‣Soil Science for Gardeners is an easy-to-read, practical guide to the science behind a healthy soil ecosystem and thriving plants. The book debunks common myths, explains soil science basics, and provides the reader with the knowledge to create a personalized soil fertility improvement program for better plants.

‣The second edition of bestselling Keeping Bees with a Smile shows beginner and practicing beekeepers how to attract local bee swarms, keep bees healthy and productive, build simple bee-friendly hives, and harvest honey without stressing bees. Chock-full of techniques for natural beekeeping.

‣Advanced Top Bar Beekeeping provides a wealth of information for backyard beekeepers. Practical techniques are combined with an analysis of the threats posed to pollinators by climate change and industrial agriculture, rounded out by a vision of restoring bee populations through organic farming and chemical-free beekeeping.

‣Written for the layman, this is the fully revised and updated guide for individuals and businesses interested in generating their own electricity using the Sun. Practical and accessible, it provides a basic understanding of electricity, wiring, and solar energy, and guides the reader through site assessment and determining the type ...

‣From mashing and fermenting to building a small column still, Craft Distilling explains how to safely and legally produce high-quality alcohol at home. Packed with recipes and techniques, this unique resource also examines the licensing process and advocates for fair regulations for hobby distillers.

‣Jenni Blackmore presents a highly personal, entertaining account of how permaculture can be practiced in adverse conditions. Permaculture for the Rest of Us describes how to retrofit even the smallest homestead, illustrating the fundamental principles of this sometimes confusing concept in a humorous, reader-friendly way.

‣An EcoNest is not just a home-it is a breathtakingly beautiful structure that nurtures health and embraces ecology. This unique approach to construction combines light straw clay, timber framing, earthen floors, natural plasters, and other natural techniques with the principles of Building Biology to create a handcrafted living ...

‣Most of us understand the value of eating and buying local. Taking back our food, goods, and services from multinational corporations and sourcing them from small growers, producers, artisans, and entrepreneurs benefits our families, our environment, and our communities. Heal Local argues that "100-mile healthcare" can be equally ...

‣Small-scale home biodiesel production holds a singular attraction for the do-it-yourself enthusiast. While perhaps it can't save the world, this unique renewable fuel is economical, fun to make, better for the environment, and will help you reduce your dependence on Big Oil. And getting started is easier than you think.

Backyard ...

‣Historically, seed companies were generally small, often family-run businesses. Because they were regionally-based, they could focus on varieties well-suited to the local environment. A Pacific Northwest company, for example, would specialize in different cultivars than a company based in the Southeast. However the absorption of ...

‣The popularity of natural building has grown by leaps and bounds, spurred by a grassroots desire for housing that is healthy, affordable and environmentally responsible. While there are many books available on specific methods such as strawbale construction, cob or timber framing, few other resources introduce the reader to the ...

‣Wild meat, hunted in a responsible way, is one of the most healthful, sustainable foods possible. Depending on how it is done, hunting can be as local, intimate and humane as it gets. And aside from this, it demands the hunter enter a world of awareness, wildness, life and death that as a culture we have lost connection to.

The Compassionate ...

‣Making Better Buildings systematically describes the real-world implications of the most popular green and natural building materials and techniques, objectively presenting the pros, cons and overall viability of each. An indispensable resource.

‣It's not just how you grow – what you grow and where you grow are the root of truly sustainable food production. Develop a garden plan based on biointensive techniques and permaculture principles to produce the maximum amount of calories and nutrients in the space you have, while cultivating cover and compost crops to enhance soil fertility.

‣Fueled by a failing economy and a passionate desire for a return to simpler times, a new wave of homesteaders is seeking the good life, and the kind of true satisfaction that can only be built, not bought. Many of these modern pioneers are cash poor, but rich in energy and creativity. Plowing with Pigs and Other Creative, Low-Budget ...

‣What's the buzz about the growing popularity of backyard beekeeping? Providing habitat for bees, pollinating your garden and producing honey for your family are some of the compelling reasons for taking up this exciting hobby. But conventional beekeeping requires a significant investment and has a steep learning curve. The alternative? ...

‣Centuries of agriculture have depleted our soils causing the nutritional value of crops to decline, but the process of returning soil to true fertility is misunderstood. The Intelligent Gardener is an essential guide to achieving better health by remineralizing your soil using natural materials to grow nutrient-dense produce.

‣The Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings has sold nearly a 250,000 copies since 1990. Completely revised and updated to incorporate the latest developments in green technology, this is the definitive resource for consumers searching for the most cost-effective and energy-efficient household products and technologies.

