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How to navigate by the stars, attract butterflies to a garden, build the perfect bonfire, and bake one's own bread — an indispensable guide to everything people knew and loved before we went inside and turned on the TV.

In a world of traffic congestion, supermarket shopping, and 24-hour internet access, it is easy to feel disconnected from the beauty and rhythms of the natural world. This is the book for anyone who has ever gazed in awe at stars in the night's sky, tried to catch a perfect snowflake, or longed for the comfort of a roaring log fire. Readers will learn how to predict the weather just by looking at the sky, how to forage for food, and how to make cider. From differentiating types of owls to gardening by the phases of the moon, and from curing a cold to brewing ale, this lovely guide is packed with instructions and lists, ancient customs, and old wives tales, making it an indispensable guide to countryside lore.

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Essential steps to a healthy, sustainable agriculture. Sustainable agriculture: what it means, why it is needed, and how it can transform the planet.

Hide Do you want to raise chickens but don’t know where to begin? Then you need Chick Days, an entertaining photographic guide that chronicles the life journey of three chickens (Amelia, Honey and Tilda) from newly hatched fluffy butterballs to adult laying hens. Day by day and week by week, you’ll watch these three chickens grow and change, and along the way you’ll learn everything you need to know about chicken behavior, feeding, housing, hygiene and health care. The witty writing of Jenna Woginrich (author of Made from Scratch) paired with photography by Mars Vilaubi (who raised the chickens himself, along with his wife and son) will give every chicken-lover the confidence and enthusiasm to raise a flock.

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Imagine savoring fresh-picked strawberries on a weekend morning, plucking plump figs from your mini-orchard to quarter and serve at a farm-to-table meal with friends, or harvesting and sauteing the edible stalks of garlic bulbs. If the size of your space is bringing you back to reality, here's the best part: You don't need a big backyard to grow your own food. In fact, you don't need a yard at all.

Andrea Bellamy, founder of the acclaimed blog Heavy Petal, gives you the dirt on growing gorgeous organic food with little square footage. Simple, straightforward advice for designing your space and growing your harvest will help you transform just a snippet of space into a stylish and edible oasis. Bellamy goes beyond the surface and shows you how to create and maintain healthy soil, decide what and when to plant, sow seeds and harvest, and most importantly, enjoy the process. So go ahead, picture that tiny nook, corner, strip, porch, alley, balcony or postage-stamp-sized yard overflowing with fingerling potatoes, fragrant herbs, sugar snap peas, French breakfast radishes and scarlet runner beans.

Armed with luscious photography, encouraging tips and sophisticated designs, you're sure to be inspired to join the grow-your-own revolution.

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Heard the buzz? Beekeeping is back! Neighborhoods across the country have embraced it as a source of sustainable food and environmental goodness. For those who want to join the “hive” of keepers, author Ashley English has the lowdown on the key issues, from space and time considerations to local ordinances to the basics of acquiring, housing, maintaining and caring for bees year-round. Plus, get 10 tested honey-centric recipes!

Fascinating to observe, bees serve a crucial role in the pollination of more than a third of the foods we enjoy, and produce honey, beeswax and more. English examines what you need to know before purchasing your first package of bees. She explores hive hierarch; hive housing, location and feeding requirements; obtaining and installing honeybees; and how to extract honey. You'll also find mouthwatering honey-based recipes, profiles of beekeepers, and hive health and wellness information.

About the author
Author Ashley English has earned degrees in both holistic nutrition and sociology. She is a member of Slow Food USA and works with nonprofit organizations committed to social and agricultural issues. English and her husband currently reside in Candler, N.C.

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The most complete book on urban farming, covering everything from growing organic produce and raising chickens, to running a small farm on a city lot or in a suburban backyard.

Eating locally and growing one's own food is a rapidly evolving movement in urban settings: Hantz Farms in Detroit has transformed 70 acres of abandoned properties into energy-efficient gardens; Eagle Street Rooftop Farm, a 6,000-foot vegetable farm in Brooklyn, New York, yields 30 different kinds of produce; and private square-foot farms are cropping up in cities all over the country.

Created by Lisa Taylor and the gardeners of Seattle Tilth, Your Farm in the City covers all of the essential information specific to gardening and farming in a city or town. Clear, easy-to-follow instructions guide and inspire even the most inexperienced urbanite in how to grow and harvest all types of produce, flowers, herbs, and trees, as well as how to raise livestock like chickens, ducks, rabbits, goats and honeybees. Important information particular to gardening in a city or town is included, such as planning and maximizing limited space, building healthy soil, managing irrigation, understanding zoning laws, outwitting urban pests, and being a considerate farming neighbor.

With 100 two-color instructional illustrations throughout and dozens of vital resources, Your Farm in the City is the most practical, comprehensive, and easy-to-follow guide to the burgeoning trend of urban farming.

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Imagine a weekend breakfast featuring eggs, bacon and honey from your own chickens, pigs and bees, or a holiday meal with your own heritage-breed turkey as the main attraction. With The Backyard Homestead: Guide to Raising Farm Animals, even urban and suburban residents can successfully raise chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, rabbits, goats, sheep, cows, pigs and honeybees. It’s easier than you think, and it can be done on small plots of land. This essential guide covers everything from selecting the right breeds to producing delicious fresh milk, cheese, honey, eggs and meat. Whether you want to be more self-sufficient, save money, or just enjoy safer, healthier, more delicious animal products, you’ll find all the information you need in The Backyard Homestead Guide to Raising Farm Animals.

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Are you a beginning gardener wondering when to plant or how often to weed? Or an experienced grower who wants to increase flavor and yields? Take the guesswork out of gardening with the Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook. Authors Ron and Jennifer Kujawski provide detailed weekly to-do lists — precisely customized to your own growing season — that break gardening down into simple and manageable tasks. Whether it’s planting strawberries, pinching off pumpkin blossoms, checking for tomato hornworm, or harvesting carrots, you’ll know exactly what to do — and exactly when and how to do it — for bountiful harvests and a stress-free gardening experience.

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This one-of-a-kind photographic encyclopedia features more than 200 animals and the fibers they produce. It covers almost every sheep breed in the world — from the longwool breeds of the United Kingdom to the Tasmanian merino, the Navajo churro, the northern European Faroese, and dozens and dozens more. It also includes goats, camelids (such as alpacas, llamas and vicunas), bison, horses, musk oxen, rabbits and even dogs.

Each entry includes photographs of the featured animal; samples of its raw fleece, its cleaned fleece, and yarn spun from the fleece; and samples of the yarn knit and woven. You’ll find everything you want to know about each animal and its fiber, including the fiber’s color, density, strength and staple length, as well as recommendations for processing and using it. This is the essential reference no fiber-lover can be without.