Matt Baker is at his happiest on the farm.Away from the bright lights of hosting our favourite television programmes, Countryfile, The One Show, Blue Peter and many more, he is often in the company of his family, dogs, array of sheep, Mediterranean miniature donkeys and a whole host of wildlife in the farm's ancient woodland.Now, following the ever-changing seasons, Matt takes us on a journey with his family on the farm.We see woodland animals emerge after a long winter of hibernation, hear the dawn chorus in the height of summer and see the preparations unfold for the harsh and wild winter months.Peppered with hand drawn sketches, unforgettable moments from his TV career and stories of a landscape you'll fall in love with, Matt offers readers a touching insight into life on the farm, and how the power and beauty of the countryside can be an inspiration and source of joy for all of us.A celebration of the natural year, Matt Baker takes us on a journey through the seasons, his life on the farm and how the power and beauty of the countryside has made him who he is.

    One has a water-capturing roof; one is a great example of mid-Modern architecture; and another has a built-in composting system. Some designs are suitable for beginning builders, and some are challenging enough for experts. Complete step-by-step building plans are accompanied by full-color photographs and detailed construction illustrations.

    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.

    Written by the author of the best-selling Fresh Food From Small Spaces book, a former columnist for Urban Farm magazine. (Updated 2012 Version)Topics include:• Fresh Eggs Every Day • How Much Space Do You Need?• Building or Buying a Coop• Feeders, Waterers, Nesting Boxes, and Roosts• Getting Chicks or Chickens• Feeding Your Chickens• Tips for Cold Climates• Health and Safety• Dealing with Neighbors, City Chicken Laws, and Other Challenges• Resources: Everything You Need!Fresh eggs every dayThis 36-page booklet provides the ultimate beginner's guide to raising chickens for eggs in a city or suburban backyard. You can pay $10-$30 for a longer book containing lots of filler material you don't need. Are you really going to start a chick hatching business, compost doggy doo, or perform surgery on a sick hen? Stick to the essentials and pay a lot less. Everything You Need to Get Started!Are you ready to start raising chickens on a small scale? This booklet has all the information you really need to know on getting chicks or chickens for the city, where and how to find a good coop, what other items you need (feeders, waterers, nesting boxes), and how to feed your chickens nutritious food that will make the best eggs you have ever tasted. Learn some tips for proper chicken health and safety as well as for getting your chickens through cold winters in freezing climates. Learn how to deal with neighbors and restrictive city chicken laws so that no one can stop you from raising chickens for fresh eggs. Includes Free Resources SectionIncludes a great Resources section with organized links to every important piece of information available for free online, including more information on coops and city chicken laws. Some people say this section alone is worth the price of this booklet. Get access to all the resources and support you will ever need to help you have a great experience raising backyard chickens. Never pay a penny more for chicken info! Get started today and enjoy fresh eggs from your own backyard! (36-page booklet with 20,000 words)If you're looking for an introductory guide to raising chickens, this is the one!

    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.

    Along the way, he has become a widely influential journalist and social critic, documenting in hundreds of essays for national and regional magazines the crisis in conventional agri-business and the boundless potential for new forms of farming that reconcile tradition with ecology.Logsdon reminds us that healthy and economical agriculture must work - at nature's pace - instead of trying to impose an industrial order on the natural world. Foreseeing a future with -more farmers, not fewer, - he looks for workable models among the Amish, among his lifelong neighbors in Ohio, and among resourceful urban gardeners and a new generation of defiantly unorthodox organic growers creating an innovative farmers-market economy in every region of the country.Nature knows how to grow plants and raise animals; it is human beings who are in danger of losing this age-old expertise, substituting chemical additives and artificial technologies for the traditional virtues of fertility, artistry, and knowledge of natural processes. This new edition of Logsdon's important collection of essays and articles (first published by Pantheon in 1993) contains six new chapters taking stock of American farm life at this turn of the century.

