Small-scale, self-contained worm bins can be kept indoors, in a basement or even under the kitchen sink in an apartment — making vermicomposting a great option for city dwellers and anyone who doesn’t want or can’t have an outdoor compost pile. The fully revised 35th anniversary edition features the original’s same friendly tone, with up-to-date information on the entire process, from building or purchasing a bin (readily available at garden supply stores), maintaining the worms, and harvesting the finished compost.

    Every year, the chain conveyors that set the pace of slaughter have continually accelerated to keep up with America’s growing appetite for processed meat. Acclaimed journalist Ted Genoways uses the story of Hormel Foods and soaring recession-era demand for its most famous product, Spam, to probe the state of the meatpacking industry, including the expansion of agribusiness and the effects of immigrant labor on Middle America. Genoways interviewed scores of industry line workers, union leaders, hog farmers, and local politicians and activists. He reveals an industry pushed to its breaking point and exposes alarming new trends: sick or permanently disabled workers, abused animals, water and soil pollution, and mounting conflict between small towns and immigrant workers.The narrative moves across the heartland, from Minnesota, to witness the cut-and-kill operation; to Iowa, to observe breeding and farrowing in massive hog barns; to Nebraska, to see the tense town hall meetings and broken windows caused by the arrival of Hispanic workers; and back to Minnesota, where political refugees from Burma give the workforce the power it needs to fight back. A work of brilliant reporting, The Chain is a mesmerizing story and an urgent warning about the hidden cost of the food we eat.

    It is a book for anyone who wants to experience the joy, wonder, self-awareness and peace of mind that comes from creating a horse/human relationship, and it puts forth and clarifies the principles of today’s Natural Horsemanship (or what was once referred to as "Horse Whispering")Everyone knows someone who needs help: a husband, a wife, a partner, a child, a friend, a troubled teenager, a war veteran with PTSD, someone with autism, an addiction,  anyone in emotional pain or who has lost their way. RIDING HOME provides riveting examples of how Equine Therapy has become one of today’s most effective cutting-edge methods of healing.Horses help us discover hidden parts of ourselves, whether we’re seven or seventy. They model relationships that demonstrate acceptance, kindness, honesty, tolerance, patience, justice, compassion, and forgiveness. Horses cause all of us to become better people, better parents, better partners, and better friends.A horse can be our greatest teacher, for horses have no egos, they never lie, they’re never wrong and they manifest unparalleled compassion. It is this amazing power of horses to heal and teach us about ourselves that is accessible to anyone and found in the pages of RIDING HOME.The information and lists of therapeutic and non-therapeutic equine programs, which are contained in the book, are also available at: www.ridinghome.com

    The book contains photographs of chickens of all shapes and sizes, including the Bearded Silkie, the crested Polish and the majestic Phoenix.

    Though the subject is so familiar to us all, her approach is totally original, just as it was in her award-winning Roasting: A Simple Art and Microwave Gourmet. In a wonderfully diverse collection of nearly three hundred recipes from all over the world--some traditional, some newly minted, many so simple they require no cooking at all, each of them very much a part of our spiritual and emotional lives--she offers up a lifetime worth of pleasure:icy soups for steamy days (ceviche soup with ginger) and hot soups for cold days (winter duck soup)rustic potages (great green soup) and elegant consommes (beef madrilene)simple soups to start (Moroccan tomato) and complex soups that make a meal (beef short ribs in a pot)fifteen-minute specials (mussels and tomato soup) and those that simmer all day (pot-au-feu)a magical garlic broth, among other vegetable broths and bases, gives vegetarians hundreds of recipes to enjoy As always, Barbara's intelligence and talent for innovation have resulted in a vast body of ideas to make your life in the kitchen easy and interesting. Nearly thirty stocks are offered, as well as dozens of ways to use seasonal produce to cook and freeze soup bases for year-round fresh taste. You'll find cooking times for everything from dumplings and piroshki to noodles and pasta, simmering times for every possible cut of meat, and yields and blanching times for dozens of vegetables. There are easy-to-follow charts to answer every cooking question.And then there's Barbara's "memory pieces." Woven through the recipes, they form a book within a book, one family's personal and culinary history. They're fascinating and warming and enriching on their own. They also remind us why soup is a vital part of our lives. And why Barbara Kafka is a vital part of our cooking experience.

