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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
Winterize Your Engines!
Remove any plant material or dirt on the equipment with a scraper or
a pressure washer. If you use a pressure washer
to clean the equipment, avoid spraying engines with water. Dry the equipment
thoroughly and wipe down any bare metal parts with light machine oil.
Remove and sharpen any blades and drain the motor oil. It?s important
to add a gasoline stabilizer to fuel tanks before putting equipment away.
The stabilizer prevents the gas from forming gums and varnishes when stored
for several months. These gums and varnishes will clog carburetor jets,
foul spark plugs and can cause valve and piston rings to stick. Fill tanks
with fresh gas and follow the directions on the bottle of stabilizer.
Cover the equipment with plastic sheets or tarps, and store them in a
dry place. If they need to be repaired, use this opportunity to take them
to a repair shop now before the spring rush.
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