"Heritage Apples" travels far beyond the grocery store of today to savor the apples of the past. These are the apple varieties--the Gravensteins, the Kings, the red-fleshed Pink Pearl--that link us to history, but through food movements and taste preferences are remerging as the fruit of the future. Heritage apples evoke memories and passion for some; for others they offer delicious, unexplored flavors and a connection to local farmers.Discover the histories behind the apples, and learn some startling apple facts. Identify the taste, appearance, and uses of 40 different heritage varieties and gain useful growing and harvesting information. Meet apple growers, cider-makers, and people fighting to preserve heritage apples, and join a lifestyle that embraces local and slow food movements. Then try the recipes Create delicious apple-based dishes, such as Chickpea-Apple Curry, French Apple Clafouti, Tarte Tatin, Apple Brownies, Apple Pie, and more. Expand your knowledge of one of our most popular fruits and celebrate its history with "Heritage Apples."

Do you desire to glorify God through the way you farm? Are you tired of reading books on farming and food production that ignore God as Creator? Have you ever wondered what agriculture would look like if it was based on the Bible instead of on evolution, Mother Nature, or the latest manipulations of life by science? In Born Again Dirt, Noah Sanders encourages Christian farmers to evaluate their farming methods in light of Scripture. This book looks at various Biblical principles related to agriculture and provides examples of practical application. Topics covered include: -Designing farms as beautiful, fruitful homes. -Honoring God's design in farm production -Growing crops that honor the Lord -Marketing as ministry -The idolatry of modern agriculture -Advantages of the farming lifestyle -Starting a farm and making a living. Without claiming to have all the answers, Born Again Dirt seeks to inspire you to develop a vision for God-glorifying agriculture . This book is a must read for any Christian who is a full time farmer, backyard gardener, or for anyone who desires a more Biblical view of agriculture.

Organic seed harvesting made simple
For the aspiring organic gardener, there's nothing more rewarding than growing organic crops from seeds you've harvested yourself. This book gives you the information you need to get started harvesting and planting your own seeds.
The following topics are covered:
- Why saving seeds is preferable to buying seeds.
- The key difference between hybrid and open-pollinated seeds.
- Why you need to avoid GMO seeds at all costs.
- How to control cross-pollination of your plants.
- Bagging, isolating and boxing your plants.
- Growing healthy seeds.
- How to harvest seeds from a number of popular plants including artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, carrots, flowers, corn, strawberries, cucumbers, melons and more.
- Why you should avoid harvesting tree seeds (there's a much better way to grow trees). - What heirloom seeds are and why they're important.
- Special handling of plants you plan on harvesting heirloom seeds from.
- The difference between organic and heirloom seeds.
- How to start your seeds once planting season rolls around.
- Sowing seeds in your garden.
Buy "Seed Saving for the Organic Gardener" today and learn how to harvest seeds from your plants.

Aquaponics is a method of growing fish and vegetables in a simple recirculating system. This book is designed and written to provide basic information and direction for people interested in building a backyard aquaponics system. It is NOT a "how-to" manual listing parts and with step-by-step procedures, but it's more like a conversation that you might have with a good friend about how he built his system. It is written to be easily understandable and includes lots of pictures and graphics. NOTE: This 5.5"x8.5" version contains the same information as the first edition however the physical size has been substantially reduced.

Returning from his 31 years as a Methodist missionary in Zambia, Merfyn Temple tries to settle down into a quiet pastoral ministry in Oxfordshire. But his impulsive energy and charisma soon find other causes to follow and wrongs to right. From his efforts to sail to the Falklands at the height of the war, to his cycle ride through Africa to promote organic agriculture, Merfyn sweeps us all into his passion for justice. At the age of 83 his journey to Harare and deliver a personal letter to President Mugabe, ends him in the city jail for a few days. Liberally illustrated with photographs and newspaper cuttings, Merfyn's story is an example and a challenge to every armchair activist.

