Turning waste into wealth sounds too good to be true, but many worm farmers are finding that vermicomposting is a reliable way to do just that. Vermicast—a biologically active, nutrient-rich mix of earthworm castings and decomposed organic matter—sells for $400 or more per cubic yard. Compare that to regular compost, sold at about $30 a cubic yard, and you’ll see why vermicomposting has taken root in most countries and on every continent but Antarctica.

Vermicomposting is also one of the best sustainable solutions for organic waste management. Vermicomposting manure and crop wastes on farms improves crop yields while reducing demand for off-farm inputs. Vermicast has higher nutrient levels and lower soluble salt content than regular compost, and it improves soil aeration, porosity, and water retention. Plus, vermicast suppresses plant diseases and insect attacks. Municipalities, businesses, community gardens, schools, and universities can set up vermicomposting operations to process food residuals and other waste materials.

The Year-Round Hoophouse is a comprehensive guide to designing and building a hoophouse and making a success of growing abundant, delicious fresh produce all year, whatever your climate and land size.

Fresh, local, nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables are hard to find in winter in cold climates. Growing warm-weather crops such as tomatoes, bananas, avocados, and other perennials is nearly impossible using conventional structures. The solution for millions of backyard and small-scale commercial growers is self-heating solar greenhouses.

The Year-round Solar Greenhouse is the one-stop guide to designing and building greenhouses that harness and store energy from the sun to create naturally heated, lush growing environments even in the depths of winter. This book covers principles of solar greenhouse design and siting, glazing material properties and selection, controlling heat loss, ventilation, and construction methods. Additionally, an in-depth section covers sustainable ways of heating the greenhouse without fossil fuels (including using thermal mass and storing heat underground with a ground to air heat exchanger).

Variations include attached solar greenhouses, earth-sheltered greenhouses, plus integrating hydroponics and aquaponics. More than a dozen case studies from across North America provide inspiration and demonstrate specific challenges and solutions for growing year-round in any climate.

Grow your own food, anytime, anywhere using the power of the sun!

Author Niki Jabbour gardens in Nova Scotia, where short summers and low levels of winter sunlight create the ultimate challenge for food gardeners. Her simple techniques will have you harvesting fresh vegetables in every month of the year, no matter where you live.

Take the first step to achieving your dream of building and living in your very own tiny house! The Tiny House Design & Construction Guide is your road map to the entire build process. This guide will help you to understand each step that needs to be taken and, more importantly, give you the confidence to start building your own tiny house. This is the expanded, 2nd edition of the Tiny House Design & Construction Guide. This latest edition contains over 50% more content and over 38 more images and illustrations. I listened to my reader's feedback and added much more information into the framing, electrical, and plumbing sections of the book.

Bread and butter, toast and jam, scones and clotted cream: Baked goods have a long tradition of being paired with spreads to make their flavors and textures sing. The recipes here offer a thoroughly fresh sensibility for the comfort found in a simple slice of toast spread with jam.

In Tomatoes, a Savor the South cookbook, Miriam Rubin gives this staple of Southern gardens the passionate portrait it deserves. She explores the tomato's rich history in Southern culture while inspiring home cooks to fully enjoy these summer fruits in all their glorious variety. Rubin, a prominent food writer and tomato connoisseur, provides 50 vibrant recipes as well as wisdom about how to choose tomatoes and which tomato is right for which dish.

With color photos throughout, this book is a balance of easy-to-use organic gardening tips, a little horticultural history, serious and funny cautionary gardening tales … and 30 simply delicious recipes (the gastronomic payoff).

In Traditionally Fermented Foods, author Shannon Stonger shows readers how to preserve food using traditional fermentation techniques, often without refrigeration. An alternative to canning and freezing, traditionally fermented foods do not require modern technology to preserve. You can learn Stonger’s authentic preservation technique, which she depends on daily to put food on the table, so you know they work. You can also learn how fermented foods work, how to make fermented foods and how to use fermented foods in recipes. This book contains over 80 recipes with corresponding photos.

Martin Crawford has researched and experimented with tree crops for 25 years and has selected more than 100 of the best trees producing fruits, nuts, edible leaves and other useful products that can be grown in Europe and North America. Color photos accompany every entry, and each of the trees or tree groups.