Bring the flavor of maple syrup beyond breakfast!Maple syrup is one of nature's sweetest treats. It reminds us of sitting at the table, savoring bite after bite of Mom's fresh flapjacks. Maple Syrup features 40 tried-and-true recipes to please friends, neighbors, and the entire family. Create new memories that extend into every meal with this delicious favorite ingredient. Inside You'll Find 40 recipes-tested and tasted by the author, a professional food stylist Drinks, desserts, breads, meats, vegetables, and more Full-color photography from a professional food photographer BONUS: Do-it-yourself instructions for maple syruping Enjoy These Recipes and More: Maple-Frosted Pumpkin Muffins Monte Cristo Breakfast Sandwiches Maple-Brined Pork Chops Maple-Bacon Brussels Sprouts Best Mashed Sweet Potatoes Maple Fruit Crisp Maple Mousse

Grasses and bamboos are part of the same botanical group, the grass family, also called Poaceae, a family with an estimated 12,000 species. Grasses occur throughout the world with similar diversity in the tropical and temperate regions, in all climates, and at all elevations. Madagascar is no exception. The grass family is the most economically important group of plants which has always been closely involved in people's lives. Grasses provide food: rice (Oryza sativa), maize (Zea mays), sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum), and breadwheat (Triticum aestivum) are all members of the grass family. Grasses also provide food for cattle and shelter as bamboo (e.g. Bambusa vulgaris) or bararata (Phragmites mauritianus), while the valiha (Valiha diffusa) is used to make musical instruments. Grasses are planted as lawns (e.g. Cynodon dactylon), planted to prevent erosion (e.g. Chrysopogon zizanoides), and planted as decorative hedges (e.g. Phyllostachys aurea, Pogonatherum paniceum). Madagascar's grasses are still poorly known and many endemic species have only been recorded once or twice. More collections and records are necessary to understand the true diversity and species distribution. This guide hopes to encourage study and collecting of grasses by showing how beautiful and interesting these plants can be, and by providing a practical means of identification at the generic level. The current available knowledge on the genera of Madagascar Poaceae has been compiled and summarised, with an emphasis on easily visible characters to verify generic identity. 144 grasses are described with life size colour photographs to aid identification. This guide is for all botanists, naturalists, students, and other people interested in the grass family. It may be of use to Poaceae specialists but its primary aim is to broaden the appeal of the group to collectors and field workers.

At the cabin, in the park or on a hike, keep this tabbed booklet close at hand. Based on Stan Tekiela's best-selling wildflower field guides and featuring only Midwest wildflowers of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin, the booklet is organized by color for quick and easy identification. Narrow your choices by color, and view just a few wildflowers at a time. The pocket-sized format is much easier to use than laminated foldouts, and the tear-resistant pages help to make the book durable in the field. Wildflowers of the Midwest features: Pocket-sized format--easier than laminated foldouts Detailed photographs with key markings More than 140 species found in the Midwest Easy-to-use information for even casual observers Based on Stan Tekiela's popular field guides

Lives of Weeds explores the tangled history of weeds and their relationship to humans. Through eight interwoven stories, John Cardina offers a fresh perspective on how these tenacious plants came about, why they are both inevitable and essential, and how their ecological success is ensured by determined efforts to eradicate them. Linking botany, history, ecology, and evolutionary biology to the social dimensions of humanity's ancient struggle with feral flora, Cardina shows how weeds have shaped-and are shaped by-the way we live in the natural world. Weeds and attempts to control them drove nomads toward settled communities, encouraged social stratification, caused environmental disruptions, and have motivated the development of GMO crops. They have snared us in social inequality and economic instability, infested social norms of suburbia, caused rage in the American heartland, and played a part in perpetuating pesticide use worldwide. Lives of Weeds reveals how the technologies directed against weeds underlie ethical questions about agriculture and the environment, and leaves readers with a deeper understanding of how the weeds around us are entangled in our daily choices.

Instant Guides are packed with essential information and useful facts covering a wide variety of subjects from survival skills to stargazing. Portable, easy to use and durable they contain all the basics whether you're studying the subject or just interested. For practical topics such as Bicycle maintenance they offer expert advice, to-the-point instructions and tips from insiders. Booklets on more educational topics such as The Human Body provide colourful diagrams and straightforward information.

