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CLEARANCE ITEM. PREVIOUS RETAIL PRICE WAS $22.95 AVAILABLE ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!

No longer content with separating the plants they grow to eat and the plants they grow for beauty, gardeners are discovering the pleasures of incorporating both edibles and ornamentals into their home landscapes. The Kitchen Gardener's Handbook makes it easy by showing how a well-designed landscape can yield both bounty for the table and beauty for the soul.

Whether she's sharing tips on planting radishes in spring, harvesting tomatoes in summer, or pruning perennials in winter, Bartley's friendly advice gives gardeners the tools they need to build and maintain a kitchen garden. Readers will learn how to plant, grow, and harvest the best vegetables, fruits, greens, and herbs for every season. They'll also find seasonal recipes that celebrate the best of the harvest, monthly garden chores, eight sample garden designs, and information on using cut flowers for decoration. The Kitchen Gardener's Handbook is a guide for gardeners who want it all — the freshness of fruits and vegetables and the beauty and simplicity of hand-picked bouquets.

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Assembled by two of the most distinguished botanical and ethnological scholars in Britain, this book chronicles the medicinal uses of more than 400 species used by the plain folk of Britain and Ireland. The history of these plants' usages has been mined from rich firsthand accounts captured by surveys, from more than 1000 manuscript volumes of the Irish Folklore Commission, and from close to 300 other published and unpublished sources. The book includes chosen illustrations from herbals such as those by Bock, Fuchs, and Brunfels, and a selection of color photographs by Deni Bown.

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

Informative and entertaining, this book will stimulate experimentation and encourage gardeners to review and improve their current gardening practices. Once gardeners learn how plants are constructed, it is easier to envision how they'll grow and flourish. An understanding of the structure behind good, healthy soil gives clues as to how to improve one's own garden tilth. This practical guide helps readers identify what plants need to survive and how these fundamental scientific facts are at the heart of good plant care. A chapter on seeds and germination will encourage gardeners at any level to try their hand at propagation, while discussion of soil, pests, and diseases adds to the skills of all gardeners. The final sections of the book take a closer look at biodiversity, ecology, genetic engineering, and nomenclature. For the enthusiastic beginner or the master gardener, Practical Science for Gardeners unravels the mysterious inner life of plants.

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

Smart gardeners know that soil is anything but an inert substance. Healthy soil is teeming with life — not just earthworms and insects, but a staggering multitude of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms. When we use chemical fertilizers, we injure the microbial life that sustains healthy plants and become increasingly dependent on an arsenal of artificial, often toxic, substances. But there is an alternative to this vicious cycle. We can garden in a way that strengthens the soil food web — the complex world of soil-dwelling organisms whose interactions create a nurturing environment for plants.

Teaming with Microbes extols the benefits of cultivating the soil food web. First, it clearly explains the activities and organisms that make up the web. Next, it explains how gardeners can cultivate the life of the soil through the use of compost, mulches and compost tea. The revised edition updates the original text and includes two completely new chapters — on mycorrhizae (beneficial associations fungi form with green-leaved plants) and archaea (single-celled organisms once thought to be allied to bacteria).

With Jeff Lowenfels's help, everyone — from devotees of organic gardening techniques to weekend gardeners who simply want to grow healthy, vigorous plants without resorting to chemicals — can create rich, nurturing, living soil.

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CLEARANCE ITEM. PREVIOUS RETAIL PRICE WAS $12.95 AVAILABLE ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!

Can beer make plants grow? How about buttermilk? Or music — classical or rock? Is it true about planting trees in deep holes? And how about chasing insects with hot sauce and stopping slugs with eggshells? Remedies for all garden woes are there for the taking: the challenge is to know what will work and what won't. Fearlessly conducting original experiments and harvesting wisdom from the scientific literature, horticulturist Jeff Gillman assesses new and historic advice and reveals the how and why — and sometimes the why not — for more than 100 common and uncommon gardening practices. The results will surprise even experienced gardeners.

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CLEARANCE ITEM. PREVIOUS RETAIL PRICE WAS $12.95 AVAILABLE ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!

Gardeners tend to assume that any product or practice labeled as organic is automatically safe for humans and beneficial to the environment. And in many cases this is true. The problem, as Jeff Gillman points out in this fascinating, well-researched book, is that it is not universally true, and the exceptions can pose a significant threat to human health. To cite just two examples: animal manures are widely viewed as prime soil amendments. When properly treated, they are; but if they are insufficiently composted, they can be a source of harmful E. coli contamination. Even more dangerous, potentially, are organic insecticides like rotenone, which is every bit as toxic as the synthetic compounds it is meant to replace.

