The answer is chickens--endearing birds that require but a modest outlay of time, space and food.As they learned to raise chickens, Gail and Rick Luttmann came to realize the need for a comprehensive but clear and nontechnical guide. Their book covers all the basics in a light and entertaining sytle, from housing and feeding through incubating, bringing up chicks, butchering, and raising chickens for show.Througout Chickens In Your Backyard, the Luttmanns express their wonder at the personalities of chickens--the role of brash protector played by roosters, and the instinctive motherliness of the hens. Given some freedom and attention, these birds can become much more than the egg-and-meat machines of commercial hatcheries and broiler factories. Chickens provide backyard farmers with enjoyable pastime, as well as a supply of good food.

    Error. Better Beer.When most brewers think of an experimental beer, odd creations come to mind. And sure, in this book you can learn how to brew with ingredients like bacon, chanterelle mushrooms, defatted cacao nibs, and peanut butter powder. However, experimental homebrewing is more than that. It's about making good beer--the best beer, in fact. It's about tweaking process, designing solid recipes, and blind evaluations. So put on your goggles, step inside the lab, and learn from two of the craziest scientists around: Drew Beechum and Denny Conn. Get your hands dirty and tackle a money-saving project or try your hand at an off-the-wall technique. Freeze yourself an Eisbeer, make a batch of canned starter wort, fake a cask ale, extract flavors with distillation, or sit down at the microscope and do some yeast cell counting. More than 30 recipes and a full chapter of open-ended experiments will complete your transformation. Before you realize it, you'll be donning a white lab coat and sharing your own delicious results!

    As a result, the broccoli you consume today may have less than half of the vitamins and minerals that the equivalent serving would have contained a hundred years ago. This is a matter for serious concern, since poor nutrition has been linked to myriad health problems including cancer, heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes. For optimum health we must increase the nutrient density of our foods to the levels enjoyed by previous generations.To grow produce of the highest nutritional quality the essential minerals lacking in our soil must be replaced, but this re-mineralization calls for far more attention to detail than the simple addition of composted manure or NPK fertilizers. The Intelligent Gardener demystifies the process while simultaneously debunking much of the false and misleading information perpetuated by both the conventional and organic agricultural movements. In doing so, it conclusively establishes the link between healthy soil, healthy food, and healthy people.This practical step-by-step guide and the accompanying customizable web-based spreadsheets go beyond organic and are essential tools for any serious gardener who cares about the quality of the produce they grow.Steve Solomon is the author of several landmark gardening books including Gardening When it Counts and Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades. The founder of the Territorial Seed Company, he has been growing most of his family's food for over thirty-five years.

    A fresh take on modern homemaking, this is a practical (and sometimes sassy) guide to maximizing your time, effort, and energy in the kitchen and beyond. With a focus on less consumerism, it will teach you how to organize your kitchen and home to make the best use of your time. For those yearning to live a more ecologically minded, grounded lifestyle, this book is full of practical, no-nonsense advice, fabulous recipes, and time- and money-saving techniques.

    As if you were standing by her side in the kitchen, Aliza offers a thorough course on the art of making pasta, from selecting ingredients and mastering different types of doughs to making a range of classic and creative shapes and flavors. This foundation combined with helpful tips from her many years of experience and bits of history on pasta traditions in Italy and around the world make this the only pasta-making book you’ll need.  Making Artisan Pasta features:Recipes for pasta doughs made completely from scratch, with delicious ingredients including buckwheat and whole wheat flour, roasted red pepper, asparagus, squash, porcini mushroom, and even squid ink and chocolateFully illustrated step-by-step instructions for rolling, shaping, and stuffing dough for gnocchi, lasagna, cannelloni, pappardelle, tagliatelle, ravioli, and dozens of other styles of pastaDetailed instructions on how to make the ultimate in pasta: hand-stretched doughChinese pot stickers, Polish pierogi, Turkish manti, and other delectable pastas from beyond its traditional Italian bordersArtisan tips to help anyone, from novice to experienced, make unforgettable pastaMaking Artisan Pasta brings to you the satisfying pleasure of working with your hands using simple tools to create fresh artisan pasta to share with your family and friends.

    With The Complete Guide to Pressure Canning you will discover the ease of pressure canning, understand the science behind safe food preservation, and enjoy delicious recipes for stocking your kitchen and feeding your family.In the pages of this all-in-one pressure canning roadmap you’ll find: An overview of pressure canning basics that includes guidance for buying a pressure canner and pressure canning fundamentals More than 80 pressure canning recipes for: stocks, broths, soups, and stews; meats including wild game and fish; meals-in-a-jar; tomatoes and vegetables; beans and legumes; and more Pressure canning charts for safely canning vegetables and meats that include quantity, yield, jar size, processing time, and PSI gauge guidance A “First Batches” Chapter that includes two practice recipes for those new to pressure canning With The Complete Guide to Pressure Canning, readers of all skill levels will learn to successfully preserve and serve wholesome, nourishing foods that everyone will enjoy.

    For anyone who wants cooking to be less complicated and more enjoyable--and who is looking to increase his or her kitchen repertoire and develop new skills, "The Kitchen Bible" is a tremendous source of 1,000 delicious, achievable, and international recipes, with sumptuous photography, precise text, and innovative ideas.

