The Living Soil Handbook
The Living Soil Handbook

Author: Jesse Frost

Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing

Published: 2021-07-20

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1645020274

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Principles and farm-tested practices for no-till market gardening--for healthier, more productive soil! From the host of the popular The No-Till Market Garden Podcast—heard around the world with nearly one million downloads! Discovering how to meet the soil’s needs is the key task for every market gardener. In this comprehensive guide, Farmer Jesse Frost shares all he has learned through experience and experimentation with no-till practices on his home farm in Kentucky and from interviews and visits with highly successful market gardeners in his role as host of The No-Till Market Garden Podcast. The Living Soil Handbook is centered around the three basic principles of no-till market gardening: Disturb the soil as little as possible Keep it covered as much as possible Keep it planted as much as possible. Farmer Jesse then guides readers in applying those principles to their own garden environment, with their own materials, to meet their own goals. Beginning with an exploration of the importance of photosynthesis to living soil, Jesse provides in-depth information on: Turning over beds Using compost and mulch Path management Incorporating biology, maintaining fertility Cover cropping Diversifying plantings through intercropping Production methods for seven major crops Throughout, the book emphasizes practical information on all the best tools and practices for growers who want to build their livelihood around maximizing the health of their soil. Farmer Jesse reminds growers that “as possible” is the mantra for protecting the living soil: disturb the soil as little as you possibly can in your context. He does not believe that growers should anguish over what does and does not qualify as “no-till.” If you are using a tool to promote soil life and biology, that’s the goal. Jesse’s goal with The Living Soil Handbook is to provide a comprehensive set of options, materials, and field-tested practices to inspire growers to design a soil-nurturing no-till system in their unique garden or farm ecosystem. "[A] practical, informative debut. . . .Gardeners interested in sustainable agriculture will find this a great place to start."—Publishers Weekly "Frost offers a comprehensive, science-based, sympathetic, wholly practical guide to soil building, that most critical factor in vegetable gardening for market growers and home gardeners alike. A gift to any vegetable plot that will keep on giving."—Booklist (starred review)

Eco-logical Farming Handbook
Eco-logical Farming Handbook

Author: Dr Wendy Seabrook

Publisher: Learning from Nature

Published: 1918-10

Total Pages: 140

ISBN-13: 0646987143

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Are you finding it hard to earn a decent income? You are not alone… Growing for a local farmer's market or wholesalers and supermarkets makes no difference; costs are escalating, and climate change is making it harder to produce a decent income. The solutions might surprise you. It's repairing the ecosystems underpinning your production systems to benefit from Nature's FREE ecological services. You'll save money on fertilisers, pest controls and other inputs without sacrificing yields. Build your defences against climate change, remove carbon from the atmosphere, and have the joy of bringing Nature back to your farm. It doesn't matter whether you have a big or small farm, what you produce, or your climate – the ecological principles are the same! Market gardeners, orchardists, dairy farmers, and grain and livestock producers benefit from this eco-logical approach to regenerative agriculture. With this Handbook, you'll confidently choose the best regenerative practices for your growing conditions and production systems. Are you ready to try this eco-logical way to grow?

Manage Weeds on Your Farm
Manage Weeds on Your Farm

Author: Charles L. Mohler

Publisher:

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 9781888626209

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Manage Weeds on Your Farm: A Guide to Ecological Strategies provides you with in-depth information about dozens of agricultural weeds found throughout the country and the best ways of managing them. In Part One, the book begins with a general discussion of weeds: their biology, behavior and the characteristics that influence how to best control their populations. It then describes the strengths and limitations of the most common cultural management practices, physical practices and cultivation tools. Part Two is a reference section that describes the identification, ecology and management of 63 of the most common and difficult-to-control weed species found in the United States.

Manage Insects on Your Farm
Manage Insects on Your Farm

Author: Miguel A. Altieri

Publisher:

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 119

ISBN-13: 9781888626100

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While every farming system is unique, the principles of ecological pest management apply universally. Manage Insects on Your Farm highlights ecological strategies that improve your farms natural defenses and encourage beneficial insects to attack your worst pests. Learn about the principles of ecologically based pest management and the strategies of farmers around the world to address insect problems. Minimize insect damage with wise soil management and identify beneficial insects to put these good bugs to work for you.Examples of successful pest management strategies sprinkled throughout the book will stimulate your imagination to address insect problems and develop a more complex, more diverse ecosystem on your farm.

Whole-Farm Planning
Whole-Farm Planning

Author: Elizabeth Henderson

Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing

Published: 2011-04-15

Total Pages: 106

ISBN-13: 1603583564

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Why do whole-farming planning? What makes it more effective than other ways of managing farms? The answers to these questions lie in a quiet rediscovery through science that is fundamentally changing the way modern humans see and must manage the world. The goal of this whole-farm planning manual is to reintroduce a macroscopic method of making and testing decisions on the farm and in larger wholes in which we live. This NOFA guide has information on: Lessons from systems science (including tools) Assessing the whole farm (what are we managing? the people, physical and mental assets, money) Understanding the farm ecosystems (the water and mineral cycles, dynamics of the biological community, the energy flow) Choosing appropriate tools Making a framework to test decisions Including examples and statements from practicing farmers, and more holistic resources and alternative business models.

