10 books that will give the gift of a settler in your life
Today, record numbers of people are growing their own food and crops at home. Whether the homesteader in your life is novel to the homesteading lifestyle or a seasoned professional, we have the perfect gifts for anyone who grows everything on their own.
Autonomous farm and garden: returning to the roots of the organic method
In his first entirely novel book in fifteen years, renowned organic grower and best-selling author Eliot Coleman shares his elementary and reliable, low-cost system for creating and maintaining guaranteed pure organic soil fertility for perfect crops.
“A radical yet timeless understanding of what organic farming is really about…Only Eliot could bring such clarity and wisdom to the conversation….A must-read for anyone who believes food can be a force for change…A novel classic for the ages.”
—Jean-Martin Fortier, author of the book Market Gardener; founder of the Market Gardener Institute
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An easy-to-use resource for growing vigorous, hardy and low-maintenance trees, shrubs, vines and other fruit plants from around the world – perfect for farmers, gardeners and landscapers of all scales.
Frosty-resistant fruits and nuts is a comprehensive compendium of the most productive, edible fruit and nut plants that push the boundaries of what can survive winters in cold-climate growing regions. While most nurseries and guides present plants riddled with pest problems, experienced growers and founders of the Hortus Arboretum and Botanical Garden, Allyson Levy and Scott Serrano, focus on both common and unfamiliar fruits that have few, if any, pest or disease problems and generally higher levels of hardiness.
Featured excerpts:
Growing cold-resistant black raspberries
How to protect plants from the winter elements
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IN Intensive cultivation of vegetables without plowingO’Hara describes methods he has developed that are completely free of herbicides and other pesticides and require only a few acres of land and minimal capital investment. He argues that this versatile, ecological methodology is as essential to soil fertility as it is to his economic success.
Whether you are a high-performance producer, settler or gardener, Intensive cultivation of vegetables without plowing is a handbook for 21st century vegetable growers. O’Hara’s advanced yet accessible methodology will assist you both respond to natural systems and adapt to meet future challenges.
Featured excerpts:
Weeding: Work smarter, not harder
Low Tunnel Guide: DIY Winter Growing
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Farm-proven no-till gardening principles and practices – for healthier and more productive soil! From a popular host No-Till Market Garden Podcast.— heard around the world with nearly a million downloads!
Discovering how to meet the needs of the soil is a key task for every gardener. In this comprehensive guide, farmer Jesse Frost shares everything he’s learned through experience and experimentation with no-till practices on his family farm in Kentucky, and interviews and visits with successful gardeners in his role as host No-Till Market Garden Podcast..
Featured excerpts:
Garlic Growing 101: From Seed to Harvest
Designing an productive garden: eternal beds
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Outside the root cellar is an necessary, comprehensive winter storage guide for a wide range of growers, from commercial farmers to horticulturists to farmers.
Featured excerpts:
A guide to curing vegetables for storage
Reaping the Harvest: Tools for the Harvest
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A breakthrough resource for fruit and vegetable growers of all scales who want to go beyond ecology and build higher soil quality and fertility with less inputs through a unique ecosystem-balancing approach
Ecological Farm Is the A guide to organic farming, with particular emphasis on simplified farming, minimizing inputs on the farm and garden, and pest control.
Featured excerpts:
Weed suppression: selecting appropriate cover crops and living mulch
How to grow and care for fruit trees: general fruit tree management
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IN Resilient Farming and Homesteading, revised and expanded edition
Featured excerpts:
Becoming resilient in an ever-changing world
Perennial Power: Why you need them in your garden
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Gabe Brown had no intention of changing the world when he first started working alongside his father-in-law on the family farm in North Dakota. But when a series of weather-related crop disasters left Brown and his wife Shelly in desperate financial straits, they began making bold changes to their farm. Wanting to keep their farm profitable, they embarked on an incredible journey into a novel type of farming: regenerative agriculture.
IN Dirt to the soil Gabe Brown tells the story of this incredible journey and offers a wealth of novel soil restoration solutions by introducing and explaining his “Five Principles of Soil Health.”
Featured excerpts:
5 principles of soil health
The importance of planting cover crops
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Today, the greenhouse products market is dominated by only a few dozen vast producers. Why? Because they know and apply best practices in the most profitable crops: tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, peppers, leafy vegetables, lettuce, herbs and microgreens. The Greenhouse and Hoophouse Grower’s Handbook levels the playing field by exposing these practices so that all growers – vast and miniature – can maximize the potential of their protected growing space. Whether you’re growing your crop in a heated greenhouse or an unheated shed, this book offers a decision-making framework for how to best manage your crops that goes beyond a list of elementary do’s and don’ts.
Featured excerpts:
Is your greenhouse ready for winter?
Choosing the best heat source for your greenhouse
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First edition Compact-scale flock of poultry has helped thousands of miniature farmers and homesteaders successfully adopt a practical and integrative natural systems model of working with chickens and other domestic birds. Readers will find a wealth of completely novel material in this expanded and thoroughly revised edition. Author Harvey Ussery introduces readers to his novel favorite breed of chicken, the Icelandic; describes how he manages his breeding herd using a clan mating system; presents detailed information on the operate of traps and record sheets to assess the performance of breeding hens; and provides step-by-step instructions for building an ingeniously designed mobile poultry shelter.
Featured excerpts:
Un-Coop Your Poop: Everything You Need to Know About Chicken Tractors
How to choose the right breed for your poultry flock
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