundreds of expert tips and strategies, including "When to Call a Pro" boxes and a run-down of more than 60 easy-care landscape plants, provide them with the know-how to turn those dreams into reality.
Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web, Revised Edition
The 2011 Garden Writers of America Gold Award for Best Writing/Book proves soil is anything but an inert substance. Healthy soil is teeming with life -- not just earthworms and insects, but a staggering multitude of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms. When we use chemical fertilizers, we injure the microbial life that sustains healthy plants, and thus become increasingly dependent on an arsenal of artificial substances, many of them toxic to humans as well as other forms of life. But there is an alternative to this vicious circle: to garden in a way that strengthens, rather than destroys, the soil food web -- the complex world of soil-dwelling organisms whose interactions create a nurturing environment for plants. By eschewing jargon and overly technical language, the authors make the benefits of cultivating the soil food web available to a wide audience, from devotees of organic gardening techniques to weekend gardeners who simply want to grow healthy, vigorous plants without resorting to chemicals.