Routledge Handbook of Sustainable and Regenerative Food Systems
Routledge Handbook of Sustainable and Regenerative Food Systems

Author: Jessica Duncan

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-08-13

Total Pages: 494

ISBN-13: 0429882785

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This handbook includes contributions from established and emerging scholars from around the world and draws on multiple approaches and subjects to explore the socio-economic, cultural, ecological, institutional, legal, and policy aspects of regenerative food practices. The future of food is uncertain. We are facing an overwhelming number of interconnected and complex challenges related to the ways we grow, distribute, access, eat, and dispose of food. Yet, there are stories of hope and opportunities for radical change towards food systems that enhance the ability of living things to co-evolve. Given this, activities and imaginaries looking to improve, rather than just sustain, communities and ecosystems are needed, as are fresh perspectives and new terminology. The Routledge Handbook of Sustainable and Regenerative Food Systems addresses this need. The chapters cover diverse practices, geographies, scales, and entry-points. They focus not only on the core requirements to deliver sustainable agriculture and food supply, but go beyond this to think about how these can also actively participate with social-ecological systems. The book is presented in an accessible way, with reflection questions meant to spark discussion and debate on how to transition to safe, just, and healthy food systems. Taken together, the chapters in this handbook highlight the consequences of current food practices and showcase the multiple ways that people are doing food differently. The Routledge Handbook of Sustainable and Regenerative Food Systems is essential reading for students and scholars interested in food systems, governance and practices, agroecology, rural sociology, and socio-environmental studies.

Ecologically Based Pest Management
Ecologically Based Pest Management

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1996-03-21

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 030917578X

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Widespread use of broad-spectrum chemical pesticides has revolutionized pest management. But there is growing concern about environmental contamination and human health risksâ€"and continuing frustration over the ability of pests to develop resistance to pesticides. In Ecologically Based Pest Management, an expert committee advocates the sweeping adoption of ecologically based pest management (EBPM) that promotes both agricultural productivity and a balanced ecosystem. This volume offers a vision and strategies for creating a solid, comprehensive knowledge base to support a pest management system that incorporates ecosystem processes supplemented by a continuum of inputsâ€"biological organisms, products, cultivars, and cultural controls. The result will be safe, profitable, and durable pest management strategies. The book evaluates the feasibility of EBPM and examines how best to move beyond optimal examples into the mainstream of agriculture. The committee stresses the need for information, identifies research priorities in the biological as well as socioeconomic realm, and suggests institutional structures for a multidisciplinary research effort. Ecologically Based Pest Management addresses risk assessment, risk management, and public oversight of EBPM. The volume also overviews the history of pest managementâ€"from the use of sulfur compounds in 1000 B.C. to the emergence of transgenic technology. Ecologically Based Pest Management will be vitally important to the agrichemical industry; policymakers, regulators, and scientists in agriculture and forestry; biologists, researchers, and environmental advocates; and interested growers.

The Permaculture Handbook
The Permaculture Handbook

Author: Peter Bane

Publisher: New Society Publishers

Published: 2012-06-26

Total Pages: 499

ISBN-13: 0865716668

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A step-by-step guide to creating resilient and prosperous households introduces permaculture as a practical way to live well with less money, convert waste into wealth, and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Sustainable Food Production
Sustainable Food Production

Author: Shahid Naeem

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2021-11-02

Total Pages: 109

ISBN-13: 0231548443

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Industrial agriculture is responsible for widespread environmental degradation and undermines the pursuit of human well-being. With a projected global population of 10 billion by 2050, it is urgent for humanity to achieve a more sustainable approach to farming and food systems. This concise text offers an overview of the key issues in sustainable food production for all readers interested in the ecology and environmental impacts of agriculture. It details the ecological foundations of farming and food systems, showing how knowledge from the natural and social sciences can be used to create sustainable alternatives to the industrial production methods used today. Beginning with a discussion of the role of agriculture in human development, the primer examines how twentieth-century farming methods are environmentally and socially unsustainable, contributing to global change and perpetuating inequalities. The authors explain the principles of environmental sustainability and explore how these principles can be put into practice in agrifood systems. They emphasize the importance of human well-being and insist on the centrality of social and environmental equity and justice. Sustainable Food Production is a compelling guide to how we can improve our ability to feed each other today and preserve the ability of our planet to do so tomorrow. Appropriate for a range of courses in the natural and social sciences, it provides a comprehensive yet accessible framework for achieving agricultural sustainability in the Anthropocene.

Ecological Engineering for Pest Management
Ecological Engineering for Pest Management

Author: Geoff M Gurr

Publisher: CSIRO PUBLISHING

Published: 2004-08-03

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 0643100075

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Ecological engineering is about manipulating farm habitats, making them less favourable for pests and more attractive to beneficial insects. Though they have received far less research attention and funding, ecological approaches may be safer and more sustainable than their controversial cousin, genetic engineering. This book brings together contributions from international workers leading the fast moving field of habitat manipulation, reviewing the field and paving the way towards the development and application of new pest management approaches. Chapters explore the frontiers of ecological engineering methods including molecular approaches, high tech marking and remote sensing. They also review the theoretical aspects of this field and how ecological engineering may interact with genetic engineering. The technologies presented offer opportunities to reduce crop losses to insects while reducing the use of pesticides and providing potentially valuable habitat for wildlife conservation. With contributions from the USA, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya and Israel, this book provides comprehensive coverage of international progress towards sustainable pest management.