As the collection grew, the site attracted a following, which is now a huge and obsessive audience.The site features photos of the most remarkable handmade homes in the backcountry of America and all over the world. It has had over 10 million unique visitors, with 350,000 followers on Tumblr. Now Zach Klein, the creator of the site (and a co-founder of Vimeo) goes further into the most alluring images from the site and new getaways, including more interior photography and how-to advice for setting up a quiet place somewhere. With their idyllic settings, unique architecture and cozy interiors, the Cabin Porn photographs, are an invitation to slow down, take a deep breath, and feel the beauty and serenity that nature and simple construction can create.

    Whether you are growing plants in hanging baskets, tubs, window boxes or other containers this hobby is immensely gratifying.  If you are new to container gardening and buy your containers pre-planted, you get a sense of instant gratification and fulfillment.  It won't be long however, before you are hit with the gardening virus and you'll find yourself expanding to one more pot and then again, one more container.  Before you know it, the urge to plant and nurture will take over. At this point, you need a garden plan for your container garden. Use this monthly container gardening checklist to keep your containers at peak performance. When do I plant spring bulbs in containers? When do I perk up my annual plantings with some new varieties? What do I do with container plants I want to save over winter? These and many other questions are answered in this container gardening book. At the beginning of the month, check out the tasks and tips on the schedule.  You may find items you never thought of and may also learn techniques used by professional gardeners and landscapers that will make your container gardens the envy of the neighborhood. Scroll up and pick up this book today and give your patio, pool, and porch just the pizzazz it needs to perk up your landscaping plans.

    

    This is the original book compilation of Foxfire material which introduces Aunt Arie and her contemporaries and includes log cabin building, hog dressing, snake lore, mountain crafts and food, and "other affairs of plain living."

    annually, and the landfills simply store it, not eliminate it. Recycling diverts significant amounts of waste, but the fact remains that the majority of landfill space is occupied by organic material. The good news is composting is a natural and beneficial way to eliminate this waste, and anyone can do it.Whether you live on a farm, in the suburbs or a city apartment, composting is possible. Composting Inside and Out will introduce you to the essentials and explore various methods of indoor and outdoor composting to help you find the perfect fit for your lifestyle.Inside you'll find:A compete overview of the composting processAdvice on finding the right equipmentStep-by-step instruction for fourteen different composting methodsIdeas for using the soil you produceQuick answers to common problemsWhether you create a compost heap, bury your scraps, ferment them, tumble them or feed them to the worms, you too can be successful with composting. Use the fruits of your labor on you houseplants, your lawn, your flowerbeds or your garden. Put your waste and your energy to good use. Reclaim the benefits of participating in the planet's health through composting--its rewards are simply miraculous.

    A new literary classic, Second Nature has become a manifesto not just for gardeners but for environmentalists everywhere. "As delicious a meditation on one man's relationships with the Earth as any you are likely to come upon" (The New York Times Book Review), Second Nature captures the rhythms of our everyday engagement with the outdoors in all its glory and exasperation. With chapters ranging from a reconsideration of the Great American Lawn, a dispatch from one man's war with a woodchuck, to an essay about the sexual politics of roses, Pollan has created a passionate and eloquent argument for reconceiving our relationship with nature.

    Karl E. Lutzen and Mark Stevens guide you through the best tools for all your brewing needs, from DIY homemade versions of commercial brewery equipment to simple devices that make brewing easier and safer. Learn which gadgets and gizmos work best for measuring, mashing, bottling, kegging, and more. With the proper tools close at hand you’ll save both time and money, leaving you free to focus on enjoying your homebrewed beers.

    A guide to 32 of the best and most common edible wild plants in North America, with detailed information on how to identify them, where they are found, how and when they are harvested, which parts are used, how they are prepared, as well as their culinary use, ecology, conservation, and cultural history.

    Jasko and Biggs are committed to turning you into a healthy, happy farmer even if you live in a big city high-rise. Built around eight comprehensive sections (Know, Start, Grow, Plant, Plan, Make, Eat, and Store), this wonderful 128-page guide walks you through all the steps of successfully nurturing a crop of delicious, healthy vegetables. Everyone from the base beginner to the seasoned farmhand will find something for them in these pages. (The recipe section alone is enough to keep you comin' back to this gem for years!) Narrated in a friendly, helpful tone by Jasko and buoyed by Biggs's great illustrations, this book is the definition of awesomely useful. Super, super, SUPER inspiring. Grow your own everything!

