The Urban Farmer

The Urban Farmer

Author: Curtis Allen Stone

Publisher: New Society Publishers

Published: 2015-12-14

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 1771421916

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There are twenty million acres of lawns in North America. In their current form, these unproductive expanses of grass represent a significant financial and environmental cost. However, viewed through a different lens, they can also be seen as a tremendous source of opportunity. Access to land is a major barrier for many people who want to enter the agricultural sector, and urban and suburban yards have huge potential for would-be farmers wanting to become part of this growing movement. The Urban Farmer is a comprehensive, hands-on, practical manual to help you learn the techniques and business strategies you need to make a good living growing high-yield, high-value crops right in your own backyard (or someone else's). Major benefits include: Low capital investment and overhead costs Reduced need for expensive infrastructure Easy access to markets Growing food in the city means that fresh crops may travel only a few blocks from field to table, making this innovative approach the next logical step in the local food movement. Based on a scalable, easily reproduced business model, The Urban Farmer is your complete guide to minimizing risk and maximizing profit by using intensive production in small leased or borrowed spaces. Curtis Stone is the owner/operator of Green City Acres, a commercial urban farm growing vegetables for farmers markets, restaurants, and retail outlets. During his slower months, Curtis works as a public speaker, teacher, and consultant, sharing his story to inspire a new generation of farmers.


The Gardeners’ World Almanac

The Gardeners’ World Almanac

Author: Gardeners' World Magazine

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2021-09-09

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 147353304X

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The team at Gardeners' World bring you the ultimate guide to your gardening year, from planning and planting to troubleshooting tips and gardening discovery. Organised by month, this book includes lists, timetables, step-by-step guidance and expert advice for year-round gardening, as well as an informative guide on what to plant when and projects for every season. Complemented by beautiful hand-drawn illustrations and tips from your favourite gardening personalities, The Gardeners' World Almanac will help you make your garden look its very best throughout the year.


The New American Landscape

The New American Landscape

Author: Thomas Christopher

Publisher: Timber Press

Published: 2011-04-20

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 1604691867

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Gardeners are the front line of defense in our struggle to tackle the problems of global warming, loss of habitat, water shortages, and shrinking biodiversity. In The New American Landscape, author and editor Thomas Christopher brings together the best thinkers on the topic of gardening sustainably, and asks them to describe the future of the sustainable landscape. The discussion unfolds from there, and what results is a collective vision as eloquent as it is diverse. The New American Landscape offers designers a roadmap to a beautiful garden that improves, not degrades the environment. It’s a provocative manifesto about the important role gardens play in creating a more sustainable future that no professional garden designer can afford to miss. John Greenlee and Neil Diboll on the new American meadow garden Rick Darke on balancing natives and exotics in the garden Doug Tallamy on landscapes that welcome wildlife Eric Toensmeier on the sustainable edible garden David Wolfe on gardening sustainable with a changing climate Elaine Ingham on managing soil health David Deardorff and Kathryn Wadsworth on sustainable pest solutions Ed Snodgrass and Linda McIntyre on green roofs in the sustainable residential landscape Thomas Christopher on waterwise gardens Toby Hemenway on whole system garden design The Sustainable Site Initiative on the managing the home landscape as a sustainable site


The Market Gardener

The Market Gardener

Author: Jean-Martin Fortier

Publisher: New Society Publisher

Published: 2014-03-01

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 1550925555

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Grow better not bigger with proven low-tech, human-scale, biointensive farming methods Making a living wage farming without big capital outlay or acreages may be closer than you think. Growing on just 1.5 acres, Jean-Martin and Maude-Helene feed more than 200 families through their thriving CSA and seasonal market stands. The secret of their success is the low-tech, high-yield production methods they've developed by focusing on growing better rather than growing bigger, making their operation more lucrative and viable in the process. The Market Gardener is a compendium of proven horticultural techniques and innovative growing methods. This complete guide is packed with practical information on: Setting-up a micro-farm by designing biologically intensive cropping systems, all with negligible capital outlay; Farming without a tractor and minimizing fossil fuel inputs through the use of the best hand tools, appropriate machinery and minimum tillage practices; Growing mixed vegetables systematically with attention to weed and pest management, crop yields, harvest periods and pricing approaches. Inspired by the French intensive tradition of maraichage and by iconic American vegetable grower Eliot Coleman, author and farmer Jean-Martin shows by example how to start a market garden and make it both very productive and profitable.


