Farming Books

Marvelous little book chock full of information and history about farming. About 60 pages, with 24 pages of the most fabulous detailed pictures, drawings, engravings, etc. Most quite old. The prose explains the details in each picture . What all the objects were and what the people were doing. Unfortunately with the engravings, the editors colored them to have things more easily spotted, but the colors looked so fake. Still. How incredibly detailed they all were, and how much I learned about each picture.

Farming In San Francisco is a compendium of original, lyrical poetry by Daniel Richman in celebration of the city in which he has lived, loved, worked, and played in for thirty years. These are poems that focus upon the people of these famed American city set on the seashore of the great Pacific. Loves and Fishes: It rained all day/upsetting the crows/on the cross/atop Saint Phillip's Church,/who leaned east/and leaned west/in search of a dry inch.//The peak grew sharper/by the hour/and darker/the choked gutters dropping cold sheets/And when the ladies left/they stepped in lakes.//But remember,/lovers of the sun,/each drop becomes a crumb.

The author, Peter Reynolds, was the driving force in Iron Age agricultual archaeology. He was the director of the Butser Ancient Farm in Hampshire, UK. Although this book is over two decades old, it is still a great introduction to the subject of Celtic farming in Britain before the arrival of the Romans. It was published for young readers, but the book is a good starting point for anyone new to this subject.
Contents:
1. SPRING: Plowing, The Seed
2. FARM ANIMALS
3. SUMMER
4. THE FARMSTEAD: The Buildings, Work about the Farmstead
5. AUTUMN: The Harvest, Storing the Grain
6. WINTER: Making Clothes, Woodwork

A more up-to-date, more academic article would be Dr. Reynold's, "Rural Life and Farming," in the book, "The Celtic World," ed. Miranda Green Routledge 1995 pp 176-209 ISBN: 0415146275

Note: this title, "Farming in the Iron Age" ISBN: 0-521-21084-4 is the original British edition. An American edition was also published under the title, "Life in the Iron Age" ISBN: 0-8225-1214-9.

This is a very unique book about the experience of the Cortez colony, the last Japanese agricultural community formed by Abiko in 1919. It is written from a feminist perspective and thus gives unique insight into the Nikkei experience. Matsumoto conducted over 80 oral histories in tracing the history of this colony's foundation, through the relocation camp experience, and through the agriculture upheaval of the 70's and early 80's. If you are a serious historian of the Asian American experience, I strongly recommend this book for your collection.

What a wonderful book, full of laughs that I will soon to relate to. As having just purchased some 30 acres and wanting to go the organic way. I was given this book to check out. It is full of funny little stories and interesting tips too. I am now looking for a copy of this book for myself for when the ruff days of winter come to me too. The back cover of this book says,
In 1988 Paul Heiney decided to become a farmer, the type who puts his faith in horses, a hand-plough and well-ripened muck...
Thanks Paul for keeping your Diary, I will now start mine...cheers Liz and happy reading.

Written for broad audience of "stakeholders" in the food system, from consumers to ranchers, Imhoff has done a great job of highlighting farmers and ranchers who are working to protect the environment and sustain family farmers. These farmers and ranchers are inspirational examples, and show that agriculture doens't have to destroy the planet while it feeds us. Carra's photos offer an enticing complement that gives the book a coffee-table feel.

One of the first 'off the grid' books written.
A most excellent and helpful "how to" book on the topic of self sufficiency.
If your serious about living off the land this will give you the info you need to make it work.

'A Favored Place' is a highly complex analysis of wetland history, tracing its development through pre-Columbian times to the present. This is no easy task. Siemens' book guides us through detailed archaelogical aspects, how Spanish conquerors 'read' the land they found themselves in on the Mexican Gulf coast, what a nineteenth century German colonist saw, and how twentieth century planners thought and proposed to do with 'unfavourable' wetlands. Siemens presents us with a rich and elaborate text, which will be obliged reading for specialists (especially historians, and geographers), but also a delight for a more general public interested in the way perceptions diverge over what is desirable and/or feasible when we come up against such troublesome concepts as traditional and modern. Even though the book abounds in complex technical and methodological questions, amply backed up by maps, illustrations, photographs, and diagrams, Siemens has an enviable command of language, thus permitting the lay reader easy and enjoyable access to the mysteries of what has so often been considered 'unfavourable', but after this re-reading turns out to be 'favourable': that is, flooded bottom-lands. At the end of the day, no preconceived view of the subject escapes Siemens' scalpel.

This work is an efficient survey of agriculture and its relation to population growth through history. The chapters are designed to focus on population growth through time. For example chapter 2 is: Reaching for 5 million ( to 8000BC); chapter 3 is: Towards 50 million ( 8000-2000BC); chapter 4 is: The first half-billion ( 2000BC-1500AD); chapter 5 is: Towards the first billion (1500-1825) etc. Under each heading is a discussion of the critical agricultural developments during that time period. The last chapter focuses on the problems of feeding 10 billion people in the future.The research is detailed and knowledgable. The sources are modern and uptodate. The writing is precise. It is an excellent book that covers a lot of ground in a small compass. Highly recommended.

We do a lot of family stuff. We read together, hike, vacation; we even eat our meals together. But being a close emotional foursome [mom, dad, son age 12 and daughter age 10] we are always looking for a new way to share our time.

Pick up this book and pick a project. We started with a new gate to the pool but decided it was too easy. What is great about this book is that it not only gives great construction guidelines it is a building block (no pun intended) to other projects.

We finally decided to build a bridge across Ash Brook which passes through our property about 100 yards behind the house. At first we thought we could span 30 feet, but later decided 15 was a better idea. Well, the bridge in the book and our final product did not resemble each other. Who cares. The basics were supplied and we went our own way.

Great ideas and pictures. Use it as a guide or a technical manual. It doesn't matter. Everything works.