Perfect beginners guide to growing potatoes. This short book explains how to plant and grow organic potatoes for food in the home garden. Recommended for backyard gardeners and container gardeners with small city-sized yards, patios, balconies, decks, and rooftops. Written by the author of the best-selling Fresh Food From Small Spaces gardening book, a former columnist for Urban Farm magazine. Topics Include: * Why Grow Potatoes? Six Great Reasons * Different Kinds of Potatoes (and Where to Get Them) * Growing in Containers, Raised Beds, and Traditional Rows * Planting and Hilling Potatoes * Soil, Fertilizer, and Watering Needs * How to Harvest Potatoes * Storing Potatoes for Later Use * Bonus: Two Secret Tips for Getting More (and More Delicious) Potatoes Potatoes are one of the simplest food crops to grow at home. In this booklet, you will learn how to plant and grow potatoes in any sized garden. Even if you have no garden at all, and merely a doorstep, patio, rooftop, balcony, or deck, you can grow potatoes in very small spaces. Learn which type of containers potatoes thrive in, producing bigger harvests than you'll ever get from a bed in the ground. Learn how to select and plant potatoes that mature earlier than others, giving you a quick food harvest even in a short season climate with cold winters. Be More Self-Sufficient No other food crop allows you to do so much with so little as the potato. In fact, this is the most productive food staple you can produce at home. Just imagine how much space it would take to grow enough wheat, rye, oats, barley, rice, or other food staple to feed a family. Yet you can grow enough potatoes on your doorstep to feed a person for days. Grow Your Own Food and Save Money Save some money this year and grow some delicious homegrown food, starting with potatoes and other organic vegetables. Learn which type of containers to grow spuds in for AMAZING yields. Learn how to plant and grow organic potatoes in garden rows, raised beds, and anything that holds soil or mulch (even garbage cans). Get this terrific guide today and start growing your own spuds

The essential guide to using biodynamics in your home garden by one of the world's masters. Biodynamic gardening is an organic system using particular preparations made from cow dung, silica crystals and various medicinal herbs. Preparations are sprinkled on the land to enhance microbial life in the soil. They are sprayed in a mist over the leaves of the plants to enhance photosynthesis and strengthen the plant or put into composts and liquid manures to assist the proper breakdown of the organic matter. Farmers and gardeners say that using the Biodynamic system of agriculture makes organic farming and gardening work

New to gardening, or just to gardening organically? In this useful and easy-to-read book Fi clearly outlines the things you need to consider when gardening organically, and how to get started to give your garden the best chance of success. From compost to bugs, soils to sprays, this is a must-have book you'll refer to over and over again.

A Farmer's Love is the story of the author's spiritual journey and how his relationship to the Earth evolved from an experience of basic utility to an experience of abiding love.Farmers seldom bare their souls in books, but Walter Moora struggled and wrestled the words in this book from his heart. He offers more than specific descriptions of farming; he tells his life story as a biodynamic farmer and how he learned the lessons of creating healthy ecosystems on the farm through biodynamic preparations and by planting according to the stars.The author learned early in his farming career that working with Nature is infinitely more satisfying and ultimately far more successful than working against Nature with chemicals. His experience of farming biodynamically on four continents taught him to listen to what the land itself asks for. A Farmer's Love explains how nutrition in the food we eat comes directly from nutrition in the soil in which the plans grow. The book also explains ways the author learned to work with the soil to make it nutrient-rich without the use of synthetic chemicals. It chronicles Walter's experience of learning both the physical and spiritual aspects of creating a whole, healthy farm ecosystem.Through his life experiences, the author learned to trust his intuition, to take risks around his values, to find his soul's destiny, and to deal with death and loss by trusting that the very best things can come directly from the very worst things. This story is for those who want to enrich their spiritual connection with the Earth and for budding farmers everywhere who are interested in caring for the Earth in a new way.

Secret Revealed - How to turn 100% of worm bedding material into Worm Castings (organic fertilizer) in just 14 Days... Same technology we use On Organic Worm Farm Grow Larger Plants... Faster... Helps Suppress certain plant diseases & pests This Is The Same Exact Technology We Use On Organic Worm Farm Producing A Granular Type Of Worm Castings With Consistency Week After Week

Follow a young boy named Casey as he learns about composting and what it can do to provide nutrition to plants and keep garbage out of landfills. Supportive adults in his life recognize his passion and help him to make composting a city-wide policy.

Organic Container Gardening is about reducing pesticide exposure in the family diet. It is a complete guide to growing the twelve fruits and vegetables with the most pesticide residues according to USDA testing. From Apples and Celery to Strawberries and Spinach, pick a few of your favorites from the list. Make a big difference in your family's pesticide exposure with a small organic garden.

"After talking with other parents, I realized we all wanted an inexpensive way to feed our children more foods with less pesticide residue. None of us had time and few of us had the space to grow large gardens. I began researching the problem and soon realized a family's intake of pesticides could be substantially reduced by selecting their favorite foods from the EWG's Dirty Dozen list and growing these in containers or small space gardens." - Barbara Barker, from the first chapter "There are a number of books on bookstore shelves these days that offer to help us become container gardeners. Barker's book, however, is unique, for she combines the information you need to know about gardening in containers with what you need to know to protect your food supply. Most of us don't have a great deal of extra time on our hands these days, so concentrating our efforts on replacing at least some of the 'dirty dozen' with our own pesticide-free fruits and vegetables makes very good sense. In fact, this whole book makes very good sense. You'll find yourself going back to it over and over again." - Susan Wittig Albert, Story Circle Book Reviews

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) analyzed USDA pesticide residue data and compiled this list of the "top twelve most contaminated fruits and vegetables" Apples, Celery, Strawberries, Peaches, Spinach, Nectarines, Grapes, Sweet Bell Peppers, Potatoes, Blueberries, Lettuce, and Kale.

