The Independent Farmstead

Author: Beth Dougherty
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 1603586229
Category : House & Home
Languages : en
Pages : 338

Book Description
Twenty years ago, when authors Shawn and Beth Dougherty purchased the land they would come to name the Sow's Ear, the state of Ohio designated it "not suitable for agriculture." Today, their family raises and grows 90% of their own food. Such self-sufficiency is largely the result of basing their farming practices around intensive pasture management. Pioneered by such luminaries as Allan Savory, Greg Judy, and Joel Salatin, the tenets of holistic grazing -- employed mostly by larger-scale commercial operations -- have been adapted by the Doughertys to fit their family's needs. In The Independent Farmstead, The Sow's Ear model for regenerating the land and growing food --“the best you ever tasted” -- is elucidated for others to use and build upon. In witty and welcoming style, The Independent Farmstead covers everything from choosing a species of ruminant and incorporating it into a grass-based system to innovative electric fencing and watering systems, to what to do with all of the milk, meat, and, yes, manure that the self-sustaining farm produces.--COVER.

The Independent Farmstead

Author: Beth Dougherty
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 1603586237
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 589

Book Description
With in-depth information on electric fencing, watering, and husbandry for ruminants, poultry, and pigs, plus butchering, dairying, and more “If we work hard, we sleep well.” Twenty years ago, when authors Shawn and Beth Dougherty purchased the land they would come to name the Sow’s Ear, the state of Ohio designated it “not suitable for agriculture.” Today, their family raises and grows 90% of their own food. Such self-sufficiency is largely the result of basing their farming practices around intensive pasture management. Pioneered by such luminaries as Allan Savory, Greg Judy, and Joel Salatin, the tenets of holistic grazing—employed mostly by larger-scale commercial operations—have been adapted by the Doughertys to fit their family’s needs. In The Independent Farmstead, The Sow’s Ear model for regenerating the land and growing food—“the best you ever tasted”—is elucidated for others to use and build upon. In witty and welcoming style, The Independent Farmstead covers everything from choosing a species of ruminant and incorporating it into a grass-based system to innovative electric fencing and watering systems, to what to do with all of the milk, meat, and, yes, manure that the self-sustaining farm produces. Within these pages, the Doughertys discuss how to: Find and improve poor, waste, or abused land and develop its natural water resources; Select and purchase the appropriate ruminant for regenerating your farmstead; Apply fencing strategies and pasture management basics; Implement basic, uncomplicated food processing, including large and small animal butchering and cheese making; and Integrate grass, gardens, and livestock to minimize or eliminate the need for off-farm inputs. As the Doughertys write, more and more people today are feeling “the desire for clean, affordable food, unmodified, unprocessed, and unmedicated and the security of local food sourcing for ourselves and our children.” The Independent Farmstead is a must-have resource for those who count themselves as part of this movement: both new and prospective farmers and homesteaders, and those who are interested in switching to grass-based systems. Best of all it’s the kind of rare how-to book that the authors themselves view not as a compendium of one-size-fits-all instructions but as “the beginning of a conversation,” one that is utterly informative, sincere, and inspiring.

Food Security and Soil Quality

Author: Rattan Lal
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1439800588
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 434

Book Description
Just five years ago, it was generally believed that the number of food insecure people in the world was on continuous decline. Unfortunately, widespread soil degradation along with resistance to recommended agronomic practices, and little attempt to restore degraded soils have conspired with significant droughts (in regions that could least tolerat

Small-Scale Pig Raising

Author: Dirk Van Loon
Publisher: Echo Point Books & Media
ISBN: 9781626545533
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 278

Book Description
Do you dream of raising a feeder animal but have limited land, time, and money? Dirk van Loon has a solution for you! Covering everything from buying your pig to smoking your own bacon, "Small-Scale Pig Raising" will show you how to produce the most meat for the smallest investment of time and money in a healthy and stress-free environment. This volume covers the essentials, including: Housing & equipment Penning & handling Commercial feeds Alternative feeds Pig digestion & physiology Breeding & farrowing Management techniques Butchering "Small-Scale Pig Raising" includes in-depth detail on home butchering with step-by-step instructions and photos that break down the entire process from slaughtering to portioning meat for the freezer. This book covers everything a beginner needs to know.

