The Montana Gardener's Companion explains how to identify and address common shortcomings of Montana soils, including alkaline soils (the most common soil in Montana), acidic soils (found in some soils in the mountains and near Great Falls), and salty soils (found especially in eastern Montana and in areas west and northwest of Great Falls east of the Divide and in the far northeastern portions of Sheridan County). This book explains the different climates of eastern and western Montana, the effect of elevation on growing seasons, and how Montana gardeners can lengthen their growing seasons through careful plant selection, choosing the correct exposure, planting properly on slopes and using season-extending products.

Learn how to collect, save, and cultivate the seeds from more than 300 vegetables, herbs, fruits, flowers, trees, and shrubs. It 's easy, and it 's fun! Authors Robert Gough and Cheryl Moore-Gough thoroughly explain every step in the seed-saving process. Descriptions of seed biology; tips on how to select plants for the best seeds; and advice on harvesting and cleaning, proper storage and care, and propagating and caring for new seedlings are all presented with clear, easy-to-follow instructions. Chapters dedicated to individual plants contain species-specific directions and detailed information. Gardeners of any experience level will find all the information they need to extend the life of their favorite plants to the next generation and beyond.

After northern Wisconsin was cleared by commercial loggers early in the twentieth century, enthusiastic promoters and optimistic settlers envisioned transforming this "cutover" into a land of yeoman farmers. Here thousands of families-mostly immigrants or second-generation Americans-sought to recreate old worlds and build new farms on land that would come to be considered agriculturally worthless. In the end, they succumbed not to drought or soil depletion but to social and political pressures from those who looked askance at their way of life.

"Farming the Cutover" describes the visions and accomplishments of these settlers from their own perspective. People of the cutover managed to forge lives relatively independent of market pressures; and for this they were characterized as backward by outsiders and their part of the state was seen as a hideout for organized crime figures. State and federal planners, county agents, and agriculture professors eventually determined that the cutover could be engineered and the lives of its inhabitants improved. By 1940, they had begun to implement public policies that discouraged farming and they eventually decided that the region should be depopulated and the forests replanted.

By exploring the history of an eighteen-county region, Robert Gough illustrates the travails of farming in "marginal" areas. He juxtaposes the social history of the farmers with the opinions and programs of the experts who sought to improve the region, and shows how what occurred in the Wisconsin cutover anticipated the sweeping changes that would transform American agriculture after World War II. "Farming the Cutover" is a readable story of the hopes and failures of people who struggled to build new lives in an inhospitable environment. It makes an important counterpoint to Turnerian myths and the more commonly-told success stories of farming history.

Help teens who are at risk of experiencing or perpetuating abuse with The Youth Relationships Manual. Designed to build strengths, resilience, and coping, this manual, field-tested with the Youth Relationships Project, presents proactive, competency-building approaches to promoting nonviolent relationships and preventing cycles of violence. Based on the premise that the best window of opportunity for developing healthy relationships is in adolescence, the model guides teens to positive roles in dating, peer interactions, and interpersonal style. David A. Wolfe and his associates detail a carefully developed and tested curriculum for an 18-session group training program that includes three principal sections: informational, skills building, and social action learning opportunities. As a part of the program, teens learn new communication and conflict resolution skills and practice those skills by going out into the community to solve a hypothetical problem situation. Innovative and easy to follow, The Youth Relationships Manual provides mental health professionals, school counselors and administrators, community agency workers and administrators, and students in the helping professions with a vital tool for helping teens at risk develop healthy relationships.