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This is a practical and engaging guide to transforming an ordinary backyard into a productive farm.

Homesteading is experiencing a revival among both rural and urban residents who want to get back to basics and live closer to the land. With this book, homeowners will obtain both inspiration and instruction for transforming their grassy yard into a lush farm that can produce all the food they need.

The author is an experienced woodworker and homesteader who shows how to plan and design a backyard farm. He offers expert advice for making all of the essential hard-working structures that are needed to sustain small-scale agriculture.

Step-by-step instructions are provided for 10 projects including green houses, beehives, rabbit hutches, raised beds, potting sheds, trellises, fences, and more. Readers learn how to create an irrigation system, harvest rainwater, and keep their farms environmentally sound. Each detailed plan is accompanied by the author's clear, instructive drawings.

More than just a manual, the book also offers entertaining and enlightening interviews with both experts and “average Joe” farmers. We learn what motivates them to become backyard farmers, the lessons that they have to share, and maybe even a couple of funny stories along the way.

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Bird-Friendly Nest Boxes and Feeders features 12 simple and classic designs for building traditional birdhouses and feeders, plus valuable insights on creating the perfect backyard bird environment. More than just a set of plans, it covers how to attract the right kinds of birds and ensure that they will keep coming back.

This book includes complete plans for making basic, practical bird-welcoming structures, accompanied by patterns, illustrations and full color photographs. Each project is perfect for individuals striving to create the most natural bird environment possible. Woodworkers from beginner to expert will find projects appropriate for their skill level.

This book provides pages of valuable information for keeping feathered visitors happy. From understanding the proper dimensions for a birdhouse, to choosing the right seed for attracting desired species, to learning how to keep squirrels away, the tips and tricks found here will help guide bird lovers to create a backyard oasis. Readers will get valuable instructions on mounting techniques, types of paint to use, and cleaning tips, plus environmental insights and interesting avian trivia. This book stands out from ordinary birdhouse titles with technical detail on subjects like cavity size, proper hole size, and the ideal distance from hole to cavity floor.

The twelve plans in this book ordinarily sell for $12.99 each online, a $130 value. Each birdhouse project has been shop-tested by the author's customers, and has proven habitable by the many birds around his Minnesota home.

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MOTHER EARTH NEWS and GRIT come together to bring you 600 pages of expert advice, recipes, do-it-yourself projects and more information on living a self-sufficient life. This set covers everything from organic gardening to bees and honey, from backyard rabbits to self-reliance and country skills. The do-it-yourself projects include energy-saving household updates as well as instructions for constructing chicken coops, outdoor bread ovens and permanent garden beds. Follow recipes for baking sourdough bread, preparing rabbit meat, fixing delicious egg dishes, and cooking with honey. Discover how to save money with energy-saving tips for your home, and how to cut your food bills in half by growing your own food right in your own backyard.

This set includes:
MOTHER EARTH NEWS Guide to Organic Gardening, 4th Edition
This glossy-paged guide is perfect for beginners or expert gardeners. It covers everything from perennial vegetables to choosing a greenhouse, from organic pest control to making compost. Read how poultry is the secret weapon for organic pest control. Learn how to make the best homemade tomato cages. Or plan out your kitchen garden with four delightful herb gardens plans.

MOTHER EARTH NEWS Guide to Self-Reliance and Country Skills, 2nd Edition
With more than 20 articles, this guide has hundreds of great ideas for self-reliant living. From preserving food to small-space gardening, from backyard chickens to making your own yogurt and cheese, this special guide has a wide variety of information that will help you lead a sustainable life.

GRIT Guide to Homemade Bread, 3rd Edition
Bread, bagels, pretzels, pizza crust, cookies and more! All of these delicious homemade creations can be found in this Guide to Homemade Bread. This guide includes more than 53 keys to successful bread making, outdoor bread oven plans, fail-proof no-knead breads, top bread machines tips and more.

