(Part 2) Best gardening & landscape design books according to redditors
We found 2,026 Reddit comments discussing the best gardening & landscape design books. We ranked the 656 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
If you move the decimal over. This is about 1,000 in books...
(If I had to pick a few for 100 bucks: encyclopedia of country living, survival medicine, wilderness medicine, ball preservation, art of fermentation, a few mushroom and foraging books.)
Medical:
Where there is no doctor
Where there is no dentist
Emergency War Surgery
The survival medicine handbook
Auerbach’s Wilderness Medicine
Special Operations Medical Handbook
Food Production
Mini Farming
encyclopedia of country living
square foot gardening
Seed Saving
Storey’s Raising Rabbits
Meat Rabbits
Aquaponics Gardening: Step By Step
Storey’s Chicken Book
Storey Dairy Goat
Storey Meat Goat
Storey Ducks
Storey’s Bees
Beekeepers Bible
bio-integrated farm
soil and water engineering
Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation
Food Preservation and Cooking
Steve Rinella’s Large Game Processing
Steve Rinella’s Small Game
Ball Home Preservation
Charcuterie
Root Cellaring
Art of Natural Cheesemaking
Mastering Artesian Cheese Making
American Farmstead Cheesemaking
Joe Beef: Surviving Apocalypse
Wild Fermentation
Art of Fermentation
Nose to Tail
Artisan Sourdough
Designing Great Beers
The Joy of Home Distilling
Foraging
Southeast Foraging
Boletes
Mushrooms of Carolinas
Mushrooms of Southeastern United States
Mushrooms of the Gulf Coast
Tech
farm and workshop Welding
ultimate guide: plumbing
ultimate guide: wiring
ultimate guide: home repair
off grid solar
Woodworking
Timberframe Construction
Basic Lathework
How to Run A Lathe
Backyard Foundry
Sand Casting
Practical Casting
The Complete Metalsmith
Gears and Cutting Gears
Hardening Tempering and Heat Treatment
Machinery’s Handbook
How to Diagnose and Fix Everything Electronic
Electronics For Inventors
Basic Science
Chemistry
Organic Chem
Understanding Basic Chemistry Through Problem Solving
Ham Radio
AARL Antenna Book
General Class Manual
Tech Class Manual
MISC
Ray Mears Essential Bushcraft
Contact!
Nuclear War Survival Skills
The Knowledge: How to rebuild civilization in the aftermath of a cataclysm
As a fellow producer myself, boy, do I have just the book for you. Covers everything you need to know, and is even more relevant now than ever.
Because I'm an asshole.
Because every storm cloud ought to have a silver lining....
Brexit + XR
We all know that economic downturns are the fastest, surest way to reduce carbon emissions.
Everything seems to be claiming that a hard Brexit will cause an economic crisis in Britain. That may well spread.
So maybe Boris is giving XR exactly what they actually wanted. The economic downturn (or crash) that will reduce, perhaps drastically Britain's carbon emissions.
[Stay fed.] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=freeze+dried+vegetables&crid=1TW2FVNPOA3U3&sprefix=freeze+dried+veg%2Caps%2C244&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_16)
[However you can.] (https://www.amazon.com/Winter-Harvest-Handbook-Deep-Organic-Greenhouses/dp/1603580816)
> Any ideas where I can read on long term strategies?
Go to our sidebar and look at the recommended reading.
If you only read one book, make it Tim Hale's Smarter Investing.
> I've got a LS fund with a 20% equity exposure because I think the market is going to collapse.
20% equity exposure and 80% sovereign bond exposure.
If you think the market is going to collapse, why have any risk assets at all - why not have everything in cash?
I would note, that over the next 40 years of your life, I would expect the market to collapse at least 3 or 4 times. The long-term expected returns factor that in.
For instance, even if you were the worst market timer ever, you'd be surprised at your performance, historically: http://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/27/the-inspiring-story-of-the-worst-market-timer-ever.html
I would strongly suggest reading the book mentioned (and the sidebar details) if you think a collapse in the markets in the short term is something to worry about for a pension fund at age 24.
If you believe a collapse in the markets is going to happen that will cause a fundamental collapse in the economic and social order, then I would skip Tim Hale's book and instead pick up Sepp Holzer's Permaculture: A Practical Guide to Small-Scale, Integrative Farming and Gardening and training in conflict resolution.
>given the fact that the source of something can be literally anyone from an absolute expert to someone who is literally pulling total and blatant lies out of their ass.
I do agree with your sentiments here. And honestly I think much of the same strategies from the era of deconstructing bias in conventional news media are still useful today. I reference of course Adorno and Horkheimer's respective treatises, "Culture Industry" and "Dialectic of the Enlightenment", wherein degrees of simulation are used as a framework for explicating the way in which news media alienates the meaning of events as information is passed down the chain.
This type of thinking may have lead Orson Welles to make Citizen Kane in 1949 (And by may, I mean most certainly did; the rumor goes that Welles only made Citizen Kane to spite William Randolph Hearst because Hearst threw Welles out of a dinner party at his Castle for having more than two pre-dinner drinks) and Welles actually gives us a strategy for moving backwards from the third degree of simulation in an attempt to "reegender the meaning of a given event" by virtue of hearing as many people lie/provide opinions regarding that event as we possibly can, therein building an understanding of narratives as narratives rather than narratives as facts.
This of course recognizes the inherent bias (a predisposition) on the part of every human, and utilizes it to afford the modern consumer of information with exactly the strategy necessary to become as informed as possible.
Amalgamate perspectives and suddenly falling victim to a lie is nearly impossible; the internet is critical indeed.
Manual of Woody Landscape Plants Their Identification, Ornamental Characteristics, Culture, Propogation and Uses Unabridged. Dirr
https://www.amazon.com/Landscape-Identification-Ornamental-Characteristics-Propogation/dp/1588748685
I would say yes, but with a few caveats. I myself am a bit of an autodidact, and I study philosophy as a hobby in my free time. I am currently a university student who works part time, so I sympathize with your concerns about limited time and energy. Some things I think you should be aware of:
• Studying on your own will be slower and generally less efficient than getting a degree. You won’t have the same obligations or motivators that university students have.
• You will lack access to resources that university students have. This includes both academic material (journals, essays, books) but also an environment with instructors and fellow students to consult when you’re confused.
• You will not have the benefit of writing essays and having them graded by an instructor.
Despite this, I still think there is a lot to be gained from self study. You have the freedom to pursue whatever you want, and you can go at a pace that’s comfortable to you. Plus there’s something to be said about challenging yourself and doing constructive things in your free time.
It may be best to start with introductory texts like Copleston’s history to get a general idea for each philosopher and to find what interests you. If you are still interested in the thinkers you mentioned, you should move on to primary sources. I’d recommend the following reading plan which should cover some of the “essentials” and has a sort of progression from one thinker to the next:
These four books will give you a solid foundation in western philosophy. You have the fundamental ideas and questions from the Pre-Socratics, Plato, and Aristotle, rationalism from Descartes, empiricism from Hume, and the synthesis of the two in Kant. Moving on:
These three cover your interests in phenomenology, from its foundations in Husserl, to Heidegger’s magnum opus, to Sartre’s interpretation and his development of existentialism. Finally we have:
These two cover Horkheimer & Adorno’s critical take on enlightenment rationality and Derrida’s deconstruction of Husserlian phenomenology.
None of these books are particularly easy (especially Husserl and Heidegger), but I encourage you to try! Take it one book at a time, read slow and take notes, and consult the IEP and SEP if you’re confused, watch YouTube lectures, or ask on this subreddit.
Good luck!
There are some great resources to read over the winter.
Bill Mollison was the guy who started Permaculture. A great start would be to read his Design Manual.
This will give you a framework to think about Permaculture. You could spend years following the aspects that fascinate you whether it is landscape design or grey water systems or rocket stove heaters, mob grazing, natural swimming pools, or a million other directions you can take it. It's good to have an overview first.
About making a living, there were a couple aspects that never made sense to me. First if I wanted to make living on a permaculture farm full time, how was I supposed to eat apples all year? I like the idea of perennials, but I was confused. Then I met Mark Shepard in Wisconsin at his farm. He explained that it's more than just fruits. He grows hazelnuts for oil, chestnuts for carbs, and veggies between the rows. That made more sense to me. Mark has a permaculture design course that he calls Restoration Agriculture where he talks about how to purchase the land, how to structure your business, etc.
The second area of confusion for me was how to make a living teaching design courses. In any given area, there is a finite number of people interested in Permaculture. For you to teach courses and continue to get enough people to make a living, you need to be a big name like Geoff Lawton. So I thought about falling back on design. Even fewer people have the money to pay you to design their property. Meanwhile more and more people want to do this for a living.
Basically, I'm still struggling to figure out how to realistically pay my bills just doing permaculture. I hesitate to say this because I don't want to discourage you. Permaculture is amazing.
What your describing is a constructed wetlands. Its more for bio-remediation of run off from a parking lot.
Compost toilets usually either employ the bucket method, where you capture the defecate in a bucket and empty it into a barrel where it can sit for a year before being safe to compost. Or the toilet detains the defecate in a chamber beneath and dries it out using ventilation. Once its sufficiently dry its safe to mix with compost.
Either way if you build it properly and teach people how to use it, it won't have an odor.
Humanure Handbook
>Do you know how unsafe a hot water heater that only goes up to 90 degrees F is? I am shocked you haven't caught legionnaire's already.
I wasn't overly familiar with it, so thanks for the heads up. I've been using chlorinated tap water and usually only 2-3 days worth at a time. I'll make sure I don't let water sit in there and become stagnant and to rinse it out with a 5% bleach solution once a week to be safe.
>Do you know how many nasty diseases you can catch from improperly disposed human waste?
Yes, actually, I did a lot of research and reading on proper composting methods before diving into it. Your average person's waste will contain large amounts of bacteria and some common parasites (pin worms, etc.) and possibly some virus's(virii?) as well. Here's a chart that shows survival times of some pathogens.
I'd suggest reading the Humanure Handbook if you're interested in the topic.
This line plays in my head as more and more lanes appear on the road and the circuitboard-esque city skyline looms closer. I know I have at least another week of being someone's code-monkey...
What I've found helps is exercising, regular meditation, playing rec league sports outside, playing with cats, sitting in a park and watching animals/listening to the wind in the trees. This book has also helped me cultivate (at least a little bit) that sense of wonder even in everyday life. There is nature to be found everywhere.
Things you don't want to replace because of the price tag:
Stab Lok made electrical boxes in the US in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. They don't break-over if there's a fault, and can kill you in a fire.
Some electrical work is pretty easy, but it's still dangerous. If you plan to add electrical and have walls open, you can easily save yourself a ton of money by doing the rough in yourself and have an electrician look at it and say it's good before hooking it up to the breaker box. Black and Decker has a great book: . Their real goal is to sell you tools, but the book is good. Don't do anything you don't feel comfortable with.
