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More and more Americans are seeking out locally grown foods, yet one of the real stumbling blocks to their efforts has been finding local sources for grains, which are grown mainly on large, distant corporate farms. At the same time, commodity prices for grains — and the products made from them — have skyrocketed due to rising energy costs and increased demand. In this book, Gene Logsdon proves that anyone who has access to a large garden or small farm can (and should) think outside the agribusiness box and learn to grow healthy whole grains or beans—the base of our culinary food pyramid — alongside their fruits and vegetables.

Starting from the simple but revolutionary concept of the garden “pancake patch,” Logsdon opens our eyes to a whole world of plants that we wrongly assume only the agricultural “big boys” can grow. He succinctly covers all the basics, from planting and dealing with pests, weeds, and diseases to harvesting, processing, storing, and using whole grains. There are even a few recipes sprinkled throughout, along with more than a little wit and wisdom.

Never has there been a better time, or a more receptive audience, for this book. Locavores, serious home gardeners, CSA farmers, and whole-foods advocates — in fact, all people who value fresh, high-quality foods — will find a field full of information and ideas in this once and future classic.

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From the best-selling author of The New Organic Grower and Four-Season Harvest comes a revolutionary guide to year-round harvests of fresh, organic produce — with little or no energy inputs.

Choosing locally grown organic food is a sustainable living trend that’s taken hold throughout North America. Celebrated farming expert Eliot Coleman helped start this movement with The New Organic Grower, published 20 years ago. He continues to lead the way, pushing the limits of the harvest season while working his world-renowned organic farm in Harborside, Maine.

Now, with his long-awaited new book, The Winter Harvest Handbook, anyone can have access to his hard-won experience. Gardeners and farmers can use the innovative, highly successful methods Coleman describes in this comprehensive handbook to raise crops throughout the coldest of winters.

Building on the techniques that hundreds of thousands of farmers and gardeners adopted from The New Organic Grower and Four-Season Harvest, this new book focuses on growing produce of unparalleled freshness and quality in customized unheated or, in some cases, minimally heated, movable plastic greenhouses.

Coleman offers clear, concise details on greenhouse construction and maintenance, planting schedules, crop management, harvesting practices and even marketing methods in this complete, meticulous and illustrated guide. Readers have access to all the techniques that have proven to produce higher-quality crops on Coleman’s own farm.

His painstaking research and experimentation with more than 30 different crops will be valuable to small farmers, homesteaders and experienced home gardeners who seek to expand their production seasons.

A passionate advocate for the revival of small-scale sustainable farming, Coleman provides a practical model for supplying fresh, locally grown produce during the winter season, even in climates where conventional wisdom says it “just can’t be done.”

Praise for The Winter Harvest Handbook:

"How do you produce first-rate food all year-round in northern places? This is the big question facing the local food movement, and Eliot Coleman, one of America's most innovative farmers, has come up with excellent answers. ... The Winter Harvest Handbook is an indispensable contribution." Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food

"If we are going to create a good, clean, fair food system, we've got to learn how to grow affordable, local food year-round and make a living at it. Eliot Coleman knows more about this than anyone I've met. Here he gives the detailed information needed to make it work." Josh Viertel, president, Slow Food USA.

Recommended Product for Wiser Living: Today, more than ever before, our society is seeking ways to live more conscientiously. To help bring you the very best inspiration and information about greener, more sustainable lifestyles, Mother Earth News is recommending books and products to readers. For more than 40 years, Mother Earth News has been North America's "Original Guide to Living Wisely," creating books and magazines for people with a passion for self-reliance and a desire to live in harmony with nature.

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Grain harvesting can be done in small spaces. With Homegrown Whole Grains, you'll learn how to grow, harvest and cook nine nutritious whole grains. From wheat and rice to heirloom grains, this book covers everything you need for a successful grain harvest.

All you need to start grain harvesting is to convert part of your yard into a field of grain. After the harvest you can enjoy nutritious whole grains, using them whole in delicious recipes or milling them into flour for artisan breads and other baked goods. Barley, quinoa, millet, buckwheat and oats are among the grains you’ll learn to take from yard to plate.

Author Sara Pitzer started this book 30 years ago, when she wrote Wholegrains for the original folks of the back-to-the-land movement. Today, she writes about grain harvesting with a different attitude, one that helps modern homesteaders grow their own food at a smaller, more manageable scale.

For the gardener who is eager to grow more than a variety of vegetables, this grain harvesting book will become a dear resource. Each of the nine grains featured in Homegrown Whole Grains has a different flavor and use. By harvesting them at home, you'll be able to make such varied foods as whole grain pasta, as well as add variety to homegrown food.

About the Author: Sara Pitzer has learned and written about grains in Pennsylvania's Amish country, California, the American Southeast, Thailand and Peru. She is the author of more than a dozen cookbooks and travel guides.

Recommended Product for Wiser Living: Today, more than ever before, our society is seeking ways to live more conscientiously. To help bring you the very best inspiration and information about greener, more sustainable lifestyles, MOTHER EARTH NEWS is recommending books to readers. For 40 years, MOTHER EARTH NEWS has been North America’s “Original Guide to Living Wisely,” creating books and magazines for people with a passion for self-reliance and a desire to live in harmony with nature.

