Gardening Science

Finding herself in a new home in Brighton, Kate Bradbury sets about transforming her barren backyard into a beautiful wildlife garden. But while she's doing this Kate's neighbours continue to pave their gardens, the wildlife she tries to save is further threatened and she feels she's fighting an uphill battle. Is there any point in gardening for wildlife when everyone else is drowning the land in poison and cement? If the dead could return, what would they say about the land we have taken, the ancient routes we have carved up, the wildlife we have lost?

The Garden Jungle is about the wildlife that lives right under our noses, in our gardens and parks, between the gaps in the pavement and in the soil beneath our feet. Wherever you are right now, the chances are that there are worms, woodlice, centipedes, flies, silverfish, wasps, beetles, mice, shrews and much, much more, quietly living within just a few paces of you.

Flowers, and the fruits that follow, feed, clothe, sustain, and inspire all humanity. Flowers are used to celebrate all-important occasions, to express love, and are also the basis of global industries. Americans buy 10 million flowers a day, and perfumes are a worldwide industry worth $30 billion annually. Stephen Buchmann takes us along on an exploratory journey of the roles flowers play in the production of our foods, spices, medicines, and perfumes while simultaneously bringing joy and health.

Florapedia is an eclectic A-Z compendium of botanical lore. With more than 100 enticing entries - on topics ranging from achlorophyllous plants that use a fungus as an intermediary to obtain nutrients from other plants to zygomorphic flowers that admit only the most select pollinators - this collection is a captivating journey into the realm of botany. Writing in her incomparably engaging style, Carol Gracie discusses remarkable plants from around the globe, botanical art and artists, early botanical explorers, ethnobotanical uses of plants, botanical classification, and more.

Two manuscripts in one audiobook: Perennial Gardening and Growing Lavender. In part one, you will: Learn everything about perennial flowers, fruit, vegetables, herbs, and shrubs, and gain knowledge about the often-overlooked aspects of designing a garden. In part two, you will discover: How to grow lavender in your garden, how to prune your lavender for the best results year after year, and how to harvest your lavender safely and store it. Buy this audiobook now to learn more about perennial gardening and how to grow lavender!

Chris Smith’s first encounter with okra was of the worst kind: slimy fried okra at a greasy-spoon diner. Despite that dismal introduction, Smith developed a fascination with okra, and as he researched the plant and began to experiment with it in his own kitchen, he discovered an amazing range of delicious ways to cook and eat it, along with ingenious and surprising ways to process the plant from tip-to-tail: pods, leaves, flowers, seeds, and stalks. Smith talked okra with chefs, food historians, university researchers, farmers, homesteaders, and gardeners.

One of the most important things gardeners can do is to build up the soil in their garden. Soil building is a process. As humus is devoured by microorganisms, worms, and plants, more organic material must be added constantly in order to keep the soil biomass well fed and happy for strong soil structure. Learn all the various ways to get organic material into your soil to improve soil health and soil fertility to improve plant health for better gardens, higher yields, and more gorgeous flowers.

The term "guerrilla" may bring to mind a small band of armed soldiers, moving in the dead of night on a stealth mission. In the case of guerilla gardening, the soldiers are planters, the weapons are shovels, and the mission is to transform an abandoned lot into a thing of beauty. Once an environmentalist's nonviolent direct action for inner-city renewal, this approach to urban beautification is spreading to all types of people in cities around the world.

With a new introduction exclusively in audio, read by Anna Pavord. The Tulip is not a gardening book. It is the story of a flower that has made men mad. Greed, desire, anguish and devotion have all played their parts in the development of the tulip into the worldwide phenomenon it is today. No other flower has ever carried so much cultural baggage; it charts political upheavals, illuminates social behaviour, mirrors economic booms and busts and plots the ebb and flow of religious persecution.

