The Resilient Farm and Homestead

Author: Ben Falk
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing Company
ISBN: 1603584447
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 323

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

The Drought-Resilient Farm

Author: Dale Strickler
Publisher: Storey Publishing
ISBN: 1635860024
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 201

Book Description
Rainfall levels are rarely optimal, but there are hundreds of things you can do to efficiently conserve and use the water you do have and to reduce the impact of drought on your soil, crops, livestock, and farm or ranch ecosystem. Author Dale Strickler introduces you to the same innovative systems he used to transform his own drought-stricken family farm in Kansas into a thriving, water-wise, and profitable enterprise, maximizing healthy cropland, pasture, and water supply. Ranging from simple, short-term projects such as installing rain-collection ollas to long-term land-management planning strategies, Strickler’s methods show how to get more water into the soil, keep it in the soil, and help plants and livestock access it.

The Resilient Farmer

Author: Doug Avery
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited
ISBN: 0143770799
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 230

Book Description
Every day I watch my farm burn. Day after day, the sky is a relentless, empty blue. As our land dries up, all my hopes have turned to vapour, lost in that wide, blue yonder. And so begins Doug Avery’s story of emotional resilience in the face of what at times seemed a hopeless situation. The South Island farmer suffered terribly during eight years of drought. His farm was depleted and so was he, to the point of severe depression. The Resilient Farmer is Doug’s powerful example of how to get life back on track. With candour and wisdom, he tells his story of turning desperation into determination, embracing risk, navigating change and, on top of everything, enduring monumental earthquakes. An inspiring tale of how one man overcame heartbreaking adversity to live a fruitful life and help others.

Resilient Agriculture

Author: Laura Lengnick
Publisher: New Society Publishers
ISBN: 1550925784
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 371

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

Farming for the Long Haul

Author: Michael Foley
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 1603588000
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Book Description
Farming in the ruins of the twentieth century -- A short, unhappy history of business advice for farmers -- Subsistence first! -- Land for the tiller -- Soil, civilization, and resilient farmers through the centuries -- Resourceful farmers -- Woodlands and wastes -- It takes a village: leisure, community, and resilience -- Getting a living, forging a livelihood -- Farmer, citizen, survivor: politics and resilience

Sustainable Market Farming

Author: Pam Dawling
Publisher: New Society Publishers
ISBN: 1550925121
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 459

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

Climate Resilient Agriculture: Adaptation And Mitigation Strategies

Author: Manish Bhan
Publisher: New India Publishing Agency
ISBN: 9387973077
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 6

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

Letters to a Young Farmer

Author: Martha Hodgkins
Publisher: Chronicle Books
ISBN: 1616896035
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 179

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

The Resilient Gardener

Author: Carol Deppe
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 160358031X
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Book Description
Scientist/gardener Carol Deppe combines her passion for gardening with newly emerging scientific information from many fields climatology, ecology, anthropology, sustainable agriculture, nutrition, and health science. In The Resilient Gardener, Deppe extends these principles with detailed information about growing and using five keystone crops that are especially important for anyone seeking greater self-reliance: potatoes, corn, beans, squash, and eggs.

Farming for Our Future

Author: PETER H.. ROSENBERG LEHNER (NATHAN A.)
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781585762378
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Book Description
Farming for Our Future examines the policies and legal reforms necessary to accelerate the adoption of practices that can make agriculture in the United States climate-neutral or better. These proven practices will also make our food system more resilient to the impacts of climate change. Agriculture's contribution to climate change is substantial--much more so than official figures suggest--and we will not be able to achieve our overall mitigation goals unless agricultural emissions sharply decline. Fortunately, farms and ranches can be a major part of the climate solution, while protecting biodiversity, strengthening rural communities, and improving the lives of the workers who cultivate our crops and rear our animals. The importance of agricultural climate solutions can not be underestimated; it is a critical element both in ensuring our food security and limiting climate change. This book provides essential solutions to address the greatest crises of our time.