Author Barbara Kingsolver and her family abandoned the industrial-food pipeline to live a rural life—vowing that, for one year, they’d only buy food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it. Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is an enthralling narrative that will open your eyes in a hundred new ways to an old truth: You are what you eat.

#Pretentious and preachy (2008-11-13) I really wanted to like this book. I agree with the author in that as a culture we ve clearly gotten out of touch with living off the land and have become a fast food society. But I struggled to even get through the first chapter. The tone of the book is much too preachy and pretentious giving it a holier than thou feel. It s hard to get past that.

#You Take the Good, You Take the Bad (2008-11-07) I m only halfway through Kingsolver s book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, so it s possible I will have a skewed opinion. Anyway, Kingsolver opened my eyes to the plight of America s food problem. I d heard of things like HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), but I d never given it much thought. I sure will now. I appreciated her discourses about the garden, the cheesemaking, etc. The information about transportation costs, etc. given in the sidebars by Steven Hopp was excellent. I will, without a doubt, make many considerations in re...

#True Inspiration (2008-11-01) This book was a complete inspiration to get better connections with our food. As years go on, it seems we ve gotten further and further away from thinking about where our food comes from. This completely dials you in to the locavore movement, and just enjoying cooking/gardening again or in a new light. A great read for anyone who cares about what they put in their body!

#Don t Believe the Hype (2008-10-27) While the author makes many valid points about the benefits of consuming locally grown food, she is guilty of one (literally) fatal error: eating animals for food is neither necessary nor healthy for humans, the environment, or, of course, the animals themselves. Moving from a vegetarian diet to a flesh-based diet is not progress, either physically or spiritually, and teaching children that slaughterhouses are bad, yet killing and eating animals whom they know is perfectly acceptable, is unconscionable. Not only is our flesh-based diet destroyi...

#Terrific book! (2008-10-24) Barbara Kingsolver has struck a wonderful balance among educating readers about gardening, slow food, food science and telling a great tale of a family s adventure of local eating. The recipes are great, too!What a revelation to learn that we have all been anesthetized by the large corporations, whether they be the corporations that produce processed food, or the seed companies with their genetically modified terminator genes in the seeds. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and we have already made changes in our food shopping. Wish this great book were still ...

The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering. Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. Gardening When It Counts helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food. Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in...

#Easy to use for both beginners and advanced gardeners (2008-11-16) This book is easy to read and comprhensive. It even tells a person how to start a garden in the spring. Great for first timers who didn t know to get the garden prepared the Autumn before. It also provides lists on which veggies are easy to grow and hearty and which require more care and are delicate.

#Sound Gardening Advice (2008-10-24) Comprehensive, to the points, easily read but full of gardening goodness. I would HIGHLY recommend anyone considering a garden reading this book first to ensure you don t waste: money, time, or energy. My family put off building our garden just so we can finish the book and ensure we build it right the first time.

#practical advice not found in other gardening manuals (2008-10-21) Whoa. . . talk about turning my whole world of gardening upside-down! This tome has earned a permanent spot on my bookshelf by telling me things that make good common sense I ve never read elsewhere. Solomon really laid it out to me about composting. It turns out everything I ve thought I should do. . . like turning my compost frequently and chopping it into tiny bits to get it to decompose faster. . . burns up much of the nutritional value of the stuff by making it burn too hot. The most earth-shattering for ...

#Things I Never Knew About Gardening! (2008-10-01) I am a gardener and I read books and magazines in addition to my hands on efforts. This book has made me think about the way I have been gardening and the complications that I have put on my efforts. This is a much more simple way to do things and I have learned so much about larger spaces, the effort levels of fruits and vegetables, simple tool use and care and water resources. Excellent book. Although I bought it for myself, I had to get it away from my husband.

#Good book, very detailed (2008-09-06) I think this book is a very honest account of how to grow veggies under difficult circumstances. He has honest criticisms of the seed/garden center/etc businesses and how to avoid buying stuff that is of poor quality. His advice on simple methods for determining your soil type, making your own compost fertilizer, spacing for various crops, type of sprinklers that work best and where to get them, and a whole lot more is here and very valuable. I especially liked his advice on simple garden tools, how to find them and how to use them and how to ma...

If you love the joys of eating home-garden vegetables but always thought those joys had to stop at the end of summer, this book is for you. Eliot Coleman introduces the surprising fact that most of the United States has more winter sunshine than the south of France. He shows how North American gardeners can successfully use that sun to raise a wide variety of traditional winter vegetables in backyard cold frames and plastic covered tunnel greenhouses without supplementary heat. Coleman expands upon his own experiences with new ideas learned on a winter-vegetable pilgrimage across the ocean to the acknowledged kingdom of vegetable cuisine, the southern part of France, which lies on the 44th parallel, the same latitude as his farm in Maine.This story of sunshine, weather patterns, old limitations and expectations, and new realities is delightfully innovative in the best gardening tradition. Four-Season Harvest will have you feasting on fresh produce from your garden all through the winte...

#Not A Waste Of Money (2008-10-26) I ve been familiar with Eliot Coleman s work for a few years now. I found an interesting article in Mother Earth News, 2004, regarding his daughter, Clara, and her attempts at gardening in the winter. It peaked my curiosity, so I saved the article. I have yet to get myself organized enough to attempt what she did, but I took it another step and purchased this particular book so that I would have more step-by-step help. Still, yet, I m not quite brave enough to try, but if I can t do it with the help of this awesome book, I shouldn t waste my ti...

