100 Flowers and How They Got Their Names


Diana Wells - 1997
    From Baby Blue Eyes to Silver Bells, from Abelia to Zinnia, every flower tells a story. Gardening writer Diana Wells knows them all. Here she presents one hundred well-known garden favorites and the not-so-well-known stories behind their names. Not for gardeners only, this is a book for anyone interested not just in the blossoms, but in the roots, too.

The Garden in the Clouds: From Derelict Smallholding to Mountain Paradise


Antony Woodward - 2010
    This is a warm, witty memoir of one man's unlikely quest to create out of a mountainous Welsh landscape a garden fit for inclusion in the prestigious Yellow Book - the 'Gardens of England and Wales Open for Charity' guide - in just one year.

How to Speak Chicken: Why Your Chickens Do What They Do & Say What They Say


Melissa Caughey - 2017
    Her hours among the flock have resulted in this quirky, irresistible guide packed with firsthand insights into how chickens communicate and interact, use their senses to understand the world around them, and establish pecking order and roles within the flock. Combining her up-close observations with scientific findings and interviews with other chicken enthusiasts, Caughey answers unexpected questions such as Do chickens have names for each other? How do their eyes work? and How do chickens learn?

The Autopilot Garden: A Guide to Hands-off Gardening


Luke Marion - 2019
    Using all-natural techniques, this new guide from YouTube gardening sensation Luke Marion, founder of MIgardener, will teach you to break down traditional thinking and implement organic systems that will save time, hassle, weeding, water, and space wherever you live.LEARN TO• Properly fuel your garden with an understanding of soil composition, organic fertilizer, and healthy balances of bacteria and fungi• Keep your plants hydrated and conserve water with a core gardening system trench• Extend the growing season with smart use of a poly material tunnel• Avoid tedious manual weeding by using all-natural preemptive weed suppression—without resorting to harmful chemical pesticides• Utilize high intensity planting to grow more food in less space, reduce weeding, watering, and protect soil qualityWith this simple-to-understand gardening method, create an organic garden that allows you to enjoy the rest of the season on autopilot.

Seasons at the Farm: Year-Round Celebrations at the Elliott Homestead


Shaye Elliott - 2018
    With her engaging storytelling and gorgeous full-color photos, Shaye brings to life how to entertain simply yet beautifully without mortgaging the farm. Simple recipes, decorating advice, and projects make this an inspirational and aspirational sequel to her beloved previous books.

The Hardmen: Legends and Lessons from the Cycling Gods


The Velominati - 2017
    Prepared to be awed and inspired by Chris Froome riding on at the Tour de France with a broken wrist or Geraint Thomas finishing it with a broken pelvis.In The Hardmen the writers behind cycling superblog Velominati.com and The Rules will tell the stories and illuminate the myths of not just the greatest cyclists ever, but the toughest. From Eddy Merckx to Beryl Burton, and from Marianne Vos to Edwig Van Hooydonk, the book will lay bare the secrets of their extraordinary and inspirational endurance in the face of pain, danger and disaster. After all, suffering is one of the joys of being a cyclist. Embrace climbs, relish the descents, and get ready to harden up. . .

Chickens in the Road: An Adventure in Ordinary Splendor


Suzanne McMinn - 2013
    Amid the rough landscape and beauty of this rural mountain country, she pursues a natural lifestyle filled with chickens, goats, sheep—and no pizza delivery.With her new life comes an unexpected new love—"52," a man as beguiling and enigmatic as his nickname—a turbulent romance that reminds her that peace and fulfillment can be found in the wake of heartbreak. Coping with formidable challenges, including raising a trio of teenagers, milking stubborn cows, being snowed in with no heat, and making her own butter, McMinn realizes that she’s living a forty-something’s coming-of-age story.As she dares to become self-reliant and embrace her independence, she reminds us that life is a bold adventure—if we’re willing to live it. Chickens in the Road includes more than 20 recipes, craft projects, and McMinn’s photography, and features a special two-color design.

Creating a Forest Garden: Working with Nature to Grow Edible Crops


Martin Crawford - 2010
    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.

Saving Dinner: The Menus, Recipes, and Shopping Lists to Bring Your Family Back to the Table


Leanne Ely - 2003
    Take-out, opening a can, or microwave fare shouldn't pass for a nice, healthy meal-and nothing can replace a family's time together. Believe it or not, preparing dinner can be a stress-free endeavor. Even your time in the supermarket can be cut in half! Full of practical tips on simple, healthy meal planning, "Saving Dinner" is the ideal solution for today's busy parents who would love to have their family sitting around the dinner table once again-sharing stories along with a nutritious meal. Efficiently divided by season, each section features six weeks of menus with delicious recipes, side dish suggestions, and an itemized grocery list that is organized by product (dairy, meat, produce) to make one-stop shopping a snap. "Plus" the book is packed with helpful hints and short cuts in the kitchen that make cooking easier and more fun. From Big Basil Burgers and Salmon Carbonara to Crockpot Chili and Spicy Apricot Chicken, "Saving Dinner" will have your family coming back to the table-"and" back again for seconds!Leanne Ely is considered the expert on family cooking and healthy eating. Between her popular "Heart of a Woman" radio show in Southern California and her weekly "Food for Thought" column on the ever-popular Flylady.net Web site, thousands of fans have already discovered Leanne's secrets to easily prepared, well-balanced meals.

