Download or read book The Resilient Farm and Homestead written by Ben Falk and published by Chelsea Green Publishing Company. This book was released on 2013 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Resilient Farm and Homestead is a manual for developing durable, beautiful, and highly functional human habitat systems fit to handle an age of rapid transition. Ben Falk is a land designer and site developer whose permaculture-research farm has drawn national attention. The site is a terraced paradise on a hillside in Vermont that would otherwise be overlooked by conventional farmers as unworthy farmland. Falk's wide array of fruit trees, rice paddies (relatively unheard of in the Northeast), ducks, nuts, and earth-inspired buildings is a hopeful image for the future of regenerative agriculture and modern homesteading. The book covers nearly every strategy Falk and his team have been testing at the Whole Systems Research Farm over the past decade, as well as experiments from other sites Falk has designed through his off-farm consulting business. The book includes detailed information on earthworks; gravity-fed water systems; species composition; the site-design process; site management; fuelwood hedge production and processing; human health and nutrient-dense production strategies; rapid topsoil formation and remineralization; agroforestry/silvopasture/grazing; ecosystem services, especially regarding flood mitigation; fertility management; human labor and social-systems aspects; tools/equipment/appropriate technology; and much more, complete with gorgeous photography and detailed design drawings. The Resilient Farm and Homestead is more than just a book of tricks and techniques for regenerative site development, but offers actual working results in living within complex farm-ecosystems based on research from the "great thinkers" in permaculture, and presents a viable home-scale model for an intentional food-producing ecosystem in cold climates, and beyond. Inspiring to would-be homesteaders everywhere, but especially for those who find themselves with "unlikely" farming land, Falk is an inspiration in what can be done by imitating natural systems, and making the most of what we have by re-imagining what's possible. A gorgeous case study for the homestead of the future.

Download or read book The Resilient Farmer written by Doug Avery and published by Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited. This book was released on 2017-07-31 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every day I watch my farm burn. Day after day, the sky is a relentless, empty blue. As our land dries up, all my hopes have turned to vapour, lost in that wide, blue yonder. And so begins Doug Avery’s story of emotional resilience in the face of what at times seemed a hopeless situation. The South Island farmer suffered terribly during eight years of drought. His farm was depleted and so was he, to the point of severe depression. The Resilient Farmer is Doug’s powerful example of how to get life back on track. With candour and wisdom, he tells his story of turning desperation into determination, embracing risk, navigating change and, on top of everything, enduring monumental earthquakes. An inspiring tale of how one man overcame heartbreaking adversity to live a fruitful life and help others.

Download or read book The Drought Resilient Farm written by Dale Strickler and published by Storey Publishing. This book was released on 2018-06-12 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rainfall levels are rarely optimal, but there are hundreds of things you can do to efficiently conserve and use the water you do have and to reduce the impact of drought on your soil, crops, livestock, and farm or ranch ecosystem. Author Dale Strickler introduces you to the same innovative systems he used to transform his own drought-stricken family farm in Kansas into a thriving, water-wise, and profitable enterprise, maximizing healthy cropland, pasture, and water supply. Ranging from simple, short-term projects such as installing rain-collection ollas to long-term land-management planning strategies, Strickler’s methods show how to get more water into the soil, keep it in the soil, and help plants and livestock access it.

Download or read book Resilient Agriculture written by Laura Lengnick and published by New Society Publishers. This book was released on 2015-05-11 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change presents an unprecedented challenge to the productivity and profitability of agriculture in North America. More variable weather, drought, and flooding create the most obvious damage, but hot summer nights, warmer winters, longer growing seasons, and other environmental changes have more subtle but far-reaching effects on plant and livestock growth and development. Resilient Agriculture recognizes the critical role that sustainable agriculture will play in the coming decades and beyond. The latest science on climate risk, resilience, and climate change adaptation is blended with the personal experience of farmers and ranchers to explore: The "strange changes" in weather recorded over the last decade The associated shifts in crop and livestock behavior The actions producers have taken to maintain productivity in a changing climate The climate change challenge is real and it is here now. To enjoy the sustained production of food, fiber, and fuel well into the twenty-first century, we must begin now to make changes that will enhance the adaptive capacity and resilience of North American agriculture. The rich knowledge base presented in Resilient Agriculture is poised to serve as the cornerstone of an evolving, climate-ready food system. Laura Lengnick is a researcher, policymaker, activist, educator, and farmer whose work explores the community-enhancing potential of agriculture and food systems. She directs the academic program in sustainable agriculture at Warren Wilson College and was a lead author of the report Climate Change and Agriculture in the United States: Effects and Adaptation.

