Developing new vegetable varieties doesn't require a specialized education, a lot of land, or even a lot of time. It can be done on any scale. It's enjoyable. It's deeply rewarding. You can get useful new varieties much faster than you might suppose. And you can eat your mistakes.Authoritative and easy-to-understand, Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties: The Gardener's and Farmer's Guide to Plant Breeding and Seed Saving is the only guide to plant breeding and seed saving for the serious home gardener and the small-scale farmer or commercial grower. Discover:- how to breed for a wide range of different traits (flavor, size, shape, or color; cold or heat tolerance; pest and disease resistance; and regional adaptation)- how to save seed and maintain varieties- how to conduct your own variety trials and other farm- or garden-based research- how to breed for performance under organic or sustainable growing methodsIn this one-size-fits-all world of multinational seed companies, plant patents, and biotech monopolies, more and more gardeners and farmers are recognizing that they need to "take back their seeds." They need to save more of their own seed, grow and maintain the best traditional and regional varieties, and develop more of their own unique new varieties. Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties: The Gardener's and Farmer's Guide to Plant Breeding and Seed Saving shows the way, and offers an exciting introduction to a whole new gardening adventure.

    They show that gardening is a passion and obsession that cannot be conquered or abandoned, only indulged. Each gardener tells a compelling story. Whether their muse is the quest to achieve a personal vision of ultimate beauty, a mission to heal the earth, or the attempt to grow a perfect heirloom tomato, the writing is direct, engaging, and from the heart.For Doug Tallamy, a love of plants is rooted first in a love of animals: "animals with two legs (birds), four legs (box turtles, salamanders, and foxes), six legs (butterflies and beetles), eight legs (spiders), dozens of legs (centipedes), hundreds of legs (millipedes), and even animals with no legs (snakes and pollywogs)." For Rosalind Creasy, it's "not the plant itself; it's how you use it in the garden." And for Sydney Eddison, the reason has changed throughout the years. Now, she "gardens for the moment."As you read, you may find yourself nodding your head in agreement, or gasping in disbelief. What you're sure to encounter is some of the best writing about the gardener's soul ever to appear. For anyone who cherishes the miracle of bringing forth life from the soil, "The Roots of My Obsession" is essential inspiration.

    More than 300 color photos illustrate the plants, their flowers, leaves, and fruits. The descriptive text includes information on where the plants are found as well as their known medicinal uses. An index to medical topics is helpful for quickly locating information on specific ailments from asthma and headaches to colds and stomach aches. Symbols next to plant descriptions provide quick visual caution for plants that are poisonous or cause allergic reactions. Organized by plant color for fast identification, this guide is a tool for understanding the traditional medicinal uses of the plants around us.

    Over the course of his life, he scoured the globe for the most extraordinary people and accomplishments, as well as the strangest coincidences and events imaginable. Now, Ripley's weirdest, wildest, and wackiest facts and phenomena -- as well as brand-new oddities -- are available for kids in one big volume. Packed with full-color photos and illustrations, this easily accessible book is divided into fun categories such as "Critters", "Humans and Superhumans", and "Downright Spooky". And it's all true . . . believe it, or not!

    

    Captain Shore’s enthusiasm for firearms and especially for rifles led him to take every possible opportunity to try out different weapons, ammunition and methods of shooting. His interest was combined with sound common sense, and he would never countenance a rumour about a particular weapon or incident unless he was able to confirm it for himself.As a result everything in this book is based on his personal experience. In World War II Captain Shore took part in the British landings at D-Day, and fought in Normandy and northern Europe. He came across many different weapons in varying condition, some of the worst being those used by the Dutch and Belgian resistance fighters. He was keen to learn from experienced snipers and then to train others, and he became an officer sniping instructor at the British Army of the Rhine Training Centre.He shares a wealth of first-hand knowledge of different rifles, pistols, machine guns, ammunition, telescopes, binoculars and all the equipment a sniper should carry. This is not only an account of sniping in World War II but also a guide to all aspects of sniping based on personal knowledge and experience in training and battle. Illustrated heavily with photos, pictures and other illustrations of snipers, their weapons and their tactics.

    The information is clear, concise and to the point and easy : ) I've been searching high and low for a relatively simple way to make cream and ointment and in 1 minute found exactly what I needed." Sonya Lowe - PHSeven Organic Herbs .."very helpful reference when you are making your own remedies at home What I consider very useful is the fact I finally have a book in my home library that is so easy, and fast to use. .... A ready reference with sound advice right at my fingertips I am in love Thank you so much for all you do and share Anke." Leslie Postin - Comfrey Cottages So you know that rosemary and sage are good for dark hair and that fair hair benefits from chamomile, mullein and marigold and you want to make an infusion to add to your shampoo base or to use as a hair rinse. How much herb do you use? How much water? How long do you let it infuse for? Your favourite women's magazine told you that a comfrey ointment is great for back pain and sprains, but they didn't give the recipe of how to make an ointment? When you already know what herbs you want to use and what herbal product you want to make you need a resource that covers the base formulas. Something that provides you with the ratios and the method of how to make your desired remedy. That's where Herbology At Home: Making Herbal remedies comes in. All your base formulas in one place, easy to read and small enough to keep on hand in the kitchen. Learn the age old methods of making herbal tea, tinctures, ointments, oils and much more. Assemble a herbal first aid kit and prepare natural, chemical free products for health and home. Herbology at Home: Making Herbal Remedies is a convenient, easy-to-follow guide to preparing natural, chemical free herbal remedies. With a common sense approach to safety and working herbal health into a busy, modern lifestyle this small, value packed Herbology manual is a BIG investment in your family's natural health.

