Ernest Hemingway is one of my father’s favorite authors. I grew up surrounded by The Old Man And The Sea, The Sun Also Rises and For Whom The Bell Tolls (about that last one – don’t ask). My favorite Hemingway piece has always been The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. Or maybe A Clean,…
I Love Books
{Giveaway} Edible Landscaping With A Permaculture Twist
I can’t explain how much I love this book. The author, Michael Judd, sent me a copy and asked me to take a look at it. This kind of thing happens with some regularity, so I have this huge stack of books that are already in my “read and review” pile. I know if you’re…
{Giveaway} Backyard Roots: Lessons on Living Simply From 35 Urban Farmers
A few years ago I met photographer and author Lori Eanes when she came to take pictures of my garden for a book she was doing. The book is called Backyard Roots: Lessons on Living Simply From 35 Urban Farmers, and it’s a highly visual exploration of urban farms up and down the west coast…
Giveaway: 6 Of My Favorite Homesteading Books
Earlier this week the Facebook page for this blog hit 20,000 followers. I remember when my Facebook page hit 1,000 followers and I was blown away. We had a giveaway to celebrate! Now, at 20,000, I have to admit the feeling is a bit different. I’m thrilled and humbled and flattered by the milestone, but…
Giveaway: The Drunken Botanist (Because I Can't Buy All Of You A Drink)
Well, hello, you gorgeous, sweet-talking readers. I think I’d like to buy you a drink, just to say thank you for the unexpected and lovely outpouring of anti-troll support you laid on me last week. That was….wow. It was wow. Please know I appreciate it, and I have no intention of letting a few anonymous…
Giveaway: The Speedy Vegetable Garden
“I don’t have a short attention span, I just….hey, is that a broccoflower?” Gardeners generally take the looonnnnng view, at least by the standards of today’s soundbite culture. And while it’s probably true that, “a society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit,” at a day-to-day…
Giveaway: Food Grown Right, In Your Backyard + Year Round Gardening Like The Pros
The season of giving is upon us! And friends, do I have some giving for you. This week I’m doing a couple of great giveaways just in time for you to show some holiday love to your favorite gardener. If you win and decide your favorite gardener is you and you’re keeping the loot, no…
Mini-Money Challenge: Sell Some Books
I’m of the Erasmus school of spending: When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes. As an example, these are some of – but not all of, you understand – my cookbooks: I have an equivalent number of gardening and house-maintenance books, quite a few big, heavy collections of…
Giveaway: Honeybee Democracy – For Beekeepers And More
Thomas Seeley’s fascinating Honeybee Democracy has received press in some unusual circles for a book about insect behavior. Everyone from homemade mead-makers to The New Republic has weighed in with glowing reviews on this study of honeybee swarms. The reason for this broad appeal is simple: Seeley does an excellent job describing the how and why of honeybee group decision-making,…
Giveaway: Food Grown Right, In Your Backyard plus The Three Rules Small Space Gardeners Must Follow
In the Seattle urban farming scene, there are a couple of guys – Colin and Brad – who seem to be everywhere. They run the aptly named Seattle Urban Farm Company, and under that moniker set-up and maintain edible gardens in backyards and on restaurant rooftops around the city and teach countless workshops for beginning…
Giveaway: Lard: The Lost Art of Cooking with Your Grandmother's Secret Ingredient
Update: This Giveaway is now closed. Congrats to Jill! Jill, please check your email for information on how to claim your prize. Just a warning, friends: expect a lot of giveaways in the next several weeks. I spent last weekend at the Mother Earth News Fair in Puyallup and was more than happy to bring…
Giveaway: Free Range Chicken Gardens and The Fresh Egg Cookbook
Edible gardeners want to eat what they grow. Chicken owners want happy egg-laying helpers. But happy, free-ranging chickens will mess up a veggie patch faster than you can say cotyledon. And that is the conflict garden-growing chicken-owners face. Thankfully, Free-Range Chicken Gardens, the new book by landscape designer and chicken expert Jessi Bloom, tells you how…