Drywalling is easy and drywall and drywall mud are really cheap. Like $6 for a 6 pound bag of dryawall mud. So, don't worry about drywall damage, just replace walls.
Drywall before you move in. Sanding drywall makes a huge mess. You'll be cleaning up the dust for awhile, you don't need upholstered furniture in addition to everything else to clean.
Baseboards and chair rail are expensive. $2 or $3 a foot and higher. It doesn't seem like much, but a 12 x 12 room can cost you $150+ to replace the boards in.
Trees near the house are trouble. Bushes near the house are trouble. You want shade, but not roots breaking through the foundation. Cutting trees and digging out roots is not fun, especially the digging out roots part.
Check that the laundry area actually has hot and cold water.
Be aware a garbage disposal isn't necessarily standard and you may need to add it and an outlet for it.
Electrical tape on wires is bad. If you see exposed wires or junctions with electrical tape over them, it's a sure sign of bad do it yourself electrical work. You probably want a real electrician to look into how bad it is.
Yard care is expensive, especially at first. You'll need a mower and weedeater at least. Be prepared for $400-$800 there.
HUD homes generally have no power/water, etc, so if you're looking at them, just know to dress for outside weather inside. Also, know you may have to replace the meters at a cost of a few hundred. People also take things like toilets and sinks with them when they leave so never, never, never, buy one without looking at it. Never buy any house without looking at it, but double for anything HUD owned. Also, have the power and water and gas turned on for the inspection, it's better to spend the money and know things don't work than to save the $500 and get surprised when it's move in time.
Banks are going to send an appraiser out to the house. If they don't think they can make the loan back mostly by foreclosing and selling the house, they won't lend to you. Trashed houses and HUD owned houses might have a hard time getting financed, so don't 'fall in love with the possibilities'.
Also, a HUD owned house will probably need interior paint even if you don't see it in the pictures 80% of them have strange and scary and bold color walls. Be prepared to need to full on prime and paint.
Also, bad wall paper is going to require you to replace or resurface the walls. It's not a terrible task, but it is a terrible task if the wall is hard to reach like behind a counter or under cabinets. It's not expensive, but it's super terrible. If you can pick at the wallpaper and see if a corner comes up easily (it should have primer underneath it, not the same color as the wall around).
I'm not sure it is possible to do it with small-scale, localized agriculture.
I think the goal is to scale permaculture up to the size of conventional agriculture, but even here the jury's still out. There's no real data yet because there hasn't been enough people doing permaculture at that scale. On the one hand, I can imagine Permaculture out-competing because you get so many different crops from one acre of land; on the other, conventional agriculture is so much more efficient per input, since virtually 100% of your input is going to the crop (versus going to nitrogen fixers, ground cover, etc.). I think Fukuoka was able to beat conventional farms in Japan, but none of his students have been able to, so one of the few examples I can think of adds to the ambiguity.
Mark Shepard is really trying to address this; he does think that Permaculture scaled up can out-compete. I'm reading his book right now, and it is mind-blowing.
Anyway, I guess this a really long-winded way of saying this argument isn't settled yet and ultimately only will be once people start doing permaculture.
EDIT: fixed my crazy link :/
I second the idea that it really depends on what languages/literatures your cousin is thinking of studying. I'd hesitate to recommend anything too theoretical for an incoming freshman. But, if you are going to go that route, here are some suggestions:
Erich Auerbach's Mimesis is the closest thing that the discipline has to a foundational text. Generally, this is required reading for a first-year graduate student. Not sure how I would've handled this as an undergrad. That said, I wouldn't hesitate to assign a chapter or two from it to any class I teach, provided it relates to our other readings. It's a kind of survey that traces the development of Western Literature from Homer's Odyssey to twentieth-century lit. Each chapter deals with a different text. https://amzn.com/0691160228
You could also try a reader of some kind. I worked with this text as an undergrad in one of my classes: The Cultural Studies Reader. It's basically an anthology of theoretical texts that catalogues different theoretical approaches and introduces you to a lot of major thinkers. I thought it was great and it really sparked my love (...ahem..."love"...) for theory. In my opinion, it's a bit more approachable than something like The Princeton Sourcebook in Comparative Literature, which is also a good option if you're looking for something more serious.
If you're looking to follow up on /u/Caitlionator's suggestion suggestion about Critical Theory, I would suggest Adorno's and Horkheimer's The Dialectic of Enlightenment. Dense reading for an incoming freshman (IMO), but worth it for someone interested in Marxist-oriented theory.
If all of this is seeming too serious and/or dense (which it might be for an incoming freshman), you could try some of the graphic guides published by Icon books. Here's an example: https://amzn.com/1848311818. There are all kinds of options for these. To be honest, I don't really think these are that great; but the few that I've seen seemed fun and interesting. They provide some good context, so they might work as a kind of springboard for you cousin to explore some of these subjects further on his own.
Other than that, it's hard to make suggestions without knowing what your cousin's interests are. As an undergraduate, I always would've preferred to receive a literary text as a gift rather than a theoretical text (unless it was something I really wanted). Maybe a book from one of his favorite authors, or one of that author's favorite authors? Does he like Classics? Maybe a nice copy of Homer?
Edit: spelling
They wouldn't claim to be scientists, more like ecological engineers, but there are tons of writeups. They write a lot of books; there are a lot of "test sites" around the world.
Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home Scale Permaculture --> most accessible guide for the layperson
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1603580298/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1603580298&linkCode=as2&tag=postapocaly06-20&linkId=PARY4RJKHWLQYGER
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0908228015/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0908228015&linkCode=as2&tag=postapocaly06-20&linkId=NSVF65UXGPBESS3D --> Permaculture: A Designer's Manual, by Bill Mollison --> the textbook for the so-called "permaculture design course"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture
Some famous demonstration sites:
Zaytuna Farm, Australia - http://permaculturenews.org/2012/06/01/zaytuna-farm-video-tour-apr-may-2012-ten-years-of-revolutionary-design/
Bealtaine Cottage, British Isles - http://bealtainecottage.com/before-permaculture/
Agroforestry UK - https://www.agroforestry.co.uk/
It's quite a rabbit hole! Good luck exploring!!
Hey friend! That's kind of a big question with a lot of detail. All the information is out there, but it can be tricky to find. I think we can all empathize with you there.
Generally speaking, all the concepts are the same, it's only the equipment that changes. Essentially, all you're doing is the following, without any of the details:
 
 
I usually advocate for getting a pressure cooker and beginning with grains/jars; but you said you were on a tight budget, so I'll give you some beginner-tier options to get the above accomplished. The caveat here is that they're by no means the best or least-risky methods, but you asked for a cheap way forward that is still effective, so that's what I'll give you. It would be impossible for me to list out every detail, so just ask me questions and I'll fill in the rest one thing at a time:
 
You could pasteurize prepared wood chip/sawdust mix (substrate) in a coffee can or plastic tub (with a lid) and buy pre-made spawn online. Spawn is ≈$10-25USD and comes as bags of grains or sawdust. You can find tubs all over the place for cheap. Then you just combine the two, wait for the substrate to colonize, and fruit from there (Steps 5-9).
You could also buy a grocery store Hericium mushroom, chop it up into slices, spread that out over moist cardboard, and let that colonize. This is a little more risky with Hericium (v. Pleurotus, which is much more aggressive). After it finishes, you would add that cardboard spawn to some pasteurized wood chip/sawdust mix in layers, then wait for it to finish colonizing before fruiting it (Steps 3-9).
Those are both cheap ways to start out, but don't skimp on the spawn.
Depending on the tote you use, you might need to make a ShotGun Fruiting Chamber (SGFC), which is just a tote with holes in it on all 6 sides, with some perlite or grow stone at the bottom. It's as expensive as it is to buy a tote. You'll need to find a drill and bit to make the holes. I can run you through that, too.
 
All of this is just a basic idea to point you in a direction given your low budget. It's slightly more risky, but cheap and easy. That's the tradeoff.
If you're in college, you might have access to a biology lab and be able to use their equipment. Glass Petri dishes, bio-safety cabinet, autoclave, possible supply of agar, etc. Let me know if you do and I'll walk you though some more advanced techniques that also meet your budget. All you'd have to do is buy a few bags at ≈$1USD each and either some liquid culture (≈$10), or even a store-bought mushroom will do.
 
That's a super rough, dirty version. People will probably yell at me, but that's ok. I can't type out a novel here, so just ask questions about what you don't understand and we'll go from there. If you need a source that takes you front to back, go to your college library and Inter-Library-Loan "Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms" or "Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation: Simple to Advanced and Experimental Techniques for Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation".
It's Permaculture: A Designer's Manual by Bill Mollison.
It's big. It's black. It's expensive.
The Humanure Handbook covers everything you need to know. You have to have airflow and drainage or the worms will die so the bucket idea is not great. Honestly, if you don't have the room, don't do it. It's likely illegal in the city anyhow.
Then go for it.
If it seems uncommon here, probably most people here are just too lazy, as it takes time to maintain a veggie garden, so easier for them to go to the store. Also, since we are pretty far north on the globe, our growing season won't be as long as what you might be used to in Turkey, and different kinds of produce might be better for our climate and growing season.
If you really want to get into it, there is a great book written by a guy that founded a great seed company (Territorial Seed Company).
This is his book : https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Vegetables-West-Cascades-6th/dp/1570615349
I had a huge garden in my yard one year, based on this book. It was amazing, but it took up a lot of my free time so I scaled back to just a single container to grow a few tomatoes. I'll probably do a large garden again someday -- after I retire.
I would really recommend reading online resources as compared to buying books. With wikipedia and google you can learn about:
My program is structured very open ended and my professors rarely referenced their books but two that I find interesting are related to propagation.
[Manual of Woody Landscape Plants](http://www.amazon.com /dp/1588748685/ref=asc_df_15887486851809347?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395093&creativeASIN=1588748685) has an introductory chapter that explains a lot of general plant information as well as listing tons of common woody landscape plants and techniques to care for them and propagate them.
American Horticultural Society Plant Propagation focuses more on overviews of various propagation techniques in a 'simplified' way with lots of pictures. Good light reading that is also very informative and may be easier to delve into than the Manual of Woody Landscape Plants. It is also much cheaper.
I am sure you will find some topics that are more interesting than others, the list is certainly not all inclusive but does cover most of the basic stuff I was learning last year. As with learning anything I encourage you to dive deep and get some good google-fu and wikipedia crawling under your belt. Lots of knowledge to be had!
I would check out David Holmgren and Bill Mollisons Books. They are both co-originator of what we know as permaculture today. Bill's book is more of a reference book, which is what it sounds like your after. Also Gais Garden is generally recommended.
If you're raising it for small scale, you'll want to choose heritage breeds or locally adapted breeds. In the same way that the mealy, tasteless tomatoes you buy at the supermarket are bred for uniformity and transportability rather than flavor or adaptability to your local climate, "common" wheat and grain varieties are bred to withstand herbicides and pesticides, and to be productive in large monocultures. Small Scale Grain Raising is good. I haven't read The Organic Grain Grower but it looks good. If you're interested in corn, several homesteaders I know grow painted mountain corn and have only had great reviews.
