New Order: A Decluttering Handbook for Creative Folks (and Everyone Else)


Fay Wolf - 2016
    Here, Wolf outlines her basic rules for saying goodbye to the stuff crowding up your space and hello to new habits that free you up for the things you’re passionate about. And it can all be done in as little as a few minutes a day. Learn how to:• create productive to-do lists• stem the flood of paper • downsize digital clutter and social media • arrange your space to spark creative juices • curb your desire to accumulate • collaborate and connect with others for support • embrace imperfection• keep up the momentumWolf also shares her favorite productivity apps and resources for donating your many, many items. From the outer clutter of your home to the inner clutter of your chatty mind, this handbook will help you make room for artistic inspiration and invite you to treat yourself to less.

Clean House Clean Planet


Karen Logan - 1997
    Karen Logan, an environmentalist with years of experience developing and selling her own line of eco-friendly cleaning products, reveals the secret of using simple, ordinary ingredients—like baking soda, vinegar, soap, lemon juice, and salt—to make safe, inexpensive cleaners.For instance, did you know: -Olive oil is not only good as a salad dressing, but also as a furniture polish. -Plain club soda works great as a window cleaner. -You can make your copper-bottomed pots sparkle with just lemon juice and salt. -Ordinary liquid soap and water will clean up those ants marching through your kitchen.

Growing Perennial Foods: A Field Guide to Raising Resilient Herbs, Fruits, and Vegetables


Acadia Tucker - 2019
    Sturdy and deep-rooted, perennials can weather climate extremes more easily than annuals. They can thrive without chemical fertilizers and pesticides. And they don’t need as much water, either. These long-lived plants also help build healthy soil, turning the very ground we stand on into a carbon sponge.In this book, Tucker lays the groundwork for tending an organic, sustainable garden. She includes practical growing guides for 34 popular perennials, among them, basil, blueberries, grapes, strawberries, artichokes, asparagus, garlic, radicchio, spinach, and sweet potatoes, and wraps in a recipe for each of the plants profiled. Growing Perennial Foods is for gardeners who want more resilient plants. It’s for people who want to do something about climate change and the environment. It’s for anyone who has ever wanted to grow food, and is ready to begin.

The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner: What to Do & When to Do It in the Garden, Orchard, Barn, Pasture & Equipment Shed


Ann Larkin Hansen - 2017
    Author Ann Larkin Hansen sets the priorities for each area of the farm, including the barn, garden, orchard, field, pasture, and woodlot. For every critical turn of the year (12 in all), Hansen provides an at-a-glance to-do list along with tips and a more in-depth discussion of key topics for the season. Easy-reference charts, checklists, and record-keeping sections help you keep track of it all.

Real Simple 869 New Uses for Old Things: An Encyclopedia of Innovative Ideas for Everyday Items


Real Simple - 2010
    It showcases how to repurpose everyday items in clever ways. These ideas appeal to readers because they're a) economical, b) green, and c) surprising.Over the past decade, Real Simple has developed 800-plus ideas for all sorts of common items, from accordion files to zippered plastic bags. It seems fitting that in honor of their ten-year anniversary, they'd give readers the opportunity to enjoy these ideas in one convenient place.

Pure Soapmaking: How to Create Nourishing, Natural Skin Care Soaps


Anne-Marie Faiola - 2016
    And with the help of author Anne-Marie Faiola, it's easy to make luscious, all-natural soaps right in your own kitchen. This collection of 32 recipes ranges from simple castile bars to intricate swirls, embeds, and marbled and layered looks. Begin with a combination of skin-nourishing oils and then add blueberry puree, dandelion-infused water, almond milk, coffee grounds, mango and avocado butters, black tea, or other delicious ingredients -- and then scent your soap with pure essential oils. Step-by-step photography guides you through every stage of cold-process soapmaking.

Down to Earth


Rhonda Hetzel - 2012
    It crept up on me using the smallest of steps and didn't reveal its true beauty and real power until I was totally hooked. I was searching for a way to live well while spending very little money. What I found was a way of life that also gave me independence, opportunity and freedom.Rhonda Hetzel gently encourages readers to find the pleasure and meaning in a simpler life, sharing all the practical information she has gathered on her own journey. Whether you want to learn how to grow tomatoes, bake bread, make your own soap and preserve fruit, or just be inspired to slow down and live more sustainably, Down to Earth will be your guide.

The Complete Book of Herbs: A Practical Guide to Growing and Using Herbs


Lesley Bremness - 1988
    Revealing the enormous potential of herbs, this sourcebook includes information on planting, growing, and harvesting herbs, as well as the main uses of herbs. It also offers an exhaustive identification guide, recipes, ideas for gifts, and much more.

Laundry Love: Finding Joy in a Common Chore


Patric Richardson - 2021
    But to Patric Richardson, laundry isn't just fun—it's a way of life. After years of running Laundry Camp at the Mall of America for thousands of eager learners, he's ready to share his tips, tricks, and hacks—bringing surprise to this commonly dreaded chore.Facing expensive dry cleaning bills? You'll learn how to wash everything—yes everything—at home. And those basically clean but smelly clothes? Richardson has a secret for freshening those too (hint: it involves vodka, not soap). Richardson’s handy advice shows us how to save time and money (and the planet!) with our laundry—and he intersperses it all with a healthy dose of humor, real-life laundry stories, and lessons from his Appalachian upbringing and career in fashion.

