Best of
Agriculture

2004

Sepp Holzers Permakultur


Sepp Holzer - 2004
    His farm is an intricate network of terraces, raised beds, ponds, waterways and tracks, well covered with productive fruit trees and other vegetation, with the farmhouse neatly nestling amongst them. This is in dramatic contrast to his neighbors' spruce monocultures.In this book, Holzer shares the skill and knowledge acquired over his lifetime. He covers every aspect of his farming methods, not just how to create a holistic system on the farm itself, but how to make a living from it. Holzer writes about everything from the overall concepts, down to the practical details.In Sepp Holzer's Permaculturereaders will learn:How he sets up a permaculture systemThe fruit varieties he has found best for permaculture growingHow to construct terraces, ponds, and waterwaysHow to build shelters for animals and how to work with them on the landHow to cultivate edible mushrooms in the garden and on the farmand much more!Holzer offers a wealth of information for the gardener, smallholder or alternative farmer yet the book's greatest value is the attitudes it teaches. He reveals the thinking processes based on principles found in nature that create his productive systems. These can be applied anywhere.

Sepp Holzer's Permaculture: A Practical Guide to Small-Scale, Integrative Farming and Gardening


Sepp Holzer - 2004
    His farm is an intricate network of terraces, raised beds, ponds, waterways and tracks, well covered with productive fruit trees and other vegetation, with the farmhouse neatly nestling amongst them. This is in dramatic contrast to his neighbors' spruce monocultures.In this book, Holzer shares the skill and knowledge acquired over his lifetime. He covers every aspect of his farming methods, not just how to create a holistic system on the farm itself, but how to make a living from it. Holzer writes about everything from the overall concepts, down to the practical details.In Sepp Holzer's Permaculturereaders will learn:How he sets up a permaculture systemThe fruit varieties he has found best for permaculture growingHow to construct terraces, ponds, and waterwaysHow to build shelters for animals and how to work with them on the landHow to cultivate edible mushrooms in the garden and on the farmand much more!Holzer offers a wealth of information for the gardener, smallholder or alternative farmer yet the book's greatest value is the attitudes it teaches. He reveals the thinking processes based on principles found in nature that create his productive systems. These can be applied anywhere.

All Flesh Is Grass: The Pleasures and Promises of Pasture Farming


Gene Logsdon - 2004
    Grasses, clovers, and forbs are the natural diet of cattle, horses, and sheep, and are vital supplements for hogs, chickens, and turkeys. Consumers increasingly seek the health benefits of meat from animals raised in green paddocks instead of in muddy feedlots.In All Flesh Is Grass: The Pleasures and Promises of Pasture Farming, Gene Logsdon explains that well-managed pastures are nutritious and palatable—virtual salads for livestock. Leafy pastures also hold the soil, foster biodiversity, and create lovely landscapes. Grass farming might be the solution for a stressed agricultural system based on an industrial model and propped up by federal subsidies.In his clear and conversational style, Logsdon explains historically effective practices and new techniques. His warm, informative profiles of successful grass farmers offer inspiration and ideas. His narrative is enriched by his own experience as a “contrary farmer” on his artisan-scale farm near Upper Sandusky, Ohio.All Flesh Is Grass will have broad appeal to the sustainable commercial farmer, the home-food producer, and all consumers who care about their food.

The Workbench: A Complete Guide to Creating Your Perfect Bench


Lon Schleining - 2004
     This is a fresh look at the classic subject with a focus on helping readers find the right bench and accessories for their needs. The object is to guide the reader through making critical choices, including whether to buy it or build it. Even long-time woodworkers dream of the perfect bench and the time to build it, and for them, the real enjoyment is in the planning. With nearly 300 photos and drawings, The Workbench provides in-depth information along with the inspiration to fulfill workshop dreams.