Buy a regional guide. Here are a few if you are in the US. It's important to know the terminology that goes along with mushroom hunting.
Also Use the links in the sidebar here, they will tell you the active mushrooms in your area. Once you do this do individual research on each one.
Regional guides
Alaska
Common Interior Alaska Cryptogams
Western US
All The Rain Promises and More
Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest
Mushrooms Demystified This is an old book, while still useful it definitely needs updating.
The New Savory Wild Mushroom Also dated but made for the PNW
Midwestern US
Mushrooms of the Midwest
Edible Wild Mushrooms of Illinois and Surrounding States
Mushrooms of the Upper Midwest
Southern US
Texas Mushrooms: A Field Guide
Mushrooms of the Southeastern United States
Eastern US
Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians
Mushrooms of Northeast North America (This was out of print for awhile but it's they're supposed to be reprinting so the price will be normal again)
Mushrooms of Northeastern North America
Macrofungi Associated with Oaks of Eastern North America(Macrofungi Associated with Oaks of Eastern North America)
Mushrooms of Cape Cod and the National Seashore
More specific guides
Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World
North American Boletes
Tricholomas of North America
Milk Mushrooms of North America
Waxcap Mushrooms of North America
Ascomycete of North America
Ascomycete in colour
Fungi of Switzerland: Vol. 1 Ascomycetes
PDFs
For Pholiotas
For Chlorophyllum
Websites that aren't in the sidebar
For Amanita
For coprinoids
For Ascos
MycoQuebec: they have a kickass app but it's In French
Messiah college this has a lot of weird species for polypores and other things
Cultivation
The Mushroom Cultivator: A Practical Guide to Growing Mushrooms at Home (If your home is a 50,000 sq ft warehouse)
Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation: Simple to Advanced and Experimental Techniques for Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation
Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms
Mycology
The fifth kingdom beginner book, I would recommend this. It goes over fungal taxonomy Oomycota, Zygomycota and Eumycota. It also has ecology and fungi as food.
The kingdom fungi coffee table book it has general taxonomy of the kingdom but also very nice pictures.
Introduction to fungi Depends on your definition of beginner, this is bio and orgo heavy. Remember the fungi you see pop out of the ground (ascos and basidios) are only a tiny fraction of the kingdom.
Grow a Little Fruit Tree: Simple Pruning Techniques for Small-Space, Easy-Harvest Fruit Trees https://www.amazon.com/dp/1612120547/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_.5RLBbJEEGVV8
Greens will usually do alright in shade. Spinach, broccoli, kale, arugala should all be fine. Carrots, beans and peas can tolerate shade but should still be getting at least a few hours of direct sun. How shaded are they? Setting good sweet fruits really requires 6 hours of sunshine. It's fairly likely though that your fruit trees could use some extra pruning which would let more light through.
Check out The Holistic Orchard. It'll guide you in pruning and tells you how to grow everything fruit related.
The Apple Grower
The Holistic Orchard
both by Michael Phillips
If you want to graft new varieties on, you'll wand to top work the trees. Cut the top off, meaning all the branches, so that you've just got a trunk, and then graft onto the top of that.
If you're looking for cider apple scionwood for grafting, Chris Ryland has the best collection in the US and he sells them through his website.
not a wildlife photographer, but long time hunter. IMO, far and away the best book out there about tracking is this one, by tom brown. the best book I've ever read about sneaking around is fred asbell's book on the subject, but that is probably too hyper specific for your needs. in general, the secrets to getting close to animals are to use small movements and to break up your outline. Camouflage clothing is a possibility but most animals can be fooled by any sort of open pattern - a flannel shirt with light and dark patches is as effective as camo, for example.
HOWEVER, the better thing to do is to learn as much as you can about the habits and habitats of your quarry. A great source for this kind of info for birds is this site from the Cornell Ornithology Lab.
hope that helps.
If you trunk chop at the right time of year (very early spring), new shoots will grow below the cut that will eventually form new branches.
This is a good book on japanese maple bonsai, and covers trunk chops, among other techniques.
It's a long process, but will eventually achieve the results you are looking for.
A few things to keep in mind:
Also, if you don't want to do this much work, you could always order one online if you can't find one local.
It also looks like you have the Pennsylvania Bonsai Society as well - you might have some luck with that. On their site, they list some local shops that aren't too far away from Philly.
I ordered Peter Adams’ maple book after seeing loads of people here recommend it
Buy it new and support his estate -- he was a great man that never really fiscally benefited from the artistic rigor he brought to our hobby. Not shaming, simply suggesting.
Not really that hard to get information and there are a plethora of free videos on Youtube that cover everything you need to know.
Some things to get you going on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/permacultureVOICES
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOSGEokQQcdAVFuL_Aq8dlg
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL_r1ELEvAuN0peKUxI0Umw
https://www.youtube.com/user/urbanfarmercstone
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzWccp_i_qzC34-a0tmYoEg
https://www.youtube.com/user/survivalpodcasting
https://www.youtube.com/user/wholesystems
Some good books:
Essentially a textbook: https://www.amazon.com/Permaculture-Designers-Manual-Bill-Mollison/dp/0908228015/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479709226&sr=8-1&keywords=bill+mollison
Cold Climate Info: https://www.amazon.com/Resilient-Farm-Homestead-Innovative-Permaculture/dp/1603584447/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479709474&sr=8-1&keywords=ben+falk
Keep in mind that with the move into electronic media, the books and whatnot that had to be paid for, moved as well. I would want to make something for my time and effort as I am sure you would as well.
However, I do disagree with asking money for something someone else came up with if you don't have something significant to add.
I dare say, I hope it is not a fad considering the 40 year history of the system as well as the time and effort I am putting in on my 5 acres.
https://www.amazon.com/Psilocybin-Mushroom-Growers-Handbook-Enthusiasts/dp/0932551068
The two brothers who wrote this book did so with the intention of science minded 10 year olds being able to grow their own mushrooms. You can find spores very easily online that can be delivered straight to your door.
It's on sale right now! It's usually $15 (I've had it on my wishlist for a couple of years)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1565126831/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_K0JsDbXNJZCDH
I've been hoping to find something like that too and haven't found anything yet. I've been looking at these books in the mean time:
http://www.amazon.com/Vegetables-Berries-Thought-Possible-Imagine/dp/1580087965/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301142256&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Carrots-Love-Tomatoes-Companion-Successful/dp/1580170277/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1301142401&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Companion-Planting--Basics/dp/1601383452/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1301142401&sr=1-2
There are also resources at the extension and ag offices. The biggest problem is that different heirloom varieties of the same family (i.e. tomatoes) can have somewhat different needs (different zone / sun needs). That means unless it when down to that level, it would still only be a guide line. Also, check this post out:
http://www.reddit.com/r/SelfSufficiency/comments/g2vt4/some_nice_and_free_ebooks_and_info_about/
They had a good chart on there for companion planting about midway down this page:
http://www.idepfoundation.org/idep_gardens_media.html
I am also interested in what foods you are growing/planning on growing /u/mrsfrugalwoods
I read this book last year and the way Mark Shepard approaches food growing is a lot like early retirement planning.
Sure thing. We're just setting it up for the winter, as most of her plants do very well outside (Detroit). Are you looking at a year-round terrarium setup, or a place to maintain them across a cold/wet season?
She went through and sorted everything by light/temp/water needs and figured out that her cephalotus/sarracenia (potted pitchers), drosera(sundews), and most of her pinguicula (butterworts) will be ok with a similar temp range - so they are all going into the same tank. I've been voluntold that I'm building risers this weekend to make sure each one gets the right amount of light - from a 4' x 4 tube T5 light setup that rests on top of the tank, just like an aquarium. There is a waterproof heating pad under the tank, and a thermometer inside to keep tabs on temp.
The top easily comes off and a couple pieces of plexi keep humidity constant. Since they won't be naturally hunting inside the tank plants can be dropper feed a thinned out 16/16/16 (maybe 18/18/18 - I don't know these things) solution, or you can apparently get wingless fruit flies or freeze dried mealworms.
Her nephentes (hanging/tropical pitchers) are getting cycled between window rods and the big shelving unit for succulents/orchids.
These books are definitely worth checking out:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1607744104/ (great wide overview)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1505891604/
TLDR:
Hope this helps. If you have any questions, PM me and I'll direct you to the expert. All of my knowledge comes from whatever I need to order online or construct to support the habit.
Umm, I must say that I wish we could use the German original, but I don't know German, and I guess that most others in the sub don't know either. I do think there will be meanings we'll be missing, and others we'll take completely wrong. That's a common problem that every bilingual faces (me included). It is your decision, and if my partner in crime will be using the original German, there's an even greater incentive. Just take in mind that due to most of us reading in English, reading a German edition will put a certain pressure on you to translate back and forth between the languages.
With that being said, I'll be using the English translation present in this link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0804736332/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522167390&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=dialectic+of+enlightenment&dpPl=1&dpID=51d%2BeDj%2Ba%2BL&ref=plSrch
https://www.amazon.com/Bonsai-Japanese-Maples-Peter-Adams/dp/0881928097
Ray Mears is the man to watch and read if you are thinking about long term sustainable survival.
If you are thinking about eventually getting out of the primitive I would suggest adapting the practices of permaculture for your situation (and the cheaper condensed version though just as good!).
Things like a compost toilet and digesting methane for fuel might be things you'd like. There's the Humanure Handbook which I have read from front to cover several times and I highly recommend it. I also experimented with humanure and have nothing but good things to say about it. Anyway, I don't want to talk to much so Google permaculture, there's a /r/permaculture subreddit, read, research, think a lot about what you're going to do before you do it and good luck.
EDIT: here's a good book about a permanent shelter you might like
>without livestock, there will be no natural fertilizers.
WTF? Almost any organic waste is a fertilizer. Rotting food scraps are a fertilizer. Compost is a fertilizer. Most animal shit can be used as a fertilizer, even human shit. I refer to the Humanure Handbook. Kind of weird to fixate on cows as the only species that can take a shit. It speaks to the culture you were brought up in.
For those just getting started, Square Foot Gardening is great, it's a good starting point for getting in the habit of maintaining a garden, for making good use of small spaces, and for learning about gardening.
How to Grow More Vegetables is a fantastic book. It is a great reference book on sustainable gardening, and self-sufficiency gardening. It is used by several programs as a textbook to teach sustinence gardening in third-world countries.
Carrots Love Tomatoes is a great book for learning about companion planting.
I just ordered Gardening When it Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times. I haven't read it yet, so I can't give a review, but it is reviewed very favorably. My understanding is that it presents a more old-fashioned, traditional method of gardening that requires less water, less fertilization, etc.
Good luck, and let us know what you think of any books you try!
Dirr is a god among men.
He's written lots of stuff.