    Herbalist and naturalist Gregory Tilford provides a thorough introduction to the world of herbal medicine for everyone interested in plants, personal well-being, and a healthy environment.

    Indoor plants are the ultimate indoor accessory. Softening interiors and readily available, they are a stylist’s best friend. However, it’s their power to transform a sterile space into an urban sanctuary that makes them more than just an inanimate prop –all you need to know is how to use them. From the founders of coveted plant-wares studio, Ivy Muse, comes this charming guide on how to turn your home into a jungle- like retreat. With design- savvy tips and expert advice, you’ll learn all there is to know about decorating with plants and botanical styling plus the necessities like light requirements and when to water and feed. From bathroom to boudoir to every room in between, create your very own green oasis with Plant Style.

    Current information about antibiotic resistant microbes and the herbs that are effective in fighting them.

    He zigzags the globe, drawing ever closer to the heart of darkness near the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, where OBL is rumored to be hiding. Along the way he interviews imams and princes, refugees and soldiers, academics and terrorists. He visits European ghettos where youth aspire to global jihad, breaks the Ramadan fast with Muslims in Cairo, rides in the bomb squad van in Tel Aviv, and writes his blood type on his Kevlar vest at a U.S. base outside of Kandahar. And then the fun really starts.Companion to the acclaimed documentary, Where in the World is Osama bin Laden? delves even deeper. What readers come away with is possibly the first-ever funny book about terrorism, as well as a greater understanding of a conflict that has cast a shadow across America and the world. www.whereisobl.comFrom the Hardcover edition.

    • Details the uses of over 450 plants for the treatment of over 120 ailments. • Written by the coauthor of Medicine of the Cherokee (40,000 copies sold). • Explains the healing elements of the Four Directions and the plants associated with them. • Includes traditional teaching tales as told to the author by Cherokee Elders. In this rare collection of the acquired herbal knowledge of Cherokee Elders, author J. T. Garrett presents the healing properties and medicinal applications of over 450 North American plants. Readers will learn how Native American healers utilize the gifts of nature for ceremonial purposes and to treat over 120 ailments, from the common cold to a bruised heart. The book presents the medicine of the Four Directions and the plants with which each direction is associated. From the East comes the knowledge of "heart medicine"--blood-building tonics and plants for vitality and detoxification. The medicine of the South focuses on the innocence of life and the energy of youthfulness. West medicine treats the internal aspects of the physical body to encourage strength and endurance, while North medicine offers a sense of freedom and connection to the stars and the greater Universal Circle. This resource also includes traditional teaching tales to offer insights from Cherokee cosmology into the origin of illness, how the animals found their medicine, and the naming of the plants.

    And yet there is still another; namely, growing them for sale in the various prepared forms and selling them in glass or tin receptacles in the neighborhood or by advertising in the household magazines. There surely is a market, and a profitable one if rightly managed. And with right management and profit is to come desire to have improved varieties. Such varieties can be developed at least as readily as the wonderful modern chrysanthemum has been developed from an insignificant[...].

    In Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation, Cotter not only offers readers an in-depth exploration of best organic mushroom cultivation practices; he shares the results of his groundbreaking research and offers myriad ways to apply your cultivation skills and further incorporate mushrooms into your life--whether your goal is to help your community clean up industrial pollution or simply to settle down at the end of the day with a cold Reishi-infused homebrew ale. The book first guides readers through an in-depth exploration of indoor and outdoor cultivation. Covered skills range from integrating wood-chip beds spawned with king stropharia into your garden and building a "trenched raft" of hardwood logs plugged with shiitake spawn to producing oysters indoors on spent coffee grounds in a 4�4 space or on pasteurized sawdust in vertical plastic columns. For those who aspire to the self-sufficiency gained by generating and expanding spawn rather than purchasing it, Cotter offers in-depth coverage of lab techniques, including low-cost alternatives that make use of existing infrastructure and materials. Cotter also reports his groundbreaking research cultivating morels both indoors and out, "training" mycelium to respond to specific contaminants, and perpetuating spawn on cardboard without the use of electricity. Readers will discover information on making tinctures, powders, and mushroom-infused honey; making an antibacterial mushroom cutting board; and growing mushrooms on your old denim jeans. Geared toward readers who want to grow mushrooms without the use of pesticides, Cotter takes "organic" one step further by introducing an entirely new way of thinking--one that looks at the potential to grow mushrooms on just about anything, just about anywhere, and by anyone.

    This comprehensive new handbook covers everythingyou need to know about maximizing and harvesting the best vegetablesyou can possibly produce. With each chapter addressing a different vegetable,you’ll learn tips and tricks about varietal selection, nutritional merits, how to begin,special hints for growing, and how to deal with particular pests and diseases,plus one or two creative recipes to get you started. With over 150 of Markham’sown photographs guiding you every step of the way, you’ll find this an honest,straightforward guide and a must-have for any vegetable mini-farmer.