    A forest garden imitates young natural woodland, with a wide range of crops grown in vertical layers. Species are chosen for their beneficial effects on each other, creating a healthy system that maintains its own fertility, with little need for digging, weeding or pest control. The result of this largely perennial planting is a tranquil, beautiful and productive space.This book is a bible for permaculture and forest gardening, with practical advice on how to create a forest garden, from planning and design to planting and maintenance. It explains how a forest garden is designed from the top down: the canopy layer first,then the shrub layer,the perennial ground-cover layer,the annuals & biennialsnext, the climbers and nitrogen fixersand finally the clearings, living spaces and paths.Whether in a small back garden or in a larger plot, the environmental benefits of growing this way are great. Forest Gardens are a viable solution to the challenge of a changing climate: we can grow food sustainably in them without compromising soil health, food quality or biodiversity.Forest gardens:store carbon dioxide in the soil and in the woody biomass of the trees and shrubs.enable the soil to store more water after heavy rains, minimizing flooding and erosion.boost the health of the ecosystem, ensuring a balance of predators and beneficial insects because mixed planting is crucial to the scheme.allows the soil to thrive because it is covered with plants all year round.Creating a Forest Garden includes a detailed directory of over 500 trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, annuals, root crops and climbers. As well as more familiar plants such as fig and apple trees, blackcurrants and rosemary shrubs, you can grow your own chokeberries, goji berries, yams, heartnuts, bamboo shoots and buffalo currants.Forest gardens produce fruits, nuts, vegetables, seeds, salads, herbs, spices, firewood, mushrooms, medicinal herbs, dye plants, soap plants, and honey from bees.This book tells you everything you need to create your own forest garden with beautiful illustrations and helpful tips throughout.

     "Takes the pressure off cooks who don't have much time... but still want to savor the season's bounty." -Chicago Tribune (Review of the prior edition) The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving takes the guesswork out of home preserving. Both beginners and pros can make the most of fresh fruits and vegetables when these are readily available and inexpensive. Because these recipes require a minimum of time and fuss, home cooks will enjoy creating the preserves almost as much as everyone will enjoy tasting them. Included are both traditional and new recipes. Detailed instructions provide the safest and latest processing methods. Some recipes are suitable for microwaves. A brand new chapter features freezer preserving as an alternative to the traditional methods. The more than 300 enticing recipes include: Jams, jellies and low-sugar spreads Conserves, butters and curds Pickles, relishes and chutneys Salsas, mustards and marinades Flavored oils Dessert sauces, syrups and liqueurs. With delectable recipes and professional tips, The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving is the ideal guide for anyone who craves home-made preserves but doesn't want to spend all day in the kitchen. (20010521)

    You'll also find tips for replicating any commercial beer so you can make your own clones when you discover a new favorite!

    Now they delve deep into the Italian side of the craft with Salumi, a book that explores and simplifies the recipes and techniques of dry curing meats. As the sources and methods of making our food have become a national discussion, an increasing number of cooks and professional chefs long to learn fundamental methods of preparing meats in the traditional way. Ruhlman and Polcyn give recipes for the eight basic products in Italy's pork salumi repertoire: guanciale, coppa, spalla, lardo, lonza, pancetta, prosciutto, and salami, and they even show us how to butcher a hog in the Italian and American ways. This book provides a thorough understanding of salumi, with 100 recipes and illustrations of the art of ancient methods made modern and new.

    Mastering Fermentation is a beautifully illustrated and authoritative guide to the art and science of fermented foods, featuring more than seventy recipes that allow you to progress from simple fermented condiments like vinegars and mustards to more advanced techniques for using wild yeast starters, fermenting meats, and curing fish. Cooking instructor and author Mary Karlin begins with a solid introduction to the wide world of fermentation, explaining essential equipment, ingredients, processes, and techniques. The diverse chapters cover everything from fermented dairy to grains and breads; legumes, nuts, and aromatics; and fermented beverages. Last but not least, the book concludes with more than twenty globally-inspired recipes that incorporate fermented foods into enticing finished dishes like Grilled Lamb Stuffed with Apricot-Date Chutney and Saffron Yogurt Sauce. Offering an accessible, recipe-driven approach, Mastering Fermentation will inspire and equip you to facilitate the transformative, fascinating process of fermentation, with delicious results.

    Drawing on centuries-old traditions from American general stores and pharmacy soda fountains, this fun and informative guide has recipes for perennial favorites like birch beer and ginger beer, as well as more adventurous concoctions like Molasses Switchel and Dandelion Champagne. Stephen Cresswell provides easy-to-follow directions that cover everything from extracting the earthy undertones of sassafras for an exciting root beer to whipping up a caffeine-charged Coffee Whizzer.

    Well-Preserved is a collection of 30 small batch preserving recipes and 90 recipes in which to use the preserved goods. Preserving recipes like Marinated Baby Artichokes are followed by recipes for dishes like Marinated Artichoke and Ricotta Pie and Sausages with Marinated Baby Artichokes; a Three-Citrus Marmelade recipe is followed by recipes for Chicken Wings Baked with Three-Citrus Marmelade, Shrmp with Three-Citrus Marmelade and Lime, and Crepes with Three-Citrus Marmelade, and so on.In this book, Eugenia Bone, a New Yorker whose Italian father was forever canning everything from olives to tuna, describes the art of preserving in an accessible way. Though she covers traditional water bath and pressure canning in detail, she also shares simpler methods that allow you to preserve foods using low-tech options like oil-preserving, curing, and freezing. Bone clearly explains each technique so that you can rest assured your food is stable and safe.With Well-Preserved: Recipes and Techniques for Putting Up Small Batches of Seasonal Foods, you will never again have a night when you open your cupboard or refrigerator and lament that there's "nothing to eat!" Instead, you'll be whipping up the seasons' best meals all year long.

    In these beautifully illustrated pages, Kris Bordessa offers DIY lovers an indispensable home reference for sustainability in the 21st century, using tried-and-true advice, 50 enticing recipes, and step-by-step directions for creating fun, cost-efficient projects that will bring out your inner pioneer. Filled with 340 color photographs, this relatable, comprehensive book contains time honored-wisdom and modern know-how for getting back to basics in a beautiful, accessible package.