About The Author A certified master gardener, Barbara Barker traces her love for gardening back to fifth grade when she started a business rejuvenating her mother's ailing plants and selling them back to her for a small profit. Barker expanded her knowledge of plants by working in garden centers in high school and college. After obtaining a BA in English from the University of Florida, she started an internet company selling gourmet varieties of vegetable and herb plants.

Contents List of Figures Introduction 1. Chemical Residue on Your Food 2. The Forbidden Apple 3. Celery 4. Strawberries, Mother Nature's Candy 5. Peaches and Nectarines 6. Spinach 7. Grapes 8. Sweet Bell Peppers 9. Potatoes 10. Blueberries 11. Lettuce 12. Kale 13. Primary Pesticides Found On the Dirty Dozen 14. Pests and Diseases Raised Growing Beds Selected Resources/Bibliography Glossary Index

Garden expert and lovable eccentric Ruth Stout once said: "At the age of 87 I grow vegetables for two people the year-round, doing all the work myself and freezing the surplus. I tend several flower beds, write a column every week, answer an awful lot of mail, do the housework and cooking; and never do any of these things after 11 o'clock in the morning " Her first book about her no-work gardening system, "How to Have a Green Thumb Without an Aching Back," was the kind of book people can't bear to return. She reports, "A dentist in Pennsylvania and a doctor in Oregon have both written me that they keep a copy of my garden book in their waiting rooms. Or try to; the dentist has had twenty-three copies stolen, the doctor, sixteen." "Gardening Without Work" is her second gardening book and is even more entertaining and instructional than the first, so hide it from your friends How does it work? "And now let's get down to business. The labor-saving part of my system is that I never plow, spade, sow a cover crop, harrow, hoe, cultivate, weed, water or irrigate, or spray. I use just one fertilizer (cottonseed or soybean meal), and I don't go through the tortuous business of building a compost pile. Just yesterday, under the Questions and Answers' in a big reputable farm paper, someone asked how to make a compost pile and the editor explained the arduous performance. After I read this I lay there on the couch and suffered because the victim's address wasn't given; there was no way I could reach him. "My way is simply to keep a thick mulch of any vegetable matter that rots on both my vegetable and flower garden all year round. As it decays and enriches the soil, I add more." Regardless of topic, Ruth Stout's writing is always about living a joyous and independent life, and "Gardening Without Work" is no exception This book is a treasure for the gardener and a delight even to the non-gardener. First published in 1961, this Norton Creek Press version is an exact reproduction of the original edition. Ruth Stout, who, in her teens helped temperance activist Carrie Nation smash saloon windows, could turn any aspect of life into an adventure. She may have been the only woman who both gardened in the nude and wrote a book on being a hostess ("Company Coming: Six Decades of Hospitality"). She died in 1980 at the age of 96.

A fun and colorful "how to" story picture book that teaches children about the good of composting. Children love to get work in the garden and help in the kitchen. Composting is fun, easy and a great way for kids to help our environment. This books is also a great way for parents to get started on composting. Composting reduces waste, recycles, and creates a natural fertilizer for your garden. Everyone benefits from composting, its a fun activity for the family, and builds a strong and beautiful garden.

(From the original Rolling Stone review in 1974) Hundreds of thousands of people have become experts in the most joyful of horticultural pursuits thanks to Bill Drake's classic and indispensible "Cultivators Handbook of Marijuana." Chances are that no matter who is growing it or where they are growing it, Bill Drake not only told them how - but told them why they should go to the bother. And, if that wasn't enough, he made the same vast audience sophisticated in Cannabis lore through that dazzling compendium of knowledge - the first and still the best coffeetable dope book - "The Connoisseur's Handbook of Marjiuana." Now with the International Cultivators Handbook, the seeds are flung much much further in both time and space. Drawing from his great respect for the ancient traditions surrounding these three great therapeutic medicinal plants, Bill Drake offers the reader broad, bold insights into worldwide traditional cultivation practices and medicinal uses of Coca, Opium and Hashish that they will find nowhere else.