Do you have any plan on how the livestock you mentioned will be incorporated into that area? If not, I'd recommend Mark Sheppard's "restoration agriculture".
Also, if you're interested in a larger list of potentially compatible plants you can see one [here.] (http://www.americanplant.net/index.php/gardening-tips/organic-gardening/13-resource-library/plant-care-sheets/60-plants-to-grow-under-black-walnuts)
I don't have any personal experience, but I know of a couple of books on the subject:
Small-Scale Grain Raising, Second Edition: An Organic Guide to Growing, Processing, and Using Nutritious Whole Grains, for Home Gardeners and Local Farmers
Homegrown Whole Grains: Grow, Harvest, and Cook Wheat, Barley, Oats, Rice, Corn and More
There are a couple different species you could potentially keep in a kitchen environment as long as you have appropriate conditions.
Your best bet is going to be to check out /r/savagegarden, read Barry Rice's Carnivorous Plant FAQ and if you start getting serious, purchase a copy of The Savage Garden which is probably the best book around for learning how to grow carnivorous plants.
In terms of species that will do well in that environment, you're probably going to want to look at the genus Drosera (Sundews) or maybe Nepenthes (Tropical Pitcher Plants).
The best Sundews for your purposes are going to be:
Those are all fairly easy to cultivate and as long as fairly appropriate conditions are provided, they will thrive.
I'm not really certain of what Nepenthes would be best, as I don't really grow too many of them.
For "around the house growing" you're going to have to keep two major factors in mind.
Last thing, don't worry about the black thumb, I have an extremely pronounced one, but CPs seem to be just about the only thing I can actually grow! They're pretty easy to grow once you get a hang of it!
There are some really awesome books out there:
The Savage Garden is always a great gift, but if he's an expert then he probably already has it. California Carnivores sells books signed by Peter (the author,) which could be fun.
Do you have an idea of what specific plants he's into (Nepenthes, sundews, Sarracenia)? If there's a specific type that he's passionate about, Stewart McPherson's books are incredibly detailed and beautiful (they're on Amazon too.)
Plants are a good way to go, but it's risky if you don't know what you're doing. If he's on any forums (Terraforums, etc) then he might have a "want list" posted. I know it's a stretch, but if you can find that then you're in great shape. If you happen to know of specific plants that he's after, PM me and I can try to help you source them.
Try to get your hands on Edible Forest Gardens ( vol 1 and 2 ) by David Jacke and Eric Toensmeier. It's the premier work on Eastern North American ecological agroforestry.
Martin Crawford's work is also very applicable since he's in a humid zone 3-5 ish British climate. His book is an amazing resource.
The Bullock Brother's have done a lot of work in Cold climate permaculture but they're in Washinton so it's still more humid.
Great Plains ecology is an interesting biome though and I'm not sure there's been a lot of work done on food forestry in that particular climate. I know a fair amount of work has been done on perennial grasslands but it gets more complicated since you are dealing with elements of dryland design and cold climate design. Some tropical techniques for water retention aren't going to work since frost is going to be a factor. Probably the best technique would be to follow the ecology and design around coolees since that's where great plains deciduous forests tend to thrive.
> Finns det någon fråga som lyder "Varför är X nödvändigt?" eller "varför är X viktigt?" som INTE har ett godtyckligt svar?
Detta är en extremt liberal ståndpunkt -- en ren värdenihilism, av den typ som liberalism, kapitalism, och upplysningen gett upphov till i den västerländska kulturen. Vore jag fascist är det nog precis detta tankesätt som jag hade identifierat som roten till all den dekadens ni fascister älskar att identifiera.
Att hålla den ståndpunkten är vad sofisterna höll fast vid i det gamla Grekland, och vad en del upplysningstänkare i alla fall orsakade andra att tänka. Se till exempel Hume, för vilken det inte var irrationellt att föredra mänsklighetens undergång före ett myggbett.
Om du vill kunna ge ett mindre svagt och godtyckligt svar på den frågan föreslår jag att du läser de tänkare som argumenterat mot detta intellektuella förfall, och som har identifierat det. Ett par boktips. (Varje ord en egen länk)
>Det finns många problem med kapitalismen, jag nämnde bara ett par av dem.
Så vilka är de andra problemen, och hur löser din fascism dem?
>Hur samhället ska vara organiserat? Svaret på den här frågan skulle kunna bli oändligt långt. Kort sagt, jag vill imitera det gamla tyska Gausystemet, bevara parlamentarismen men avskaffa allmänna val i alla dess former, decentralisera vissa frågor som inte berör storstadsbyråkrater och så vidare. Du får nog vara mer specifik i din frågeställning om du vill få ett mer tillfredsställande svar.
Du skrev att: "Strukturerar vi vårt samhälle på så sätt att det präglas av stark sammanhållning och tillit på folkgemenskapens grund, och att den styrande eliten hamnar i maktposition i kraft av sina förmågor och sin genuina vilja att göra gott, och inte i kraft av ärvd makt eller ärvda rikedomar, så ser jag inte hur det hela skulle kunna misslyckas.".
Hur uppnår denna organisation detta mål?
>Kan du ge något exempel på länder i vilka man förändrat samhället på det sätt även jag vill, men misslyckats på något sätt? Vilka historiska exempel är det du tänker på?
Mig veterligen kan jag inte ens ge några exempel där man ändrat samhället som du vill och lyckats.
Däremot finns det gott om exempel där man inte ändrat det som du vill och ändå lyckats.
well. A book that changed my life back when I was 15 was Walden from Thoreau. I threw away everything I owned. yeah I mean everything even my bed. I own nothing that dates from before I was 15. Would this have the same effect today? who knows.
back then, the book Beyond Good and Evil by Nietzsche had something to to with me ''taking a break'' from school, contributing too did: genealogy of Morals, into the wild, Adorno - dialectic of Enlightenment ( had no idea what that guy was talking about back then but made me real queasy about the world nonetheless.)
books that changed my life recently: Lying from Sam Harris. Steven Pinker - Enlightenment now made me pick a lot of fights with people who like to hate this world.
Insanity of Normality made me forgive some people I had real bad feelings toward, though I'm sceptical now of what is said in the book
unless you understand german you won't be able to read this: Blödmachinen , made me a snob in regards to media. Bernard Stieglers books might have the same effect in english
oh and selfish gene by Dawkins made me less judgmental. Don't know why. I just like people more
EDIT
oh lest I forget: Kandinsky - Concerning The Spiritual in Art made me paint my appartement black blue; Bukowski and the Rubaiyat made me drink more, Born To Run made me run barefoot, Singers Practical Ethics made me donate money and buy far less stuff.
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer wrote on this topic in The Dialectic of Enlightenment, particularly in a chapter entitled "The Culture Industry." For a quick introduction, take a look at the SEP article on Adorno, in particular the section on Critical Social Theory. There is also a collection of Adorno's essays on the topic entitled The Culture Industry: Essays on Mass Culture.
I'd highly recommend starting off with Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's article on Adorno. SEP does a great job of summing up the life and works of various philosophers. SEP also has an article on Max Horkheimer, who was a close associate of Adorno and authored a couple of important works with him.
I've read Dialectic of Enlightenment, written by Adorno and Horkheimer, which was okay. I thought it read more like literature than hard, useful theory. If anything, read The Culture Industry: The Enlightenment As Mass Deception which is a chapter out of that book (the link takes you to the full text). I think its a decent appraisal of Western mass culture.
In general, I don't think that the Frankfurt school in general is that useful or important. But I haven't read all that much of their stuff, perhaps others have found more use for their work.
*humanure
I recommend this book if you're interested.
Human shit can make great fertilizer if treated properly. We should be using it in this way a lot more.
https://www.amazon.com/Humanure-Handbook-Guide-Composting-Manure/dp/0964425831/
Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart is probably at your local library. They also have used copies on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Plants-Lincolns-Botanical-Atrocities/dp/1565126831/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1473868854&sr=1-1&keywords=wicked+plants
http://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Plants-Lincolns-Botanical-Atrocities/dp/1565126831
You pretty much have to read this book. It explains the basics of why our NW soil is unique (basically rain leaches our soil of many essential nutrients while leaving behind a heavy clay soil) and what to do (and not to do) about it. He's a little dogmatic but just breeze through it. It's on sale right now for less than $15 and a quick read. It also has a planting calendar. Portland Nursery also has a (PDF) planting calendar based on the book but if you compare the two you will notice differences.
I think you can seed tomatoes now indoors. Bottom line is that we get a lot of crappy weather and some years are "cabbage years", meaning tropical plants such as tomatoes won't thrive in our short-season climate. Start them indoors early, stagger your plantings\, and make sure to get local varieties selected for our region (the book covers all this).
Also consider indoor systems including hydroponics, especially for herbs and salad/leafy greens. With the amount of slugs and rain around here it's nice to have these available year round and they can be grown with cheap lights that use marginal electricity (as opposed to say growing tomatoes indoors which would use expensive lights).
If you grew tomatoes and corn successfully you're doing just fine. Good luck.
If you want to mainly learn about wiring (like in a home) then check out Black & Decker's Complete Guide to Wiring:
http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/1589236017
It isn't an EE course by any means, but it will give you practical knowledge someone can use in their life. I read one from Home Depot also, but I liked the B&D one better. Since it's based on home wiring, it's mainly AC.
Wow, yes, you are indeed in way over your head.
Go old-school. Borrow every book on home electrical repair from your nearest library. Search amazon for home electrical repair books. There are many available used for a dollar or two, especially in home repair book series' from Home Depot or Black & Decker, etc. Example: https://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-Complete-Guide-Wiring/dp/1589236017
Read them through, and then read them through again. A 20-year-old home electrical book will not have up-to-date safety code information, but it will at least give you the major concepts and guidelines, and the groundwork for asking more informed and complete questions here.
For outlet issue: an outlet tester is a good first step, but it is only the very simplest tip of the iceberg. There are still all kinds of other things that can be wrong, when the tester shows good. It's like looking at the gas gauge on the car-- tells you if you have gas; doesn't tell you if your transmission is busted.
The outlet tester only tells you if the wires were hooked up in the right order. It doesn't tell you if your circuits have the capacity to run everything you want. Learn about circuit breakers and check the breaker panel for ones that have overloaded and shut off, when the outlet goes out.
Good luck!
I am just about to finish Mark Shepards "Restoration agriculture". im sure its been brought up on the forums before...
I highly recommend it due to his more extensive discussion of growing staple crops in a regenerative fashion (instead of some fun loving feel good hugelkulture backyard project book =P).
heres a link
http://www.amazon.com/Restoration-Agriculture-Mark-Shepard/dp/1601730357
here is a link to his website though, where you can read a little more, purchase his hazelnuts, and many different kinds of rootstock (which i am going to do in a year or 2... thousands!!).
http://www.forestag.com/book.html
regards
At the time, I didn't own a mill so a friend of mine offered to grind it for me. I ended up with about 15lbs of flour in total. I recall being happy about the yield but I honestly couldn't tell you if it was good or not. I'd have to go back to my old notes to calculate the total area I planted to come up with a sq ft yield. As far as how much flour would result from the wheat in this photo - I'm not sure. Not much.
