The groundnut (peanut) is a crop of global economic significance, not only in the widespread geographical areas of its production, but also in the even wider areas of its processing and consumption. In this extremely important book, the crop is presented in its global context by an international group of contributors. Every chapter has been written by acknowledged experts in each of the major aspects of the crop covered. The book's contents include coverage of the economic status of the groundnut and the origin and history of its cultivation. The crop's botany, taxonomic status and agronomic aspects are covered, including pests and diseases, and thorough coverage is given to the utilization, processing and nutritional value to animals and humans. The Groundnut Crop provides a solid reference on this most important crop and should be of great use to all those involved with its cultivation and production, including agronomists, plant scientists, food scientists and technologists. As well as being a practical reference source which scientists will want to have to hand, this book should also find a place in all libraries of universities, research establishments and companies with a concern in the crop.

Jane’s Delicious A–Z of Vegetables is an accessible guide to the most commonly-grown vegetables, plus many new and unusual ones now available, with detailed information on how to sow, plant, feed, water, protect, harvest and eat them, as well as save their seed for future generations. Written in Jane’s quirky, practical style and lavishly illustrated with full-colour photographs for easy reference, this is a one-stop guide to growing any type of vegetable organically.

Have you ever had a question on how to grow African violets but could not find the answer? Now your dilemma is solved and you will be able to quickly find the information for which you are looking. With this book in your hands you will no longer have to guess when it comes to growing beautiful African violets, crowned with dozens of gorgeous blossoms. The primary theme of Mel Robey's third book on African violets is: Getting Back to the Basics. The reader will find answers to 250 of the most common questions the author has been asked since the publication of his first book on these popular houseplants. He combines a unique knowledge of horticulture with an easy to understand writing style. 250 Questions and their answers are covered in ten chapters Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Getting To Know Your Plants Chapter 3 Plant Food Essential For Healthy Plants Chapter 4 Potting Mixtures: Key To Being Successful Chapter 5 Containers For Growing Beautiful African Violets Chapter 6 Proper Watering Techniques Important Chapter 7 Those Ugly Pests: Insects, Diseases, and Other Unsightly Problems Chapter 8 Propagation Is Easy Chapter 9 The Environment Around Your Plants Chapter 10 Light: Its Role In A Plant's Life Glossary You will find answers to questions such as: .What can be done to solve the problem after a white, salty crust has formed on the potting soil surface and rim of the pot? .Does the type of fertilizer I use have any influence on how well my African violets bloom? .Are there any simple ways to sterilize my potting mixture? .If you could pick one problem that causes African violets the most trouble, what would it be? .Why are the flower buds on my African violet dropping off before they open? This is very discouraging

This beautifully illustrated guide shows a distinguished plantsman-photographer's personal favorites for every season and garden use.Published at $17.95 Available Now at $8.98

Grow amazing plants from the comfort of your own home.

This book will teach you the basics of growing fruit, vegetables, herbs, and the very best indoor flowers, as well as tips and tricks to reuse your food scraps and reduce your waste as you experiment with seeds.

Did you know that you can grow a beautiful houseplant from an avocado seed? Or regrow lettuce in a matter of weeks, just in an inch of water? And you can create a windowsill of delicious herbs simply from cuttings?

You don't need a complicated toolkit to start sowing; just spades of enthusiasm and any spare containers you have lying around your home. And here's the best part: as your windowsills begin to burst with greenery, you will reap the health benefits too - from anti-oxidants to air purifiers, as well as plants which aid good sleep, your plants will transform every aspect of your lifestyle.

This gorgeous book celebrates the joy of creating something from scratch and infusing the home-grown mentality into all aspects of your lifestyle, from your mealtimes to your home d�cor and your wellbeing. So, just pick up a pot and start sowing your own!

A beautifully illustrated guide to the marvellous and varied world of trees, and a fascinating introduction to the hidden secrets of 52 British species. Botanist and ecologist Ros Bennett has spent a lifetime helping people understand and identify plants and always hoped her daughter Nell would grow up to share her love of the natural world. During Nell's childhood years they spent much time exploring the local woods together. Here, Nell discovered the visual and tactile beauty of trees. In Tree-spotting, Ros and Nell have combined their backgrounds and talents to show you - through Ros's extensive experience and Nell's exquisite illustrations - how to identify 52 British trees simply and confidently. A beautiful and captivating insight into the wonderful world of trees, Tree-spotting burrows down into the history and hidden secrets of each species. It explores how our relationship with trees can be very personal, and will bring you closer to the natural world around you.