The Resilient Gardener

The Resilient Gardener

Author: Carol Deppe

Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing

Published: 2010-10-05

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 1603583157

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Scientist/gardener Carol Deppe combines her passion for organic gardening with newly emerging scientific information from many fields — resilience science, climatology, climate change, ecology, anthropology, paleontology, sustainable agriculture, nutrition, health, and medicine. In the last half of The Resilient Gardener, Deppe extends and illustrates these principles with detailed information about growing and using five key crops: potatoes, corn, beans, squash, and eggs. In this book you’ll learn how to: •Garden in an era of unpredictable weather and climate change •Grow, store, and use more of your own staple crops •Garden efficiently and comfortably (even if you have a bad back) •Grow, store, and cook different varieties of potatoes and save your own potato seed •Grow the right varieties of corn to make your own gourmet-quality fast-cooking polenta, cornbread, parched corn, corn cakes, pancakes and even savory corn gravy •Make whole-grain, corn-based breads and cakes using the author’s original gluten-free recipes involving no other grains, artificial binders, or dairy products •Grow and use popbeans and other grain legumes •Grow, store, and use summer, winter, and drying squash •Keep a home laying flock of ducks or chickens; integrate them with your gardening, and grow most of their feed. The Resilient Gardener is both a conceptual and a hands-on organic gardening book, and is suitable for vegetable gardeners at all levels of experience. Resilience here is broadly conceived and encompasses a full range of problems, from personal hard times such as injuries, family crises, financial problems, health problems, and special dietary needs (gluten intolerance, food allergies, carbohydrate sensitivity, and a need for weight control) to serious regional and global disasters and climate change. It is a supremely optimistic as well as realistic book about how resilient gardeners and their vegetable gardens can flourish even in challenging times and help their communities to survive and thrive through everything that comes their way — from tomorrow through the next thousand years. Organic gardening, vegetable gardening, self-sufficiency, subsistence gardening, gluten-free living.


Gardening for Everyone

Gardening for Everyone

Author: Julia Watkins

Publisher: Hachette UK

Published: 2022-03-08

Total Pages: 410

ISBN-13: 147214693X

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Gardening for Everyone is a sustainable guide to growing vegetables in five simple steps: planning, building, planting, tending and harvesting. With the same wisdom and stunning aesthetic as Simply Living Well, Julia's beautiful new book is a guide to creating and growing a garden simply and sustainably with profiles of essential vegetables and herbs, ecological tips, and fun and creative projects. Growing food in your backyard (or even on a porch or windowsill!) is one of the simplest and most rewarding ways to nourish yourself, be self-sufficient and connect with nature in a hands-on way. Here sustainability expert Julia Watkins shares everything you need to know to grow your own vegetables, fruits and herbs, as well as wildflowers and other beneficial companion plants. The book covers all the nuts and bolts of creating and caring for your garden - planning, building, planting, tending and harvesting - followed by a deeper dive into the plants themselves: demystifying annuals vs. perennials, cold-weather vs. warm-weather veggies, and profiles of favorite crops. Throughout, Julia offers tips for creating an eco-friendly and sustainable garden (such as vermicomposting, no-till 'lasagna' gardening, and attracting pollinators), plus some fun and unexpected hands-on projects like how to build a bean teepee, make wildflower seed paper, and enjoy refreshing herbal lemonade ice pops.


Gardening for the Future of the Earth

Gardening for the Future of the Earth

Author: Howard-Yana Shapiro

Publisher: Bantam

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780553375336

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"The key to the future of the world lies in gardening." So begins this inspiring book from the pioneering organic seed company Seeds of Change, which has introduced millions of gardeners to a cornucopia of luscious, unusual fruits and vegetables--all bred by methods that preserve the irreplaceable resources of water, soil, and genetic diversity for future generations. Gardening for the Future of the Earth brings together for the first time the techniques of the great pioneers of organic gardening, creating a program that can easily be used by home gardeners. Whether you have a sunny windowsill, a backyard plot, or a country garden, you can apply the principles of leading-edge systems such as permaculture, biointensive, biodynamic, and kinship gardening. The results? More beautiful flowers, vegetables, and fruits than you would have believed possible--and deeper satisfaction for you, the gardener, because you will be working in harmony with nature. Here is expert advice from the masters on: Garden planning and design that saves work and water Composting and other methods to build soil without chemical fertilizers Planting and pruning techniques for dramatically increased yields The pleasures of seed saving--and even breeding your own varieties Exploring the richness of biodiversity through kinship gardening And much more Illustrated with color photographs that bring the techniques to life, this is both a practical garden companion and essential reading for anyone interested in preserving the precious resources of our home planet. One individual with a digging fork and a small garden can make a difference. So begins this inspiring bookfrom the pioneering organic seed company, Seeds of Change, which now reaches more than one million households annually with its catalog of luscious, unusual fruits and vegetables--all bred by methods that preserve the irreplaceable resources of water, soil, and genetic diversity for future generations. The authors combine the major techniques of organic gardening--including Permaculture, Biointensive, Biodynamic, and Kinship systems--to create a program that can easilybe used by home gardeners. We learn from the masters: among others, Bill Mollison on garden planning and design; John Jeavons on soil building and planting; Alan Kapuler and Carol Deppe on seed saving and do-it-yourself plant breeding; and Masanobu Fukuoka on growing without pesticides or fertilizers. Illustrated with beautiful four-color photographs and diagrams, this is both a practical garden companion and essential reading for anyone interested in building a sustainable future. -->


The Gardener's Garden

The Gardener's Garden

Author:

Publisher: Phaidon Press

Published: 2020-01-15

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781838660260

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The inspirational resource for garden designers and garden-lovers - now available in a compelling compact format. The ultimate garden book - both a collection of gardens from around the world and a resource for those seeking inspiration on garden design and planting. Featuring over 250 permanent gardens by leading garden designers, horticulturalists and landscape architects, from the 14th century to the present day, and covering all key types and styles of garden, this well-illustrated compendium combines images, text, key information and captions for each of the featured gardens, appealing to both amateur and professional gardeners, as well as garden designers.