The Wildlife-Friendly Vegetable Gardener: How to Grow Food in Harmony with Nature


Tammi Hartung - 2013
    You’ll be amazed at how a variety of natural pollinators, pest predators, and soil enrichers can promote vibrant and healthy vegetables. Discover how a slug problem disappears once you’ve introduced a pond housing bullfrogs, how wasps can take care of tomato hornworms, and why skunks aren’t so bad after all. Learn how to garden with animals, rather than against them, and reap your most bountiful harvest yet.

In Winter's Kitchen


Beth Dooley - 2015
    But calls for a “food revolution” come most often from a region where the temperature rarely varies more than a few degrees. In the national conversation about developing a sustainable and equitable food tradition, the huge portion of our population who live where the soil freezes hard for months of the year feel like they're left out in the cold.In Winter’s Kitchen reveals how a food movement with deep roots in the Heartland—our first food co-ops, most productive farmland, and the most storied agricultural scientists hail from the region—isn't only thriving, it's presenting solutions that could feed a country, rather than just a smattering of neighborhoods and restaurants. Using the story of one thanksgiving meal, Dooley discovers that a locally-sourced winter diet is more than a possibility: it can be delicious.

The Hidden Life of Trees


Peter Wohlleben - 2015
    Much like human families, tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, and support them as they grow, sharing nutrients with those who are sick or struggling and creating an ecosystem that mitigates the impact of extremes of heat and cold for the whole group. As a result of such interactions, trees in a family or community are protected and can live to be very old. In contrast, solitary trees, like street kids, have a tough time of it and in most cases die much earlier than those in a group.Drawing on groundbreaking new discoveries, Wohlleben presents the science behind the secret and previously unknown life of trees and their communication abilities; he describes how these discoveries have informed his own practices in the forest around him. As he says, a happy forest is a healthy forest, and he believes that eco-friendly practices not only are economically sustainable but also benefit the health of our planet and the mental and physical health of all who live on Earth.

Fermented Vegetables: Creative Recipes for Fermenting 64 Vegetables & Herbs in Krauts, Kimchis, Brined Pickles, Chutneys, Relishes & Pastes


Kirsten K. Shockey - 2014
    Learn the basics of making kimchi, sauerkraut, and pickles, and then refine your technique as you expand your repertoire to include curried golden beets, pickled green coriander, and carrot kraut. With a variety of creative and healthy recipes, many of which can be made in batches as small as one pint, you’ll enjoy this fun and delicious way to preserve and eat your vegetables.

Food Grown Right, in Your Backyard: A Beginner's Guide to Growing Crops at Home


Colin McCrate - 2012
    In response to the rising interest in homegrown foods, the Seattle Urban Farm Co. builds vegetable gardens for everyone from busy families to restaurants. Along the way, Colin and Brad teach beginner growers from all walks of life the techniques of organic food production. In this full color, beautifully photographed guide, they prove that anyone can develop a "green thumb," as they show readers how to build a garden from the ground up, explain general garden basics, discuss the best types of crops to try, and much more, including:* Garden size and design for any setting (no matter how small!), including container gardens* Soil types, and watering and irrigation * Plant life 101, and profiles of recommended vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, and berries * Garden tools and time-saving rules * Crop planning, tips on what to do with the harvest, and a garden calendar to keep your garden growing year-roundQ&A material, profiles of other beginner gardeners, and step-by-step instructions all come together in this unique, friendly guide that was inspired by the kinds of questions Colin and Brad hear every day on the job with the Seattle Urban Farm Co.

It Starts with Food: Discover the Whole30 and Change Your Life in Unexpected Ways


Dallas Hartwig - 2012
    Your success story begins with "The Whole30," Dallas and Melissa Hartwig's powerful 30-day nutritional reset.Over the last three years, their underground Whole30 program has quietly led tens of thousands of people to weight loss, improved quality of life and a healthier relationship with food—accompanied by stunning improvements in sleep, energy levels, mood and self-esteem. More significantly, devotees of their program have reported the "magical" elimination of hundreds of lifestyle-related diseases and conditions.Now, Dallas and Melissa detail the theories behind the Whole30, summarizing the science in a simple, accessible manner. It Starts With Food will show you how certain foods may be having negative effects on how you look, feel and live—in ways that you'd never associate with your diet. More importantly, they outline their life-long strategy for Eating Good Food in one clear and detailed action plan designed to help you create a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, calm systemic inflammation and put an end to unhealthy cravings, habits, and relationships with food.Infused with their signature wit, tough love and common sense approach, It Starts With Food is based on the latest scientific research and real-life experience, and includes success stories, a shopping guide, a meal planning template, a 30-day meal plan with creative, delicious recipes, and much more.