Bound for Glory: America in Color 1939-43


Paul Hendrickson - 2004
    The FSA had been established as a relief organization in order to help rural Americans out of poverty and into economic self-sufficiency and prosperity. The charge of the photographers was to document the people and places the FSA had set out to help. In 1942, the FSA's photography unit was transferred to the Office of War Information (OWI), whose primary purpose was to document America's mobilization during the early years of World War II, concentrating on such topics as aircraft factories and women in the workforce. Today, this collection of photographs consists of about 108,000 images, among them some of the most famous black-and-white documentary images from the first half of the twentieth century. Yet few people know that, along with the vast number of black-and-white photographs taken, color images were also made, by photographers such as Marion Post Walcott, Russell Lee, John Vachon, Arthur Rothstein, and Andreas Feininger. This book presents, for the first time, the best of these color photographs - introduced by National Book Awar

The Healing Power of Rainforest Herbs: A Guide to Understanding and Using Herbal Medicinals


Leslie Taylor - 2004
    For centuries, tribal shamans have successfully used these botanicals as remedies for various health disorders. Now, scientists have begun to uncover the medicinal qualities of these plants, which offer new approaches to health and healing. The Healing Power of Rainforest Herbs is a unique guide to these herbs and their uses.Detailing more than seventy rainforest botanicals, this book presents the history of the herbs' uses by indigenous peoples and describes current usage by natural health practitioners throughout the world. Discover Amazon healers' traditional knowledge, as well as the clinical studies that support what shamans have known for ages. Essential dosage and preparation methods are provided, while at-a-glance tables help you locate the best botanicals for each disorder. Here is a unique book that offers a blend of ancient and modern knowledge in an accessible reference format.

Sepp Holzer: The Rebel Farmer


Sepp Holzer - 2004
    Easy to read filled with many insights.

Nature's Way: Native Wisdom for Living in Balance with the Earth


Ed McGaa - 2004
    He then offers everyday lessons and values gleaned from Nature that endure for all times and people.In this call for spiritual awakening, McGaa explains how we can create a new global culture based not on dominance over nature for economic and political gain, but on values that endure for all times and all people. Nature's Way explores Native American belief systems, oppression of Native Americans by the dominant society, the desacralisation of Nature, and the complicity of institutional religion.Taking on religion, politics, and culture, McGaa provides a template for readers – a path designed by Nature that anyone can follow. Using the lessons of eagle, bear, lion, wolf, orca, owl, tiger, buffalo, rat, deer – even the cottonwood tree, Nature's Way teaches all of us how we can overcome religious intolerance, treat women and men equally, preserve our environment, and live in peace.

Alternative Treatments for Ruminant Animals


Paul Dettloff - 2004
    Paul Dettloff presents a natural, sustainable approach to ruminant health. Copiously illustrated chapters "break down" the animal into its interrelated biological systems: digestive, reproductive, respiratory, circulatory, musculoskeletal and more. Also includes a chapter on nosodes, with vaccination programs for dairy cattle, sheep and goats. An information-packed manual from a renowned vet and educator, suitable for anyone interested in helping ruminants achieve optimal health naturally.

Management-Intensive Grazing: The Grassroots of Grass Farming


Jim Gerrish - 2004
    Using vivid images and detailed explanations, Gerrish takes graziers step by step through the MiG system. He begins from the ground up with the soil, and advances through the management of pastures and animals.From Gerrish's lively chapters you'll learn the following:How to manage the water cycleMaking pasture fertility payHow to grow quality pastureWorking with legumesThe power of stock densityHow to match forage supply and animal demandManaging pastures and animalsHow to judge maximum intake of forageHow to extend the grazing systemHow to stockpile forage for low cost winteringPasture weaning for health and weight gainDealing with pests and parasitesCoping with and minimizing pasture bloatPlanning and using permanent and perimeter fencingWhen and how to use portable fencingWater requirements for a MiG systemBasic guidelines for designing a MiG systemUsing pasture records for information not just dataAnd much more.Written for those new to MiG grazing, Gerrish's insight and personal experience can help experienced graziers fine tune their grazing operations for added income.Gerrish grew up on a grain and alfalfa hay farm in south-central Illinois. He caught grass fever in the mid 1970s and left the grain farming scene, never to return. He spent over 22 years conducting beef-forage systems research and outreach while on the faculty of the University of Missouri, and has over 20 years of commercial cattle and sheep production on his family farm in northern Missouri. He currently is an independent grazing lands consultant providing service to grass farmers and ranchers throughout the USA.Shipping Weight 1.5 lbs.

