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All animals must eat. But who eats who, and why, or why not? Because insects outnumber and collectively outweigh all other animals combined, they comprise the largest amount of animal food available for potential consumption. How do they avoid being eaten? From masterful disguises to physical and chemical lures and traps, predatory insects have devised ingenious and bizarre methods of finding food. Equally ingenious are the means of hiding, mimicry, escape, and defense waged by prospective prey in order to stay alive. This absorbing book demonstrates that the relationship between the eaten and the eater is a central—perhaps the central—aspect of what goes on in the community of organisms. By explaining the many ways in which insects avoid becoming a meal for a predator, and the ways in which predators evade their defensive strategies, Gilbert Waldbauer conveys an essential understanding of the unrelenting coevolutionary forces at work in the world around us.

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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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Celebrate the Earth Day Sale! Sale Price: $11.01. Enter code MMEEMD47 on the Order Review Page during the Check Out Process to receive your discount. Order now through April 22, 2013, to receive this great deal!

Permaculture is an important but often misunderstood method of growing food and building homes in a manner that works with nature, rather than against it, to create beautiful, healthy, and useful gardens. Blending ecology, organic agriculture, green home design, appropriate technology, and biology can be confusing and overwhelming, but The Ultimate Guide to Permaculture simplifies this vast field for practical application. This is a hands-on guide, taking the beginner through each step of the design process, so that anyone can apply permaculture principles to their own life. While the principles are simple, the in-depth topics cover every aspect of permaculture, including:

• Building green homes and passive solar design
• Growing edible plant communities and forest gardens
• Using no-till and natural farming methods
• Creating microclimates for extended growing seasons
• Raising livestock with ecological foraging techniques

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Mini farming describes a holistic approach to small-area farming that will show you how to produce 85 percent of an average family’s food on just a quarter acre—and earn $10,000 in cash annually while spending less than half the time that an ordinary job would require. Now expanding exponentially on his bestselling Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on ¼ Acre, Brett Markham gives you tips, tricks, and planning advice on how to make the most of your mini farm. New topics include:

• Soil and Fertility
• Tools and Techniques
• Planting Guides and Seeders
• Easy Trellising
• Weed Control Techniques
• Greater Food Self-Sufficiency
• Making Your Own Country Wines
• Making Your Own Vinegars
• Making Cheese at Home
• Cooking for Self-Sufficiency

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A complete guide to maintaining a healthy garden and yard the earth–friendly way

One of the rewards of organic gardening is developing a balanced ecosystem, in which plants naturally defend themselves against pests and diseases and where you'll seldom have to intervene. But if trouble does make its way into your garden, this comprehensive handbook will help you stop insect pests in their tracks and curb plan diseases at the first sign of an outbreak.

Featuring the most up–to–date science–based recommendations for keeping plants healthy and productive, The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Pest and Disease Control includes hundreds of organic techniques and products for dealing with garden problems. You'll learn how to decide whether you need to treat an infestation or outbreak, how to make choices among the numerous safe, natural options available, and how to use these home remedies and nontoxic control products and methods.

You'll love the quick–reference format, A–to–Z plant entries, and the complete descriptions of common and recently introduced pests and plant diseases included in this book. Discover the newest information on:

• Your Healthy Garden
• Symptoms and Solutions
• Identifying Pests and Diseases
• Organic Pest and Disease Management

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A companion-planting system for a beautiful, chemical-free vegetable garden.

Discover the secrets of a naturally pest-proof vegetable garden!

Let Master Gardener Sally Jean Cunningham show you how to keep pests and diseases at bay with her unique companion-gardening system. By planting special combinations of vegetables, flowers, and herbs, you can minimize pest and disease problems and create a high-yielding, beautiful garden!

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The essential guide to composting for all gardeners and enviromentally conscious people.

Composting is fast becoming a household word. Gardeners know it is the best way to feed the soil, while others look to composting as a way to dispose of grass clippings, autumn leaves, and tree trimmings. The Rodale Book of Composting offers:

• Easy-to-follow instructions for making and using compost
• Helpful tips for apartment dwellers, suburbanites, farmers and community leaders
• Ecologically sound solutions to growing waste disposal problems

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A greenhouse can be a garden's greatest asset: its nucleus and powerhouse. There are many ways of using it and a gardener can adopt one or all of them. In spring, you can start young plants from seed; raise tender perennials to fill gaps in the garden; give young vegetable plants a head start; sow early lettuce while the soil is too sticky to work outdoors. During spring and summer, you can raise greenhouse crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines and chillis. You'll be able to overwinter tender plants such as bananas and cannas. And the greenhouse can be a showcase full of beautiful, unusual and exotic plants.

Trained at Kew and for many years Glasshouse Supervisor at the RHS Garden at Wisley, Anne Swithinbank is the expert on greenhouse gardening, and in this book she comprehensively describes the techniques that will allow you to greatly expand the growing capabilities of your garden.

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With consumers seeking ways to do more with less money, The Small Budget Gardener is a must have for gardening on a budget. With helpful tips and advice, gardeners can create beautiful, healthy sustainable landscapes with recycled materials and limited resources. Author, Maureen Gilmer includes a chapter on food gardening and preserving precious resources.

Landscape designer and horticulturist, Maureen Gilmer has compiled years of gardening experience with advice on everything from amending the soil and fighting off pests and diseases in the garden, to sourcing and propagating plants, and creating landscapes and garden structures with free or recycled materials. The Small Budget Gardener addresses gardening while conserving water and minimizing energy dollars, creating an eco-friendly landscape, including a chapter on growing vegetables and offers creative ideas for adding garden structures and yard enhancements to the landscape.