Gods, Wasps and Stranglers

Gods, Wasps and Stranglers PDF Author: Mike Shanahan
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 1603587144
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 210

Book Description
They are trees of life and trees of knowledge. They are wish-fulfillers rainforest royalty more precious than gold. They are the fig trees, and they have affected humanity in profound but little-known ways. Gods, Wasps, and Stranglers tells their amazing story.

Ladders to Heaven

Ladders to Heaven PDF Author: Mike Shanahan
Publisher: Unbound Publishing
ISBN: 1783522372
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 177

Book Description
"Irresistible" - Literary Review Fig trees have affected humanity in profound but little-known ways: they are wish-fulfillers, rainforest royalty, more precious than gold. Ladders to Heaven tells their incredible story. They fed our pre-human ancestors, influenced diverse cultures and played a key role in the birth of civilisation. More recently, they helped restore life after Krakatoa's catastrophic eruption and proved instrumental in Kenya's struggle for independence. Figs now sustain more species of bird and mammal than any other fruit – in a time of falling trees and rising temperatures, they offer hope. Theirs is a story about humanity's relationship with nature, as relevant to our past as it is to our future.

Gods, Wasps and Stranglers

Gods, Wasps and Stranglers PDF Author: Mike Shanahan
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 1603587152
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 210

Book Description
"If you’re looking for a dose of wonder in your reading life, I recommend this beautiful book about the magic of fig trees."—Book Riot Over millions of years, fig trees have shaped our world, influenced our evolution, nourished our bodies and fed our imaginations. And as author and ecologist Mike Shanahan proclaims, “The best could be yet to come.” Gods, Wasps and Stranglers weaves together the mythology, history and ecology of one of the world’s most fascinating—and diverse—groups of plants, from their starring role in every major religion to their potential to restore rainforests, halt the loss of rare and endangered species and even limit climate change. In this lively and joyous book, Shanahan recounts the epic journeys of tiny fig wasps, whose eighty-million-year-old relationship with fig trees has helped them sustain more species of birds and mammals than any other trees; the curious habits of fig-dependent rhinoceros hornbills; figs’ connection to Krishna and Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad; and even their importance to Kenya’s struggle for independence. Ultimately, Gods, Wasps and Stranglers is a story about humanity’s relationship with nature, one that is as relevant to our future as it is to our past.

The Book of the Damned

The Book of the Damned PDF Author: Charles Fort
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
ISBN: 1613106424
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 442

Book Description
"Time travel, UFOs, mysterious planets, stigmata, rock-throwing poltergeists, huge footprints, bizarre rains of fish and frogs-nearly a century after Charles Fort's Book of the Damned was originally published, the strange phenomenon presented in this book remains largely unexplained by modern science. Through painstaking research and a witty, sarcastic style, Fort captures the imagination while exposing the flaws of popular scientific explanations. Virtually all of his material was compiled and documented from reports published in reputable journals, newspapers and periodicals because he was an avid collector. Charles Fort was somewhat of a recluse who spent most of his spare time researching these strange events and collected these reports from publications sent to him from around the globe. This was the first of a series of books he created on unusual and unexplained events and to this day it remains the most popular. If you agree that truth is often stranger than fiction, then this book is for you"--Taken from Good Reads website.

Paradise Lot

Paradise Lot PDF Author: Eric Toensmeier
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 1603584005
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 1

Book Description
When Eric Toensmeier and Jonathan Bates moved into a duplex in a run-down part of Holyoke, Massachusetts, the tenth-of-an-acre lot was barren ground and bad soil, peppered with broken pieces of concrete, asphalt, and brick. The two friends got to work designing what would become not just another urban farm, but a "permaculture paradise" replete with perennial broccoli, paw paws, bananas, and moringa—all told, more than two hundred low-maintenance edible plants in an innovative food forest on a small city lot. The garden—intended to function like a natural ecosystem with the plants themselves providing most of the garden's needs for fertility, pest control, and weed suppression—also features an edible water garden, a year-round unheated greenhouse, tropical crops, urban poultry, and even silkworms. In telling the story of Paradise Lot, Toensmeier explains the principles and practices of permaculture, the choice of exotic and unusual food plants, the techniques of design and cultivation, and, of course, the adventures, mistakes, and do-overs in the process. Packed full of detailed, useful information about designing a highly productive permaculture garden, Paradise Lot is also a funny and charming story of two single guys, both plant nerds, with a wild plan: to realize the garden of their dreams and meet women to share it with. Amazingly, on both counts, they succeed.