#Useful book (2008-10-06) This seems like a very helpful book. We all need to learn to grow year round.

#New take on gardening (2008-09-30) An interesting and different look at gardening. I plan to test the information I picked up this winter. I didn t really care too much about the travel log, but it did help explain the thought process. Well worth a read.

#Great insight for winter gardening (2008-09-18) This was a great book for people like us who would like to be self-sufficient even in a northern growing zone. I learned a lot and I m sure I will refer to it often.

#Get things to Grow all Year! (2008-09-18) This book is really better for those places that have four seasons. Not all of the book is applicable to our warmer California winter climate.

The Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It is the only book that teaches all the skills needed to live independently in harmony with the land harnessing natural forms of energy, raising crops and keeping livestock, preserving foodstuffs, making beer and wine, basketry, carpentry, weaving, and much more. This new edition includes 150 new full color illustrations and a special section in which John Seymour the father of the back to basics movement explains the philosophy of self-sufficiency and its power to transform lives and create communities. More relevant than ever in our high-tech world, The Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It is the ultimate practical guide for realists and dreamers alike.

#Good book, but old techniques (2008-10-24) Book is an easy resource for self sufficiency, however the techniques are a bit dated. Recommended for traditional gardening techniques and farming, canning etc. Brian Housewert

#Self-sufficient life (2008-10-16) This is an incredible and unique book. The opening chapters that show what you can do with various sized acreages is wonderful. The diagram showing what you can do on a single acre is outstanding. Another thing I love about this book is that it favors the use of hand tools over the gas-guzzling counterparts. The section on making hay the old-fashioned way stands out in particular.

#A good general manual for the beginner (2008-09-09) The Self-sufficient Life and How to Live It by John Seymour, Deirdre Headon contains many of the basics needed before one considers the notion of starting out on that journey to self-sufficiency. It is, indeed, written with a rather cycloptic view of the world, but that is, as always, the author s privilege. The Self-sufficient Life and How to Live It doesn t go into as much depth, subject by subject, as does the TODAY S HOMESTEAD series of books,Today s Homestead: Volume I, however, it does give one much to consider, and whets th...

#Timely advice (2008-07-31) What a great find at a time when our lives are having to do an about face! We may not end up with a farm per se but will use the helpful pages in this book to make ourselves less dependent on the super market at the very least. The illustrations are particularly good. I recommend it to all I meet!

#A perfect source for dreaming of self-sufficiency (2008-07-17) For those wishing to find an overview of what it means to live a self-sufficient life, look no further than this text. Engagingly written and bursting with relevant information, Seymour s volume covers just about every topic with the fundamental information you need to properly evaluate your current situation and plan for the future. It is sure to be well-worn and dogeared before too long.

Discover the last W.O.R.D. in vegetable gardening with Ed Smith s amazing gardening system. By integrating four principles -- Wide beds, Organic methods, Raised beds, and Deep beds -- Smith reinvents vegetable gardening, making it possible for everyone to have the best, most successful garden ever. By following this complete system you cultivate deep, powerful soil that nourishes plants and discourages pests and disease. The result is fewer weeds, healthier plants, and lots of great-tasting vegetables. Plus, you ll enjoy gardening as you never have before. The Vegetable Gardener s Bible -- the last W.O.R.D. in vegetable gardening.

#A lot of info in one book (2008-11-18) I will begin my first garden next spring and I wanted to know everything right away. I m thrilled with this book because it includes sections on soil, companion planting, garden design and more. Very good for me since it s the only gardening book I own.

#must-have gardening book (2008-10-15) This is a must-have book if you garden, it is easy to find information, very well organized, and the explanations and directions are clear. The second half of the book has detailed information on most vegetables including what plants are best to plant before and next to this plant as well as common problems, depth of soil etc . . . This book is wonderful because it is helpful if you already have a garden or if you are starting a new one. I appreciate that he talks about beneficial insects and organic gardening techniques. I would recommend th...

#The Vegetable Gardener s Bible (2008-10-04) Excellent book - I checked it out at a local bookstore so I knew it was what I wanted. Next year will be our first year with a garden so we re excited to read this book over the winter to prepare. GREAT book for new gardeners.

#MUST HAVE gardners reference (2008-09-30) Excellent book to read through and then keep as reference. There are MANY nice color pictures (especially at the end there is a vegetable reference guide for planting/care/info). This book gives you step-by-step instructions to designing and cultivating a high-yield WORD garden. If you are clueless about gardening, get this book. If you think you know everything, then get this book (even if you have memorized the companion planting reference matrix). From small planter box gardens to acre sized garden plots. . If you want to learn how to grow v...

#Just Plain Wow! (2008-09-03) Hoping to make the most of my new garden, I picked up this book and hoped some of the techniques would work. WOW doesn t even begin to describe how great this was. The techniques outlined in this book will take a relatively small garden and produce veggies like you ve never imagined! I can hardly wait for next year when I ll have more time to build beds and plant even more! I really believe it ll be possible to feed my family with just the vegetables we can grow ourselves. If you wnat to get the most out of your garden space, you need this book!