Independent Homesteader

Author: Rebecca Bloom
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781546533764
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 148

Book Description
Getting Your FREE Bonus Download this book, read it to the end and see "BONUS: Your FREE Gift" chapter after the conclusion. Independent Homesteader: Produce On Your Homestead Vegetables, Meat And Honey For Personal Use And For Money (FREE Bonus Included) Book#1: Backyard Homestead: 46 Simple Steps To Producing Own Food And Reach Self-Sufficiency This book "Backyard Homestead: 46 Simple Steps to Producing Own Food and Reach Self-Sufficiency" is a great guide for you if you are looking forward to do gardening at your own house. Gardening does not only involved growing flowers but it involves all the natural growth of vegetables, fruits, herbs and much more. You will be able to learn various techniques and steps in this book which will help you get a hold of the garden in no time. Book#2: How To Make Compost: 10 Ways To Make Gold From Your Wastes Are you interested in having the best soil in your house? Have you been looking for ways to grow the best foods from your soil? Are you looking for ways to learn the process of composting? Then this book right here will answer all your questions and solve all your problems. This book is written to make you understand what composting is. The book gives you a clear understanding of every little and important detail that you should be aware of. Book#3: Find Answers On Any Questions You Have Planning Your Perfect Chicken Coops This is an easy to follow beginners guide based on creative ideas to help you to plan and build the perfect chicken coop to suit your needs. Raising chickens is becoming a very popular trend right across the country. People are becoming more concerned about the incorporation of steroids and other chemicals that are being put in our foods. People are seeking more natural food sources, that are not only a healthier choice, but are also more cost effective. Book#4: Quail Keeping For Money: Read This Book Before Starting Your Quail Keeping Career In this book, you will find some great tips and advice on how to get your own quail farm up and running. You will discover that raising quails can be a very lucrative business in the poultry farming industry. It is a very popular source of income. Learn how you only need a little capital, to get your quail farm up and running. Find out how you can make high returns on your small amount of capital. Book# 5: Backyard Beekeeping: Essentials You Need To Know To Enlarge Your Bees Colony And Get Even More Honey This book Backyard beekeeping: essentials you need to know to enlarge your Bees colony and get even more honey is an excellent guide to those who are interested in beekeeping for all their honey. Download your E book "Independent Homesteader: Produce On Your Homestead Vegetables, Meat And Honey For Personal Use And For Money" by scrolling up and clicking "Buy Now with 1-Click" button!

The Urban Farmer

Author: Curtis Allen Stone
Publisher: New Society Publishers
ISBN: 1771421916
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Book Description
There are twenty million acres of lawns in North America. In their current form, these unproductive expanses of grass represent a significant financial and environmental cost. However, viewed through a different lens, they can also be seen as a tremendous source of opportunity. Access to land is a major barrier for many people who want to enter the agricultural sector, and urban and suburban yards have huge potential for would-be farmers wanting to become part of this growing movement. The Urban Farmer is a comprehensive, hands-on, practical manual to help you learn the techniques and business strategies you need to make a good living growing high-yield, high-value crops right in your own backyard (or someone else's). Major benefits include: Low capital investment and overhead costs Reduced need for expensive infrastructure Easy access to markets Growing food in the city means that fresh crops may travel only a few blocks from field to table, making this innovative approach the next logical step in the local food movement. Based on a scalable, easily reproduced business model, The Urban Farmer is your complete guide to minimizing risk and maximizing profit by using intensive production in small leased or borrowed spaces. Curtis Stone is the owner/operator of Green City Acres, a commercial urban farm growing vegetables for farmers markets, restaurants, and retail outlets. During his slower months, Curtis works as a public speaker, teacher, and consultant, sharing his story to inspire a new generation of farmers.

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.

Independent People

Author: Halldor Laxness
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307486265
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 513

Book Description
From the Nobel Prize-winning Icelandic author: a magnificent novel that recalls Iceland's medieval epics and classics, set in the early twentieth century starring an ordinary sheep farmer and his heroic determination to achieve independence. • "A strange story, vibrant and alive…. There is a rare beauty in its telling." —Atlantic Monthly If Bjartur of Summerhouses, the book's protagonist, is an ordinary sheep farmer, his flinty determination to free himself is genuinely heroic and, at the same time, terrifying and bleakly comic. Having spent eighteen years in humiliating servitude, Bjartur wants nothing more than to raise his flocks unbeholden to any man. But Bjartur's spirited daughter wants to live unbeholden to him. What ensues is a battle of wills that is by turns harsh and touching, elemental in its emotional intensity and intimate in its homely detail. Vast in scope and deeply rewarding, Independent People is a masterpiece.

Raised-Bed Vegetable Gardening Made Simple

Author: Raymond Nones
Publisher: The Countryman Press
ISBN: 1581571887
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Book Description
Provides comprehensive advice on raised-bed vegetable gardening, including how to pick a location, when to bring transplants indoors, and how to save and store seeds.

Bramble Production

Author: Perry C Crandall
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000065227
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 236

Book Description
Bramble Production provides growers with a basic understanding of how raspberry and blackberry plants grow and respond to changes in their environment. Author Perry Crandall includes management practices used by successful growers, making this book a helpful production guide that you can use for making rational decisions. This knowledge of successf