Sir Albert Howard presents a summary of his life's work in this book. Howard states "This law is true for soil, plant, animal, and man: the health of these four is one connected chain. Any weakness or defect in the health of any earlier link in the chain is carried on to the next and succeeding links, until it reaches the last, namely, man." Howard's work, decades ahead of its time, provides an insight into how he realized the value of organic methods though he went to India intending to teach the use of chemical fertilizers and chemical pest control. This text has been published under the title "The Soil and Health" and also under the title "Farming and Gardening for Health or Disease."

Smaller available spaces for gardens, a national movement to forego the use of synthetic chemicals in the environment and a desire to utilize low maintenance and native plants are all addressed in "A Year in a Rock Garden - An Organic Gardening Guide." According to Organic Gardening.com, Sales of organic products are estimated to have topped $25 billion in 2008. Specific gardens are featured each month, along with Kushner's own garden, photographs, specific garden chores, directions and organic practices for an entire year. Throughout the book readers will: * Understand specific gardening direction as to what must be accomplished each month. * Have guidelines for gardening organically without the use of synthetic chemical products. * Be given input on specific plants, their needs, bloom time, flower color and an appendix of close to 300 appropriate plants and their cultural needs. * Learn which plants are to be avoided. * Have a comprehensive list of sources for seeds, plants, gardening tools and supplies. * Be advised of the up-to-date explanation of what the term "organic" actually means in the United States today. * Be introduced to a different rock garden setting every month

Native Americans believe that Tobacco is one of the most sacred gifts of the Great Spirit to his People, along with corn, beans and squash. I also believe that tobacco is a great gift of the great spirit of the natural world, and I want people who enjoy tobacco to be able to liberate themselves from the thrall of the multinational so-called "Tobacco companies," whose products really have nothing to do with the sacred herb and are nothing more than industrialized poison. Now I'm sharing my years of experience raising natural Tobacco in what I hope is a useful, interesting and thoughtful book - The Cultivators Handbook of Natural Tobacco. As I hope you'll come to see, the ultimate aim of this book is to make it possible for smokers to no longer be enslaved to criminal corporations for their personal supply of pure, natural tobaccos. In addition to sharing my own growing experience, I've reached far into the past to find tobacco growing books written by masters of the subject, from Cuba to the Philippines, from America to Brazil. In an all-new Section Two I've gathered together the best advice from these old-time masters regarding every aspect of Tobacco cultivation, from which varieties grow best in which soils and environments, to the carefully guarded secrets of curing and flavoring the primo leaves of this unusual plant. Also, I'll give you an internet address where you can download all of these original, invaluable tobacco resources for free in PDF format for easy reading on your computer or any reading device.

All the things consumers can do with Diatomaceous Earth: Over 101 easy ways to go green with this amazing food grade Diatomaceous Earth (DE) that originates from ancient fossilized algae provided by Mother Nature. * Safer natural insecticide for homes, gardens, animals, birds, barns, farms, kennels, grains, crops, schools, parks, etc. * Learn what DE is, where it comes from, & how to use it. * Learn tools, application methods & recipes for applying DE. * Learn how to read labels correctly to choose the right kind of DE. * Learn how to identify and distinguish from unsuitable industrial filtering grades. * Learn about health risks linked to toxic chemical pesticides. * Discover eco-stories & anecdotal comments from all kinds of successful users of DE. * Find healthier & more contented birds & animals: DE rids fleas, ticks, lice & parasites. * Use DE as an animal feed additive for improved nutrition & health. * Use DE in animal feed as an anti-caking agent for anti-clumping, easy flow & mixing. * Use DE as a deodorizer on manure for drier mangers, barns, & stables for less flies. * Use DE as a soil amender for clay soils for more porosity & supply 14 trace minerals. * Use DE for protecting & storing grains & seeds. * Use DE to clean up oil spills. * Use DE to clean & polish tarnished silver & copper. * Use DE to dry leaves & flowers for arrangements. * Use DE as a non-scratching soft scrub. * Use DE to remove light scratches from vehicles. * Use DE as a deodorizer in shoes, kitty litter, refrigerator, vacuum bags & garbage cans, etc.

A lively and practical guide to organic gardening from a renowned garden expert.
Annie Spiegelman's down-to-earth wit and wisdom create the perfect primer for anyone with a passion for home-grown veggies or fresh-cut flowers, no matter what their skill level, location, or resources. Includes advice on:
-Learning to worship the worm and build a compost pile
-Landscape designs-start small in order to create a basic plan for a plot
-The secret to healthy soil (the only way to have a healthy garden)
-Irrigation systems and strategies to conserve water
-Proper pruning-from roses to trees
-How to combine vegetables to make them thrive
-How to let your garden go native and become drought tolerant
-Edible landscaping and gardening in small spaces
"Talking Dirt" is a one-stop handbook that features resources for shopping, learning, and promoting environmentally sound garden practices within local communities.