Anna Hess

Grow twice the fruits and vegetables in half the space on the farm, in the backyard, or even in your window! Have you noticed the extraordinary flavors and yields emanating from even a small garden when the soil is just right? If you've ever been envious of your neighbor's dirt or just curious about homesteading, then The Ultimate Guide to Soil is the perfect fit for you. This second volume in the series walks new and experienced gardeners through...

Grow twice the fruits and vegetables in half the space on the farm, in the backyard, or even in your window! Have you noticed the extraordinary flavors and yields emanating from even a small garden when the soil is just right? If you've ever been envious of your neighbor's dirt or just curious about homesteading, then The Ultimate Guide to Soil is the perfect fit for you. This third volume in the series walks new and experienced gardeners through...

Feed your garden and your garden will feed you. This final installment in The Ultimate Guide to Soil series walks new and experienced gardeners through using dozens of amendments for fertilizing, mulching, and conditioning the organic garden. Hess starts with traditional materials like compost and cover crops, branches out into permaculture goodies such as biochar and hugelkultur, and comes full circle with both urban and rural waste products including...

A short, sweet, and self-sufficient guide to keeping chickens as part of a rural or urban homestead. Learn everything you need to know to get started on your poultry adventure with these quick answers to your frequently asked questions. The Working Chicken begins by helping you choose the perfect flock for your family, then explains how to feed and house your new pets. Finally, the book's permaculture twist ensures that your chickens will not only...

Twelve months to self-sufficiency! This fully updated second edition of the popular Weekend Homesteader series includes exciting, short projects that you can use to dip your toes into the vast ocean of homesteading without getting overwhelmed. If you need to fit homesteading into a few hours each weekend and would like to have fun while doing it, these projects will be right up your alley, whether you live on a forty-acre farm, a postage-stamp lawn...

Do you want to enjoy healthy eggs and meat from chickens raised on pasture? Pasture Basics starts at the beginning to help you design the best pasturing setup for your flock and for your homestead. Great grazing for chickens won't be found in the perfect pasture for sheep or cows-you need to tweak your design to match a chicken's unique behavior and stomach. Included in this volume are an explanation of chicken digestion and behavior, pasture specifics...

1/10 of an acre can feed you all year! The easiest way to grow more of your own calories is to focus on roots like potatoes and carrots. With yields of up to 200 calories per square foot, you can break your reliance on the grocery store with just a few seeds or starts and a shovel. Most root crops are easy to store through the winter and require no special harvesting or processing equipment. So why don't we all grow roots? To keep the tubers happy...

Homegrown humus is easy with cover crops! Cover crops are a simple, cheap way to boost your soil's organic matter, to fight weeds, to prevent erosion, to attract pollinators, and to keep the ecosystem in balance. Unfortunately, most information on growing cover crops is written for people who plow their soil every year and are willing to spray herbicides. You can get all of the same benefits in a no-till garden, though, if you're clever. Homegrown...

Twelve months to self-sufficiency! This fully updated second edition of the popular Weekend Homesteader series includes exciting, short projects that you can use to dip your toes into the vast ocean of homesteading without getting overwhelmed. If you need to fit homesteading into a few hours each weekend and would like to have fun while doing it, these projects will be right up your alley, whether you live on a forty-acre farm, a postage-stamp lawn...

Twelve months to self-sufficiency! This fully updated second edition of the popular “Weekend Homesteader” series includes exciting, short projects that you can use to dip your toes into the vast ocean of homesteading without getting overwhelmed. If you need to fit homesteading into a few hours each weekend and would like to have fun while doing it, these projects will be right up your alley, whether you live on a forty-acre farm, a postage-stamp...