Download or read book Farming for the Long Haul written by Michael Foley and published by Chelsea Green Publishing. This book was released on 2019 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Farming in the ruins of the twentieth century -- A short, unhappy history of business advice for farmers -- Subsistence first! -- Land for the tiller -- Soil, civilization, and resilient farmers through the centuries -- Resourceful farmers -- Woodlands and wastes -- It takes a village: leisure, community, and resilience -- Getting a living, forging a livelihood -- Farmer, citizen, survivor: politics and resilience

Download or read book The Resilient Gardener written by Carol Deppe and published by Chelsea Green Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scientist/gardener Carol Deppe combines her passion for gardening with newly emerging scientific information from many fields climatology, ecology, anthropology, sustainable agriculture, nutrition, and health science. In The Resilient Gardener, Deppe extends these principles with detailed information about growing and using five keystone crops that are especially important for anyone seeking greater self-reliance: potatoes, corn, beans, squash, and eggs.

Download or read book Letters to a Young Farmer written by Martha Hodgkins and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2017-03-07 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An agricultural revolution is sweeping the land. Appreciation for high-quality food, often locally grown, an awareness of the fragility of our farmlands, and a new generation of young people interested in farming, animals, and respect for the earth have come together to create a new agrarian community. To this group of farmers, chefs, activists, and visionaries, Letters to a Young Farmer is addressed. Three dozen esteemed leaders of the changes that made this revolution possible speak to the highs and lows of farming life in vivid and personal letters specially written for this collaboration. Barbara Kingsolver speaks to the tribe of farmers—some born to it, many self-selected—with love, admiration, and regret. Dan Barber traces the rediscovery of lost grains and foodways. Michael Pollan bridges the chasm between agriculture and nature. Bill McKibben connects the early human quest for beer to the modern challenge of farming in a rapidly changing climate. Letters to a Young Farmer is a vital road map of how we eat and farm, and why now, more than ever before, we need farmers.

Download or read book Sustainable Market Farming written by Pam Dawling and published by New Society Publishers. This book was released on 2013-02-01 with total page 459 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Growing for 100 - the complete year-round guide for the small-scale market grower. Across North America, an agricultural renaissance is unfolding. A growing number of market gardeners are emerging to feed our appetite for organic, regional produce. But most of the available resources on food production are aimed at the backyard or hobby gardener who wants to supplement their family's diet with a few homegrown fruits and vegetables. Targeted at serious growers in every climate zone, Sustainable Market Farming is a comprehensive manual for small-scale farmers raising organic crops sustainably on a few acres. Informed by the author's extensive experience growing a wide variety of fresh, organic vegetables and fruit to feed the approximately one hundred members of Twin Oaks Community in central Virginia, this practical guide provides: Detailed profiles of a full range of crops, addressing sowing, cultivation, rotation, succession, common pests and diseases, and harvest and storage Information about new, efficient techniques, season extension, and disease resistant varieties Farm-specific business skills to help ensure a successful, profitable enterprise Whether you are a beginning market grower or an established enterprise seeking to improve your skills, Sustainable Market Farming is an invaluable resource and a timely book for the maturing local agriculture movement.

Download or read book A Small Farm Future written by Chris Smaje and published by Chelsea Green Publishing. This book was released on 2020-10-22 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A modern classic of the new agrarianism "Chris Smaje...shows that the choice is clear. Either we have a small farm future, or we face collapse and extinction."—Vandana Shiva "Every young person should read this book."—Richard Heinberg In a groundbreaking debut, farmer and social scientist Chris Smaje argues that organizing society around small-scale farming offers the soundest, sanest and most reasonable response to climate change and other crises of civilisation—and will yield humanity’s best chance at survival. Drawing on a vast range of sources from across a multitude of disciplines, A Small Farm Future analyses the complex forces that make societal change inevitable; explains how low-carbon, locally self-reliant agrarian communities can empower us to successfully confront these changes head on; and explores the pathways for delivering this vision politically. Challenging both conventional wisdom and utopian blueprints, A Small Farm Future offers rigorous original analysis of wicked problems and hidden opportunities in a way that illuminates the path toward functional local economies, effective self-provisioning, agricultural diversity and a shared earth. Perfect for readers of both Wendell Berry and Thomas Piketty, A Small Farm Future is a refreshing, new outlook on a way forward for society—and a vital resource for activists, students, policy makers, and anyone looking to enact change.

