Folks, This Ain’t Normal, a Farmers Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People and a Better World
by Joel Salatin
December 2011
From farmer Joel Salatin's point of view, life in the 21st century just ain't normal. In FOLKS, THIS AIN'T NORMAL, he discusses how far removed we are from the simple, sustainable joy that comes from living close to the land and the people we love. Salatin has many thoughts on what normal is and shares practical and philosophical ideas for changing our lives in small ways that have big impact.
The Encyclopedia of Country Living, the Original Manual for Living Off the Land and Doing it Yourself
by Carla Emery
November 2011
No home, whether in the country, the city, or somewhere in between, should be without this one-of-a-kind encyclopedia the most complete source of information available about growing, processing, cooking, and preserving homegrown foods from the garden, orchard, field, or barnyard. For more than 30 years, people have relied on its practical, step-by-step advice on basic self-sufficiency skills such as how to cultivate a garden, buy land, bake bread, raise farm animals, make sausage, milk a goat, grow herbs, churn butter, build a chicken coop, cook on a wood stove, and much, much more.
The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love
by Kristin Kimball
October 2011
When Kristin Kimball left New York City to interview a dynamic young farmer named Mark, her world changed. On an impulse, she shed her city self and started a new farm with him on five hundred acres near Lake Champlain. The Dirty Life is the captivating chronicle of the couples first year on Essex Farm, from the cold North Country winter through their harvest-season wedding in the loft of the barn.
The Earth's Face - Landscape And Its Relation To The Health Of The Soil
by Ehrenfried Pfeiffer
September 2011
Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, mentored at a young age by Rudolf Steiner, grew up to be a soil scientist. An anthro-posophist he helped bring biodynamics to life throughout the world. While working in the United States at the Pfeiffer Center he began chromatography studies to read the vitality and health of the soil and compost, creating the BDcompost starter. This book explains Pfeiffer's concern for the different landscapes of the earth and the effects industrialization and mechanization are having on the environment. He looks at various landscapes, from rural plains, woods and mountains to urban centers and gardens and helps us to understand artificial agricultural techniques degradation of soil fertility and how biodynamics can change everything.
The Year of the Flood (MaddAddam Trilogy Book 2)
by Margaret Atwood
August 2011
Set in the visionary future of Atwoods' acclaimed Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood is at once a moving tale of lasting friendship and a landmark work of speculative fiction. In this second book of the MaddAddam trilogy, the long-feared waterless flood has occurred, altering Earth as we know it and obliterating most human life. Among the survivors are Ren, a young trapeze dancer locked inside the high-end sex club Scales and Tails, and Toby, who is barricaded inside a luxurious spa. Amid shadowy, corrupt ruling powers and new gene-spliced life forms, Ren and Toby will have to decide on their next move, but they can't stay locked away.
Oryx and the Crake (MaddAddam Trilogy Book 1)
by Margaret Atwood
July 2011
Oryx and Crake is at once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey with the help of the enginerred green-eyed Children of Crake through the lush wilderness that was so recently a great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled genetic engineering ride.
Theory U: Leading from the Future as it Emerges
by C. Otto Scarmer
June 2011
In this ground-breaking book, Otto Scharmer invites us to see the world in new ways. What we pay attention to, and how we pay attention is the key to what we create. What often prevents us from 'being present', is what Scharmer calls our blind spot, the inner place from which each of us operates. Becoming aware of our blind spot is critical to bringing forth the profound systemic changes so needed in society today.
Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World
by Charles HRH The Prince of Wales
May 2011
For the first time, His Royal Highness Charles, the Prince of Wales, shares his views on how mankinds most pressing modern challenges are rooted in our disharmony with nature. In the vein of Al Gores', An Inconvenient Truth and Van Jones', Green Collar Economy, Prince Charles presents the compelling case that solutions to our most dire crises from climate change to poverty lie in regaining a balance with the world around us.
A Spring Without Bees: How Colony Collapse Disorder Has Endangered Our Food Supply
by Michael Schacker
April 2011
In a riveting detective story that melds science and politics, Michael Schacker examines the evidence and offers a plan to save the bees. Like An Inconvenient Truth and Silent Spring before it, A Spring Without Bees is a compelling cautionary tale and a clarion call for action. Looking at neonics and their pervasiveness throughout our society is truly something to ponder.
Silent Spring: The Classic That Launched the Environmental Movement
by Rachel Carson
March 2011
This 40th anniversary edition celebrates Rachel Carson's watershed book with a new introduction by the author and activist Terry Tempest Williams and a new afterword by the acclaimed Rachel Carson biographer Linda Lear, who tells the story of Carson's courageous defense of her truths in the face of ruthless assault from the chemical industry in the year following the publication of Silent Spring and before her untimely death in 1964. We followed her footsteps and found the current statistics which are truly harrowing.
The Medicinal Herb Grower: A Guide For Cultivating Plants That Heal: Volume 1
by Richo Cech
February, 2011
This book covers principles and practices of natural gardening techniques for growing medicinal herbs organically. Using personal experiences and stories that are at once amusing and instructive, the author covers principles such as observation in nature, windows of opportunity, creating plant habitat, benefits of diversity, rules of green thumb, soil, seeds, water, sun, trees, humans, and the forest community. The second half of the book covers background (going back to the Neolithic Period), growth cycles of plants, preparing the ground, the greenhouse and the shadehouse, compost, potting soils, planting seeds, making cuttings, and caring for plants.
Goat Song: A Seasonal Life, A Short History of Herding, and the Art of Making Cheese
by Brad Kessler
January, 2011
In poetic, reverent detail, Brad Kessler explores our ancient relationship to the land and our gradual alienation from the animals that feed us. His fascinating account traces his journey of choosing the goats and learning how to breed, milk, and care for them.