‣Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without-our grandmothers knew the importance of responsible, thrifty choices. But somewhere along the way we succumbed to the belief that we can get everything for next to nothing, have it shipped halfway around the world and then, more often than not, just throw it away.

This consumer binge ...

‣Permaculture is a way to apply ecological design principles to food, housing, and energy systems, making growing fruits, vegetables and livestock more productive and sustainable. The Permaculture Handbook is an illustrated guide to practical, small-scale permaculture with case studies of three successful farmsteads and market gardens.

‣Other books tell us how to live the good life-but you might have to win the lottery to do it. Making Home is about improving life with the real people around us and the resources we already have. While encouraging us to be more resilient in the face of hard times, author Sharon Astyk also points out the beauty, grace and elegance ...

‣Housing is a fundamental human right. For most of human history, our homes were built by hand from whatever local materials were available. However, since the Industrial Revolution, most housing has become little more than quickly constructed, mass-produced, uniform boxes. At the same time, the invention and standardization of the ...

‣A combination of aquaculture and hydroponics, aquaponics is an innovative method for growing fish and plants together in an integrated ecosystem. Aquaponic Gardening provides everything you need to know to create a complete home aquaponics system which will yield healthy, fresh, delicious food all year round.

‣Join Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko, proprietors of the award-winning Inn Serendipity, as they launch a return to our roots of independence, self-sufficiency and frugality, blended with the spice of modern living.Farmstead Chef whips up a quirky, homespun tale of how we can eat well, nourish our bodies, and restore the planet. Rediscover ...

‣Energy bills have skyrocketed in North America, and traditional energy sources can be as damaging to the environment as they are to your pocketbook. The Homeowner's Guide to Renewable Energy will show you how to slash your home energy costs while dramatically reducing your carbon footprint.

Completely revised and updated, this new ...

‣To ensure food security and restore the health of the planet, we need to move beyond industrial agriculture and return to the practice of small-scale, local farming. The Bioshelter Market Garden: A Permaculture Farm describes the creation of a sustainable food system through a detailed case study of the successful year-round organic ...

‣Once we could fill our grocery carts with cheap and plentiful food, but not anymore. Cheap food has gone the way of cheap oil. Climate change is already reducing crop yields worldwide. The cost of flying in food from far away and shipping it across the country in refrigerated trucks is rapidly becoming unviable. Cars and cows ...

‣Dwindling petroleum supplies and growing environmental concerns are significantly impacting the cost of petro-fuel and its infrastructure. The search for alternative fuel sources has led to ethanol, a gasoline substitute that is already in the marketplace as Gasohol and E-85. But large-scale production of corn-based ethanol is controversial ...

‣What if I could harness this energy? An unusual question for anyone putting in a long stint on a treadmill perhaps, and yet human power is a very old, practical and empowering alternative to fossil fuels. Replacing motors with muscles can be considered a political act-an act of self-sufficiency that gains you independence.

The Human-Powered ...

‣More and more homeowners today want houses that are healthy to live in and cause minimal damage to the environment. That's what green building is all about.

Your Green Home is written for homeowners planning a new home-whether you are working with an architect or builder, or serving as your own general contractor. Intended to improve.

‣The time-tested, easy-to-learn construction techniques described in Earth-Sheltered Houses will give readers to confidence with their own building projects, backed up by a resources section that lists all the latest products such as waterproofing membranes, types of rigid insulation and drainage products.

‣ Discover forgotten low-input food gardening methods for surviving uncertain times ahead. Gardening When It Counts helps readers rediscover traditional methods to produce healthy food.

‣Straw bale houses are easy to build, affordable, super energy efficient, environmentally friendly, attractive, and can be designed to match the builder's personal space needs, esthetics, and budget. Despite mushrooming interest in the technique, however, most straw bale books focus on "selling" the dream of straw-bale building, ...

‣This highly illustrated guide includes all the tools, tricks, and techniques for building with bags filled with earth – or earthbags. The authors' "flexible form rammed earth technique" creates precision walls for constructing homes, outbuildings, garden walls, and much more.

‣Many natural building methods rely upon the use of post and beam frame structures that are then in-filled with straw, cob, cordwood, or more conventional wall materials. But traditional timber framing employs the use of finely crafted jointing and wooden pegs, requiring a high degree of craftsmanship and training, as well as much ...

‣Hydroelectricity is the world's largest-and cleanest-source of renewable energy. But despite lively interest in renewables generally, there is an information vacuum about the smallest version of the technology dubbed "the simplest, most reliable and least expensive way to generate power off grid."

Highly illustrated and practical, ...