For future plantings, I want to talk to someone from my local extension to see if there is a recommended wheat variety for my area. I bought some random hard red winter wheat berries from amazon and planted it. For all I know, it was terribly suited to my climate.
Since then, my wife bought me a mill that I've been happy with: https://www.reddit.com/r/Breadit/comments/7mr7sw/adventures_in_milling_first_whole_grain_loaf/
If you're interested in reading more, I highly recommend Logdson's book: Small-Scale Grain Raising: An Organic Guide to Growing, Processing, and Using Nutritious Whole Grains for Home Gardeners and Local Farmers, 2nd Edition - https://www.amazon.com/Small-Scale-Grain-Raising-Processing-Nutritious/dp/1603580778
https://www.amazon.com/Small-Scale-Grain-Raising-Processing-Nutritious/dp/1603580778
With low covers and a small hoop house you can grow spinach all winter long.
I love this book https://www.amazon.com/Winter-Harvest-Handbook-Deep-Organic-Greenhouses/dp/1603580816/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473282231&sr=8-1&keywords=eliot+coleman
This is tradd cotter's book. He is a legend. It will tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about growing mushrooms. All the teks and the ones he uses to get insane yields. He is an inspiration literally lol. https://www.amazon.com/Organic-Mushroom-Farming-Mycoremediation-Experimental/dp/1603584552
> Is there a guide anywhere to owning them?
You're lookin' for a guide, huh? Well, this book is one of the best ones out there. Not only is it a guide to venus flytraps, it's a guide to all kinds of other carnivorous plants too. You could check your local library to see if they have it, the library near me does.
Grafted apple trees will start giving you fruit by year three and will reach full production by year five. If you wanted to plant them now without the expense of the deer fence, you could make cages for your trees out of chicken wire and livestock fence.
To get you started, check out The Backyard Orchardist. Then, perhaps check out some of Michael Phillip's books such as The Holistic Orchard, and The Apple Grower. Michael is based in New Hampshire so a lot of his information is especially relevant to you New Englanders.
I would buy this book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933392134/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
and then watch this video https://www.possiblemedia.org/product/the-permaculture-orchard-beyond-organic/
Between those two you would have everything covered. Both of those guys are within your USDA zone.
Sure! I started out with "Tom Brown's Field Guide to Nature Observation and Tracking". He's one of the more well-known names in tracking, but also a little controversial -- he makes some claims that sound pretty outlandish and his whole background story sounds like a myth.
But overall it's a really good book! It was a good first step, and it got me to start paying attention to what was around me. From there I've spent years practicing. When I'm hiking, I have one eye in front of me and one eye on the ground, trying to spot subtle little things even in really challenging terrain (like pine needles!). Any time I come across something interesting, animal or human, I stop and take a closer look. (I totally love trail poo too.) I also make it a game to try to count the number of people that might be ahead of me on the trail and their gender -- how many different tracks there are, what size they are, how recent they are, how many go out and come back vs. just going out. It's sort of become second nature now.
When I head out on a trail and then come back, I try to find my own prints and pay attention to how they change in the conditions: how long does it take mud to try, bits of snow to melt, plants to return to their original position. And I totally blew it with this on Thursday when hiking with a friend! We crossed some snow on the way out, and on the way back I wasn't positive we were on the correct fork of the trail because I didn't see recent tracks in the snow. My buddy and I spent a few minutes debating it and taking a closer look, and it turned out that they had melted way faster than I was expecting in those conditions -- they were there, but they looked like they were days old, not hours.
I don't have any certifications or professional training at it, although I'd like to, but I recently joined my county's search and rescue team and it looks like I'm decent enough to join their tracking team. I'll find out on Tuesday evening!
Definitely. Sorry, this will be a bit long, but read through.
I think the first thing, is just getting out a little bit more often, of course, there's a sort of qualitative change that happens in you when you get out in nature.
But then there are nature observation skills you can develop. And this really can change the game a bit, and make it much more engaging to get out when you do.
The first thing I would suggest, and this you can do from your backyard, is learning to observe birds. The societies of the birds are omnipresent, more complex than you might think, and quite interesting and engaging once you break into the ability to watch them. It's best if you have something you can zoom in on them with. A pair of binoculars. I use a cheap camera that has a superzoom (Panasonic fz70). Of course, you don't need anything extra to observe the nature around you, that's just a suggestion.
There are different skills to develop here. One is learning to tune in with your audiovisual system. What I've been taught to do is to get very still, widen your vision, tune in with your ears, and soon you will detect a flicker here, a sound there, and the birds which you normally would have trouble finding can't help but reveal themselves to you.
If your location is anything like mine, there are some interesting things about the birds in your average backyard. First there are the ways they interact with eachother. What I've found most interesting though is that maybe 3 or 4 times each day, a Hawk will swoop through and try to catch one. Birds exist in cooperative multispecies complexes, and they all help eachother against these threats. You will be sitting there, and then suddenly, every bird will dart off into a hiding place, and then maybe 1 second later, a Hawk will come soaring through. Sometimes the Hawk will succeed. Just the other day I went outside to find a Hawk on a branch with one of the sparrows from my yard in its claw.
Another thing about birds is their language. If you observe for just like 2 or 3 months, by that time you will soon be able to distinguish each common species by the noises they make. And then you can go deeper and begin to understand what calls are just baseline behavior singing (most prevalent in the morning and afternoon choruses), what noises are made when two birds are fighting, what noises signify the aporoach of an aerial predator, what noises signify the approach of a ground predator, etc.
This isn't all about birds, but you'll notice as you explore more that birds are the most omnipresent type of animals in the wild. In the same way that they cooperate as a multispecies complex that warns eachother of a predators approach, if you enter a wooded area, the birds will begin making alarm noises to each other, sometimes even behaving as if they are "yelling at you". Not only do all the birds in an environment get alerted by this, so too do the mammals sense the change in baseline behavior and begin to hide.
When most people explore nature, they tramp through noisily, alerting every animal in there, and thus do not find much. They behave out of place, disrupt the baseline of an environment. Furthermore, their audiovisual systems are not attuned, not used to picking out where an animal might be, they may not even notice a huge raptor in the tree nearby, or the raccoon or fox as he slinks out of sight at the approaching commotion.
And finally, people do not understand how to observe animal track and sign. Everything that passes through an ecosystem will make marks upon it. We can begin by observing the overt signs. Everywhere the coyote goes, he leaves big canid footprints. As does the fox. Skunk and raccoon tracks are easily distinguiahable. Feline tracks may be a bobcat, maybe even a mountain lion, although they tend to be more light footed. And they all make different looking scat along the way. If there are beavers, you will see their signs everywhere. They gnaw at the bottom of trees, first removing the bark, then chewing into the tree, finally toppling them. As well as making dams and scent mounds, and big dens out of sticks. All the lumber beavers chew down has a particular pointed tip on it, and once you know it you see their sign everywhere.
If you learn how to follow the tracks of an animal, you enter into a perceptual relationship with it. It can bring you through an ecosystem in a way you would never have done, show you a bit of the ways the locals do things, bring you into new interesting areas, as well as give a glimpse into the mind and habits of that particular animal. But also, even if you just know the very basics of which tracks belong to which animal, you can come across a watering hole where the banks stay wet and muddy, and instantly know every animal which has visited the place.
Of course, you have to know how to move through an ecosystem so as to not disturb everything in it. The best way is to move quietly as possible, move strategically, and otherwise, move and behave as if you belong there. You should learn the Fox Walk, which you can read about in the Tom Brown book I'll link at the end. It takes a bit to practice, but once you get used to it you begin to naturally use it everytime you move in nature.
A general rule of thumb is this: in every little bit of nature there are many more animals than you know about, and they only come out when things are quiet and they feel like no one is around. It is very difficult to see even large animals in a thicket, and you have no idea how many countless smaller ones are wandering around in there. Every book I've ever read on the subject has recommended trying out the technique of finding a sit spot and hanging out there for awhile. It shows you nature in a way that is not possible when you are continually moving, it allows the possibility for things to resume normal behavior and pop out for you to see.
Another thing too is to observe little microcosms. Get your face really really close to a little patch of ground. You'll be astounded to realize that it is its whole own complex little world with all sorts of crazy fauna that you would never have seen otherwise. Then when you pull out, you'll be shocked to look around and realize just how vast everything really is, from that perspective. Oh how much we pass right over with each step!
I'm saving this right here because I am going to link some books and I have to see which ones to link, so if your reading this part give me one moment...
Some reccommended reading:
Tom Brown's Nature Observation Field Guide. This book is kind of hyped up and exaggerated, with a lot of native american lore, but what he teaches you is legitimate. The way to walk in nature, the way to look and listen, a lot of what I've told you comes from Tom Brown, and the more you read people from this genre, you'll see his ideas again and again. But if you where to only get one book on this subject I'd recommend this one. Despite me calling it hyped up, this book can really change your life if you practice what he says. (Although there are much better books on tracking itself though, look for actual guidebooks to learn more about that, but this book gives a good intro).
Art of Bird Finding. This one is about the perceptual skills needed to pick out birds. I found it very helpful.
What the Robin Knows. How I told you you can begin to analyze bird language and know what sounds mean what, and how their communications alert things in an ecosystem to disturbances in the baseline... This book is about that and how to learn to decode their language.
The Healing Art of Tracking. This book isn't that great, but it gave me some really useful concepts, such as the idea that you create concentric rings of disturbances around yourself as you move in an environment, and to always check the "dead zones" or hiding places in the brush around you as you move.
The forest unseen. This is a pretty entertaining and educational book by a biologist who goes back to one sit spot again and again over a year and describes what he observes there. Shows how much you can find if you look.
final word: sorry man, I have overloaded you with info here. No need to over think things. Ultimately, if you just begin to move through nature more slowly, carefully, and observantly, you will find so much. Don't try too hard, and most importantly have fun with it. Nature is great and we are a part of it too, we just have to learn how to inhabit it best. I hope you find a renewed connection with it, and have many great times. If you ever have anything you want to ask about it or what I've told you here, feel free to ask me!
Oh man... that kind of tracking takes a looooong time to get any good at, and is honestly beyond the reach of most sane people. At least, being able to do it in a timely fashion. Not to mention, if your friend has a paintball gun and is hidden somewhere in the woods... blundering around looking for his tracks is a really good way to get your ass shot.
If you really want to get the drop on him, read up on still hunting and learn how to really keep your eyes and ears open. Keep still more often than you move, and learn how to read good cover in the landscape. Especially this: keep still, keep low, and look for movement.
Deer know what's up: if they sense danger, they freeze in place and go on high-alert. Moving things are easy to see, still things are not. Don't run around like Rambo moving from tree to tree if you plan on sneaking around at all (although honestly, if you're playing around with paintball guns it will rapidly devolve into this).