Linda Runyon "roughed it" in a homestead in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate NY for many years, learning to depend on the land to provide her family's sustenance. The very trees around her became at once a source of food, inspiration and other survival needs.Let Linda show you this way of life through instruction and anecdote so that you, too, may find the sustenance you need from the trees.

Your Field Guide to Foraging for Wild Edibles: What, Where, and When to Look Foraging for food is an engaging and beneficial pastime that anyone can enjoy. It inspires connections to the land and can help to improve your health. Plus, many target plants for foragers are non-native, so the activity can support-if not improve-biological diversity and ecological well-being. Foraging Southern California introduces you to plentiful and delicious foods, from berries and fruits to roots, seeds, and even tasty aquatic options, like kelp and crayfish. Expert forager Douglas Kent shares his decades of experience in this handy guide that's perfect for beginners and intermediates. Learn what to look for, as well as when and where to look. Key identification features, written instructions, and full-color photographs help you to comfortably and confidently know that you're harvesting the right species. A compare section provides information on dangerous look-alikes, helping to ensure your foraging success and personal health. The "Top 10 Edibles" section provides a starting point for beginners, and species throughout the book are organized by harvestable quality, which quickly leads to the relevant information for your own foraging needs. Foraging must be done with knowledge and consideration. Foraging Southern California provides information that can benefit you and the environment. Grab the book, get outside, and enjoy nature's bounty.

Naturalists, birders, students, teachers, conservationists, environmental consultants, wildlife biologists and botanists--amateur and professonal alike--will find this picture book of plant anatomy to be an invaluable reference alongside local floras and field guides.
"620 Wild Plants of North America "describes, in beautiful detail, the characteristic features of 89 families of vascular plants--including trees, shrubs, vines, wildflowers, grasses, sedges, horsetails, and club-mosses--using labeled ink drawings, text and range maps. The author's drawings are from plants in the field and freshly picked specimens. The text outlines habitat, flowers, fruit, seeds, leaves and stems. The range maps cover central North America from the three Prairie Provinces south to northern Texas and from Iowa west to Idaho. With its detailed, labeled drawings, "620 Wild Plants" opens the door to understanding the unique morphological features of plants in all of the major families represented in the flora of central North America.
Includes: over 5,000 detailed, labeled line drawings; scientific names, including synonyms, and common names; detailed descriptions of habitat, flowers, leaves and stems; range maps for the northern Great and Central Plains; glossary, reference list and index.

Connect Your Soul to these Magical TreesMagical Trees inspires and delights you on your self-discovery journey. This book is full of fun, spiritual, and healing trees bent on inspiring you to connect to the natural world. Understand yourself with rituals. Magical Trees guides you on magic spells, crystals, essential oils, medicinal traditions, and other amazing and inspiring rituals to perfect your green life. Each tree connects you to a profound spiritual meaning. Whether you live in the country or the city, connecting to trees is beneficial and eye-opening. Every spiritual prayer and every spellcraft connects you to the natural world of healing trees. Inside Magical Trees, you'll find: Intelligent trees and a spell book that would make any green witch jealous Spiritual meanings connecting you to the natural world of trees Essential oils, crystals, spells and prayers that are compatible with each tree A guide on how to connect with the magical and mystical powers of magical trees If you enjoy tree or spiritual books like Finding the Mother Tree, Year of the Witch, Green Witchcraft, or The Hidden Life of Trees, you'll enjoy Magical Trees.

One hundred thirty-two species, subspecies, and varieties of cacti may be found in Texas. About one hundred of them occur in the states Trans-Pecos region, one of the most cactus-rich areas of the United States, but at least one kind can be found in every county of the state. This volume is an identification guide to the genera, species, and varieties of Texas cacti, with maps showing the distribution of each. Based on the comprehensive reference ""Cacti of the Trans-Pecos and Adjacent Regions"" (2004), by A. Michael Powell and James F. Weedin, this field guide provides briefer, less detailed treatments of the entire states species for educated general readers. More than three hundred beautiful full-color photographs of the cacti in flower and in fruit, each placed with its description in the text, highlight the book. Readers may identify cacti using color photographs of the plants, keys, distribution maps, and descriptions of the vegetative characters, flowers, and fruits. The introduction - full of details about the biology and morphology of the family Cactaceae and the uses, horticulture, and conservation of cacti - is an important reference for general readers. A glossary of cactus terms, an exhaustive list of literature, and a thorough index complete the book. This guide was designed for use by naturalists and hobbyists as well as serious students. Visitors to the national parks, state parks, and other natural areas of Texas will find it essential to identifying the cacti.