Download or read book Black Farmers in America written by John Francis Ficara and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Future Proof Farm written by Steve Groff and published by Advantage Media Group. This book was released on 2020-09-22 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR FARMERS! WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE EARTH IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS Steve Groff's message to his fellow farmers is profound and prophetic: they are in danger of becoming obsolete. Major market changes are forcing them to make difficult decisions. Farmers who adjust have an opportunity to thrive. Those who do not are likely to fade away. Consumers increasingly demand that the food they eat and the clothes they wear come from producers who observe responsible farming practices such as cover crops and reduced tillage. The major corporate players are positioning themselves for a profitable future. Farmers must do likewise to ensure they will have a continuing market for their goods. To future-proof their farms, they must heal the live-giving soil that sustains their livelihood. Steve Groff knows that what is good for the earth is good for business. He has taken his message across the nation and to the corners of the world, promoting a new mindset that could save the family farm from extinction. This book is his wake-up call.

Download or read book A Nation of Farmers written by Sharon Astyk and published by New Society Publishers. This book was released on 2009-04-01 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 increasingly devour grain harvests, sending prices skyrocketing. More Americans than ever before require food stamps and food pantries just to get by, and a worldwide food crisis is unfolding, overseas and in our kitchens. We can keep hunger from stalking our families, but doing so will require a fundamental shift in our approach to field and table. A Nation of Farmers examines the limits and dangers of the globalized food system and how returning to basics is our best hope. The book includes in-depth guidelines for: Creating resilient local food systems Growing, cooking and eating sustainably and naturally Becoming part of the solution to the food crisis. The book argues that we need to make self-provisioning, once the most ordinary of human activities, central to our lives. The results will be better food, better health, better security and freedom from corporations that don't have our interests at heart. Critical reading for anyone who eats and cares about high-quality food and food sources.

Download or read book Farmer written by Jim Harrison and published by Open Road + Grove/Atlantic. This book was released on 2016-05-03 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A sensitive, powerful love story about a man on the cutting edge of life.” —Richard Brautigan In Farmer, Jim Harrison tells the story of Joseph, a forty-three-year-old farmer-schoolteacher who suddenly finds himself at a crossroads. Forced to choose between two lovers one a tantalizing young student, the other his beautiful childhood friend he must also decide whether or not to stay on the farm or finally seek the wider, more worldly horizons he has avoided all his life. Farmer is a wondrous blend of insight, storytelling, and the author’s uncanny ability to evoke the mysteries and beauties of the natural world. “A beautiful novel”, Farmer serves as the perfect introduction to Harrison’s remarkable insight, storytelling, and evocation of the natural world (The Boston Globe). “A quiet triumph . . . Yes, it is the old story again. Taking it and making it new, as Harrison has done, is a miracle on the order of the loaves and fishes. But then so are all good novels.” —The Washington Post

Download or read book Greenhorns written by Zoe Ida Bradbury and published by Storey Publishing, LLC. This book was released on 2012-05-08 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Greenhorns are a community of more than 5,000 young farmers and activists committed to producing and advocating for food grown with vision and respect for the earth. This book, edited by three of the group’s leading members, comprises 50 original essays by new farmers who write about their experiences in the field from a wide range of angles, both practical and inspirational. Funny and sad, serious and light-hearted, these essays touch on everything from financing and machinery to family, community building, and social change.

Download or read book Climate Resilient Agriculture Adaptation And Mitigation Strategies written by Manish Bhan and published by New India Publishing Agency. This book was released on 2018-09-26 with total page 6 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate is a vital factor that influences land use, crop quality, its productivity as well as all the other of agricultural systems. The significant impact of climate change is visible on human societies and natural ecosystems around the world. This impact will be more severe on agriculture if global warming continues. As per estimates of IPCC (2014), the agriculture, forestry and other land use contributes 24% of global greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions need to be reduced to avoid the serious impact of climate change using mitigation measures and adaptation strategies. Currently, unreliable and seasonal variations in weather have emerged as a serious challenge for sustainability influencing vegetation, biodiversity, livestock, soil, water, and other natural resources. In the last decade, more occurrence of extreme weather events affected farming community directly in their agricultural growth. The matter is of great concern to country like India, which require more produce from rainfed fields and shrinking crop land. To understand the problems occurring due to climate change, concerted efforts are required for mitigation and adaptation to reduce the vulnerability of rainfed agriculture and making it resilient. Agricultural output as well as the livelihood of people who depend on it, are particularly vulnerable to climate change, and it is important that we assess adaptation mechanisms to reduce these vulnerabilities. These practices should play a vital role to reduce GHG emissions by improving efficiency of farm inputs and others like agroforestry interventions for green agricultural technologies. Similarly, adoption of conservation agriculture, suitable cultivars, changing sowing dates, irrigation scheduling, and recycling waste water and solid waste in agriculture are some of the options for developing climate resilient agriculture. The book has been divided into major heads as: Climate Change and Indian Agriculture, Climate Change Management Strategies in Agriculture, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Indian Agriculture, New Technologies in relation to Climate Change and with contribution from major research institutes, universities by eminent scientists, faculty members the book will fit into the needs of all concerns.

