Merlin, Gandalf, Voldemort--these well-known sorcerers from popular culture are famed for their amazing spells and spectacular magical powers. In ancient times, however, a wizard was actually a freelance intellectual whose main stock in trade was good advice, supported by a thorough education in agriculture, navigation, political and military science, languages, commerce, mathematics, medicine, and the natural sciences--in essence, the true Renaissance man.

John Michael Greer proposes a modern mage for uncertain times; one who possesses a startling array of practical skills gleaned from the appropriate tech and organic gardening movements forged in the energy crisis of the 1970s. From the basic concepts of ecology to a plethora of practical techniques such as composting, green manure, low-tech food preservation and storage, small-scale chicken and rabbit raising, solar water heating, alternative energy sources, and more, "Green Wizardry" is a comprehensive manual for today's wizard-in-training.

Providing a solid practical introduction to the entire appropriate tech toolkit, this book is a must-read for anyone concerned about decreasing our dependence on an overloaded industrial system and, in a world of serious energy shortages and economic troubles, making life a great deal less traumatic and more livable.

John Michael Greer is a scholar of ecological history and an internationally renowned Peak Oil theorist whose blog "The Archdruid Report" has become one of the most widely cited online resources dealing with the future of industrial society. He is the author of more than thirty books, including "The Wealth of Nature" and "The Long Descent."

Delicious Italian-inspired recipes from a New Zealand home garden Nostrana means homegrown, ours; growing food with the intent of sharing it. Inspired by the abundant lemon trees and trellised tomato vines of her Italian grandparents' vegetable garden, Bri DiMattina started her own edible pantry in her back garden and discovered the joys of bringing food from seed to table. Organised seasonally, and with growing guides for each ingredient, Nostrana shares simple, gorgeous and delicious recipes with fresh vegetables and fruits you can easily grow and harvest yourself. Just a taste of the mouth-watering, Stromboli-inspired recipes in Nostrana includes: fried artichokes with caper mayonnaise strawberry and amaretto slushies green bean panzanella bottled spaghetti zucchini arancini rhubarb and custard tortes BBQ parmigiana and limoncello.

NEW EDITION 2018. Extend the life of your plants, trees and shrubs with this authoritative and comprehensive gardening manual. It covers all the standard propagation techniques including sowing seed; taking cuttings; dividing; growing suckers and offsets; layering; how to create extra bulbs, tubers and corms; and grafting two plants together. An A-Z directory lists all the key plants for propagating, describing each plant's size, colour and shape, and how and when to propagate them to get the best results. Plants propagate themselves naturally in the wild, using all kinds of ingenious techniques. This practical book explains the most effective techniques for propagating 375 different types of plants. The book begins with growing plants from seed, covering everything from lettuces and chillies to sunflowers and sweet peas. Next, there are instructions on taking cuttings from established plants to give you exact copies of the parent plant at minimal cost. Dividing plants, layering and grafting methods all follow and all are explained with step-by-step instructions and photographs. The directory of plants includes growing tips for each individual species.There is also advice about propagation equipment from secateurs and garden knives to bio-degradable pots and cold frames, as well as how to improve your soil and make compost. Beautifully illustrated with over 1100 clear and informative photographs and illustrations.

'I return to Beth Chatto's books constantly. For those who are new to her work, you are entering into a life-long relationship with a wise friend and gardener' Monty Don 'Invaluable to those who want to plant a trouble-free, all-year-round garden with minimum care - or watering' FLORA In today's climate of increasingly hot summers and dry winters, gardeners need guidance on plants that will thrive in dry conditions. In Beth Chatto's classic book, she uses plants that need very little attention and are naturally adapted to flourish in dry conditions to provide a year-round display of beautiful foliage and flowers. Drawing from her own immense experience, she provides valuable guidance on types of soil and on basic principles of design. She discusses the plants and plantings suited to dry conditions and includes a detailed list of plants, with notes and advice on their characteristics.

Eco-friendly gardening is fast catching on. Butterflies are visible signs of a healthy garden, and, with their whimsical flight patterns and glorious colours, they are among the most alluring of our aerial visitors. Gardening for butterflies shows how to attract these beautiful insects, giving step-by-step instructions for planning and planting a garden that will cater for the greatest number and diversity of butterflies. Using a Durban garden as a case study, it includes a recommended layout and plant lists for this area, as well as for other regions around the country. The book showcases 95 garden butterflies and moths, showing their full life cycle, including pupa, eggs and caterpillar. Stunning photography and point-form text ensure accurate identification of each stage in the cycle, and an interesting introduction discusses such topics as the extraordinary process of metamorphosis and the curious habits of these mercurial insects. Whether you’re tempted to undertake a full-scale transformation of your garden to attract butterflies, make smaller adjustments to it, or if you simply want to identify those insects already visiting your space, this book will amaze and enchant you.