News from Somewhere: On Settling


Roger Scruton - 2004
    Always beautifully written, one of these pieces (Vegetables) won the 2002 prize from The Queen's English Society for the best piece of prose writing of the year. These are not sentimental bucolic rambles. Scruton's prose is devoid of sentimentality and soggy nostalgia. Whatever he writes about, he always writes with serious purpose. He speaks up for the country dweller who sees his or her world eroded by the wishy-washy liberal commands of Blairite do-gooders who sit on their backsides in North West London pontificating about the needs of country people. Nature being red in tooth and claw is something that these people only know about from sitting in a classroom. Farming issues are equally important in this book. The devastations of the foot and mouth crisis showed graphically how great is the divide between town and country dwellers. And when the fate of people in the countryside is decided by bureaucrats in Brussels and Strasbourg, their feeling of alienation is even greater. These are the causes that Professor Scruton espouses and he has become their most intelligent, articulate and clear-thinking advocate.

The Cannabis Breeder's Bible: The Definitive Guide to Marijuana Genetics, Cannabis Botany and Creating Strains for the Seed Market


Greg Green - 2004
    The book covers new hybridization techniques, international seed law issues, protecting new breeds or strains from knockoff artists, shipping seeds and clones, breeding lab designs, product testing, primordial cannabis, landrace and lost strains, common mutations, and more. This useful guide also features a wealth of photographs, instructive illustrations, and in-depth interviews with breeders and seed bank professionals.

The Charmed Garden: Sacred and Enchanting Plants for the Magically Inclined Herbalist


Diane Morgan - 2004
    But a true magical garden touches something even deeper in us. In these places a different energy can be felt and our connection with nature becomes a very special one indeed. The Charmed Garden looks at ways of how to create your own magical garden, no matter whether big or small. In her practical, down-to-earth approach the author explains the basics of designing a charmed garden, points out the importance of the four elements and magical ceremonies and gives a multitude of ideas for gardens with a special focus. The encyclopaedia of magical plants provides the reader with a good overview of the practical and magical qualities of a variety of species, unveiling some plant lore from our ancestors and looking at fragrance, origin and habitat alike.

Abundantly Wild: Collecting and Cooking Wild Edibles in the Upper Midwest


Teresa Marrone - 2004
    This book will help you safely harvest and enjoy wild edibles! Its 250+ recipes are delicious and easy to prepare.

Economics of Industrial Ecology: Materials, Structural Change, and Spatial Scales


Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh - 2004
    The thirteen chapters of Economics of Industrial Ecology integrate the natural science and technological dimensions of industrial ecology with a rigorous economic approach and by doing so contribute to the advancement of this emerging field. Using a variety of modeling techniques (including econometric, partial and general equilibrium, and input-output models) and applying them to a wide range of materials, economic sectors, and countries, these studies analyze the driving forces behind material flows and structural changes in order to offer guidance for economically and socially feasible policy solutions.After a survey of concepts and relevant research that provides a useful background for the chapters that follow, the book presents historical analyses of structural change from statistical and decomposition approaches; a range of models that predict structural change on the national and regional scale under different policy scenarios; two models that can be used to analyze waste management and recycling operations; and, adopting the perspective of local scale, an analysis of the dynamics of eco-industrial parks in Denmark and the Netherlands. The book concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of an economic approach to industrial ecology.