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Part of the NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association) guides. Includes information on:

• Strengths and limitations of hybrid varieties
• Before you grow the seed (selecting varieties, saving seed and improving crops, intellectual property rights)
• Growing seed (pollination biology, harvesting, cleaning, storage, germination testing)
• Details on individual crops (amaranth, crucifers, beets and chard, lettuce, cucurbits, corn and small grains, nightshades, root veggies)

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Soil is a living organism that loves to cooperate with farmers and gardeners. A green thumb will appear on those who align themselves with its health and requirements. This book discusses:

• Soil habitat
• Sustaining soil fertility
• The soil food-web
• Nutrient availability and deficiency

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CLEARANCE ITEM. PREVIOUS RETAIL PRICE WAS $39.95 AVAILABLE ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!

A series of 4 guides originally published by NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association), on organic principles and practices for both the beginner farmer as well as established farmers looking to convert to organic, or deepen their practices. Each book is approximately 100 pages, but the information is weighty; the guides use a strong whole-systems farming theory behind their practical advice, as well as offer historical information, further resources, detailed appendices, and profiles of various organic farms across the Northeast. Titles include:

Growing Healthy Vegetable Crops written by Brian Caldwell.

Includes information on:

• Basic concepts of pest control (host susceptibility, soil health, genetic resistance, ecosystem factors)
• Practical approaches (crop cultural practices, rescue treatments, special section on mammals and birds, food safety))
• Farm design for pest reduction (diversity, crop rotation))
• Unorthodox approaches (farmers out of the box))
• Identifying pests)
• Crop-by-crop pests and practices)

• Soil habitat)
• Sustaining soil fertility)
• The soil food-web)
• Nutrient availability and deficiency)

• Strengths and limitations of hybrid varieties)
• Before you grow the seed (selecting varieties, saving seed and improving crops, intellectual property rights))
• Growing seed (pollination biology, harvesting, cleaning, storage, germination testing))
• Details on individual crops (amaranth, crucifers, beets and chard, lettuce, cucurbits, corn and small grains, nightshades, root veggies))

• Soils, the foundation of health (manure managament))
• Crop production and grazing management (forage species, pasture management, setting up a grazing system))
• Livestock (selection, nutrition, winter and summer feed considerations, seasonal milking, habitat, herd health, milk quality))
• Marketing (selling fluid milk, regulations, facility and equipment, selling raw milk))
• Recordkeeping)
• The transition to organic)

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What’s the biggest problem facing gardeners? Drought, lack of sun, or the ever-present threat of disease? Nope, it’s deer. The beautiful animals immortalized in Disney's Bambi are also the garden’s biggest pests. Increased hunting regulations have caused the deer population to swell to more than 30 million. At the same time, suburban expansion has led to a loss of natural habitat. The result? Deer are looking for food and finding it in gardens all across the country.

50 Beautiful Deer-Resistant Plants makes keeping deer away as simple as choosing the appropriate plant. Instead of the typical barriers and fencing, expert plantswoman Ruth Rogers Clausen has chosen the 50 most beautiful (and least palatable) annuals, bulbs, ferns, grasses, herbs, perennials and shrubs. Whether it's the charming snow crocuses that bloom each spring or the vibrant, long-blooming Texas Sage, these 50 plants provide gardeners a chance to design a deer-proof garden without sacrificing style. Each plant profile includes a deer-resistance scale, tips on growth and care, zone recommendations, and gorgeous color photos showing the plant up close and in the garden setting. Also includes dozens of companion planting ideas.

With the helpful and trusted advice in 50 Beautiful Deer-Resistant Plants, gardeners can finally garden without fear of deer.

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Simple in its format, yet packed with information of many, many ways to prevent deer damage to your commercial crops or home garden. Explains how to use fencing and other barriers and visual and scent repellents. Also lists plants deer like and those they don’t like. Practical information from a true innovator who lives in deer country.

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Good Bug Bad Bug, 2nd edition, is an indispensable field guide for quickly and easily identifying the most common invasive and beneficial insects in the garden. Plus the best organic advice on how to attract the good guys and manage the bad guys - without reaching for the toxic chemicals. It includes strategies for dealing with the “new bugs in town,” those worrisome strangers that are starting to show up due to climate change (and some that have just flown in from abroad).

Forty-one bugs, presented in full color on laminated card stock, with concealed wire binding. Sturdy enough to take into the garden for easy reference. An attractive gift book for adults and curious kids alike. The 2nd edition contains a number of color photographs not seen in the 1st edition and presents three new "bad bugs" to add to the rogues gallery of insect pests.

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More and more home gardeners are discovering the rewards of growing their own vegetables. But along with the pleasures of homegrown produce come a host of problems: bugs, diseases, and mysterious ailments that don't have an obvious cause. What's a gardener to do?

Don't panic — help is at hand. What's Wrong With My Vegetable Garden? teaches you how to keep your vegetables healthy so they're less susceptible to attack, and when problems do occur, it shows you how to recognize the problem and find the right organic solution.

Among the book's highlights are:

• Clear information about how to team with nature to create the best growing conditions for your vegetables.
• Detailed portraits of the most commonly grown vegetables, including growth habit; information on the plant's season; temperature, soil, light, and water requirements; and best garden uses and planting techniques.
• Illustrated problem-solving guides that enable you to identify at a glance what's ailing your plant.
• Discussions of the most effective organic solutions, ranging from how to modify the growing conditions in your garden to how to cope with and eliminate specific pests and diseases.

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Many gardeners fear chickens will peck away at their landscape, and chicken lovers often shy away from gardening for the same reason. But you can keep chickens and have a beautiful garden, too! Fresh eggs aren't the only benefit — chickens can actually help your garden grow and thrive, even as your garden does the same for your chickens.

In this essential handbook, award-winning garden designer Jessi Bloom covers everything a gardener needs to know, including chicken-keeping basics, simple garden plans to get you started, tips on attractive fencing options, the best plants and plants to avoid, and step-by-step instructions for getting your chicken garden up and running.

For anyone who wants a fabulous garden where colorful chickens happily roam, Free-Range Chicken Gardens is the guide that will bring the dream home to roost.

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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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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