Moss Gardening: Including Lichens, Liverworts, and Other Miniatures

Schenk, author of three other horticultural books, points out that traces of moss have been found in 400-million-year-old fossils. There are 15,000 living moss species, 1,200 of them in North America. Schenk defines the varieties of moss plants and follows with chapters on moss gardens in Japan (a garden in Kyoto was designed in the fourteenth century) and on gardens in Europe and North America. There are chapters on mossy rocks, moss carpets, alpine gardens, growing moss in containers, and the use of moss as ground covers beneath bonsai trees. Schenk lists approximatety 60 plants alphabetically by genus, with advice on propagating, cultivating, and transplanting. (Booklist)
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Designing and Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally

The unique information available in this book includes: how to grow food on a bale of hay; no-till gardening which provides yields equal to those of cultivated gardens; how to estimate and use the amount of shade cast by deciduous trees in the winter; scientific studies which dispel many companion-planting myths, (marigolds flunked the test!); how to judge appropriate fertilizer use based only on tree growth, how to use plants to discover soil potential, and much, much more.
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Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times

Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies -- working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.
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The Resilient Gardener: Food Production and Self-Reliance in Uncertain Times

"Resilient" gardeners adapt to challenging health, dietary, weather, or financial situations to produce food that can sustain a family through adverse times. In this guide to becoming such a gardener, plant breeder Deppe "Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties" details her methods for safe and reliable food production—and covers more than strictly gardening—no matter your state of health or what climate you are in. She focuses on five crops with calorie, nutrient, and storage values: potatoes, corn, beans, squash, and, yes, duck eggs. In each chapter, Deppe describes her experiences with specific varieties of crops (with particular reference to her own climate in coastal Oregon), specific techniques for success, and unusual recipes suited to the varieties she grows (all are designed for those with gluten intolerance).
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Home Outside: Creating the Landscape You Love

An Outside-the-Box Guide to Outdoor Living. Lets face it: most of us have the confidence to improve the inside of our homes with a fresh coat of paint, new rugs, furniture, and fixtures. But when it comes to the outside of our most prized possession, we don't know where to start. That's where Julie Moir Messervys "Home Outside" comes in. The acclaimed landscape designer walks the reader through the process of turning any property into the home outside you've always dreamed of. Focusing on key concepts like Finding Your Comfort Zone and Placing the Pieces, Messervy presents breathtaking plans for remarkable front and back lawns, entertainment areas, and contemplative retreats, as well as innovative ways to create a better flow between the inside and outside of a house.
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