Gillman's contention is that all gardening products and practices — organic and synthetic — need to be examined on a case-by-case basis to determine both whether they are safe and whether they accomplish the task for which they are intended. When gardeners are well informed about the precise nature and consequences of what they use and do in the garden, they are in a much better position to make responsible, effective choices.

If you've ever wondered about the merits of a specific insecticide, herbicide, or fungicide, or debated whether practices such as planting cover crops or companion plants are worth the trouble, you'll find the answers you've sought in these pages, along with a clear, careful, and good-humored analysis of benefits and drawbacks.

Ultimately, Gillman concludes, organic methods are preferable in most situations that gardeners are likely to encounter. After reading this eye-opening book, you will understand why, and why knowledge is the gardener's most important tool.

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Recreational boating is a pastime enjoyed by millions. Yet the waters and marine environment that boaters so love are in serious jeopardy from pollution, from resource mismanagement, and from misunderstanding. Boaters can help to change that. Although a relatively small part of the problem of marine environmental degradation, recreational boaters can be a huge part of the solution, writes Clyde W. Ford, an avid boater of more than 20 years, whose encounters with polluted waters galvanized him to explore workable solutions.

Boat Green provides a host of environmentally sound boating practices, based on scientific research and practical boating experience.

In this book, boaters will learn ways to:

• Reduce vessel operation and maintenance costs
• Improve vessels performance
• Increase safety and health of vessel operators and crew
• Increase awareness of marine issues and
• Enhance enjoyment of the marine environment

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CLEARANCE ITEM. PREVIOUS RETAIL PRICE WAS $29.95 AVAILABLE ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!

Sepp Holzer farms steep mountainsides in Austria 1,500 meters above sea level. His farm is an intricate network of terraces, raised beds, ponds, waterways and tracks, well covered with productive fruit trees and other vegetation, with the farmhouse neatly nestling amongst them. This is in dramatic contrast to his neighbors’ spruce monocultures.

In this book, Holzer shares the skill and knowledge acquired over his lifetime. He covers every aspect of his farming methods, not just how to create a holistic system on the farm itself, but how to make a living from it. Holzer writes about everything from the overall concepts, down to the practical details.

In Sepp Holzer’s Permaculture readers will learn:

• How he sets up a permaculture system
• The fruit varieties he has found best for permaculture growing
• How to construct terraces, ponds, and waterways
• How to build shelters for animals and how to work with them on the land
• How to cultivate edible mushrooms in the garden and on the farm
• and much more!

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CLEARANCE ITEM. PREVIOUS RETAIL PRICE WAS $25.99 AVAILABLE ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!

Jamie Durie, international award-winning horticulturalist and landscape designer, reveals the secrets behind his incredible designs on the ever-popular HGTV series The Outdoor Room, now viewed in more than 12 countries. With dynamic photography, including Durie's personal travel photographs and a sneak peek of his private garden, this information-packed companion to his smash-hit t.v. show is as hardworking as it is stunning.

Complete with detailed site plans, zonal plant lists, and helpful eco-tips, it covers everything from the basics of landscape design to practical, hands-on information, such as how to design your own private garden using Durie's philosophy. From an exotic Balinese-inspired dining pavilion to a private English-style garden with an adjoining children's play area, Durie shows you how to incorporate his techniques and design principles to create a personal and truly unique garden, giving you and your family and friends the opportunity to reconnect with nature in the privacy of your very own outdoor room.

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CLEARANCE ITEM. PREVIOUS RETAIL PRICE WAS $29.95 AVAILABLE ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!

If people knew how many poisonous plants are commonly found in homes and gardens, they'd be shocked. Plants as common as monkshood, castorbean and oleander are not just dangerous, they're deadly. The North American Guide to Common Poisonous Plants and Mushrooms is a comprehensive, easy-to-use handbook. The book is split into four main categories: mushrooms, wild plants, ornamental and crop plants, and houseplants. Each plant entry includes a clear photograph to aid the task of identification, a description of the plant, notes on where it commonly occurs, and a description of its toxic properties. Plants are listed by common name to assist the nonspecialist.