Genres : Agriculture

A heartwarming snapshot of the horse-and-buggy era? On the contrary -- Jeff Mcpherson reports that honor systems are making a comeback in the 21st century. Drawing on years of personal experience and interviews with dozens of fellow farmers, business owners and customers, he shows how you can make the honor system work to your advantage. Honor System Marketing tells how to adapt honor marketing to fit your own needs and capacities. Mcpherson details how to avoid common pitfalls, manage finances,...

Dung beetles have always been nature's greatest recyclers - in a way, they were the first organic farmers. They were also the first casualties of industrial farming. As farmers rediscover the many benefits of grass-based livestock production, dung beetles are given a solid shot at reestablishing their rightful place on the farm and ranch. Charles Walters digs deep into modern science and ancient history, traditional folklore and the best practical advice to resurrect the lowly dung beetle, exposing farmers and...

New Zealand grazing consultant Peter Bacchus shares a lifetime of experience on applying biodynamics to pastures. His multi-pronged approach considers balance of fertility elements, organic matter levels, soil life, and particularly soil life forces. Through biodynamic preparations and other tools he seeks to produce optimum grass quality and production for grazing animals. Also covered are biodynamic methods of pest and weed control.

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...

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!

“. . . 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....