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Here is a holistic approach to small-area farming that will show you how to produce 85 percent of an average family's food on just one-quarter acre — and earn $10,000 in cash annually. This is not back-to-the-land utopianism, but a tested and pragmatic method that can be applied in small lots in rural, suburban and even urban areas. Even if you have never been a farmer or a gardener, Brett Markham's advice will teach you what you need to know:

• Saving, buying, starting, and selecting seeds
• Maintaining and improving soil
• Preventing and eradicating pests and diseases
• Compost, crop rotation, and timing
• Using organic methods
• Garden planning to meet dietary requirements
• Raising poultry
• Raising and pruning fruits and nuts
• Canning, freezing, and dehydrating
• Selling your excess produce for top dollar
• And more!

More than just a how-to guide for self-sufficiency, Mini Farming teaches you the underlying principles of mini-farming so you will have the knowledge to make your own unique applications. Materials, tools and techniques are detailed with over a hundred photographs, tables, diagrams and illustrations.

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Master gardener Barbara Pleasant takes the guesswork and anxiety out of growing food, explaining in simple language exactly how to start, maintain and eventually expand an organic vegetable garden, even in the smallest of spaces. Choose one of 24 no-fail, small-scale garden plans and find out how easy it is to enjoy your own fresh food all season long!

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Whether you want to grow a few vegetables or you're ready to go whole hog and relocate to the countryside, this invaluable handbook will guide you through every aspect of a self-sufficient lifestyle. Packed with practical information, expert advice and real-life experiences, this is the ultimate reference book for anyone who wants to make the move toward natural living.

• Make your home self-sufficient: Find out all you need to know about eco-building, recycling and traditional crafts such as spinning, weaving, dyeing, making candles and tanning hides.
• Grow your own fruit and vegetables: Detailed instructions and tips on how to cultivate more than 100 vegetables, fruits and herbs.
• From crop to kitchen: Learn how to prepare and preserve your food, including information on drying, freezing, canning, bottling, brewing, basic butchery and making your own bread, butter, yogurt and cheese.
• Food from the wild: Discover how to forage for food with a practical wild food calendar and identification guide.
• Raise your own livestock: Expert advice on choosing and keeping chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, goats, sheep, cows, bees and more.

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This book gives you all the information you need to start your own local foods business. You'll get plain-English advice from a self-proclaimed farm-girl-turned-entrepreneur on:

• Trends in niche agriculture and local foods
• Creating a business plan for a small-scale or hobby venture
• Assessing your home marketplace and uncovering niches not yet served
• Financing options, especially grants and cost-sharing programs
• Free or low-cost marketing ideas
• Basic strategies for surviving the first year in business
• And more

About the author

Sarah Beth Aubrey was born into a family of farmers and was raised to believe, like Scarlett O'Hara, that it is land that sustains after all else. In addition to operating her company, Aubrey's Natural Meats, Aubrey writes and speaks extensively on agriculture, the rural lifestyle and small farm development.

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Since Rosalind Creasy popularized the concept of landscaping with edibles a quarter-century ago, interest in eating healthy, fresh, locally grown foods has swept across the nation. More and more Americans are looking to grow clean, delicious produce at home, saving money and natural resources at the same time. And food plants have been freed from the backyard, gracing the finest landscapes — even the White House grounds!

Creasy’s expertise on edibles and how to incorporate them in beautifully designed outdoor environments was first showcased in the original edition of Edible Landscaping (1982), hailed by gardeners everywhere as a groundbreaking classic. Now this highly anticipated new edition presents the latest design and how-to information in a glorious full-color format, featuring more than 300 inspiring photographs.

Drawing on the author’s decades of research and experience, the book presents everything you need to know to create an inviting home landscape that will yield mouthwatering vegetables, fruits, nuts and berries. The comprehensive Encyclopedia of Edibles — a book in itself — provides horticultural information, culinary uses, sources and recommended varieties; and appendices cover the basics of planting and maintenance, and of controlling pests and diseases using organic and environmentally friendly practices.

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CLEARANCE ITEM. PREVIOUS RETAIL PRICE WAS $24.95 AVAILABLE ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!

Have a small patch of soil? Or just a window box? Not a problem. Garden Anywhere shows how anyone can create an oasis in the smallest of spaces. We're not talking just a simple pot of marigolds here. Garden Anywhere outlines everything an aspiring gardener needs to know to sow a bounteous, thriving garden. Alys Fowler, trained at the New York Botanical Garden, guides readers through the process from the ground up — from planning the garden to composting, pruning, harvesting and propagating. Stylish photos illustrate the how-tos while Fowler shares tips on creating gorgeous container gardens, herb gardens, kitchen gardens and more, without spending a fortune.

Alys Fowler trained at the New York Botanical Garden. Currently, she serves as head gardener at Berryfields, the location for BBC's Gardener's World television program. She resides in the United Kingdom.