Genres : Agriculture

Do you know ... how to grow great alfalfa and other forages? How can a healthy stand of alfalfa be established? What is most important in promoting vigorous forage growth - soil life, weed control, or balanced soil fertility? Is high potassium necessary for high quality? Does high tonnage automatically mean good feed for livestock? When should forages be cut - pre-bloom, first bloom, mid bloom? How can you measure forage quality? This book has these answers and more!

This comprehensive guide takes you step-by-step through the whole process of how to start and operate a successful organic plant growing business using containers. Chapters thoroughly cover such topics as: start-up, greenhouse options, certification/licenses/fees, botany basics, growing container plants, making compost, disease and pest management, demonstration gardens, marketing and merchandising, dealing with employees, and safety. Appendices include example activity logs and forms, instructions for making a soil-texture analysis, and even tips for creating a simple employee handbook. An extensive list...

“. . . watch with me as a grand and beautiful picture unfolds, of the interconnectedness of all things.” No endeavor engages so deeply, so personally with nature as farming, whether on a thousand acres or in the gardener’s window box. When farmers delve into nature’s mysteries they follow in the footsteps of the myriad curious natural scientists who came before. Join Athena (Teena) Tainio on a journey that illuminates the diverse wonders of the building blocks of life and...

Since the middle of the last century, American farm policy has taken the nation into the dead end of industrial farm production. Farming, at its core a biological process, has been transformed into an industrial process, thus demolishing the economic and cultural values upon which the nation was founded. Along the way, small farms have been ridiculed and dismissed as inconsequential but now the seeds of a rural renaissance are being planted, not by these industrial behemoths, but by family-scale...

Holistic practitioners have been using contact reflex diagnosis, muscle testing, and dowsing to improve human health for centuries. For lifelong alternative medicine practitioner Carrie Eastman, applying these methods to her goat herd was just common sense. All living things are made up of electrical energy. Learn how to harness this energy to work with your goats in a way that is convenient, inexpensive, and safe for your herd.The Energetic Goat provides step-by-step instruction on the basic techniques, including common variations,...

Ideas such as "crop and soil weatherproofing," the "row support system," and the "tillage commandments," exemplify the practicality of the soil/root maintenance program that serves as the foundation for Schriefer’s highly-successful "systems approach" farming. Schriefer was a pioneer in developing an awareness of the relation of tillage to soil fertility, focusing on three major soil basics — soil aeration, soil water, and soil decay. This book covers such topics as soil chemistry, plant and soil dynamics, above- and below-ground plant...

''Milk is the greatest of all diet cures,'' writes Macfadden in the first line of his book. He continues with, ''It will undoubtedly give you more life while you live and it may add many years to your life.'' Originally published in 1923, this book touts the health benefits of milk and outlines the milk diet, which when properly prepared for and properly used, Macfadden says is capable of bringing about miraculous changes. More advice from physical culturist Bernarr MacFadden....

Volume 8 is a timely and worthy addition to the preceding Albrecht Papers. This collection of writings from William Albrecht analyzes the interconnectedness of soil health, animal health, and human health. It is through these connections that Albrecht illustrates agriculture as a cycle of nutrition that begins and ends in the soil, affecting both animals and humans in the process. In this respect, Albrecht makes a compelling case for the need to restore soil fertility in order to improve the...

A resurgence of interest in heritage poultry breeds has invigorated poultry raising on family farms and backyards across the country. These are the birds that can and should be producing for today’s marketplace – for consumers that have come to value locally bred and grown, historically significant agricultural food. This book offers valuable insight into rare, heritage and heirloom breed selection, chick raising, breeding and marketing so you can start your own fully sustainable heritage chicken flock and raise eggs...

Learn to heal your cattle by treating the cause and not the symptoms. Holistic veterinarian Richard Doc Holiday is here to share the secrets he's learned from more than fifty years of experience in animal nutrition and health. Holliday reveals how animals are capable of self-regulating their trace mineral needs when provided with a free-choice selection of minerals. Inside this book you'll find studies on animal nutrition as well as a veterinarian's real-life experiences with nutritionally wise livestock. In addition,...