"What vegetables can I plant as winter crops? How can I avoid bitter bolting lettuce? When is the best time to cut back rhodos? How do I overwinter my geraniums and fuchsias? What fastgrowing evergreen hedge will work for my narrow urban yard? How late can I plant spring-flowering bulbs? What should I do about the chafer infestation that is destroying my lawn? Why aren't my berries bigger? What fruits and vegetables grow best in patio pots?"
These are just a few of the burning questions that renowned gardening expert Wim Vander Zalm answers again and again as owner of two Art Knapp Plantland garden centres and a long-time regular on CKNW's "The Bill Good Show."
"Just Ask Wim " covers horticultural concerns about all kinds of plants: vegetables, fruits and berries, herbs, annuals and perennials, shrubs, trees, hedges and vines, plus how to grow a healthy lawn organically . . . or replace the troublesome turf with one of many other groundcover options. Wim also shares organic pest and weed management ideas, common-sense pruning tips, fertilization and soil-building advice, plus his often-requested mulch recipe.
Friendly, funny and always down to earth, Wim is the guy to ask whenever there is a need to know about how to make the most of any garden--urban or otherwise. In addition, his comprehensive "Get It Done " checklist takes the reader right through the year, month by month, pinpointing just what to do and when for a stress-free, successful gardening experience.

Only Arizona & New Mexico Wildflowers! Organized by color for quick and easy identification.Simple and convenient-narrow your choices by color and leaf attachment, and view just a few wildflowers at a time. Pocket-size format-easier than laminated foldouts Professional photos of flowers in bloom Similar colors grouped together to ensure that you quickly find what you're looking for Leaf icons for comparison and identification Easy-to-use information for even casual observers Expert author who is a longtime botanist and a skilled nature photographer

'I absolutely adore Clare Nolan's approaches to garden planning and creative use of color in her designs. This gem is sure to delight any flower lover.' - Erin Benzakein of Floret Flower Farm Planting cut flowers brings that 'grow-your-own' excitement to a whole new level - being able to step out of the back door and pick a single stem for beside the bed or pull together a posy for a friend is a joy. In this beautifully designed book, brimming with inspirational photographs, Clare Nolan reveals her secrets for growing a bountiful harvest as well as styling spectacular homegrown displays that will fill your home with colour and the gorgeous scent of the garden year-round. She takes the mystique out of what to grow and guides you through the entire process - from choosing the plants to suit both your garden and home decor and laying out your cutting patch, to planning ahead so you get your perfect palette of colour, texture and shape to play with at the right time. A whole chapter on arranging will inspire you to create spectacular arrangements for your home without the need for complicated floristry techniques.

This is the first book to help general readers recognize 200 common mosses of the Northeast and the Appalachian Mountains. With just this field guide, a hand lens, and a spray bottle--no microscopes necessary--readers will be able to identify and name many of the common species of mosses growing in the region's backyards, parks, forests, wetlands, and mountains. At the heart of this guide is an innovative, color-tabbed system that helps readers pick out small groups of similar species. Illustrated identification keys, colorful habitat and leaf photos, more than 600 detailed line drawings, and written descriptions help differentiate the species. This accessible book allows all nature enthusiasts to make accurate identifications and gain access to the enchanting world of mosses. *200 species included * More than 600 detailed line drawings * More than 400 color photographs * Innovative color-tabbed system for species identification * Illustrated species identification keys * Helpful tips for moss collecting

The book is fundamentally about mulberry trees (both Morus nigra and Morus alba) and all the artefacts created from both the wood and other materials such as silk. The study looks at mulberry trees in the United Kingdom and also those that grow in Japan - including those located on the Izu Islands. The material culture analysis features a model developed at Winterthur Museum in the USA that details information on place, space, technique and technology, maker and marketplace, ritual and custom plus message and symbol . The focus in the United Kingdom relates to mulberry trees associated with historic buildings and gardens. Most of the United Kingdom based trees that feature in the book have a significant history and associations with important people such as William Shakespeare. While the trees in Japan can also have significant age they tend to be associated with the Japanese Sashimono furniture tradition and the wood called shimakuwa (island mulberry) is the most highly regarded wood - which is often used in the tea ceremony. The material is becoming extremely rare and its use is now limited due to the expense of the raw material.