    In "Inside The Not So Big House," Susanka and Vassallo focus their lens on the tangible and sometimes intangible details that bring an otherwise ordinary home to life. Incorporating such details as dropped ceilings, built-in shelves, pocket doors, window seats, and well-placed alcoves infuses a home with the character of its owners and conveys a uniqueness that's mising in many homes built or remodeled today. From Rhode Island to San Diego, the 23 homes featured here illustrate exceptional attention to detail. Each offers inspiration for those building or remodeling to transform their home into an expression of all that is important to them. "Detail is everything in design. Sarah Susanka proves it again with this, her latest book." --John Wheatman, author, "Meditations on Design" and "A Good House Is Never Done"

    There are now more than 170 titles in this series, and their remarkable popularity reflects the common desire of country and city dwellers alike to cultivate personal independence in everyday life.

     Are you overworked and overcrowded? Do you dream of dropping off the radar? Do you crave the peace of mind that only nature can provide? Fitness and military intelligence expert Gary Collins has helped thousands of people roam free with firsthand advice shared on his popular website. And now he’s here to help you reclaim your independence. Going Off the Grid: The How-To Book of Simple Living and Happiness contains step-by-step instructions for creating your self-sustaining refuge in the untamed wild or the blacktop jungle. Through Collins’ methods, you’ll identify and purge unnecessary stressors from your everyday life. You’ll also learn the basics of off-the-grid living from home construction to energy alternatives, from sewage disposal to internet access. In Going Off the Grid, you’ll discover: How to downsize your current living conditions for a clutter-free future Techniques for simplifying your hectic schedule so you can enjoy life’s simple pleasures How to find the ideal off-the-grid property that will meet your every need Common types of building techniques and materials for high energy efficiency and insulation Fun and informative stories detailing Collins’ off-the-grid nomadic lifestyle and much, much more! Going Off the Grid is your must-have handbook for living outside the city limits. If you like DIY guides, practical expert advice, and bucking societal expectations, then you’ll love Gary Collins’ roadmap to a liberating lifestyle. Buy Going Off the Grid to plan your escape into a new world of possibilities today!

    Author John Seymour, the father of the back-to-basics movement, shares his singular vision to transform lives and create communities. More relevant than ever in our hi-tech world, The Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It is the ultimate practical guide for realists and dreamers alike.

    Diagnosed with a heart condition at age forty-one, she was all too suddenly reminded that life is short, time is precious, and she wanted to be spending hers with the people and things she truly loved. That included the beautiful sprawling house in the Pacific Northwest she had painstakingly restored—but, increasingly, it did not include the mortgage payments, constant repairs, and general time-suck of home ownership. A new sense of clarity began to take hold: Just what was all this stuff for? Multiple extra rooms, a kitchen stocked with rarely used appliances, were things that couldn’t compare with the financial freedom and the ultimate luxury—time—that would come with downsizing.             Deciding to build an eighty-four-square-foot house—on her own, from the ground up—was just the beginning of building a new life. Williams can now list everything she owns on one sheet of paper, her monthly housekeeping bills amount to about eight dollars, and it takes her approximately ten minutes to clean the entire house. It’s left her with more time to spend with family and friends, and given her freedom to head out for adventure at a moment’s notice, or watch the clouds and sunset while drinking a beer on her (yes, tiny) front porch.             The lessons Williams learned from her “aha” moment post-trauma apply to all of us, every day, regardless of whether or not we decide to discard all our worldly belongings. Part how-to, part personal memoir, The Big Tiny is an utterly seductive meditation on the benefits of slowing down, scaling back, and appreciating the truly important things in life.

    Callahan, whose popular Good House Book helped environmentally-minded readers create an earth-friendly home, have returned with a photo-packed, amazingly complete, start-to-finish guide to "green" housebuilding.This absolutely groundbreaking manual doesn't just talk about eco-friendly building techniques, but actually shows every step! More than 1,200 close-up photographs, along with in-depth descriptions, follow the real construction of an alternative house from site selection to the addition of final-touch interior details. Co-authors Clarke Snell and Timothy Callahan (a professional builder and contractor) provide thorough discussions of the fundamental concepts of construction, substitutes for conventional approaches, and planning a home that's not only comfortable and beautiful, but environmentally responsible. Then, they roll up their sleeves and get to work assembling a guest house that incorporates four different alternative building methods: straw bale, cob, cordwood, and modified stick frame. The images show every move: how the site is cleared, the basic structure put together, the cob wall sculpted, the bales and cordwood stacked, a living roof created, and more. Most important, the manual conveys real-world challenges and processes, and offers dozens of sidebars with invaluable advice. It's head and shoulders above all others in the field.