GRIT Guide to Backyard Rabbits, 2nd Edition
You'll find more than 25 keys to a successful rabbit-raising enterprise in this special Barnyard Series guide. Learn about raising rabbits for meat and breeding stock. Build rabbit homes and learn what equipment you'll need. Read about a basic bunny diet that will keep them happy and healthy, and also discover so much more.

GRIT Guide to Backyard Chickens, 4th Edition
Calling all chicken enthusiasts! The fourth edition of this popular guide is overflowing with expert advice, key facts and easy chicken coop plans that will have both beginner and seasoned chicken owners crowing for joy! Read how to build a broiler coop on a shoestring budget. Build the perfect chicken tractor. Learn which heritage hens are the best for laying eggs. Follow the wide variety of delicious chicken recipes this book has to offer.

GRIT Guide to Backyard Bees and Honey, 3rd Edition
This treasure-trove of bee knowledge has more than 75 ways to get more from your bees. Cover-to-cover, this guide includes tips on saving money while building your own beehive or honey extractor with simple materials available at your local hardware store. Read how to use a top-bar hive, a less expensive method to raising bees that will pollinate your crops and provide tasty honey fresh from the comb.

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Beekeeping equipment is expensive, but it's easy to make your own! Tony Pisano's step-by-step illustrated instructions show you how to build everything you need, including hive bodies, supers, covers, hive stands, frames, swarm catchers, feeders, and more. You can choose among different hive styles, and many of the 35 projects can be made using hand tools.

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Want the best-looking yard in your neighborhood? Or a sprawling green lawn that welcomes visitors as they make their way up your driveway? With the help of the GRIT Guide to Field and Lawn Care you'll discover how to grow and maintain the sharpest lawn, as well as tips for safe mowing, advice for rejuvenating your lawn, and so much more.

Packed from cover to cover with expertise on field and lawn care, this helpful guide can assist you as you decide which mower will work best for your yard. And whether you need an economical pushmower or a time-saving zero turn machine, you'll find advice on routine maintenance that will keep your mower or garden tractor on track all summer long. Read 10 ways to sustainably manage the unwanted weeds that sprout up every year. Master the ins and outs of lawn maintenance and keep your yard looking its best all summer. Plus, learn how to lawn stripe your yard: Not only will it look professionally mowed, but fertilizing and overseeding will be that much easier!

Other articles include:

• Rules of Engagement: Before operating any mower, it's imperative to wrap your mind around basic mowing safety.
• (Electric) Wave of the Future: Mowers and bots that will cut your grass, without gas.
• Mowing the Old-Fashioned Way: Use a scythe to make hay and trim your lawn.
• Mowing and More with your ATV: Save money by turning your all-terrain vehicle into a top hand.
• All the Trimmings: From string trimmers and edgers to the old reliable ax, here are all the tools you'll need to keep your landscape neat and tidy.

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Build a greenhouse to grow plants or to store your garden tools. This 13-by-13-foot freestanding structure is the answer to your gardening and storage needs. It can be used as a greenhouse, bio-shell or storage shed. This plan includes seven pages of detailed schematic blueprints; however, it does not include step-by-step instructions.

DISCLAIMER

It is your responsibility to make sure that any project you undertake is safe, effective and legal for your situation. All Ogden Publications blueprints are offered AS IS for information and entertainment purposes only. No warranties are expressed or implied. By using this information or this blueprint you agree to hold Ogden Publications harmless from any damages or injuries of any kind that might result from errors, omissions or other causes.

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You can build this heavy-duty cart to do all kinds of jobs around the house and yard. Made from plywood and tempered hardboard, this DIY project uses salvaged bicycle wheels and other free or inexpensive parts for the construction of the utility cart. This blueprint includes step-by-step assembly, dimensional drawings, photos and a materials list.

DISCLAIMER

It is your responsibility to make sure that any project you undertake is safe, effective and legal for your situation. All Ogden Publications blueprints are offered AS IS for information and entertainment purposes only. No warranties are expressed or implied. By using this information or this blueprint you agree to hold Ogden Publications harmless from any damages or injuries of any kind that might result from errors, omissions or other causes.