Fun on the Slinger family farm! Have you ever seen a cow pie? If you grew up on a farm, you've most certainly seen thousands--and probably stepped in a few! A cow pie is cow poop. And when cow pies dry out from days baking in the sun, they turn into cow chips, perfect for flinging, just like Frisbees.The Cow-Pie Chronicles follows 10-year-old Tim Slinger and his annoying little sister Dana as they grow up on their family dairy farm. Join Tim on his many crazy adventures--from teasing a bull to building forts in the hayloft--and learn about the realities of life on a farm, including the hard work required of Tim and Dana to take care of the land and their farm animals.
Thane Jordan reluctantly travels to England to settle his brother's estate only to find he's inherited much more than he could possibly have imagined. Lady Jemma Bryan has no desire to spend a single minute in Thane Jordan's insufferable presence much less live under the same roof with the handsome, arrogant American. Forced to choose between poverty or marriage to the man, she travels across an ocean and America to reach his ranch in Oregon.
The nature of persons is a perennial topic of debate in philosophy. This volume brings together metaphysical debates about the nature of human persons with related debates in philosophy of religion and theology. It explores idealist, dualist, and materialist views of persons.
Master the discovery skills that distinguish innovative entrepreneurs and executives from ordinary managers. In "The Innovator's DNA," the authors identify five capabilities demonstrated by the best innovators.
From farmer Joel Salatin's point of view, life in the 21st century just ain't normal. In FOLKS, THIS AIN'T NORMAL, he discusses how far removed we are from the simple, sustainable joy that comes from living close to the land and the people we love. Salatin has many thoughts on what normal is and shares practical and philosophical ideas for changing our lives in small ways that have big impact. Salatin, hailed by the New York Times as "Virginia's most multifaceted agrarian since Thomas Jefferson [and] the high priest of the pasture" and profiled in the Academy Award nominated documentary Food, Inc. and the bestselling book The Omnivore's Dilemma, understands what food should be: Wholesome, seasonal, raised naturally, procured locally, prepared lovingly, and eaten with a profound reverence for the circle of life. And his message doesn't stop there. From child-rearing, to creating quality family time, to respecting the environment, Salatin writes with a wicked sense of humor and true storyteller's knack for the revealing anecdote. Salatin's crucial message and distinctive voice--practical, provocative, scientific, and down-home philosophical in equal measure--make FOLKS, THIS AIN'T NORMAL a must-read book.
This playful title includes double page, beautiful photos of cows in their natural habitat. Early to transitional readers will enjoy the fun and fact-packed simple rhyming stories that flow in large type throughout the book. Supplementary text boxes provide additional information about cows at a higher reading level, perfect for guided readings with parents, teachers or more fluent readers. This entertaining and educational title also includes an animal sounds around the world section and glossary.
In his insightful new book, Holy Shit: Managing Manure to Save Mankind, contrary farmer Gene Logsdon provides the inside story of manure-our greatest, yet most misunderstood, natural resource. He begins by lamenting a modern society that not only throws away both animal and human manure-worth billions of dollars in fertilizer value-but that spends a staggering amount of money to do so. This wastefulness makes even less sense as the supply of mined or chemically synthesized fertilizers dwindles and their cost skyrockets. In fact, he argues, if we do not learn how to turn our manures into fertilizer to keep food production in line with increasing population, our civilization, like so many that went before it, will inevitably decline. With his trademark humor, his years of experience writing about both farming and waste management, and his uncanny eye for the small but important details, Logsdon artfully describes how to manage farm manure, pet manure and human manure to make fertilizer and humus. He covers the field, so to speak, discussing topics like: How to select the right pitchfork for the job and use it correctly How to operate a small manure spreader How to build a barn manure pack with farm animal manure How to compost cat and dog waste How to recycle toilet water for irrigation purposes, and How to get rid ourselves of our irrational paranoia about feces and urine. Gene Logsdon does not mince words. This fresh, fascinating and entertaining look at an earthy, but absolutely crucial subject, is a small gem and is destined to become a classic of our agricultural literature.
This memoir of the Casey family’s fate rises up from the coulees and frozen tundra of North Dakota during the Great Depression and The Dirty Thirties. Will the son, Michael, prevail over the stink and guts of slaughtering chickens, picking up cow pies for burning in the kitchen stove to can the chickens for winter food? There is child abuse from a teacher, Edna the Virgin, with a thick wooden ruler, a violent rape in a bunkhouse in the dark of night by a John Deere machinery salesman. His mother Margaret’s pathos comes from having to feed and care for too many children. Her Irish Catholic husband, Matt Casey, only a generation away from the Irish potato famine, supports his family with his wages as a janitor from the local public school in Parshall. Matt will not interfere with the cycle of fate by using birth control because it is a deadly mortal sin. He is a good man, drinks not a drop, but carries the curse of St. Patrick on his forehead. Michael becomes an altar boy and serves at an infant’s funeral on the bleak Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, where the mother’s keening for her baby still echoes in his developing conscience. The prairie wind howls, and he hopes there is a better way. Sisyphus never had it so good.
This step-by-step guide introduces the beginning mushroom cultivator to everything he needs to know, from sterile culture procedures to indoor bottle gardens to indoor/outdoor compost gardens. Ten chapters cover equipment, growing media, compost, small indoor quantities, starting cultures, and incubation. Black-and-white line drawings and half-tones complement the 16 full color photos taken by the author, founder of the mail order business Mushroom People.
The natural world is filled with diverse—not to mention quirky and odd—animal behaviors. Consider the male praying mantis that continues to mate after being beheaded; the spiders, insects, and birds that offer gifts of food in return for sex; the male hip-pocket frog that carries his own tadpoles; the baby spiders that dine on their mother; the beetle that craves excrement; or the starfish that sheds an arm or two to escape a predator's grasp. Headless Males Make Great Lovers and Other Unusual Natural Histories celebrates the extraordinary world of animals with essays on curious creatures and their amazing behaviors. In five thematic chapters, Marty Crump—a tropical field biologist well known for her work with the reproductive behavior of amphibians—examines the bizarre conduct of animals as they mate, parent, feed, defend themselves, and communicate. Crump's enthusiasm for the unusual behaviors she describes-from sex change and free love in sponges to aphrodisiac concoctions in bats-is visible on every page, thanks to her skilled storytelling, which makes even sea slugs, dung beetles, ticks, and tapeworms fascinating and appealing. Steeped in biology, Headless Males Make Great Lovers points out that diverse and unrelated animals often share seemingly bizarre behaviors—evidence, Crump argues, that these natural histories, though outwardly weird, are successful ways of living. Illustrated throughout, and filled with vignettes of personal and scientific interest, Headless Males Make Great Lovers will enchant the general reader with its tales of blood-squirting horned lizards and intestine-ejecting sea cucumbers—all in the service of a greater appreciation of the diversity of the natural histories of animals.
