Here is a holistic approach to small-area farming that will show you how to produce 85 percent of an average family's food on just one-quarter acre — and earn $10,000 in cash annually. This is not back-to-the-land utopianism, but a tested and pragmatic method that can be applied in small lots in rural, suburban and even urban areas. Even if you have never been a farmer or a gardener, Brett Markham's advice will teach you what you need to know:

• Saving, buying, starting, and selecting seeds
• Maintaining and improving soil
• Preventing and eradicating pests and diseases
• Compost, crop rotation, and timing
• Using organic methods
• Garden planning to meet dietary requirements
• Raising poultry
• Raising and pruning fruits and nuts
• Canning, freezing, and dehydrating
• Selling your excess produce for top dollar
• And more!

More than just a how-to guide for self-sufficiency, Mini Farming teaches you the underlying principles of mini-farming so you will have the knowledge to make your own unique applications. Materials, tools and techniques are detailed with over a hundred photographs, tables, diagrams and illustrations.

The 1970s classic has been out of print for years. Now, updated for today's readers and back in print, its information is as useful as ever. It contains instructions and illustrations for everything from harnessing solar energy to cultivating a sustainable garden to learning how to keep bees. Simply put, Mother Earth News Almanac is designed to empower readers to be self-sufficient.

No dig organic gardening saves time and work. It requires an annual dressing of compost to help accelerate the improvement in soil structure and leads to higher fertility and less weeds. No dig experts Charles Dowding and Stephanie Hafferty, explain how to set up a no dig garden, including how to:

• Make compost and enrich soil

• Learn skills you need to sow and grow annual and perennial veg

• Harvest and prepare food year round

• Make natural cosmetics, cleaning products, and garden preparations

The no dig approach works as well in small spaces as in large gardens. The authors’ combined experience covers methods of growing, preparing and storing the plants you grow for many uses, and includes recipes and ideas for increasing self-reliance, saving money, living sustainably, and enjoying the pleasure of growing your own food, year round. An acknowledged expert in no dig and author of a half-dozen books on the subject, Charles’ advice is distilled from 35 years of growing vegetables intensively and efficiently. Stephanie, a kitchen gardener, grows in her small, productive home garden and allotment, and creates no dig gardens for restaurants and private estates. She creates delicious seasonal recipes made from the vegetables anyone can grow. She also explains how to use common plants you can grow and forage for to make handmade preparations for the home and garden

Mosquito, tick and flea control for properties: • Covers 10,000 square feet (2x more than other brands) • Ready to use (just attach a garden hose) • Reduces and repels mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, gnats and other nuisance insects including “no-see-ums” • Targets both adult insects and larvae • Pleasant cedar fragrance • No waiting time to re-enter the lawn or patio area • Honey-bee, butterfly, earthworm and pet friendly • Use on lawns, shrubs, flower beds and gardens

Ditch the Itch! Mosquitoes are annoying and uncomfortable. Don’t let them spoil your outdoor activities. Protect yourself from mosquitoes without using chemicals. • Minimum order: 4 bottles • Repels mosquitoes for hours • Fresh lemon scent • 100% organic • DEET-free • 2 oz. size perfect for carry on luggage, backpacks, purses, gloveboxes, picnic baskets and sports bags

Your neighbors will think you have a full time gardener. If you liked Protilizer’s single-use packets, you’ll love our 6 oz. jar. • Makes 12 gallons of finished product • Handy scoop included for easy, accurate measuring • Use with seeds, seedlings, bulbs, herbs, flowers, roses, vegetables, shrubs, trees and even brown spots on the lawn • Ideal at the time of planting to keep plants from going into shock and to help seeds germinate quickly • Apply when planting and every two weeks thereafter for best plant health • 100% organic (OMRI listed – Organic Materials Review Institute) • Contains billions of proprietary beneficial microbes to grow roots and secure plant health • Drastically reduces shock • Helps roots absorb nutrients within 24 hours • Outpaces soil pathogens and diseases

Author and herbalist Brittany Wood Nickerson understands that food is our most powerful medicine. In Recipes from the Herbalist’s Kitchen, she reveals how the kitchen can be a place of true awakening for the senses and spirit, as well as deep nourishment for the body. With in-depth profiles of favorite culinary herbs such as dill, sage, basil, and mint, Nickerson offers fascinating insights into the healing properties of each herb and then shares 110 original recipes for scrumptious snacks, entrées, drinks, and desserts that are specially designed to meet the body’s needs for comfort, nourishment, energy, and support through seasonal changes.

Anyone can learn to store fruits and vegetables safely and naturally in a cool, dark space with the step-by-step advice in this book. Root cellaring is a way of using the earth's naturally cool, stable temperature to store perishable fruits and vegetables and preserve them for months to come. This book will show you a no-cost, simple, low-technology, energy-saving way to keep your harvest fresh all year long.

Recommended Product for Wiser Living: Today, more than ever before, our society is seeking ways to live more conscientiously. To help bring you the very best inspiration and information about greener, more sustainable lifestyles, Mother Earth News is recommending books and products to readers. For 40 years, Mother Earth News has been North America’s “Original Guide to Living Wisely,” creating books and magazines for people with a passion for self-reliance and a desire to live in harmony with nature.

This practical compendium of herbal wisdom is a must-have for everyone. Promote vibrant health and radiant beauty, soothe everyday ailments, and ease stress and anxiety with 175 simple herbal recipes for everything from infant colic to dry skin to cold symptoms to insomnia.

Renowned herbalist Rosemary Gladstar provides time-tested natural therapies and herbal remedies that are safe, effective and easy to use. She guides you every step of the way, from the growing and ecologically sound harvesting of herbs to basic preparations and dosage directions. Originally published in hardcover as Rosemary Gladstar’s Family Herbal, this comprehensive recipe collection offers a potent prescription for energy, health, and vitality at every stage of life. Nurture yourself and those you love with nature’s healing herbs.

About the author

A devoted advocate and educator for herbalism, Rosemary Gladstar opened her own herb store in 1972 — calling it "Rosemary's Garden" — and has been sharing her love for herbs ever since. Highly respected as one of the "mothers" of the contemporary herbal movement, Gladstar is the founder and president of United Plant Savers, co-founder and director of Sage Mountain Herbal Retreat Center and Native Plant Preserve, director of the International Herb Symposium, co-director of the New England Women's Herbal Conference, and founder and former director of The California School of Herbal Studies. She has been an herbal education teacher at many colleges, universities, medical centers and conferences. Gladstar lives in Vermont.