Showing titles in Agricultural & Food Sciences

More than a decade after Michael Pollan's game-changing The Omnivore's Dilemma transformed the conversation about what we eat, a combination of global diet trends and corporate interests have put American agriculture into a state of 'quiet emergency', from dangerous drought in California - which grows more than 50 percent of the fruits and vegetables we eat - to catastrophic topsoil loss in the 'breadbasket' heartland of the United States.

It’s time to think big about small farms. Award-winning author and “green leader” (Grist) Ben Hartman shares practical how-to tips, personal stories, and surprising examples of cutting-edge farmers and innovators around the world to show us how.

For most people, giving up the day job and moving to a beautiful area of France and living off the vines is an impossible but delicious dream. In 1990, Patricia Atkinson and her husband decided to sell up in Britain and emigrate to the Dordogne. Their idea was to buy a house with a few vines attached and employ someone to tend to the wine while they earned their living with some financial consultancy work.

This book is for anyone wondering how our farmers and ranchers can raise cattle while also caring for the local and global environment. It includes a foreword by Gabe Brown, the bestselling author of Dirt to Soil.

With breathtaking clarity, Compost Science for Gardeners demystifies composting practices and helps listeners determine the best technique for their unique situation. This comprehensive science-based book is your key to building healthier soil and growing better plants.

Much like nature, this audiobook is both simple and complex. Zietsman has taken great care to create both a simple technical guide as well as a philosophic declaration about complex human and environmental nuances, all in one volume. Several years from now, many will look back upon this book as foundational to the restoration of—and relationships between—man, cattle, and veld. Zietsman puts forth a much-needed critique of man and his actions over the past century as well as personal stories as contra-example to the narratives that have dominated the ranching world.

If you feel like you just have a black thumb, and that you’re doomed to kill any plants under your care, think again. There are simple solutions to your problem that will make your home a haven of style, beauty, and flourishing greenery. Even if you don’t have much time, this guide organizes information in an easy-to-refer manner that you can quickly turn to when you need it. Everything you need to know is at your fingertips in this simple-to-follow book. Whether you’re a serial plant killer or a complete houseplant newbie, you can grow a happy and healthy indoor garden yourself.

Keeping hens is easy. This friendly, chatty book gives you all the everyday information you need to keep your hens happy and safe. It covers all the questions you might have: How many hens to keep? What to feed them? What about a cockerel? Will they get on with the dog or destroy the vegetable patch?

This is your down-to-earth, complete manual for achieving great gardening results with your own rich, organic soil. How do you recognize healthy soil? How much can your existing soil be improved? What are the best amendments to use for your soil? Let Building Soil answer your questions and be...

Picking up where she left off in Where the Blind Horse Sings, Kathy Stevens regales us with more tales of the rescued animals at Catskill Animal Sanctuary (CAS), some touching, some hilarious, all provocative. We meet Barbie, the broiler hen found hiding under a blue Honda in Brooklyn who falls for the animal ambassador Rambo, a ram with an uncanny sense of what others need. Then there’s Norma Rae, the turkey rescued from a "turkey bowl" just before Thanksgiving.

Funny and heartwarming stories from a Northland country vet In the rolling green hills of Kaipara, Scottish vet Rory Dean and his two fox terriers, Scrappy and Alfie, are on call day and night for whichever animal emergency awaits. In Adventures of a Country Vet, Rory shares stories of the...

The best beekeeping resources guide ever! Get excited! Because, with this book, even if you are a beginner with bees and a beginner in business, you can start your journey today and become successful raising bees and having fun. Just imagine the feeling of creating your own income and making massive money with all your amazing bee products!

A Soil Owner's Manual: How to Restore and Maintain Soil Health is about restoring the capacity of your soil to perform all the functions it was intended to perform. This book is not another fanciful guide on how to continuously manipulate and amend your soil to try and keep it productive. This book will change the way you think about and manage your soil.

Raise your dream flock and enjoy fresh eggs in no time – even if you’ve never set foot in a henhouse before! Ready to dive into backyard chicken keeping but feel overwhelmed by all the advice out there? You’re not alone — and you don’t have to figure it out on your own. The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Raising Chickens simplifies the process with clear, practical steps designed specifically for first-time chicken owners. Whether you're starting a new homestead or just want a few hens for fresh eggs, this guide walks you through every stage with confidence.

Do you want to start beekeeping and harvesting your own honey? Worried about getting stung? Or are you not sure how to set up and establish your hive? Then the Beekeeping Guide for Beginners is for you! From ordering your hive and the first exciting days, to maintaining a productive and efficient long-term colony, with this book you’ll be able to kickstart your beekeeping hobby and start harvesting your own honey in no time at all!

Hunter. Worker. Legend. The untold story of the dog's role in building a nation. The Dogs That Made Australia pays tribute to the dogs that gave their all for our prosperity: the fearless hounds that saved fledgling colonies from famine; the courageous heelers and tireless collies that powered...

Aside from fresh eggs on an almost daily basis, chickens have wonderful personalities, they can significantly help out in the garden, you have your own free-range fertilizer, and they are extremely educational for all the family! The benefits of raising chickens far outweigh the potential negatives, especially if you know exactly what you are doing from someone who has had a lifetime of experience.

Growing vegetables in a raised bed grid garden (a.k.a. square foot garden) is a great way to maximize your vegetable growing efforts, and at the same time dramatically reduce your workload. A grid garden is simple to assemble and operate. Growing in one-foot squares means that you can truly maximize your vegetable production in an environment that is great fun to operate and will assure a regular harvest of healthy vegetables. If you are growing vegetables in raised beds, then your production and crop rotation can be maximized by using the simple techniques employed in grid gardening.

Bill Schindler takes us deep into his lifetime of archaeological research to show us why and how our dietary choices and cooking techniques need to follow our ancestors' lead and focus on nutrient density and bioavailability. Our relationship to food is filled with confusion and insecurity...

From cork taint, to volatile acidity, to off-putting aromas and flavors, all wine connoisseurs have encountered unappealing qualities in a disappointing bottle. But are all faults truly bad? Are some even desirable? Jamie Goode brings his authoritative voice to the table once again to demystify the science behind what causes a good bottle to go bad. By exposing the root causes of faults in wine, Flawless challenges us to rethink our assumptions about how wine should taste and how we can understand beauty in a glass.