If you want to pursue tracking, read these books for starters:
This one.
Here's a book by the instructor that covers some of the awareness exercises we were doing.
Inb4 the Peter Adams book that I've ordered, not yet read - http://www.amazon.com/Bonsai-Japanese-Maples-Peter-Adams/dp/0881928097
Heard good stuff about this one!
Love maples. Cuttings are difficult. Air Layer is easier and faster way to a specimen tree. If you control access to the parent tree, mulch under it and collect babies in the spring with a spoon after their second true leaves form. I've collected 50 at a time like this with 100% survival rate. Get Peter Adams book on bonsai with maples. He has lots of good techniques.
Plant them in the ground if possible. Wait at least 2 full growth seasons. Read this in the meantime.
If you can't plant them in the ground get them into some better draining soil, and a pot like an anderson flat. If you're serious, I'd also seriously consider purchasing Peter Adam's book on Japanese Maples.
http://www.amazon.com/Permaculture-Designers-Manual-Bill-Mollison/dp/0908228015
It's this one.
https://www.amazon.com/Permaculture-Designers-Manual-Bill-Mollison/dp/0908228015
Ultimately trial and error will be your best friend. Don't be afraid to experiment. You will know your land better than anyone else. It truly is rewarding.
Thanks! This is really helpful advice. I'll look into "forest gardening."
Is this the book you mean? http://www.amazon.com/Permaculture-Designers-Manual-Bill-Mollison/dp/0908228015
https://www.amazon.com/Psilocybin-Mushroom-Growers-Handbook-Enthusiasts/dp/0932551068
I'm not sure of the proper answer but I bet you could find it here, I've heard good things about this book from a researcher that I trust: https://www.amazon.com/Humanure-Handbook-Guide-Composting-Manure/dp/0964425831
This book is green AND it's about plants I've been intrigued by this book for a while haha ;)
HAHA yea man, this Hemlock tree was totally put here for you - Wicked Plants
Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart is a good popular science read about toxic/illegal/invasive plant species and breifly covers the history, medicine, science, and myths & legends pertaining to each specimen. The mythology/legends of plants are in no way the focus of the book, but are sprinkled in here and there for them when it applies.
A quick amazon search led me to Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics : Embracing the Myths, Traditions, Superstitions, and Folk-Lore of the Plant Kingdom. It was written in 1884, so is likely outdated but from the title it seems interesting at least.
I also came across this book that, according to its description, is an "entertaining and enlightening one-of-a-kind compendium of the world’s most amazing and bizarre plants, their history, and their lore"
In Seattle you can direct sow lettuce and greens starting around March 15th, we are after last frost date so beans should be ok, though they would perfer warmer soil. Tomatoes could go out under cover pretty soon, I dont usually actully plant them till May. You will have better growth if you plant your pepper and tomatoes (and squash) in black containers, the black pot will help provide the soil heat that the tropical plants need to thrive.
Your plot looks ok, I would bury the grass clods upside down, also you will probably need to lime the soil. Raising the height of the bed above the surrounding area will increase soil temp and make for better drainage. Soil west of the Cascades are universally acidic and low in phosphorus. A quick soil test will tell you the PH, Dolomite lime and Agricultural lime are what you will need to raise your PH. Further details are in Steve Solomons Growing Vegatables West of the Cascades.
http://www.amazon.com/Growing-Vegetables-West-Cascades-Edition/dp/1570615349
PS,
Plant Peas to improve your soil, Cascadia and Oregon Sugar Pod II are great varieties for our region, you can direct sow around 1 inch apart any time after valentines.
Good luck and happy gardening.
http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/38531/em9057.pdf
Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades has been an extremely valuable resource for me. This year is my first doing serious gardening (in Portland) and having region-specific advice is great.
https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Vegetables-West-Cascades-6th/dp/1570615349
Plenty of my friends garden here. I think it can be difficult to grow things that need lots of intense sun (tomatoes only do so-so), but lots of other stuff can be grown.
This book:
Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades The Complete Guide to Organic Gardening by Steve Solomon is supposed to be pretty definitive for this area. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1570615349)
You can also go to the many farmers markets for fresh produce and advice on growing your own.
As others have said, it's not so much the rain, but the grey. I don't think we get that many inches of rain, but late fall, winter, and early spring can be dreary. But you can drive 80 miles up the gorge and be in sunnier but colder weather.
We get very little snow... maybe one or two days a year where it sticks. A couple years ago, we had snow on the ground for almost a week.
I remember calling my dad (who lived in Wisconsin) one day in the spring. I was out mowing the lawn and he had just shoveled 2 feet of snow off the sidewalks.
I love it here. I'd enjoy living short-term in other places, but of all the places I've already been, this is the one I like the most.
try the book carrots love tomatoes!
http://www.amazon.com/Carrots-Love-Tomatoes-Companion-Successful/dp/1580170277
I read it in the "Carrots love tomatoes book"
Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening https://www.amazon.com/dp/1580170277/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_MvgRzbNPNNGEA
Check your local university websites. Most universities have good resources like these.
http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ldplants/
http://hortsense.cahnrs.wsu.edu/Home/HortsenseHome.aspx
Also Dirr manuals are great for plant information. They can be a little technical but are great resources.
https://www.amazon.com/Landscape-Identification-Ornamental-Characteristics-Propogation/dp/1588748685
It is quite simple. But I'd recommend getting a book like this one and reading it first anyway:
http://www.amazon.com/xdp/1589236017
If you really want to take a deep dive into growing grains to feed livestock on a small scale I would recommend giving Small-Scale Grain Raising by Gene Logsdon a read. It is honestly more entertaining than any book about growing barley should be.
https://www.amazon.com/Small-Scale-Grain-Raising-Processing-Nutritious/dp/1603580778/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482955677&sr=8-1&keywords=small+scale+grain+raising
http://www.amazon.com/The-Winter-Harvest-Handbook-Greenhouses/dp/1603580816/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1376327754&sr=8-4&keywords=eliot+coleman
You should check out the winter harvest handbook by Elliot Coleman. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1603580816/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502285786&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=winter+harvest+handbook&dpPl=1&dpID=614anb5TiKL&ref=plSrch
Also on the sides of your greenhouses. Put semi ridged plastic and the. Pile up hot pile composts then entire length of the house
I'm currently reading this book by Sepp Holzer, which had a really neat section about how he handles poultry. He uses natural protection for his birds, specifically mentioning rose hedges. Perhaps his method could work for your situation, too?
Again, great questions. Here's a video I did on hugelkultur a bit ago. I don't recommend going to my website at the moment though because it's been recently hacked and I'm working on cleaning it up. The youtube video will be fine though. Check out that video, if you have more questions, feel free to ask.
You can do the flat raised bed idea, and I did the same last year, but I believe you will get more benefit from doing the piqued hills.
Grey water collection and rainwater harvesting are excellent ideas. I don't know if you could make use of it, but here is a super cool idea for a ram pump which requires no external input other than elevation change. Other than that, I don't know much about water tanks.
One really cool thing I've seen used is where people dig a trench under their garden and bury weeping tile in that trench which snakes around their garden. Then they connect that weeping tile to their downspout from there gutters and when it rains, they get a massive deep soak in their garden.
Swales are a fantastic thing to think about as they will help keep water on your land. Swales mixed with heavy mulching are a huge force in keeping your land irrigated. Check out greening the desert for more on that.
As for the PDC, you don't even have to pay for it. I googled free online PDC and found this.
http://www.permaculturedesigntraining.com/
If you want to learn more about it, there are amazing books which can help.
Gaia's Garden and Sepp Holzer's Permaculture
That's awesome that your SO is taking that course. She'll probably learn some really cool sustainable farming things.
Also, check out http://www.permies.com. There's tons of info there, and super amazing people who are very helpful.
Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation
https://www.amazon.com/Organic-Mushroom-Farming-Mycoremediation-Experimental/dp/1603584552
Sweet! If you've never read it before, I recommend this book. Very detailed, easy instructions for various projects. There's so many cool things you can do with fungi.
This new book is better geared towards growing at home IMO. http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Mushroom-Farming-Mycoremediation-Experimental/dp/1603584552/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417634995&sr=1-1&keywords=organic+mushroom+farming+and+mycoremediation
Yay ! New CP people :)!
For water: Do not use Tap water. Use Distilled, Reverse Osmosis, or Rain water only.
​
Dormancy has been covered above. Where do you intend to keep your VFT? Inside / outside?
California Carnivores are a great resource for care tips :)
https://www.californiacarnivores.com/collections/venus-flytraps-dionaea-muscipula/products/dionaea-m-typical-deluxe-potted
Also a good resource is the CP bible
https://www.amazon.com/Savage-Garden-Revised-Cultivating-Carnivorous/dp/1607744104
I think an American pitcher would probably eat the most, but I don't think they will be as effective as you'd like. Carnivorous plants can be difficult to care for, but they are beautiful and enjoyable to own. If you decide to try, I recommend picking up the book Savage Garden, it will give you a good basis for understanding and caring for them, and California Carnivores is a reputable place to buy them.
I mentioned Sarracenia earlier, but since it will not really solve your problem (with just a couple of plants, at least), I would personally go with one of the many sundews available, since they are pretty AND you can watch the mechanism they employ to eat, though, depending on the flies you have, they may not be very attracted to the plant.
Good luck, and I hope it works out for you.
> Do I put sand / bark / styrofoam / tiny rocks at the very bottom of the pot?
You dont have to put anything at the bottom of the pot. Personally I use rocks as a filter so I dont lose any medium through the drainage hole, but i've read you can use LFS and it'll do the same thing.
> Should I use an empty bottle inside the soil as a water reservoir or is a pipe with holes in it a better solution?
I've done both. With the bottle I can dump a lot of water very fast into the pot. I use it for my big pots. The pipe is okay but will quickly overflow and I still have to wait for the water to be absorbed into the soil before I can add more.
> After browsing this sub for a while, it seems to be the consensus to create a 33:66 to 50:50 mixture of sand:soil. Why is that a thing? Is it to make it easier for the water to spread throughout the pot?
There is a book called The Savage Garden where the author talks about different media mixes he has tried. For Sarracenia he recommends 80/20 peat to perlite. Perlite is porous so its full of air and will absorb water . The book also goes through other common mixes and states their benefits.
> Is the height of the pot an issue?
I dont think the height will be an issue. If youre worried about the amount of soil you'll need, you can put something in the bottom to fill up space. Ive heard people use Styrofoam to fill up space and reduce weight
> Will the water be able to spread to the middle from the bottom, or the bottom fill up with standing water that will eventually start to smell?
Peat moss is like a sponge and will keep itself moist all over as long there is water in the pot. I read a post from somebody who said they used new soil every 2 years because the plants started doing poorly and the water would start to smell bad at the bottom. I havent experienced any issues in my setups though.
