About small-scale farming
356620
As a small-scale farmer,  sucked in after retirement,  I'm aware that unless one farms,  it is very difficult to convey the unbelievable amount of work it takes,  just to break even.  There must be some other compensation!  This sweet and very personal book -- getting into the "subjectivity of farming"  reveals what that compensation might be.  I would have liked more details on the ecology of farming --  soils,  weather, micro-organisms,  choice of seeds,  etc. --  but that would have been a different book.  If you go to a farmers market and just LOVE the farmers,  check out this book.  it gets below the veneer.
1672546
This book is useful if you are or plan to raise medicinal and aromatic herbs as a commercial concern. Some of the information may be useful for the small grower interested in raising just enough for their own purposes.  For this group of individuals there are much better books geared to their specific needs.
4220250
This little book contains concise information about starting worm farming.  I found it simple and informative.  Now I will read more books and start growing worms for my garden.
4495478
good chopper and it is small so you have to do small sections of your product.  not bad and does a good job
1423708
I'm still working my way through this one. It's quite meaty, covering a lot of areas a resilient homesteader needs to deal with, from capturing water to building soil to managing livestock. But in many areas I would have liked to see more detail on how this farm does it. The author has been working on his resilient farm for 10 years. I think the book might have been better in another 5 years, after he has done more experimenting to find what works. But as an overview it's excellent, and has a detailed section on planning, making it a great place to start for anyone who wants to build a small farm or homestead that will provide for their families through difficult times.
756013
Yes, it is small, but that's what makes it useful for rocky, heavy soil. I have used this for cleaning up weeds, edging and breaking up soil in trenches. It's light, solid and effective.
2793061
Agriculture of annual crops without the intermittent grazing by herd animals has led to the wholesale destruction of soil in locations all over the world, including the midwestern United States. In this richly detailed and fascinating account, Judith Schwartz shows how brittle grasslands- those which do not produce year round- require herds of cattle or bison or other range animals to break up hardpan soil, nibble at grass to stimulate its growth, and to enrich the soil with its manure and urine.  The trick is that the herd must move on every few days. A few cows in a confined area for a long time will degrade the soil faster than a herd of fifty that is kept moving. Cattle, sheep, antelope, bison, elephants and other pack animals evolved to move rapidly to avoid predators.  In elephant reserves where predators have been excluded, they tend to become sedentary, hanging out at the most prolific pool while grassland around them deteriorates.  Alan Savoy found that running cattle herds through the reserve allowed the restoration of the grassland along with a growth of diversity of plants and animals.  His publicized pasture techniques are slowly being adopted by ranchers and Schwartz interviews them on the pros and cons of the technique.  Native perennial grasses full of seed heads can be grazed in lieu of planted annuals.  Fertilizer is not necessary.

What with all the talk of cows and methane, we lose sight of the fact that healthy soil causes carbon fixation- in other words the soil is a carbon sink which can lower greenhouse gasses.  Appropriately pastured cows are the net carbon fixers because of their effect on living soil.  This runs counter to the standard ecological vegetarian argument but appropriately pastured cows increase  water (via plant to air exchange), increase humus, do not require expensive grain trucked across the country, and produce less gross methane.

Fungicides kill off the mycelium that allows soil to stay moist and productive.  (A tablespoon of good soil will contain a mile of thin mycelial strands but dies off with chemicals.)  Healthier plants require less fertilizer (provided by the cows) and less pesticide use. The only real losers are the Big Ag purveyors of chemicals, herbicides and fungicides who strip the earth of its vitality and productivity and are responsible for the foodlike produce we find in conventional grocery stores. Well written, well documented and a paradigm changer!
4539035
I read this book to see if I could start a seed buisness since I live on a farm and was quite interested in making money. The book was pretty informative, and was well written, but I think it would be to much work for me with the farm. However,if you want a great book on starting a buisness this book is for you. You may have the time I don't have and this is a good opputunity to do.
4359245
This was a nice addition to my grandson's miniature farm garden.  It's on a small stand so is pretty
stable.  He liked it, and I added some chickens and chicks too.
1007305
This is really just a story about what they did at their farm and their dreams of a future utopia.  There is very, very little how-to information in the book.  It is also very bizarre that the title says "One-Quarter Acre" and then shows a picture of part of their farm that is at least 10 acres (their website says they have 40 acres, total).  They have a test farm on their property where they are attempting to demonstrate that one could (eventually, maybe) make a living farming just 1/4 acre, hence the reference.  However, there is no information in this book about how to do that.  They are planning to write a how-to book next, that will probably be very, very good.  The current book is basically just an advertisement for why you might want to get their as-yet unpublished book and start a micro-farm.  In all fairness, the book does contain a lot of references that would allow you to fish around and get more concrete information, it just isn't provided in the book.  Overall, a disappointment.
3599855
I highly recommend this book and DVD. I've been interested in agroforestry and permaculture, but found the design element too cumbersome, and difficult to maintain. Mark Shepard provides the missing link between permaculture and farm-scale agriculture, making permaculture practical to implement. Great ideas if you have one to three hundred acres. He explains the ideas at a level that someone with no experience can implement.
4813331
I enjoyed reading a book that told us about farming, and the way it really is.  Change doesn't happen over night, and neither did the common goal of those in this book.  Farming is a business, forst and foremost.  It was noce to read about one farmer, and his love for his parents land.  Love enough for the family homestead that he his and his parents land first, verses the other way around
1287913
Farmer is clearly doing great things in Haiti. I admire Farmer for his dedication and skill. However, I came away from the book with the strong feeling that even if Farmer had five times the resources he now has, Haiti overall would be worse off in three years than it is now. Farmer is treating the symptoms, not the disease.