    Follow as the rescue of a horse in trouble attracts many who would like to help him. Feel the energy in their attempt and the family that is created by the endeavor. I think Haley says it best: “No Heather it’s not like that. It’s just the opposite. I realized that I was no longer just a project. I’m a member of a team and a proud member of this family. We came together to rescue a horse and ended up helping each other. Every one of us has suffered a tragedy that crippled us for a time. We all know what happened to you. Cole lost his wife, Abbi her mother, although she’s still alive. God only knows what happened to Scott in Afghanistan. Bobby is an orphan being supported by his tribal council. Shattered people coming together to help a horse return to the land of the living. It’s like a piece of mosaic art. All broken pieces of glass put together to make a beautiful tapestry held together by a common dream. Azarão, may be the grout that glues us together, but the frame is made of love. Love for a horse. Love for all horses and for this business. Most of all love for each other. We may think that we rescued Azarão, but the truth is … he rescued us.”

    The Camps went searching for logic and sense in the rule books of traditional horse care and what they found was not what they had expected. Written for everyone who has ever loved a horse or even loved the idea of having a horse in their lives, this memoir leads us on a riveting voyage of discovery as Joe and Kathleen navigate uncharted, often politically incorrect territory on their way to achieving a true relationship with their horses.As the creator of the beloved Benji series, Joe has spent most of his life luring us into the heart and soul of a famous dog, but now in this engaging, emotional, and often humorous story, he deftly lures us into the heart and soul of a horse. In doing so, he exposes astonishing truths and unlocks the mystery of a majestic creature who has survived on Earth, without assistance, for fifty-five million years. In a single emotionally charged moment, Camp communes with his first horse, Cash, in a way that changes him and his relationship with horses forever. In his own words, as he stood alone with his back to this horse: The collar of my jacket was tickling the hairs on the back of my neck. And my heart was pounding. Then a puff of warm, moist air brushed my ear. My heart skipped a beat. He was really close. Then I felt his nose on my shoulder . . . I couldn’t believe it. Tears came out of nowhere and streamed down my cheeks. I had spoken to him in his own language, and he had listened . . . and he had chosen to be with me. He had said, I trust you.Ingeniously alternating between the stories of two people thrust into an unfamiliar, enigmatic realm and a fabled herd of wild horses brought to the New World centuries ago, Joe Camp’s valuable and inspiring book teaches us that the lessons he was learning apply not only to his horses but to life and to people as well–to all of us.

    Each breed profile includes a photograph of the animal and information about its origin and conservation status, as well as the weight, staple length, fiber diameter, and natural colors of its fleece. This is a great primer for beginners, and a handy guide for anyone who loves working with fleece.

    Bird flu. Unusual concentrations of cancer and other diseases. Massive fish kills from flesh-eating parasites. Recalls of meats, vegetables, and fruits because of deadly E-coli bacterial contamination. Recent public health crises raise urgent questions about how our animal-derived food is raised and brought to market. In Animal Factory, bestselling investigative journalist David Kirby exposes the powerful business and political interests behind large-scale factory farms, and tracks the far-reaching fallout that contaminates our air, land, water, and food. In this thoroughly researched book, Kirby follows three families and communities whose lives are utterly changed by immense neighboring animal farms. These farms (known as “Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations,” or CAFOs), confine thousands of pigs, dairy cattle, and poultry in small spaces, often under horrifying conditions, and generate enormous volumes of fecal and biological waste as well as other toxins. Weaving science, politics, law, big business, and everyday life, Kirby accompanies these families in their struggles against animal factories. A North Carolina fisherman takes on pig farms upstream to preserve his river, his family’s life, and his home. A mother in a small Illinois town pushes back against an out-sized dairy  farm and its devastating impact. And a Washington State grandmother becomes an unlikely activist when her home is invaded by foul odors and her water supply is compromised by runoff from leaking lagoons of cattle waste. Animal Factory is an important book about our American food system gone terribly wrong---and the people who are fighting to restore sustainable farming practices and save our limited natural resources.