Dry weather defines the southwest, and it's getting dryer. A water becomes more precious, our gardens suffer. If we want to keep gardening, we need to revolutionize our plant choices and garden practices. Hot Colour, Dry Garden provides home gardeners with a joyful, colour-filled way to exuberantly garden in low-water conditions. Garden expert Nan Sterman highlights inspiring examples of brilliant gardens filled with water-smart plants. Gardeners will find advice for adding colour to the garden, information about designing for structure and texture, and a plant directory that features drought-tolerant plants that dazzle. Hot Colour, Garden is a must-have guide for gardeners in the Southwest and other areas affected by drought and low-water conditions.

2020 Independent Press Award Winner--Home & Garden Category Turn water scarcity into water abundance! Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 1, 3rd Edition is the best-selling, award-winning guide on how to conceptualize, design, and implement life-enhancing water-, sun-, wind-, and shade-harvesting systems for your home, landscape, and community. This book enables you to assess your on-site resources, gives you a diverse array of strategies to maximize their potential, and empowers you with guiding principles to create an integrated, multi-functional plan specific to your site and needs. Clearly written with more than 290 illustrations, this full-color edition helps bring your site to life, reduce your cost of living, endow yourself and your community with skills of self-reliance and cooperation, and create living air conditioners of vegetation growing beauty, food, and wildlife habitat. Stories of people who are successfully welcoming rain into their life and landscape will invite you to do the same.

'Delightful... Pavey writes with warmth and spirit, and brings this space to life' Penelope Lively 'Captivating and grounded... If this book was not as much a pleasure to write as it is to read, I'll eat my hat and gardening glove' Observer After years spent living amid the thrum of London, Ruth Pavey yearned to reconnect with the British countryside and she endeavoured to realise her long-held dream of planting a wood. Touring to the West Country in the late 1990s, Pavey found herself in the Somerset Levels. On seeing this expanse of reclaimed land under its wide, soft skies she was struck by its beauty and set-out to plant a wood, tree by tree. She bought four acres, and over the years transformed them into a haven where woodland plants and creatures could flourish an emblem of enduring life in a changeable world. A Wood of One's Own is the story of how she grew to understand and then shape this derelict land into an enduring legacy a verdant landscape rich with wildlife. Interwoven with Pavey's candid descriptions of the practical challenges she faced are forays into the Levels' local history, as well as thoughtful portraits of its inhabitants both past and present. Accompanied throughout by the author's evocative hand-drawn illustrations, A Wood of One's Own is a lyrical, beguiling and inspiring story; a potent reminder of nature's delicate balance, and its comforting and abiding presence.

Zero-cost, low effort and a long term solution to your fresh produce needs! Huw Richards set himself a challenge - to be self-sufficient by growing his own fruit and veg for free for a year. He succeeded, and now wants to help you do the same. Grow your own food in your home garden, allotment or container and look forward to a bountiful harvest year-round. You can plant fruit and veg at home without spending a penny and Huw Richard's shows you how. Packed with tried-and-tested advice, this gardening book covers: - Finding a space to grow - in the garden or on a terrace or balcony - and sourcing the materials you need - Deciding what to grow your crops in (the ground, a raised bed, or containers) - Clear growing instructions on more than 30 species of popular annual and perennial crops - Huw Richards' 52-week journal of how he grew his own food for free for a year without spending a penny - Advice on how to go about selling your produce to raise money to expand your growing area Author Huw Richards is a man on a mission. He is passionate about teaching you how to garden and grow your own food. Years of experience and trying different things has taught Huw how to garden with little money (or without a garden) and he shows you how to do the same! Grow Food for Free teaches you how to produce no-cost, low-maintenance fruit and veg - and finding low-cost ways to overcome common gardening worries. Learn about the space you need and how to prepare it, make your own compost, tackle weeds, pests, and diseases, and how to get hold of your first set of seeds! Discover strategies to expand your garden. Can't afford a raised bed? Try repurposing an old wooden pallet. Don't have money to buy lots of different seeds? Look in your kitchen cupboards for food that you can plant. This home gardening book shows you everything you need to barter, borrow, repurpose, and propagate your way to a bountiful harvest without burdening your bank balance!

