Another great primer for the world of invisible activity that is constantly at work beneath our feet to turn minerals and sunshine into food and beauty. This book focuses on defining and explaining the relationships between the fungi, bacteria and insects that all work together to create an environment that plants can thrive in. Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food … Continue reading Teaming with Microbes
Eliot Coleman’s career as a luminary in organic farming techniques with patience, success and a gift for sharing the results in written form that the layperson can understand is unparalleled. His books, particularly this one, have heavily informed most modern organic farming programs, my own included. This book reads like a textbook that has been shaped into an easy to follow narrative that grounds complex … Continue reading The New Organic Grower
If you’re looking for a true soils text to take you beyond casual gardening knowledge and into the world of soils meet in the mixture of geology and microbiology, this is the book for you. Accepted as the textbook for rigorous undergraduate soil science study, this one goes in depth in the science of the field and…leaves no stone unturned!!! (snicker) The Nature and Properties … Continue reading The Nature and Properties of Soils
This book is a great primer to understanding what is going on in the symphony of microorganisms and nutrients beneath our feet that we call soil. It is a quick read (an afternoon if you really focus on it) that starts from scratch on the big principles of soil life. I’ve used this as required reading for my college soils class before the first day … Continue reading The Soul of Soil
One of the most difficult things to keep in mind while reading through this translation of Mr. Fukuoka’s work was that it was originally published in English in 1977. I was reading what I thought to be very location and crop specific descriptions of one farmer’s trials and tribulations for hours before I realized how broad and insightful his criticism of the food system truly … Continue reading Thoughts on “The One-Straw Revolution” by Masanobu Fukuoka