Every schoolchild learns about the mutually beneficial dance of honeybees and flowers: The bee collects nectar and pollen to make honey and, in the process, spreads the flowers’ genes far and wide. In The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan ingeniously demonstrates how people and domesticated plants have formed a similarly reciprocal relationship. He masterfully links four fundamental human desires—sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control—with the plants that satisfy them: the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato. In telling the stories of four familiar species, Pollan illustrates how the plants have evolved to satisfy humankind’s most basic yearnings. And just as we’ve benefited from these plants, we have also done well by them. So who is really domesticating whom?

Fungi are diverse, delicious and sometimes deadly. With interest in foraging for wild food on the rise, learning to accurately identify fungi reduces both poisoning risk to humans and harm to the environment. This extensively illustrated guide takes a 'slow mushrooming' approach - providing the information to correctly identify a few edible species thoroughly, rather than many superficially. Wild Mushrooming: A Guide for Foragers melds scientific and cultural knowledge with stunning photography to present a new way of looking at fungi. It models 'ecological foraging' - an approach based on care, conservation and a deep understanding of ecosystem dynamics. Sections on where, when and how to find fungi guide the forager in the identification of 10 edible species. Diagnostic information on toxic fungi and lookalike species helps to differentiate the desirable from the deadly. Wild Mushrooming then takes us into the kitchen with cooking techniques and 29 recipes from a variety of cuisines that can be adapted for both foraged and cultivated fungi. Developing the skills to find fungi requires slowness, not speed. This guide provides the necessary information for the safe collection of fungi, and is essential reading for fungus enthusiasts, ecologists, conservationists, medical professionals and anyone interested in the natural world. Features Provides basic guidance on how to find, collect, identify and prepare 10 wild fungus species Stunning full colour photographs and diagrams help readers identify fungi Includes 29 recipes that readers can follow using foraged or cultivated fungi

In her late twenties, writer and naturalist Lucy Bryan found herself in between places. Her marriage to her first love had crumbled. Her beloved father had died of cancer. Doubt had supplanted the faith that had guided her since childhood. Uprooted and adrift, she turned to the natural world in search of meaning, connection, and a renewed sense of self. In this collection of essays, Bryan traverses familiar and far-flung wildernesses, from the soaring cliffs of Yosemite National Park to the bomb-pocked heath barrens of West Virginia's Dolly Sods Wilderness to hidden ravines that shelter ancient ecosystems in the Florida panhandle. She also invites readers on a contemplative journey. Landscape, ecology, and human and natural history illuminate the questions that emerge as she heals, falls in love again, and welcomes her first child: Why isn't our species better at letting go? Why (re)marry, when the institution of marriage fails so many? Why bring a child into this world, knowing destruction will be its inheritance? Part travelogue, part memoir, these essays pair lyrical and intimate depictions of place with meditations on grief, acceptance, change, empowerment, and belonging.

This invaluable book provides an illustrated ecology of eastern seashore habitats, including the ocean and continental shelf, the intertidal zone, sand dunes and beaches, and salt marshes. Donald D. Cox uses nontechnical terminology in order to provide clear references for the general public as well as professional and amateur naturalists and students. He explores the origins of the oceans, tides, wind belts, and land plants and includes useful illustrations for aid in identification. Most significantly, this guide brings together a wide range of information relative to ocean and seashore ecosystems. Cox includes the types of plants that grow near the seashore; adaptations that help plants survive in seashore habitats; poisonous, medicinal, and edible plants of the ocean and seashore; seasonal changes in the seashore habitat; and methods of naming plants and the folklore of common names. The author also provides complete and accurate details for those readers who are interested in collecting plants and preserving plant collections. The final chapter offers non-technical investigations, activities, and projects. Conservation and habitat preservation are emphasized throughout the book.