Forest Gardening (or agroforestry) is a way of growing edible crops with nature doing most of the work. A forest garden imitates young natural woodland, with a wide range of crops grown in vertical layers. Species are chosen for their beneficial effects on each other, creating a healthy system that maintains its own fertility, with little need for digging, weeding or pest control. The result of this largely perennial planting is a tranquil, beautiful and productive space. This book is a bible for permaculture and forest gardening, with practical advice on how to create a forest garden, from planning and design to planting and maintenance. It explains how a forest garden is designed from the top down: the canopy layer first, then the shrub layer, the perennial ground-cover layer, the annuals & biennials next, the climbers and nitrogen fixers and finally the clearings, living spaces and paths. Whether in a small back garden or in a larger plot, the environmental benefits of growing this way are great. Forest Gardens are a viable solution to the challenge of a changing climate: we can grow food sustainably in them without compromising soil health, food quality or biodiversity. Forest gardens: store carbon dioxide in the soil and in the woody biomass of the trees and shrubs. enable the soil to store more water after heavy rains, minimizing flooding and erosion. boost the health of the ecosystem, ensuring a balance of predators and beneficial insects because mixed planting is crucial to the scheme. allows the soil to thrive because it is covered with plants all year round. Creating a Forest Garden includes a detailed directory of over 500 trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, annuals, root crops and climbers. As well as more familiar plants such as fig and apple trees, blackcurrants and rosemary shrubs, you can grow your own chokeberries, goji berries, yams, heartnuts, bamboo shoots and buffalo currants. Forest gardens produce fruits, nuts, vegetables, seeds, salads, herbs, spices, firewood, mushrooms, medicinal herbs, dye plants, soap plants, and honey from bees. This book tells you everything you need to create your own forest garden with beautiful illustrations and helpful tips throughout.

The outstanding social and ecological roles of urban forests in the growth of cities has become widely known. In many parts of the world, despite or even because of continuing suburbanization, initiatives are being put forth to preserve urban forests, to develop them further and to make them acc- sible to the public. This volume focuses on a particular component of the urban forest - trix urban wild woodlands. We understand these to be stands of woody plants, within the impact area of cities, whose form is characterized by trees and in which a large leeway for natural processes makes possible a convergence toward wilderness. The wilderness character of these urban woodlands can vary greatly. We differentiate between two kinds of w- derness. The old wilderness is the traditional one; it may return slowly to woodland areas when forestry use has been abandoned. The enhancement of wilderness is a task already demanded of urban and peri-urban forestry in many places. This book would like to direct the attention of the reader to a second kind of wilderness, which we call new wilderness. This arises on heavily altered urban-industrial areas where abandonment of use makes such change possible. The wild nature of urban abandoned areas was discovered in the 1970s through urban-ecological research. Since then, in a very short time, profound structural changes in industrial countries have led to h- dreds or thousands of hectares in urbanized areas becoming available for natural colonization processes."

This guide from the experts of Kew Royal Botanical Gardens is filled with tips and advice to help you grow your best vegetable garden ever! In this book Kew's Kitchen Gardener, Helena Dove, combines practical elements with inspiration and beauty to make a comprehensive and informative guide with all you need to know to master theart of growing vegetables. She shows how to grow some of the most popular staple crops such as tomatoes, potatoes, radishes and rocket, and also some more unusual and exciting choices such as oca, tomatillo, seakale and yacon. She gives easy to follow instructions on how to be a successful vegetable gardener, plus 12 exciting projects to try throughout the year including forcing rhubarb, creating an asparagus border and growing in raised beds. From sowing, to planting young plants, to hardening off and harvesting, find out what you need to do and when, to produce the most magnificent harvests. All the advice is underpinned by the expertise and authority of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and illustrated from Kew's world-famous botanical collection. With this book, you wil be able to reap a rich bounty of delicious vegetables from just a few packets of seed and some fertile ground! This book is from the Kew Experts series, in which the top gardeners and botanical scientists from Royal Botanic Kew Gardens offer up advice and information as well as suggesting handy projects on a range of gardening topics. Other titles include: Companion to Medicinal Plants, Guide to Growing Bulbs, Guide to Growing Fruit, Guide to Growing Orchids, Guide to Growing Roses, Guide to Growing Succulents and Cacti, Guide to Growing Trees, Guide to Growing Herbs and Guide to Growing House Plants.

From bestselling author and celebrated flower farmer Erin Benzakein comes this stunning and user-friendly daily planner to brighten every occasion with natural beauty. Filled with lush photography of magnificent blooms, seasonal gardening tips and monthly tabs for easy reference, this delightful package enhances every engagement and to-do. * Tabbed Sections * Year-at-a-glance * Monthly and weekly spreads * Notes pages * Holiday list * Interior pocket * Ribbon marker * Elastic band closure|From bestselling author and celebrated flower farmer Erin Benzakein comes this stunning and user-friendly daily planner to brighten every occasion with natural beauty. Filled with lush photography of magnificent blooms, seasonal gardening tips and monthly tabs for easy reference, this delightful package enhances every engagement and to-do. * Tabbed Sections * Year-at-a-glance * Monthly and weekly spreads * Notes pages * Holiday list * Interior pocket * Ribbon marker * Elastic band closure