Fearless Gardening

Fearless Gardening PDF Author: Loree Bohl
Publisher: Timber Press
ISBN: 1604699620
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 261

Book Description
“Fearless Gardening encourages you—exhorts you—to boldly go forth and claim your garden as a space of joy and creativity.” —Jennifer Jewell, creator and host of public radio’s Cultivating Place Embrace your inner rebel and create the garden you want—even if it breaks the rules. Loree Bohl, the voice behind the popular blog The Danger Garden, shows how it’s done in Fearless Gardening, with zone-busting ideas and success stories. Bohl’s own gorgeous home garden inspires, with agaves that shrug off ice storms, palms that thrive in the rain, and planting risks that are beautifully rewarded.

The Victory Season

The Victory Season PDF Author: Robert Weintraub
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN: 0316205907
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 475

Book Description
The triumphant story of baseball and America after World War II. In 1945 Major League Baseball had become a ghost of itself. Parks were half empty, the balls were made with fake rubber, and mediocre replacements roamed the fields, as hundreds of players, including the game's biggest stars, were serving abroad, devoted to unconditional Allied victory in World War II. But by the spring of 1946, the country was ready to heal. The war was finally over, and as America's fathers and brothers were coming home, so too were the sport's greats. Ted Williams, Stan Musial, and Joe DiMaggio returned with bats blazing, making the season a true classic that ended in a thrilling seven-game World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals. America also witnessed the beginning of a new era in baseball: it was a year of attendance records, the first year Yankee Stadium held night games, the last year the Green Monster wasn't green, and, most significant, Jackie Robinson's first year playing in the Brooklyn Dodgers' system. The Victory Season brings to vivid life these years of baseball and war, including the littleknown "World Series" that servicemen played in a captured Hitler Youth stadium in the fall of 1945. Robert Weintraub's extensive research and vibrant storytelling enliven the legendary season that embodies what we now think of as the game's golden era.

Agaves

Agaves PDF Author: Greg Starr
Publisher: Timber Press
ISBN: 1604691980
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 343

Book Description
Gardeners and garden designers are having a love affair with agaves. It's easy to see why—they're low maintenance, drought-tolerant, and strikingly sculptural, with an astounding range of form and color. Many species are strikingly variegated, and some have contrasting ornamental spines on the edges of their leaves. Fabulous for container gardening or in-the-ground culture, they combine versatility with easy growability. In Agaves, plant expert Greg Starr profiles 75 species, with additional cultivars and hybrids, best suited to gardens and landscapes. Each plant entry includes a detailed description of the plant, along with its cultural requirements, including hardiness, sun exposure, water needs, soil requirements, and methods of propagation. Agaves can change dramatically as they age and this comprehensive guide includes photos showing each species from youth to maturity—a valuable feature unique to this book.

Trees of Power

Trees of Power PDF Author: Akiva Silver
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 1603588418
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Book Description
Trees are our allies in maintaining a healthy planet. Partnering with trees allows us to build soil, enhance biodiversity, increase wildlife populations, grow food and medicine, and pull carbon out of the atmosphere. Trees of Power by Akiva Silver shares a step-by-step path toward working with these arboreal allies, from planting to propagation to understanding the multiple benefits that ten of our most essential tree species - the chestnut, apple, hickory, and more - provide for humans, animals, and nature alike. In this book you'll learn how to work successfully with perennial woody plants. It includes in-depth information on individual species and different ways to propagate trees - whether by seed, grafting, layering, or with cuttings. These time-honored techniques make it easy for anyone to increase their stock of trees simply and inexpensively. Silver's combination of hands-on experience and sincere exuberance for the natural world will inspire a new generation of tree stewards while appealing to anyone who feels a deep appreciation for these magnificent plants.--COVER.

When God Made the World

When God Made the World PDF Author: Matthew Paul Turner
Publisher: Convergent Books
ISBN: 0525650660
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 49

Book Description
From the author of the bestselling children's book When God Made You comes a rhythmic, whimsical journey through creation--for little readers who love science and wonder and the beginnings of all things. For spiritual parents who are looking for a different kind of creation book, Matthew Paul Turner's When God Made the World focuses on the complex way that God created our vast and scientifically operating universe, including the biodiversity of life on our planet and the intricacies of a vast solar system. Scottish illustrator Gillian Gamble brings the natural world to vibrant life with rich colors and poignant detail certain to stretch young minds and engage imaginations. Planet Earth, God made a blue and green sphere, And designed it to orbit the sun once a year. God made daytime and nighttime, climates and seasons, And all kinds of weather that vary by region. God made continents and oceans, islands and seas, A north and south pole that God put in deep freeze. God carved rivers and brooks, mountains and caves, Made beaches with sand and huge crashing waves. God made tropics and plateaus, glaciers and meadows, marshes and tundras and erupting volcanos.
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