I put in 9 trees last year and still learning all of the mistakes I made. I don't have room for full-sized trees (15' or taller/wider) so started with dwarf and semi-dwarf. This may have been a mistake based on a couple of books I've been reading. If you do have limited space, or want to keep your trees manageable (a good point by /u/pecantrees about professional trimming and ER costs), then I highly recommend Grow a Little Fruit Tree by Ann Ralph. One of the things that she covers extensively, and I've heard stressed by others, is proper pruning. It won't answer several of your questions but I think it's a good resource to learn about pruning young trees and maintaining size without overly limiting fruit production.
Creating a Forest Garden: Working with nature to grow edible crops https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1900322625/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_BG0mDbTHGDF7F
Creating a Forest Garden: Working with Nature to Grow Edible Crops
https://www.amazon.com/Creating-Forest-Garden-Working-Nature/dp/1900322625
I'd consider having the field plowed and sowing a mix of seeds to create a ground covering that doesn't grow as high, doesn't need cutting at all, and is a net adder of nutrients to the soil. Martin Crawford's book on forest guardening has a few interesting ones. The one I found most interesting and have been meaning to try is:
According to the book you should plant 3kg+6kg+2kg of seeds per acre anywhere from April to August, and the ground cover will last 10 years or more without management.
The whole book is probably interesting for your situation as you can go and select a few base trees to plant right now and then leave them alone while they grow and you're otherwise busy. By the time you have some time again you'll have a head start. From the book I'd suggest you look into besides the ground covering I've already mentioned some large trees like alders that also add nutrients to the soil. You could just plant quite a few of them in all the acres you left wild and by the time you get around to it you can select which ones to keep and put the other down for firewood.
Ah...no worries. Thought that was your website--my bad. The only websites I know and I have not done much searching online is [this one](https://outdooraction.princeton.edu/nature/guide-animal-tracking] as some of that info is common to the coursework I did at TBJr's school for a long time. Yeah you can get very in depth in tracks and tracking...very in-depth. Besides identifying an animal, you can determine a lot of things more..like direction, gender, what was it doing(e.g. stalking, hunting etc), general health, size and weight, when was the track made/how old the track is, why was the track made (distraction etc) even down to some really fine tuned details such as injuries etc. It can all tie in to the surroundings. It's really cool stuff..even when you don't have perfectly imprinted tracks in mud to follow or analyze--there are ways to see tracks thru grasses and harder terrain etc and still learn a lot and tracks come in all sizes to be seen from big animals down to birds, mice and voles. Generally for tracking when out on your own making Tracking sticks can help.....and so can various pattern tracking and team tracking skills too.. There is a whole science/art to tracking animals...as well as people..like when doing SAR. People, like Animals, have habits, gaits, patterns they follow..things they do and you can learn to read a lot in a track...it can get really in depth like you can't imagine. Great fun..
Check out this book if you want to read up on things and learn more.. I learned from Tom and at his school back in the 80's/90's and after 8-10 years there I went from there on my own.. This site also has a pretty good book/field guide and a few videos as well you may like. Like I said - being in a city lately has kept my dirt time down to a pathetic minimum..and usually when you find some people talking about or interested in tracking its rare.. :)
No idea on reddits but iv had a few books you could look into
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00C6PAG4W/ref=mp_s_a_1_13?qid=1421873213&sr=8-13&pi=AC_SX110_SY165
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0425099660/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1421873303&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SY200_QL40&dpPl=1&dpID=51eNZxuqYwL&ref=plSrch
Sure, how about you read a book as well.
https://www.amazon.com/Dialectic-Enlightenment-Cultural-Memory-Present/dp/0804736332/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1509839887&sr=1-1&keywords=Dialectics+of+Enlightenment
So next time some writes a piece of bullshit like this
>Critical Theory was essentially destructive criticism of the main elements of Western culture, including Christianity, capitalism, authority, the family, patriarchy, hierarchy, morality, tradition, sexual restraint, loyalty, patriotism, nationalism, heredity, ethnocentrism, convention and conservatism.
>Critical Theorists recognized that traditional beliefs and the existing social structure would have to be destroyed and then replaced with a “new thinking” that would become as much a part of elementary consciousness as the old one had been.
you can recognize it as such
Long internodes are common after a hard chop, because there are fewer buds that can receive the tree's energy from the roots. You're many years away from having to worry about ramification with these trees, though.
This is a solid book on maples that covers a lot of topics: https://www.amazon.com/Bonsai-Japanese-Maples-Peter-Adams/dp/0881928097
if you like maples, may I suggest Peter Adams' quintessential work on maples in bonsai. THE best book on working with maples. Couldn't recommend it enough.
http://www.amazon.com/Bonsai-Japanese-Maples-Peter-Adams/dp/0881928097
Just bought it on Amazon. Used hardcover.
http://www.amazon.com/Bonsai-Japanese-Maples-Peter-Adams/dp/0881928097/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425446690&sr=8-1&keywords=bonsai+with+japanese+maples
I browsed through the pages and it looks great. I'm actually going to give it to my friend. He has two 4 year old and really good looking Japanese Maples. He's my tree service buddy and basically creates actual size bonsai for a living. I'm pretty much trying to shove him into this hobby...
Here is the only book you will need.
This is a good book to get a hang on the basics of growing mushrooms: https://www.amazon.com/Psilocybin-Mushroom-Growers-Handbook-Enthusiasts/dp/0932551068
However the techniques have advanced over time and I would suggest checking the Shroomery forum guides as well, it's the best place for beginners and advanced growers alike: https://www.shroomery.org/forums/
If you want to start growing psilocybe mushrooms, the best and easiest technique is called PF Tek and you'll find instructions at Shroomery. All you need is to buy some spores online (which are lega), brown rice flour and vermiculite then you're set for growing your first magical friends
It's a great hobby, whether you are growing active or edible mushrooms
This should do you.
https://www.mushrooms.com/
https://www.thehawkseye.com/
http://shrooms-to-go.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Psilocybin-Mushroom-Growers-Handbook-Enthusiasts/dp/0932551068/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1466619391&sr=8-4&keywords=psilocybin+spores
https://www.amazon.com/Psilocybin-Mushroom-Handbook-Outdoor-Cultivation/dp/0932551718/ref=pd_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=51ayZwCt4zL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR105%2C160_&refRID=5DF57AENFAR3N3834QG0
http://www.amazon.com/Psilocybin-Mushroom-Growers-Handbook-Enthusiasts/dp/0932551068
This was what I had. Maybe own it for novelty again but wouldn’t take any worthwhile lessons from it. Super outdated. You can download PDF versions of it free and check it out
https://www.amazon.com/Psilocybin-Mushroom-Growers-Handbook-Enthusiasts/dp/0932551068/ref=nodl_
www.amazon.com/Psilocybin-Mushroom-Growers-Handbook-Enthusiasts/dp/0932551068
Here is the mobile version of your link
>Using human poop for compost is the "right way?"
No, I'm not saying that using poop for compost is the right way, simply that there is a right way to do it that mitigates the very real issues you've addressed.
I could write a similarly fear-mongering tirade about the dangers of any number of technologies, but that wouldn't invalidate the fact that they can also be utilized safely.
I recommend giving this a read. You can probably find it at a library.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Humanure-Handbook-Composting-Edition/dp/0964425831/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347232409&sr=8-1&keywords=the+humanure+handbook
Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities
I bet this is SO GOOD!!
[Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1565126831/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_.Rt0AbEYEHBHQ) (under coffee table books...which I am obsessed with!)
If you're interested in a fun read on the topic, check out Wicked Plants
I'm in the same boat as you and just started reading a lot of science stuff.
It might be a good idea to pick up an edition of The Best American Science [and Nature] Writing for lots of topics all at once.
I also second the Brian Greene books, early Dawkins, and The Red Queen. But I don't really understand all the Hofstadter hype... I really didn't like I Am a Strange Loop--I found it extremely poorly written, off-topic, at times pretentious, poorly constructed, and overall not a very pleasant experience.
Most of my interest is in biology and evolution, so my recommendations would be:
My favorite animal rights book: Created From Animals - Rachels
A really fun read about poisonous plants: Wicked Plants - Stewart
Another Stewart book about earthworms: The Earth Moved - Stewart
Also anything by Michael Pollan, and to complement that, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.
I'm sorry, I saw your title in /r/gardening and thought what a great topic!! I couldn't wait to share how important I thought it was for a book to be targeted at a reader's local climate/soil conditions were, and I wanted to share what I had found for the Portland area in "Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades" . Then I saw the "perennial flowers" and I'm a bit confused. Find a local nursery they and will sell what will grow in your area and since you aren't going to eat it, feed it with miracle grow or what ever you want to.
If she want's to grow organic perennial's for some reason. The vegtable books should work too.
Can't vouch for it yet but am very impressed with the reviews on this book. http://www.amazon.com/Growing-Vegetables-West-Cascades-6th/dp/1570615349/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345180353&sr=1-1&keywords=steve+solomon
I would wait. I read that holding off just a bit longer for peppers is usually better for them. Source: Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades. https://www.amazon.ca/Growing-Vegetables-West-Cascades-6th/dp/1570615349
Edit: I am in the Lower Mainland
From your wishlist, this. I read this book years ago and have been trying to remember what the heck it was since then.
From my wishlist: this staple gun. I never realized how much I would need one of these until moving into our home.
Thanks for the contest.
twinsies
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.amazon.com/Carrots-Love-Tomatoes-Companion-Successful/dp/1580170277&ved=2ahUKEwjCudi9n9zlAhULrZ4KHdLZD1IQFjALegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw3D2HYBuuOmjFgxm5qjqO59
There are a lot of great online references if you are willing to sit down, do some research, and map things out. As far as books go this one is pretty thorough and this book (I have heard) gives a more basic introduction. I've actually found the wikipedia chart on companion planting to be a really useful quick reference as well.
Awesome farm book for $9.84
The plantsman's bible is Dirr's Manual. It has a very horticultural slant, but is invaluable for someone truly dedicated to plants. It is 1300 pages of comprehensive plant knowledge and will tell you exactly how to germinate seeds of Trochodendron aralioides. The problem for most is that it has no pictures - only line drawings of leaf shapes. This is probably not the book you need, but is a tremendous resource for someone with a thirst for knowledge.
http://www.amazon.com/Manual-Woody-Landscape-Plants-Characteristics/dp/1588748685/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1408405815&sr=8-4&keywords=dirr%27s+encyclopedia+of+trees+and+shrubs
My favorite plant book for casual reading is Dirr's Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs. It has color photos of seemingly every tree and shrub in existence, as well as discussions of their landscape value.
http://www.amazon.com/Dirrs-Encyclopedia-Trees-Shrubs-Michael/dp/0881929018/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408405815&sr=8-1&keywords=dirr%27s+encyclopedia+of+trees+and+shrubs
When I was a budding plantsman, my father gave me a very useful book which I still refer to today. This National Arboretum publication gives a broad overview of all different types of plants(vines, annuals, perennials, evergreens, aquatic plants, shade trees, etc) and is a great way to come up with ideas of what to plant.
http://www.amazon.com/National-Arboretum-Outstanding-Garden-Plants/dp/0671669575
If you are more interested in just selecting plants online, Monrovia has an excellent website that lets you narrow down plants by requirements.
http://www.monrovia.com/plant-catalog/
For a second it looked like Dr. Dirr's manual of woody landscape plants.