The Complete Language of Flowers is a comprehensive encyclopedia providing the meanings, powers, facts, and folklore for over 1,001 flower species. Now in a pocket-size edition for easy, on-the-go reference. Along with a beautiful visual depiction, each entry provides the flower's scientific and common names, characteristics, and historic meanings and powers from mythology, medieval legends, folklore, and flower poetry. For centuries, symbolic flower meanings have fascinated readers, writers, poets, and suddenly smitten couples alike. Extremely popular during the Victorian era, these floriographies flourished and versed the public on the hidden meaning of popular flowers such as: Purple Tulip-Eternal love Amaryllis-Adventurousness; Enthusiasm; Passion Daisy-Beauty and innocence; Cheer; Childlike playfulness Sunflower-Ambition; Constancy; Devotion Together with stunning full-color illustrations and two indexes, one for searching by common flower name and the other organized by meaning, this beautiful reference is a must-have for gardeners, florists, and flower enthusiasts. Whether you're looking to arrange the perfectly bespoken wedding bouquet or to understand what the yellow rose you just received from an admirer means (friendship), this updated floriography is a visual delight. Elegantly designed and beautifully illustrated, the Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia series offers comprehensive, display-worthy references on a range of intriguing topics, including birthday astrology, dream interpretation, techniques for harnessing the power of dreams, and the stories behind signs and symbols.

A guide to hardy, easy-to-grow plants that provide interest over more than one season. There is advice on selecting and maintaining the right plants, and an illustrated A to Z directory of those plants for easy reference, photographs, information, and a glossary of terms and related Websites.

Many of us want to increase our self-sufficiency, but few have access to the ideal five sunny, gently sloping acres of rich, loamy, well-drained soil. Jenni Blackmore presents a highly entertaining, personal account of how permaculture can be practiced in adverse conditions, allowing anyone to learn to live more sustainably in a less-than-perfect world. With a rallying cry of "If we can do it, you can too," she distills the wisdom of twenty years of trial and error into a valuable teaching tool. The perfect antidote to dense, high-level technical manuals, Permaculture for the Rest of Us presents the fundamental principles of this sometimes confusing concept in a humorous, reader-friendly way. Each chapter focuses on a specific method or technique, interspersing straightforward explanations with the author's own experiences. Learn how to successfully retrofit even the smallest homestead using skills such as: No-till vs. till gardening, composting, and soil-building Natural pest control and integrating small livestock Basic greenhouse construction Harvesting, preservation, and more Ideal for urban dreamers, suburbanites and country-dwellers alike, this inspirational and instructional "encouragement manual" is packed with vibrant photographs documenting the author's journey from adversity to abundance. Jenni Blackmore is a farmer, artist, writer and certified Permaculture Design Consultant who built her house on a rocky, windswept island off the coast of Nova Scotia almost twenty-five years ago and has been stumbling along the road to self-sufficient living ever since. A successful micro-farmer, she produces most of her family's meat, eggs, fruit, and vegetables, in spite of often-challenging conditions.

For decades, gardeners have approached vegetable gardening the same way: planting in square or rectangular beds or in straight rows, keeping vegetables separate from flowers, and definitely not mixing perennial plants with annual ones. According to these old rules, every insect must be killed, the garden must be tidy, and nothing should ever be allowed to go to seed. It's time to break the rules! Today's gardeners are re-envisioning the vegetable garden as a creative, playful space where the beds may be circles or spirals, beneficial insects are invited to the party, flowers for cutting grow right next to annual vegetables (which might be chosen for their curb appeal as much as their flavor), and a bit of "untidiness" simply creates a garden that more closely mimics the natural world. With The Creative Vegetable Gardener, lifestyle editor and master gardener Kelly Smith Trimble encourages readers to widen their focus, be playful, and imagine a vegetable garden that reflects their own unique aesthetic and offers a meditative sanctuary as well as a source of fresh, homegrown food. From seed selection to garden layout and regenerative gardening practices, gardeners of all levels will find Smith Trimble's liberating advice a pathway to making the garden a place of nourishment for the soul and creative spirit, while also feeding the body.

This scientifically accurate guide is aimed at assisting gardeners and horticulturalists to identify commonly used succulent and rockery species from all over the world. Introductory chapters on waterwise gardening, uses, conservation, cultivation and propagation of succulents, together with a section on gardening with succulents, which gives useful hints.

Of the 25,000 known species of bee worldwide, only seven species are honeybees. Bees and plants have a sophisticated and delicate symbiosis. In recent years, the shrinking of green spaces has endangered the honeybee. Now Planting for Honeybees shows you how you can help these delightful pollinators to flourish by creating a garden as a habitat for them. No matter how small or large your space - from a window ledge in the city to a country garden - Sarah Wyndham Lewis offers practical advice on which plants to grow, and when and where to plant them. Charmingly illustrated with delicate drawings, this a jewel of a guide to treasure.