Ecological Golf Course Management is the most comprehensive work ever done on ecological turf management. It's a must-have for any golf course superintendent, sports field manager, or turf professional interested in reducing or eliminating chemical pesticide use.
Ecological Golf Course Management focuses on managing the health and welfare of all soil organisms from a single-celled bacterium to fully developed turf plants and connects the reader to the important and relevant interactions between them. It points out ways to exploit natural plant defense systems that have been largely ignored and to engage many of the powerful allies that live above and below ground.
Ecological Golf Course Management explores in detail the many aspects of:
* Biological and botanical pest control
* Plant stress management
* Compost production and use
* Natural disease suppressants
* Biological fertility management
* Soil, leaf tissue, and water analysis
* The ecological impact of conventional pesticides and cultural practices

Naturalistic planting design offers an exciting alternative to traditional garden making. Rich in plants, sustainable and good for the environment, naturalistic gardens are also beautiful, uplifting places that resonate with the energy of the natural world - but they can be challenging to get right. In this seminal book, leading exponent of the technique Nigel Dunnett shares his peerless ecological and horticultural wisdom and fascinating working methods to ensure success with every project. By following a simple set of rules and principles in a unique 'Planting Design Toolkit' discover how to read the landscape and create 'designed plant communities' that are layered to sustain interest throughout the year. Learn how to design planting that captures the spirit of nature, fosters immersive, emotionally engaging experiences and reduces the need for maintenance. The information is in-depth, practical and generously supported by a wealth of case studies, illustrations, plans and diagrams. This is the essential go-to guide for anyone wishing to join the adventure and plant the naturalistic way.

The UK's leading gardening publisher brings you a horticultural handbook to fulfil your every need and seed! Get your gardening gloves on and join the green-fingered journey to growing fruit successfully at home. A must-have volume for first-time gardeners, Grow Fruit has tons of tips and tricks to sow, grow, plant and propagate a diverse range of fruit, from plums to persimmons, blackcurrants to blueberries, this grower's guide truly has it all! Try your hand at more than 40 different varieties of fruit trees, bushes, canes and vines, including allotment plot staples such as damsons and blackcurrants, as well as lesser-grown options like kiwis and pineapple guavas. With passion in every page, you can enjoy: - A jargon-free practical guide to harvesting home-grown fruits. - Easy to follow step-by-step instructions of fundamental gardening techniques. - Exploration of popular fruits as well as lesser-known options. In today's society, the ever-growing pressure of balancing family life with a career suggests a lot of today's green-fingered gardeners simply lack time for growing fruit and vegetables at home. We believe it's time to change that! Whatever your horticultural hopes may be, author and gardener Holly Farrell brings you a fantastic fruit-growing guide that is sure to shape first-time gardeners like never before, full of top tips to help your garden thrive! An ideal gift for first-time gardeners, budding botanists or the green-fingered lover in your life, make sure to get those gardening gloves on, and join the journey today! At DK, we believe in the power of discovery. If you like Grow Fruit why not try the other titles in our Grow series? Learn how to brighten your garden all year round with Grow Bulbs, enjoy a no-fuss guide to container gardening with Grow Containers or minimise garden waste with Grow Eco-Gardening. Ready, set, let's grow!

Charles Dowding (the guru of no dig gardening) shares his organic, no-dig approach to soil and plants. He reveals revealing the techniques that enable him to grow healthy, vibrant crops while maintaining a healthy soil. His success is based on these key principles * No-dig * Spread organic matter on the soil surface * Clean & improve the soil in the first 3-12 months * Weed every 10 days or so, when weeds are small. By using a system of permanent, slightly raised beds, Charles shows how to grow a delicious variety of fruit and vegetables sustainably and organically: what to choose; when to sow, plant and harvest; and how best to avoid pests and diseases.

(New edition) A clear and expert how-to guide to pruning and training ornamental and fruiting plants, with 970 informative photographs and illustrations, and a directory of plants and how to prune them. A helpful introduction, covering basic principles and techniques, is followed by chapters arranged by plant type. Each one includes practical advice, illustrated with step-by-step photographic sequences and artworks, on the initial training of the plant type in question, how to prune, and how to undertake renovation pruning. An invaluable A-Z directory of ornamental plants looks at the pruning requirements of a wide range of species on a plant-by-plant basis, explaining when and how to prune. All techniques and projects are shown in close-up step-by-step photography and diagrams, making this an essential book on the subject for any gardener.