According to my jurisdiction, they adopted the 2011 one, this one. I don't have a copy of the NEC, yet, I think its up for a new version this year? Thanks, I definitely will be around this sub and the home improvement one more and more. Home ownership, so much fun!
Edit This is the B&D book I am using at the moment.
Isn't the ground wire typically connected to the box itself with the little green screw?
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-Complete-Wiring-Edition/dp/1589236017
I have the 4th edition to this book, but I'm pretty sure it mentions that you connect ground to the conduit/breakout box.
NINJA EDIT: Yep. Look here
http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/20351/how-should-i-connect-the-ground-wire-for-my-light-fixture
I can't seem to find the passage at the moment, but I'm sure I read somewhere in mark shepard's book about no-till coming from the organic/permaculture movement. I could be mistaken however, so I'll edit that.
However, cover crops almost entirely fell out of favor after WW2 due to n-based fertilizer, organic farmers were the ones who developed it since:
http://www.jswconline.org/content/70/6/130A.extract
Are you a farmer?
Mark Shepard book says your wrong. Hear is me providing a source.
https://www.amazon.ca/Restoration-Agriculture-World-Permaculture-Farmers/dp/1601730357
From what I understand it's basiclly because of the chain of production that goes into raising cattle (water required for the crops to grow feed for the animals). Everything needs to be overhauled. We grow mostly corn, but the majority of what's grown isn't even used for direct human consumption.
A good book to read on the subject is Restoration Agriculture by Mark Shepard
See "Restoration Agriculture" https://www.amazon.ca/Restoration-Agriculture-World-Permaculture-Farmers/dp/1601730357
I don't think all of his systems are workable. You will need some form of easy to move electric fence. You also will need some form of protector animals that live with the flocks. (Eat Alberta Lamb. 10,000 coyotes can't be wrong)
US Army Survival Guide
Small Scale Grain Raising
A Barefoot Doctor's Manual
The Home Water Supply
The Walking Dead
You might find these two books interesting:
http://www.amazon.com/Homegrown-Whole-Grains-Harvest-Barley/dp/160342153X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377128301&sr=8-1&keywords=home+grown+grain
http://www.amazon.com/Small-Scale-Grain-Raising-Processing-Nutritious/dp/1603580778/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y
Main thing to watch out for is picking varieties that make it alright to process them yourself - grains that don't have to be de-hulled to be useable are much easier to process without specialized equipment.
Get a proper mill of some kind if you're interested in wholegrain flour. There's reasonably priced options out there that do it alright, and the taste of stuff made with freshly milled wholegrain flour is awesome.
Take a look at ancient grains & older varieties of the usual grains. (a few examples & more info here: http://www.islandgrains.com/how-do-i-thresh-grain-on-a-small-scale/)
Personally I have a tiny plot of flax, that I'm hoping to get some tasty seeds out of. If I were to grow my own grains I'd focus on the ones that are interesting taste-wise. I'd probably go for Hull-less emmer, and rye.
There are tons of farmer/homesteader/gardener memoirs. I think my mom alone probably has a zillion. Unfortunately I haven't read that many myself, but a few titles that I remember from her shelves include:
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
Enslaved by Ducks
The Egg and I
Hit by a Farm
Here's one that (amazingly enough) she doesn't have, but which is on my to-read list: http://www.amazon.com/Paradise-Lot-One-Tenth-Making-Edible/dp/1603583998/
On a more practical front, this guy may change your life ;)
http://www.amazon.com/Four-Season-Harvest-Organic-Vegetables-Edition/dp/1890132276/
http://www.amazon.com/The-Winter-Harvest-Handbook-Greenhouses/dp/1603580816/
ETA: Thought of a few more from mom's collection:
The Dirty Life
Rurally Screwed
The Bucolic Plague
What are the temps like there? You might be able to do winter gardening.
Just some link I found by googling for winter gardening. There are much better books on it like The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep-Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses. You can get greenhouses in the US for like $500.
NoMoreNicksLeft... I always had the impression that you were one of the more informed crazy survival nuts around here.
You really ought to read this...
Winter Harvest Handbook
by Eliot Coleman
Valid point re: squash. But for other veggies, I liked this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Winter-Harvest-Handbook-Deep-Organic-Greenhouses/dp/1603580816/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504882936&sr=1-5&keywords=winter+garden
No problem! They are not so much "permaculture" focused, but more of a holistic view. If you want something on just permaculture, you might want to check out something by Sepp Holzer. He is pretty much considered the granddaddy to modern permaculture. If you are not already, I would also subscribe to /r/permaculture. It is a decent sub with some really helpful links. Sorry about not getting back to you sooner, I do not get on Reddit as much as some.
Another good one is sepp holzers book
Most carn. plants need a lot of water (tray method) and lots of light. Depending on your USDA zone you can keep them outside. I have flytraps, sarracenias and some sundews in my garden all year round. In winter they are not pretty but in summer they thrive.
Try to get a copy of this book the Savage Garden.
It has a much info. Lots of love for the plants and 'learn as you go' worked for me.
Stink bugs are not their natural most common prey, but they wont be exempt from turning into snacks.
Give your plants time and those conditions described above. For the future: read Savage Garden, its a great source of information and will answer all your questions. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1607744104/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Look into dormancy in the winter. You may need to add layers of protection, like wood chips over your plants if your winters are harsher than the ones they usually experience. You have time obviously to look into this.
Here is my favorite book I have found for starting new trees and taking care of them: Grow A Little Fruit Tree
A good place online to read about varieties and order apple trees for shipping is Stark Bros Nursery.
Typically, you get them during the early winter when they're dormant and they come "bare root" so there's not a root ball. Your nursery can help you with planting times. If you don't know your USDA Hardiness Zone it can help with looking that up, too.
A surprising thing to me was that you need to worry about pollination! Some trees require a cross-pollinator tree of another type. Both that book and that site and your nursery have information on that too.
It will take a few years for the trees to mature and produce fruit, so start sooner and have fun!
I went to a local nursery and Costco neither had cherry trees. I think Stark Bros. is my best option at this point. So you get the trees bareroot and then have to put them in the ground right away?
What do you mean 3 60' raised beds? sq feet or 60' long. You have a picture of them?
Is this the book your talking about? It looks pretty good. I just bought The Fruit Gardener's Bible yesterday though. Maybe I'll pick up this one too.
Fruit trees can definitely be grown in a small back yard or even a large (10-15 gal) container. You just have to prune them heavily and on a regular yearly schedule. There's some pretty good techniques and advice in this book:
Grow a Little Fruit Tree: Simple Pruning Techniques for Small-Space, Easy-Harvest Fruit Trees https://www.amazon.com/dp/1612120547
Hey OP, I'd also suggest you look at the book, "Grow a Little Fruit Tree". It's a super handy book and it shows you how to keep fruit trees of any variety really short! :) If you want to see any pages from the inside lemme know and I can snap some pictures for you when I get home tonight.
And because Imgur won't let me edit anything in my post via mobile, I will add more info here! I spent about two months researching container growing fruit trees/edible tree/bush before deciding to start with a blood orange and my favorite, lemonade. I'm hoping this helps someone else who might think they can't have a fruit tree due to space.
Although I bought trees on dwarfing rootstock (often called flying dragon rootstock, as that's the plant used to give it stunted growth), you do not need a tree marketed as dwarf. Using a container will naturally impede the process of growth, in addition to pruning.
This is very important because each type of rootstock will give different qualities to the root health. Pick the rootstock that works best for your growing conditions. The book Grow a Little Fruit Tree was invaluable for its information on rootstock alone, although it's geared towards deciduous trees and not evergreens like citrus.
Another helpful book for container gardening that helped me jumpstart my information search was The Bountiful Container. It's American oriented, not Aussie, but lots of helpful principles and ideas all the same.
Another great read, and useful, is this write-up on Daley's Fruit Tree Nursery about using bags (containers) to restrict tree growth in order to net better fruit production. Size restriction can help to produce more per hectare than just letting a tree go (which would be suicide to a home orchard anyways).
I've collected many books on gardening from second-hand stores like goodwill. The Rodale's and the Home and Garden books are thorough, currently I'm using "The New Victory Garden" by Bob Thompson to plan my garden which organizes the chapters by tasks for each month. I'm also interested in edible perennial gardening; my favorite book is "Creating a Forest Garden" by Martin Crawford which has a great plant encyclopedia with ratings and guides for design and planting. If you have a little extra room and want to incorporate beautiful landscapes while growing food, it's well worth a look.
Has anyone read Holistic Orchard?
And do you have any opinions about it?
Someone already said to garden, so I'll suggest two similar (but different!) things!
Start a beehive. Not as hard as it seems, if you have enough money for the supplies (usually only a couple hundred dollars for the actual hive, maybe one hundred for the bees). Have no land? No problem! Find someone who does, maybe they'll let you set up camp there in exchange for honey and awesome pollinators for their garden. :) This book is actually really good at explaining. I have it, and I researched the hell out of all the amazon books before buying one.
If you don't want to do that (and if you have space somewhere): Plant a tree! Or a bush. Specifically, the kind that bear fruit. Think of all the fun things you can do with even one apple tree! Because I'm boring, here's another book! I have it on my wishlist, too. ;)
I hope your birthday! is excellent!! :)
The main guy has written a great book too!
http://www.amazon.com/The-Holistic-Orchard-Berries-Biological/dp/1933392134/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376182617&sr=8-1&keywords=holistic+orchard
International Studies major here to say that this video is apologetic pablum. Many assumptions are made, including the implicit assumptions that countries develop in a vacuum and that all countries' trajectory began at the same point in time on a level playing field. The video assumes that strong institutions and cultural beliefs affect degree of development instead of being a product of it. Nowhere is there any mention of core-periphery relationship, history, etcetera.
If you want an introductory understanding of uneven development start with Ankie Hoogvelt's Globalization and the Postcolonial World, Immanuel Wallerstine's World Systems Analysis, and Edward Said's Culture and Imperialism. For an intermediate understanding complete the first 3 then read Adorno/Horkeimer's Dialectic of Enlightenment, Marcuse's One Dimensional Man, and Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation.
Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs http://www.neebo.com/Textbook/dirrs-hardy-trees-and-shrubsb9780881924046/ISBN-9780881924046?kpid=0-88192-404-0&gclid=CPWWmbu9yMICFQ4S7AoddVAA0A
Dirr's Manual of Woody Landscape Plants
http://www.amazon.com/Manual-Woody-Landscape-Plants-Characteristics/dp/1588748685
Both are awesome.