The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Dessert Cookbook: 100 Delicious Heritage Recipes from the Farm and Garden


Brent Ridge - 2013
    Brent Ridge and New York Times bestselling author Josh Kilmer-Purcell are not your average couple: The two Manhattanites left their big city lives behind, and found themselves living in bucolic Sharon Springs, New York, where they became "accidental goat farmers." But what began as a way to reconnect with their own style of modern country living soon exploded into a wildly successful brand, Beekman 1802, named after their historic home. Brent and Josh are now world-renowned for producing everything from magnificent handcrafted goat’s milk soaps to artisanal Blaak cheese, and now, with The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Dessert Cookbook, they’re bringing their special vintage-modern touch to classic, remarkable recipes bound to become family favorites year after year.The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Dessert Cookbook will show off the delicious and decadent recipes that the Beekman Boys have collected from across the generations of their family, from Brent’s grandmother’s Fourth of July Fruitcake to Josh’s mother’s Hot Chocolate Dumplings. Each recipe will be accompanied by a personal memory from the authors or a story about how that recipe came to be. With eco-conscious and vintage-oriented food production gaining traction as a major culinary trend, this beautiful package will reel in readers, whether they’re nostalgic for some classic Americana in their kitchen or just hankering for the perfect Blackberry Betty recipe.

Gardenista: The Definitive Guide to Stylish Outdoor Spaces


Michelle Slatalla - 2016
    The team behind the inspirational design sites Gardenista.com and Remodelista.com presents an all-in-one manual for making your outdoor space as welcoming as your living room. Tour personality-filled gardens around the world and re-create the looks with no-fail planting palettes. Find hundreds of design tips and easy DIYs, editors’ picks of 100 classic (and stylish) objects, a landscaping primer with tips from pros, over 200 resources, and so much more.

Homegrown Honey Bees: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Beekeeping Your First Year, from Hiving to Honey Harvest


Alethea Morrison - 2013
    With in-depth discussions of allergies, colony hierarchy, bee behavior, and more, this approachably informative guide bursts with enthusiastic encouragement. Keep your own bees, and enjoy the sweet buzz.

Bonsai: A beginners guide


Bonsai Empire - 2014
    Our beginners guide contains all the essential information you need in order to succeed. It covers the basic techniques, well illustrated with over a hundred images, and explains everything you need to know in an understandable way. Bonsai Empire is the world's most visited Bonsai website and has provided beginners with quality information for over a decade. We have developed this guide to help you get a taste of this fascinating and living art, and hope you'll enjoy it as much as we do! This book includes: - Over 100 stunning images - Over 80 pages - Explanations of the basic techniques - Care guides on the 10 most popular tree species - Background on the history, definition and styles Walter Pall: "Now here is the ultimate book to lead beginners. I am happy to have been able to contribute to this" Mauro Stemberger "Very clear" and "With great quality drawings and pics"

Vertical Gardening: Grow Up, Not Out, for More Vegetables and Flowers in Much Less Space


Derek Fell - 2011
    Vertical gardening guarantees a better outcome from the day the trowel hits the soil—by shrinking the amount of "floor" space needed and focusing on climbing plants that are less prone to insects, diseases, and animal pests.Notable author and gardener Derek Fell has tried and tested thousands of varieties of vegetables,flowers, and fruits and recommends the best plants for space-saving vertical gardening. His grow-up,grow-down system also shows which ground-level plants make good companions underneath and alongside climbing plants. Best of all, many of Fell's greatest climbers and mutually beneficial plants are available in seed packets in every local garden center.With a mix of DIY and commercially available string supports, trellises, pergolas, raised beds, skyscraper gardens, and topsy-turvy planters, the vertical garden system reduces work, increases yields, makes harvesting easier, and can be practiced in spaces as small as a container or a one-by-four-foot strip. Vertical Gardening features 100 color photos of the author's own vertical methods and showcases beautiful, troublefree perennials, shrubs, vegetables, annuals, and fruit perfect for this new, rewarding way to garden.

One-Straw Revolutionary: The Philosophy and Work of Masanobu Fukuoka


Larry Korn - 2015
    Mr. Fukuoka is perhaps most known for his bestselling book The One-Straw Revolution (1978), a manifesto on the importance of no-till agriculture, which was at the time of publication a radical challenge to the global systems that supply the world's food, and still inspires readers today. Larry Korn, who apprenticed with Mr. Fukuoka in Japan at the time, translated the manuscript and brought it to the United States, knowing it would change the conversation about food forever. The One-Straw Revolution, edited by Korn and Wendell Berry, was an immediate international success, and established Mr. Fukuoka as a leading voice in the fight against conventional industrial agriculture. In this new book, through his own personal narrative, Larry Korn distills his experience of more than thirty-five years of study with Mr. Fukuoka, living and working on his farm on Shikoku Island, and traveling with Mr. Fukuoka to the United States on two six-week visits. One-Straw Revolutionary is the first book to look deeply at natural farming and intimately discuss the philosophy and work of Mr. Fukuoka. In addition to giving his personal thoughts about natural farming, Korn broadens the discussion by pointing out natural farming's kinship with the ways of indigenous cultures and traditional Japanese farming. At the same time, he clearly distinguishes natural farming from other forms of agriculture, including scientific and organic agriculture and permaculture. Korn also clarifies commonly held misconceptions about natural farming in ways Western readers can readily understand. And he explains how natural farming can be used practically in areas other than agriculture, including personal growth and development. The book follows the author on his travels from one back-to-the-land commune to another in the countryside of 1970s Japan, a journey that eventually led him to Mr. Fukuoka's natural farm. Korn's description of his time there, as well as traveling with Mr. Fukuoka during his visits to the United States, offers a rare, inside look at Mr. Fukuoka's life. Readers will delight in this personal insight into one of the world's leading agricultural thinkers.