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The Lawn & Garden Owner's Manual
by Lewis Hill, Nancy Hill
Full of useful information on refreshing tired-out lawns and
gardens, The Lawn and Garden Owner's Manual is a terrific, comprehensive
guide to ongoing care and maintenance of those long-suffering lawns, fruit
trees, and ornamental trimmings. Emphasizing care of plants that are already
installed and in need of some tender loving care, there are lots of helpful
charts and calendars to help you time your tasks properly. Troubleshooting
areas are especially helpful for the lawn--you'll learn just how to fix
those spots of patchy growth or yellow grass. Plant choices are aimed
at providing attractive, low-maintenance options for all types of growing
conditions. From grasses to vines, you'll find lots to update your existing
lawn.
There's both organic and chemical solutions to pest and disease control.
The authors caution you never to expect an instant fix for long-term problems--rather
than being discouraging, this tactic will be reassuring to novices. There's
lots of insight provided into why all these types of upkeep are necessary,
and questions like "is pruning really worth it?" are answered
in a straightforward manner. Whenever possible, replacements are offered
for high-maintenance areas such as enormous lawns or disease-prone roses,
and these replacements are often more attractive than the originals. Plenty
of eye-pleasing color photos round out this handy, colorful addition to
the gardening shelf. --Jill Lightner
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Successful Small-Scale Farming: An Organic Approach (Down-To-Earth
Book)
by Karl Schwenke
Synopsis
Instructs the beginning farmer in evaluating and preserving the soil,
acquiring and maintaining machinery, and raising a successful crop through
sound farming practices.
From the Back Cover
"When I first wrote Successful Small-Scale Farming eleven years ago,"
writes Karl Schwenke in the preface to this new edition, "an 'organic
farmer' was synonymous with a 'lonely hippie troublemaker.' Today he is
classed somewhere between a high-priced elitist and an opportunistic liar."
So begins this classic guide to organic small-scale agriculture, fully updated and revised for the 1990s -- for a new generation of readers who would like to live closer to the earth.
Successful Small-Scale Farming introduces anyone owning (or planning to own) a small farm to both the harsh realities and the real potential involved in making a full- or part-time living on the land. Karl Schwenke's clear-eyed approach to the best farming methods covers a wide range of proven techniques and practical advice, including:
* How to improve, conserve, and enrich your soil organically, to ensure
the highest (and healthiest) yields.
* What machinery you'll need and how to use it.
* The best "cash crops" and specialty crops to grow for profit
and how to raise them.
* How to use innovative strategies to find or create a market "niche"
for your farm's crops or services.
* A concise overview of essential farmstead skills, such as haying, fencing,
and managing a woodlot.
* Numerous charts and tables that put useful calculations at your fingertips.
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With today's increased concern for the quality of the food we eat and the health of our environment, Successful Small-Scale Farming offers a unique and invaluable perspective on the future of agriculture. Karl Schwenke's message -- that small-scale farms can be cleaner, smarter, and more efficient than corporate agribusiness -- has never been so relevant as it is today. top of page
About the Author
Husband-and-wife author team Karl and Sue Schwenke live on a farm in Newbury,
Vermont, where they have raised strawberries, pigs and hay among other
crops. Sue is a teacher and Karl has been a professioanl writer for over
30 years. Together, this couple has written the book Build Your Own Stone
House and Karl wrote the Storey title Successful Small-Scale Farming.
His other work includes Sierra North and Sierra South from Wilderness
Press, an organization in Berkeley, California, that he co-founded after
graduating from college. Karl has also written In a Pig's Eye (Chelsea
Green Publishing). top of page
Deer Control 101
If you have mature plants that are being devoured by deer -- it's time to take action! Deer Repellents can be very effective and easy to use.
Deer will almost always stay away from plants that offend two or more senses. Therefore, if a plant tastes and smells offensive deer will avoid the general area it's planted in. Deer resistant gardener use's this knowledge to their advantage.
Yardiac.com recommends using two deer deterrents together (one that offends the sense of smell and one that offends the sense of taste) they will render your tasty plant repulsive to deer.
The best combination we have found is:
Tree Guard or Hot Pepper Wax used in conjunction with Coyote Urine.
Using two products will activate the sense of smell and taste and encourage the deer to move on to more attractive foliage (hopefully not your neighbors) You can learn more about or purchase these products at Yardiac.com's animal repellent department.
Deer hate hot and spicy foods
After one little nibble of a plant coated with hot pepper wax they will definitely say, “No thank you!” when it comes time for seconds. Hot pepper wax combines hot cayenne pepper extract in a food-grade wax. Unlike some solutions, the wax will not wash off of your plants for several weeks.
Applying hot pepper wax to the surfaces of your plants & hanging dispensers filled with Coyote Urine is possibly the most effective method of protecting your plants from deer browsing. Why do predator urine and hot pepper wax work best when used together? Most deer deterrents work on the premise of “offending” one of the deer’s five senses: sight, taste, smell, hearing or touch. Predator urine works on the sense of smell, while hot pepper wax works on the sense of taste. Using these two products together you are not just offending one sense but two.