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Powerful social trends towards green living, relocalization and self-sufficiency have fanned the fires of would-be ecopreneurs in North America, driving a shift towards prioritizing purpose over profits, and building community over building market share. A nation of 9 to 5-ers is giving way to a spirited bunch of innovators, searching for ways to make a life instead of simply making a living.

This accessible and inspiring guide includes profiles of successful ecopreneurs and provides an in-depth exploration of:

• Eco-Business basics
• Purposeful management
• Marketing in the green economy
• Running a lifestyle business

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Residential consumption represents nearly one quarter of North America's total energy use, and the average homeowner spends thousands of dollars a year on power bills. To help alleviate this problem, Energy-Wise Landscape Design presents hundreds of practical ways everyone can save money, time and effort while making their landscapes more environmentally healthy, ecologically rich and energy efficient.
Combining general guidelines with tips, techniques and actions, this fully illustrated guide explains the many opportunities our landscapes provide for conserving energy. Readers will learn how to:

• lower a home's heating and cooling costs
• minimize fuel used in landscape construction, maintenance and everyday use
• choose landscape products and materials with lower embedded energy costs
• make a positive difference without a major investment or change in lifestyle.

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Finding community is as critical as obtaining food and shelter, since the need to belong is what makes us human. The isolation and loneliness of modern life have led many people to search for deeper connection, which has resulted in a renewed interest in intentional communities. These intentional communities or ecovillages are an appealing choice for like-minded people who seek to create a family-oriented and ecologically sustainable lifestyle - a lifestyle they are unlikely to find anywhere else.
However, the notion of an intentional community can still be a tremendous leap for some - deterred perhaps by a misguided vision of eking out a hardscrabble existence with little reward. In fact, successful ecovillages thrive because of the combined skills and resources of their members.
Finding Community presents a thorough overview of ecovillages and intentional communities and offers solid advice on how to research thoroughly, visit thoughtfully, evaluate intelligently and join gracefully. Useful considerations include:

• important questions to ask (of members and of yourself)
• signs of a healthy (and not-so-healthy) community
• cost of joining (and staying)
• common blunders to avoid.

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More and more people are recognizing the need for nutritious, local, sustainable food, but organic options can be costly, and the produce sections of most supermarkets are packed with fruits and vegetables that have racked up more frequent flier miles than a rock band on world tour. How can urban dwellers without ready access to fertile land enjoy the benefits of traditional gardening? And for those with a yard, how do you maximize the harvest of fresh, healthy edibles?

In From Container to Kitchen, author D.J. Herda shows that there is a way. Written for the novice home gardener as well as the seasoned pro, this fully illustrated, comprehensive guide will show you how to save up to 70% on your produce bill by growing fruits and vegetables in pots. Topics include:

• Selecting the right container size and location
• Optimizing soil composition and nutrients
• Managing light, water and humidity
• Choosing the best fruits and vegetables for container gardening
• Eliminating pests and plant diseases naturally
• Extending the harvest.

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Water has been described as the 21st century oil. Water shortages, water quality and water rights are hot-button issues at the local, national and international levels. Climate change, population growth and contamination from industry, farms and human settlements have dramatically impacted water supplies and disrupted natural nutrient cycles. Strategic wastewater management will be a critical tool in protecting this valuable but threatened resource.

Reusing the Resource is a comprehensive guide to using plants to stabilize, clean, filter and reuse wastewater, while simultaneously eliminating expensive and polluting sewers and septic systems. The book profiles more than 30 successful ecological wastewater recycling systems that save money, protect public and environmental health, and provide plant-based fuel, fiber, construction materials, habitat and landscapes. It details the pros and cons of various systems, and provides tips for designers, regulators and builders. Case studies include:

• a greenhouse-enclosed wastewater aquaculture system
• a regional wastewater-recycling plant
• a city's wastewater-treatment wetland
• graywater planters.

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In a hectic world of mass-produced food, clothing, and entertainment, it’s easy to miss out on the simple pleasures of doing things for yourself. Meet Jenna Woginrich, a 26-year-old web designer who decided to take control of her life — what she ate, what she wore, and how she spent her free time. Learn a few basic country skills, she reasoned, and she would be able to produce at least some of the food and other resources she used every day. Made from Scratch tells the story of Woginrich's hilarious, heartbreaking, soul-satisfying journey, inspiring and entertaining readers who dream about a more self-sufficient lifestyle. Discover the joys of homesteading with Woginrich as she experiences the satisfaction of making bread, keeping chickens, keeping bees, sew clothing, grow vegetables and more!

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If you like the "What Is It?" section in each issue of Farm Collector, you're going to love this special edition dedicated solely to mystery tools from farm country. Packed with super photos, patent drawings and collector resources, it is a jim-dandy for anybody interested in antique farm equipment.

The guide is split into six categories: field/crop, barn/shop, farmhouse, livestock, specialty tools and odd lots. It's a great reference for the collector and an equally great launchpad for the novice.

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Dairy goats are a great choice for the small or backyard dairy farmer. They require a smaller investment than cows and produce milk that is great for making delicious fresh yogurt and cheese. This thoroughly revised fourth edition gives you everything you need to know to raise dairy goats, including more information on pygmy goats, updated information on disease diagnosis and treatment, and expanded information on breeding, milking, dairying, and cheese making.

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These 150 quick-and-easy recipes turn bumper crops into mouthwatering pickles and relishes, using little or no salt. All techniques meet current USDA guidelines.

New recipes for today's cooks include:

• Freezer pickles that can be prepared in less than half an hour
• Salt-free pickles for dieters
• Sweet Pickled Pears
• No-Salt Hot Sesame Parsnips
• Sunshine Pickles
• And more!

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Keith Stewart, already in his early forties and discontent with New York’s corporate grind, moved upstate and started a one-man organic farm in 1986. Today, having surmounted the seemingly endless challenges to succeeding as an organic farmer, Stewart employs seven to eight seasonal interns and provides 100 varieties of fresh produce to the shoppers and chefs who flock twice weekly, May to December, to his stand at Union Square Greenmarket in Manhattan — the only place where his produce is sold. It’s a Long Road to a Tomato opens a window into the world of Stewart’s Farm, with essays on his development as a farmer, the nuts and bolts of organic farming for an urban market, farm animals domestic and wild, and the political, social and environmental issues relevant to agriculture today — and their impact on all of us.