Named one of The Washington Post's Best Travel Books of 2021. "Winter Pasture is Li Juan's crowning achievement, shattering the boundaries between nature writing and personal memoir." —Smithsonian Magazine "Li Juan spent minus-20-degree nights with nomadic herders in the Chinese steppes. You’ll want to join her." —Laura Miller, Slate "Deeply moving...full of humor, introspection and glimpses into a vanishing lifestyle." —The New York Times Book Review Winner of the People's Literature Award, WINTER PASTURE has been a bestselling book in China for several years. Li Juan has been widely lauded in the international literary community for her unique contribution to the narrative non-fiction genre. WINTER PASTURE is her crowning achievement, shattering the boundaries between nature writing and personal memoir. Li Juan and her mother own a small convenience store in the Altai Mountains in Northwestern China, where she writes about her life among grasslands and snowy peaks. To her neighbors' surprise, Li decides to join a family of Kazakh herders as they take their 30 boisterous camels, 500 sheep and over 100 cattle and horses to pasture for the winter. The so-called "winter pasture" occurs in a remote region that stretches from the Ulungur River to the Heavenly Mountains. As she journeys across the vast, seemingly endless sand dunes, she helps herd sheep, rides horses, chases after camels, builds an underground home using manure, gathers snow for water, and more. With a keen eye for the understated elegance of the natural world, and a healthy dose of self-deprecating humor, Li vividly captures both the extraordinary hardships and the ordinary preoccupations of the day-to-day of the men and women struggling to get by in this desolate landscape. Her companions include Cuma, the often drunk but mostly responsible father; his teenage daughter, Kama, who feels the burden of the world on her shoulders and dreams of going to college; his reticent wife, a paragon of decorum against all odds, who is simply known as "sister-in-law." In bringing this faraway world to English language readers here for the first time, Li creates an intimate bond with the rugged people, the remote places and the nomadic lifestyle. In the signature style that made her an international sensation, Li Juan transcends the travel memoir genre to deliver an indelible and immersive reading experience on every page.

Pastoralism is a diffused and ancient form of human subsistence and probably one of the most studied by anthropologists at the crossroads between continuities and transformations. The present critical discourse on sustainable and responsible development implies a change of practices, a huge socio-economic transformation, and the return of new shepherds and herders in different European regions. Transhumance and extensive breeding are revitalized as a potential resource for inner and rural areas of Europe against depopulation and as an efficient form of farming deeply influencing landscape and functioning as a perfect eco-system service. This book is an occasion to reconsider grazing communities’ frictions in the new global heritage scenario.

Grazing management might seem simple: just put livestock in a pasture and let them eat their fill. However, as Sarah Flack explains in The Art and Science of Grazing, the pasture/livestock relationship is incredibly complex. If a farmer doesn't pay close attention to how the animals are grazing, the resulting poorly managed grazing system can be harmful to the health of the livestock, pasture plants, and soils. Well-managed pastures can instead create healthier animals, a diverse and resilient pasture ecosystem, and other benefits. Flack delves deeply below the surface of "let the cows eat grass," demonstrating that grazing management is a sophisticated science that requires mastery of plant and animal physiology, animal behavior, and ecology. She also shows readers that applying grazing management science on a working farm is an art form that calls on grass farmers to be careful observers, excellent planners and record-keepers, skillful interpreters of their observations, and creative troubleshooters. The Art and Science of Grazing will allow farmers to gain a solid understanding of the key principles of grazing management so they can both design and manage successful grazing systems. The book's unique approach presents information first from the perspective of pasture plants, and then from the livestock perspective--helping farmers understand both plant and animal needs before setting up a grazing system. This book is an essential guide for ruminant farmers who want to be able to create grazing systems that meet the needs of their livestock, pasture plants, soils, and the larger ecosystem. The book discusses all the practical details that are critical for sustained success: how to set up a new system or improve existing systems; acreage calculations; paddock layout; fence and drinking water access; lanes and other grazing infrastructure; managing livestock movement and flow; soil fertility; seeding and reseeding pastures; and more. The author includes descriptions of real grazing systems working well on dairy, beef, goat, and sheep farms in different regions of North America. The book covers pasture requirements specific to organic farming, but will be of use to both organic and non-organic farms.