    The Thrifty Gardener is about creating the garden of your dreams, regardless of resources or limited space. It will eliminate the intimidation factor and reveal the ins-and-outs of soil, seeds, sowing and growing. At the heart of this book is a DIY ethic that says you don't always have to buy what you need – you can make it, take it or swap it with friends. From creating window boxes out of champagne cases to creating your own elegant compost bin, from bulking up perennials to finding plants for free, this book is packed with offbeat projects for a new generation of gardeners.

    Whether you’re interested in growing them for your own kitchen or to sell at a local market, you’ll soon be harvesting a delicious and abundant crop of mushrooms.

    This idiosyncratically written book chronicles the endless pleasures and myriad of pitfall of chicken keeping.

    

    Apartment dwellers, schoolteachers, and anyone else who wants to grow a lot of food in a little space will find a great small garden resource in Grow All You Can Eat in 3 Square Feet.Small-space gardeners, find your start in Grow All You Can Eat in 3 Square Feet, packed with information on window boxes, potted plants, patio gardening, raised beds, small square-foot gardening, container gardening, and everything else related to growing your own small garden. Whether you want to grow a full garden, grow tomatoes, grow an herb garden, or just pick up great tips for small gardens, Grow All You Can Eat in 3 Square Feet is the resource you need.Reviews:"Beautiful color photographs and step-by-step instructions distinguish this guide to growing vegetables, fruit, and herbs in small spaces." - Library Journal

    Three years later, now the owner of a Welsh smallholding, Kate hears that a nearby farm is to be broken up and sold off. Another farm lost; another opportunity for a young farmless farmer gone. Desperate to stop the sale, Kate contacts the council with an alternative plan - to keep the farm working and to run a rural skills and animal husbandry school alongside it. Against all odds, she succeeds. Here, in Humble By Nature, Kate shares with us a highly personal account of her journey from London town house to Welsh farm. Along the way we meet Bertie and Lawrence the donkeys, Myfanwy and Blackberry the pigs and goats Biscuit and Honey, not forgetting a dog called Badger and his unladylike sidekick Bella. And we are introduced to the tenant farmers Tim and Sarah, the locals who helped and some who didn't, and a whole host of newborn lambs. Full of the warmth and passion for the natural world that makes Kate such a sought after presenter, Humble By Nature is the story of two people prepared to follow their hearts and save a small part of Britain's farming heritage, whatever the consequences.

    A community-based rural and economic development project, FFC would grow to over 600 acres, offering a means for local sharecroppers, tenant farmers, and domestic workers to pursue community wellness, self-reliance, and political resistance. Life on the cooperative farm presented an alternative to the second wave of northern migration by African Americans--an opportunity to stay in the South, live off the land, and create a healthy community based upon building an alternative food system as a cooperative and collective effort.Freedom Farmers expands the historical narrative of the black freedom struggle to embrace the work, roles, and contributions of southern Black farmers and the organizations they formed. Whereas existing scholarship generally views agriculture as a site of oppression and exploitation of black people, this book reveals agriculture as a site of resistance and provides a historical foundation that adds meaning and context to current conversations around the resurgence of food justice/sovereignty movements in urban spaces like Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, New York City, and New Orleans.

    Jon Bonné writes from the front lines of the California wine revolution, where he has access to the fascinating stories, philosophies, and techniques of top producers. Part narrative, part authoritative purchasing reference, The New California Wine is a necessary addition to any wine lover's bookshelf.

    Kathy addresses everything needed to keep chickens simply, including coops, chick care, breed selection, chicken health, and beyond! Internationally known as The Chicken Chick, Kathy Shea Mormino brings an informative style and fresh perspective on raising backyard chickens to millions of fans around the world. An attorney by profession, Kathy is the founder and one-woman creative force behind her wildly popular and award-winning Facebook page and blog, The-Chicken-Chick.com. Now her practical, down-to-earth approach to chicken-keeping is available in book form. Sharing her years of hard-earned experience and collaborations with poultry veterinarians, nutritionists, and professors, she provides simple steps to care for these uncommon pets with confidence. Kathy’s personality permeates the book as she guides newbie, veteran, and would-be backyard chickeneers alike through all aspects of small-flock care—from getting into the hobby to housing, feeding, egg production, health, and much more. The result is accurate information presented in the fun and abundantly illustrated format that Mormino has delivered on her blog for years.