Haiti is already short of food, to the extent where food riots are nothing unusual. Haiti's land is badly eroded and deforested, with agriculture suffering as a result. The simple fact is that sustainable population of Haiti over the long term is probably no more than 1/3 of the present population. Kidder mentions that Farmer's clinic provides birth control when it is requested by patients, but it is clearly not Farmer's main interest. If there is to be any chance at all of Haiti becoming able to feed itself, birth control needs to go from being an afterthought to being an obsession.

Kidder's book doesn't mention peak oil, but it should. Much of the food keeping the Haitian people alive is produced using fertilizer produced from natural gas, with tractors powered by diesel, and transported using fossil fuel-powered trucks and ships. These fuels are already in short supply and likely to become more so in the next few years. If you think conditions in Haiti are bad now, wait and see what it's like when the Haitian population has increased by 10% and the price of food has doubled. Farmer's clinic may well be like trying to hold back the ocean with a syringe. For more on this, see&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Eating-Fossil-Fuels-Oil-Food-and-the-Coming-Crisis-in-Agriculture/dp/0865715653/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Eating Fossil Fuels: Oil, Food and the Coming Crisis in Agriculture</a>.
1424604
"You Can Farm" gives you a high-level overview of a family-size pastured beef, poultry, and pork farming operation. There's also a good dose of the "why" as well as the "how-to" included in this book. Joel discusses why a family-friendly farm is superior to a commercial commodity farm for a family with children. He also covers the ethics of properly pricing your products so that you realize a return off the products you provide which will allow you to live comfortably. Joel's viewpoint is that a family who dedicates themselves to farming and being stewards to a piece of land should be able to reap a return on-par with a mid-level attorney.
If you want to be a "poor, dumb farmer" don't read Joel's books. But . . . If you want to raise your family in a healthful, wholesome country environment AND make a reasonable living while doing so, this book is a good second step. As a first step, I would highly recommend one of Joel's other books "Family Friendly Farming." That book is all about the "why" behind small family farms. After reading "You Can Farm" and "Family Friendly Farming," I would highly recommend "Pastured Poultry Profit$" and "Salad Bar Beef," as these are the titles that go into the nuts & bolts details of Joel's grass-based small farm production model.
Joel also includes an extensive suggested reading list as an appendix in each title discussed above. He is very supportive of new farmers reading as much as possible on any given topic BEFORE they dive into a new enterprise. He doesn't consider his opinion to be the last word on any subject.
Joel's writing style is very readable. His advice is valuable and unconventional (i.e., start out on rented land to avoid long-term debt until you are SURE that this is going to work for you, only buy the equipment you need -- when you need it, etc.), it resonates with a high level of caring for those who may take his advice and jump into this "farming thing."
Joel Salatin's books come with my highest recommendations
2075400
Three years ago, I went from being a girl living in a suburban neighborhood with all the modern luxuries available to a woman to living on a dairy farm with no air conditioning and a rooster for an alarm clock. When I started dating a farmer, I was anxious to learn more about the industry, and I am always trying to understand the foreign practices that my guy tries to explain to me. Since making the lifestyle change, I have gained a greater appreciation for the environment and have become more health conscious. I prefer home-raised eggs and fresh produce to manufactured "food," but many people are unaware of the pleasures that a rural lifestyle can offer.
 The Complete Guide to Small Scale Farming is an informative resource for both the novice and experienced farmer, as well as those who are just interested in learning more about the culture. The book covers every crevice of livestock farming such as chickens, beef and dairy cattle, waterfowl, rabbits, goats, sheep, and pigs. This realistic guide provides information on breeding, housing, and feeding the various animals as well as health concerns and butchering. The guide goes one step further and offers a list of valuable resources and an appendix explaining how to make butter and cheese. As a fan of homemade cooking, I can not wait to make my own cheese and butter. It may seem old fashioned, but at least, I know exactly what is going into my body, and cooking is a wonderful way to bond with the family. After reading The Complete Guide to Small Scale Farming, I am able to understand more conversations with my handsome farmer, appreciate the  rural community around me, and am able add a few delicious recipes to my ever-growing cook book. Whether you are an experienced farmer, a newbie to the industry, or a curious soul looking for a glimpse into a different lifestyle, The Complete Guide to Small Scale Farming is a valuable resource for any one slightly interested in the world of small scale farming.
304010
I'm not ready to become a farmer, but I did buy some acres and move to the country.  Lowell Christensen shares the troubles, wisdom, and humor of farming with us city folk who haven't figured out that a fence won't keep a bull away from the cows.  He covers every part of farming from animals to driving on country roads to shoveling manure.  The prose are light and humorous.  There are a thousand ways to make mistakes on a farm, and at least half of them are humorously detailed in this short book.  His recipe for home made soap produces eight pounds of soap, 18 doughnuts, and 3oz of pork skins.  If you raise chickens there are thoughtful questions such as, "How many baskets should you put your eggs in?"

I'm not going to raise goats or cows, and I would need more detailed information than this general beginning book if I wanted to.  But it's a fun and humorous little book on farming.  It is also full of inside information from a man who grew up on a family farm.  Its fun to read even if you aren't ever going to live on a farm.
1279894
nice little book - I was looking for small recipe and technique versions of closer to standard products, and this book is mostly for those looking for new and unusual combinations.

I'm not going to use it much and find it a disappointment, as the site I found it recommended on made it sound like a good source for recipes for those small batches of fruits that are too small for the usual recipes.  I didn't expect that they would have done this by combining them with pretty much anything else that is in season at the same time.