Embark on a transformative journey to a self-sufficient rural lifestyle! Are you interested in changing your life? Have you heard people talking about the joys of homesteading and wondered if it’s the life for you? Do you want to learn how to plan and budget for your homestead? People have been homesteading since the 1800s, when land was freely given to people, provided they paid a small fee to register the land in their name, live there, and improve the land. Now, it’s a common way of life, a life many people actively choose to live to change their lives for the better.

Keeping Chickens for Beginners is for anyone wanting to keep his or her own chickens, whether for eggs, meat, or exhibiting. Keeping chickens can seem very overwhelming at first, and this audiobook provides a clear step-by-step guide walking you through everything from selecting the right breed for your needs to looking after your chickens to breeding them. Everything you need to know to successfully keep chickens and enjoy fresh eggs or meat is in this detailed audiobook.

You don’t need to be a professional landscaper to be able to grow your own thriving garden, and you definitely don’t need four acres of land to add a touch of nature to your home. Whether you’re a lifelong gardener looking for inspiration, or you’re just someone who loves being surrounded by nature, this comprehensive guide will give you everything you need to know about growing plants in small spaces with raised beds, containers, and vertical structures, so you can finally start on a gardening journey that will last a lifetime.

The Plant Hunter's Atlas is a volume telling some of the most extraordinary tales of horticultural discovery and exploring the characters behind the stories. Taking in the world's inhabited continents and spanning the centuries, the stories range from tales of derring-do in the age of discovery to modern-day botanists working at the cutting-edge of science. The text explores how plant hunters have been inspired by everything from scientific curiosity to economic greed, and their own ingrained sense of adventure.

If you're looking for a way to become self-sufficient in terms of your food supply, then pay attention...Establishing a mini-farm in your backyard is an immensely beneficial and lucrative initiative. It will help you to become self-sufficient in terms of your food supply and also allow you to live a much more sustainable life. Regardless of how large or small your yard is, you can build a farm on it. You will learn how to get started with backyard farming; in addition to the mini-farm, you can raise bees and create a profitable honey business!

How did people eat before giant corporations stocked grocery stores? It's a complex question that many people are facing now more than ever. In recent years, we've seen trends in panic-buying, chemicals infiltrating our produce, and our foods being processed with artificial products. What's happened to the food we eat? What purpose is the land in our backyard serving? Homesteading is having a new surge in popularity as people look for more ways to become self-sustaining.

When Tantoh Nforba was a child, his fellow students mocked him for his interest in gardening. Today he's an environmental hero, bringing clean water and bountiful gardens to the central African nation of Cameroon. Authors Miranda Paul and Baptiste Paul share Farmer Tantoh's inspiring story.

These days we are all looking for ways to become more self-sufficient. Now with Backyard Farming you can create your very own micro farm right in your backyard - no matter where you live! Now you can discover ways to grow, raise, and store your own food year round whether you live in an urban environment, in the suburbs, or out in the country. From raising chickens and beekeeping to growing vegetables and planting fruit trees, this guide to homesteading will help you become more self-reliant in no time!

Growing vegetables in a raised bed grid garden (a.k.a. square foot garden) is a great way to maximize your vegetable growing efforts, and at the same time dramatically reduce your workload. A grid garden is simple to assemble and operate. Growing in one-foot squares means that you can truly maximize your vegetable production in an environment that is great fun to operate and will assure a regular harvest of healthy vegetables. If you are growing vegetables in raised beds, then your production and crop rotation can be maximized by using the simple techniques employed in grid gardening.

In Push the Zone: The Good Guide to Growing Tropical Plants Beyond the Tropics, David the Good shares his successes and failures in expanding plant ranges, and equips you with the knowledge you need to add a growing zone or two to your own backyard. Based on original research done in North Florida, Push the Zone is useful for northern gardeners as well. Discover microclimates in your yard, use the thermal mass of walls to grow impossible plants, and uncover growing secrets that will change your entire view of what can grow where!

Permaculture is the gardening and farming roadmap of the future. It teaches you to work with nature so that the Earth will be your ally, not your foe. It’s a must-have for every person concerned about the environment and sustainable living. It contains valuable lessons and strategies critical for the future of life on Earth.