Download or read book The Resilient Farm and Homestead Revised and Expanded Edition written by Ben Falk and published by Chelsea Green Publishing. This book was released on 2024-02-08 with total page 713 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “This is one of the most practical, down-to-earth, dirt-under-the-fingernails, comprehensive explanations of all things homesteading and small farming. Whether you’re just dreaming or an old hand, Ben Falk’s longer experience horizon is invaluable.”—Joel Salatin, cofounder, Polyface Farm; author of Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal Informed by twenty years of successful land management and the professional design experience of his pioneering firm Whole Systems Design, LLC, author Ben Falk updates his classic text and delivers the definitive twenty-first century systems thinking manual in self-reliance—sure to empower readers to prioritize projects, make positive lifestyle decisions, and take strategic steps toward a regenerative future. In The Resilient Farm and Homestead, Revised and Expanded Edition Falk describes how he has transformed a degraded hillside in the frigid Vermont climate into a thriving, biodiverse Eden that now provides year-round abundance for his family and community. First published in 2013, The Resilient Farm and Homestead is a comprehensive how-to guide for building durable and productive land-based systems through the reciprocal interplay of humans and the natural world. In the ten years since he first published this seminal work, Falk has deepened his wisdom in harnessing nature-based solutions for increasingly challenging times, including addressing severe climate disruptions like drought and flood conditions. The book covers every strategy Falk and his team have tested on the Whole Systems Research Farms over the past two decades and includes detailed information on earthworks, gravity-fed water systems, soil fertility management, growing nutrient-dense food and medicine, fuelwood production, agroforestry, managed grazing, and much more. Complete with full-color photography and detailed design drawings, The Resilient Farm and Homestead, Revised and Expanded Edition includes new information on: Designing greenhouses and microclimates Reinvigorating human health and embodying a vigorous lifestyle Raising children on a homestead Creating failure-proof and resilient energy systems Focusing on permaculture beekeeping Cultivating proven cold climate plants Overcoming analysis paralysis and mastering the art of knowing where to start and when to take strategic risks And much, much more! In an age that feels defined by disconnection, disease, and decline, The Resilient Farm and Homestead, Revised and Expanded Edition offers a roadmap to conquering uncertainty, maximizing efficiency, and creating a bountiful, manageable landscape that will endure. “Essential reading for the serious prepper as well as for everyone interested in creating a more resilient lifestyle.”—Carol Deppe, author of The Resilient Gardener “This intelligent, challenging book, rooted somewhere between back-to-the-land idealism and radical survivalism, sees resilience as both planting and building for the use of future generations, but also as preparing food, water, shelter, and the human body and psyche for the onset of any imaginable extreme emergency. . . . The result is a comprehensive, open-ended, theoretical and practical system for a post-carbon-dependent life.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review of first edition)

Download or read book The Art and Science of Grazing written by Sarah Flack and published by Chelsea Green Publishing. This book was released on 2016 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grazing management might seem simple: just put livestock in a pasture and let them eat their fill. However, as Sarah Flack explains in The Art and Science of Grazing, the pasture/livestock relationship is incredibly complex. If a farmer doesn't pay close attention to how the animals are grazing, the resulting poorly managed grazing system can be harmful to the health of the livestock, pasture plants, and soils. Well-managed pastures can instead create healthier animals, a diverse and resilient pasture ecosystem, and other benefits. Flack delves deeply below the surface of "let the cows eat grass," demonstrating that grazing management is a sophisticated science that requires mastery of plant and animal physiology, animal behavior, and ecology. She also shows readers that applying grazing management science on a working farm is an art form that calls on grass farmers to be careful observers, excellent planners and record-keepers, skillful interpreters of their observations, and creative troubleshooters. The Art and Science of Grazing will allow farmers to gain a solid understanding of the key principles of grazing management so they can both design and manage successful grazing systems. The book's unique approach presents information first from the perspective of pasture plants, and then from the livestock perspective--helping farmers understand both plant and animal needs before setting up a grazing system. This book is an essential guide for ruminant farmers who want to be able to create grazing systems that meet the needs of their livestock, pasture plants, soils, and the larger ecosystem. The book discusses all the practical details that are critical for sustained success: how to set up a new system or improve existing systems; acreage calculations; paddock layout; fence and drinking water access; lanes and other grazing infrastructure; managing livestock movement and flow; soil fertility; seeding and reseeding pastures; and more. The author includes descriptions of real grazing systems working well on dairy, beef, goat, and sheep farms in different regions of North America. The book covers pasture requirements specific to organic farming, but will be of use to both organic and non-organic farms.