    Each and every time the goat escapes, something around the farm goes wrong, and Mr. Farmer raises the gate higher.However, Nicolette notices that the “escape goat” is really being used as a scapegoat by the rest of the Farmer family, taking the blame for everyone else’s mischief. It is up to Nicolette to convince Mr. Farmer of the goat’s innocence.

    Here Bren Smith--pioneer of regenerative ocean agriculture--introduces the world to a groundbreaking solution to the global climate crisis.A genre-defining "climate memoir," Eat Like a Fish interweaves Smith's own life--from sailing the high seas aboard commercial fishing trawlers to developing new forms of ocean farming to surfing the frontiers of the food movement--with actionable food policy and practical advice on ocean farming. Written with the humor and swagger of a fisherman telling a late-night tale, it is a powerful story of environmental renewal, and a must-read guide to saving our oceans, feeding the world, and--by creating new jobs up and down the coasts--putting working class Americans back to work.

    His methods are so at odds with conventional scientific wisdom that for 30 years he has been dismissed and ridiculed as a madman. He has faced bankruptcy and family break-up. But now, on the brink of ecological disaster, leading politicians, international scientists and businessmen are beating a path to his door as they grapple with how best to alleviate the affects of drought on the Australian landscape. Described as a man who reads and understands the Australian landscape better than most scientists, supporters of Peter Andrews claim he has done what no scientist ever thought to do — he has restored streams and wetlands to the way they were before European settlement interfered with them. The startling results of his natural sequence farming are said to have been achieved very cheaply, simply and quickly.

    A combination of aquaculture and hydroponics, aquaponic gardening is an amazingly productive way to grow organic vegetables, greens, herbs, and fruits, while providing the added benefits of fresh fish as a safe, healthy source of protein. On a larger scale, it is a key solution to mitigating food insecurity, climate change, groundwater pollution, and the impacts of overfishing on our oceans.Aquaponic Gardening is the definitive do-it-yourself home manual, focused on giving you all the tools you need to create your own aquaponic system and enjoy healthy, safe, fresh, and delicious food all year round. Starting with an overview of the theory, benefits, and potential of aquaponics, the book goes on to explain:System location considerations and hardware components The living elements—fish, plants, bacteria, and worms Putting it all together—starting and maintaining a healthy systemAquaponics systems are completely organic. They are four to six times more productive and use ninety percent less water than conventional gardens. Other advantages include no weeds, fewer pests, and no watering, fertilizing, bending, digging, or heavy lifting—in fact, there really is no downside! Anyone interested in taking the next step towards self-sufficiency will be fascinated by this practical, accessible, and well-illustrated guide.Sylvia Bernstein is the president and founder of The Aquaponic Source. An internationally recognized expert on aquaponic gardening, Sylvia speaks, writes, and blogs extensively about this revolutionary technique.

    Her urban life in ruins and desperate for change, Ann Turner pitches her tent on a remote piece of Vermont woodland and begins working on a small dairy farm. Both experiences challenge her to the utmost -- and lead to unexpected transformation.

    "She's stood in that stall for twelve years and given me thousands of gallons of milk."But Blossom the cow was too old now for milking, and the farmer needed to make room for a younger animal. So, sadly, he was sending blossom to market. At least, that's what he and the vet thought. But as James Herriot continued on his rounds to Mrs. Pickering and her Basset hounds, he was about to find that Blossom has a surprise in store...