New Zealand grazing consultant Peter Bacchus shares a lifetime of experience on applying biodynamics to pastures. His multi-pronged approach considers balance of fertility elements, organic matter levels, soil life, and particularly soil life forces. Through biodynamic preparations and other tools he seeks to produce optimum grass quality and production for grazing animals. Also covered are biodynamic methods of pest and weed control.

Horse Pasture Management begins with coverage of the structure, function and nutritional value of plants, continuing into identification of pasture plants. Management of soil and plants in a pasture is covered next, followed by horse grazing behavior, feed choices of horses, management of grazing horses, and how to calculate how many horses should be grazing relative to land size. Management of hay and silage are included, since year-round grazing is not possible on many horse farms. A number of chapters deal with interactions of a horse farm with the environment and other living things. As an aid in good pasture management, one chapter explains construction and use of fencing and watering systems. Contributions are rounded out with a chapter explaining how the University of Kentucky helps horse farm managers develop their pasture management programs. - The purpose of the book is to help people provide a better life for horses - Provides the basic principles of pasture management for those involved in equine-related fields and study - Covers a variety of strategies for managing the behavior, grouping, environmental, and feeding needs of grazing horses to ensure high levels of welfare and health - Includes information on environmental best practices, plant and soil assessment, and wildlife concerns - Explains pasture-related diseases and toxic plants to be avoided - Includes links to useful resources and existing extension programs

The health and profitability of grass-based livestock begins with the food they eat. In Managing Pasture, author Dale Strickler guides farmers and ranchers through the practical and ideological considerations behind caring for the land as a key part of running a successful grass-based operation, from the profitability of replacing expensive grain feed with nutrient-rich native grasses to the benefits of ecologically-minded land management. In-depth examinations of the biology and benefits of grazing plants and different grazing strategies accompany detailed plans for paddock and fencing set-ups, livestock watering, and effective methods for dealing with common pasture problems throughout the seasons, from mud to drought. For readers invested in pasture improvement strategies that offer environmental benefits beyond better meat and dairy, including carbon sequestration, erosion prevention, increased pollinator resources and wildlife habitat, and improved water quality, Managing Pasture is an approachable, accessible guide to creating and caring for the grassland that feeds animals and future generations.

There's no rulebook for living on a veterinary farm for sick animals — unless you make one yourself! Eleven-year-old Charlie Dembinski likes to keep his life organized and quiet. This is a challenge when you live on a farm where your mother runs a veterinary clinic for the local livestock, neighbors’ pets and sometimes rescued wildlife. To complicate Charlie’s orderly life even further, his mother hires a bookkeeper to live on the farm who brings along her daughter, Amy Ma. And Amy is anything but quiet! Her constant questions and attempts to spend time with Charlie really bother him, and he doesn’t understand why the adults seem to like her so much. But when a neighbor’s beloved dog gets sick with a mysterious illness, Charlie realizes that Amy’s outgoing approach might not be all that bad. This is the first book in the Charlie's Rules series.

Hattie McNair keeps a journal about the goings-on at FairAcres Home, a South Carolina retirement community.

A Penguin Classic In Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck’s beautifully rendered depictions of small yet fateful moments that transform ordinary lives, these twelve early stories introduce both the subject and style of artistic expression that recur in the most important works of his career. Each of these self-contained stories is linked to the others by the presence of the Munroes, a family whose misguided behavior and lack of sensitivity precipitate disasters and tragedies. As the individual dramas unfold, Steinbeck reveals the self-deceptions, intellectual limitations, and emotional vulnerabilities that shape the characters’ reactions and gradually erode the harmony and dreams that once formed the foundation of the community. This edition includes an introduction and notes by James Nagel. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.