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Recent Posts Tagged With 'garden'
New Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack
Obama's new Agriculture secretary has already made some steps to promote local food. First, is a stricter interpretation of a labeling directive in the last farm bill. Mexico and Canada both oppose such "country of origin" labels, since meat packer...
How to Dry Foods
How to Dry Foods. Deanna DeLong. Recommended.A food dehydrator was on my Christmas list this year, and as luck would have it, one appeared under the tree. A fairly comprehensive instruction manual accompanied the dehydrator, but I thought I would lo...
The Vegetable Gardener's Bible
The Vegetable Gardener's Bible. Edward C. Smith. Highly Recommended.I try to only share good books with my readers, and this one is no exception. It is a thick, sturdy hardcover that will be a welcome addition to any gardener's library. For high ...
The Self-Sufficiency Handbook - and a Few "Deep Thoughts"
The Self-Sufficiency Handbook: A Complete Guide to Greener Living. Alan and Gill Bridgewater.As I have said many times before, I truly doubt the existence of a complete self-sufficiency book. While this text boldly proclaims as such in the title, I ...
It's Not Easy Being Green
I just happened upon an episode of an interesting show called "It's Not Easy Being Green", on the Sundance Channel. According to their website, the first season shares a family's quest to become self-sufficient and more environmentally aware. In the...
Farmland.org Blog Contest
My loyal readers may remember this post where I highlighted the American Farmland Trust. They are running a "Friends of Farmland" blog contest through the end of September, and I would love to be included in their next newsletter. So, if you don't ...
Eating on $100 a Week?
Here is an interesting article chronicling a family of four's attempt to eat for a week, spending only $100. With increasing energy and food costs, this may be harder then ever. I know our family has been attempting to lower our overall costs, and ...
Dwarf Fruit Trees
I planted a dwarf fig and lemon tree back in June. I thought I would show some pictures of their progress. Both have grown quite a bit, but the fig tree has been especially prolific....
How To: Build a Raised Bed Garden
One of the recurring themes in many of the gardening books I have reviewed is the importance of good soil. I have slowly realized that this may be causing some of the issues in my garden. The soil around my house is primarily clay and rocks. It is a...
The New Kitchen Garden
The New Kitchen Garden. Anna Pavord. Recomended.Another book review for your perusal...This book is a fairly good reference to start or expand your garden. Its main focus is a small garden for the average household, surprisingly enough known as a "...
Basic Country Skills
Storey's Basic Country Skills. A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance. Highly Recommended.As I noted in this post, self-sufficiency may become increasingly necessary in the future. In that same post, I reviewed a very good primer on self-sufficiency. ...
Organic Pest & Disease Control
Organic Pest & Disease Control. Taylor's Weekend Gardening Guides. Highly Recommended.I picked this book up to research the control of tent caterpillars. We had quite an outbreak this year, and I wanted to get a leg up on them. I have a feeli...
Dirt Cheap Gardening
Dirt Cheap Gardening. Rhonda Massingham Hart. Recommended. From the title alone, I knew this book was right up my alley. The combination of gardening and frugality is a winning combination in my view. Like any hobby, gardening can become qui...
Organic Farming
Organic Farming: Everything You Need to Know. Peter V. Fossel. Recommended.For anyone who has dreamed of quiting one's day job and retiring to an idyllic life in the country, perhaps the thought of starting an organic produce farm would be the way ...
Square Foot Gardening
Square Foot Gardening. Mel Bartholomew. Recommended.This book claims to be a revolutionary way to garden...a 'new way to garden in less space with less work'. It arose from the author's realization that many gardeners were extremely enthusiastic in...
The Other 'Black Gold'
Compost. Claire Foster. Recommended.As I recently mentioned in the Self-Sufficient Life post, there are many topics and skills that may be beneficial to learn, and most are complex enough to warrant their own book (maybe several) and perhaps a lot o...
The Self-Sufficient Life
The Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It by John Seymour. Recommended.Doomer Alert: I have been trying to expand my knowledge of simpler times, in the off chance that peak oil (or any one of the other ulcer-forming scenarios) really does end civi...
Give 'Em the Boot
My garden is a little behind due to the area's less than optimal planting season. None the less, I'm excited to see how the tomatoes do in their respective pots. I've had little success growing tomatoes in these conditions the past two years; usua...
Hanging Gardens - 6/30/08
I haven't posted an update on the hanging planters in a while...so here we go. Last time I mentioned the extreme heat was causing quite a bit of stress to the plants. Strangely, this was more prominent in one bag versus the other. With some closer...
