Solar Gardening shows how to increase efforts of the sun during the coldest months of the year and how to protect tender plants from the intensity of the scorching sun during the hottest months through the use of solar "mini-greenhouses." The book includes instructions for building a variety of solar appliances plus descriptions of more than 90 different crops, with charts showing when to plant and harvest each. The result is a year-round harvest even from a small garden. In Solar Gardening the Poissons show you how to: Dramatically increase the annual square-foot yield of your garden. Extend the growing and harvest season for nearly every kind of vegetable. Select crops that will thrive in the coldest and hottest months of the year, without artificial heating or cooling systems. Build solar appliances for your own garden. Armed with nothing but this book and a few simple tools, even novice gardeners can quickly learn to extend their growing season and increase their yields, without increasing the size of their garden plot.

Forest gardening is a way of working with nature which is not only productive and requires minimal maintenance, but also has fantastic environmental benefits. You don't need a forest for forest gardening. Based on the model of a healthy natural woodland, a forest garden incorporates a wide variety of useful plants, including fruit and nut trees, perennial herbs, and vegetables in vertical layers. They rarely require any weeding, digging or pest control and as plants are chosen for their beneficial effects on one another, they form their own sustainable ecosystems, offering great environmental benefits. Written by forest gardening pioneer, Robert Hart, this comprehensive guide to forest gardening describes its principles and practice, including guidelines on how to design and maintain a forest garden, and lists of recommended species for temperate, tropical and sub-tropical climates. It also shows potential value of forest gardening for countering environmental devastation. Hart's book beautifully describes his decades of experience gardening in the Shropshire countryside, and offers fresh ways of understanding the relationships between people and growing plants. Blending history, philosophy, anthropology, and seasoned gardening wisdom in a lucid sequence of essays, Forest Gardening examines the pleasure of 'hands off' as well as hands-on gardening. For gardeners who aspire to create ecological as well as beautiful gardens, Forest Gardening will be an inspiration and a pleasure.

Create the lush landscape of your dreams with this comprehensive guide to beautiful, environmentally conscious yards and gardens. Southern Gardening suggests useful groundcovers and easy-care, adaptable trees, shrubs, perennials, and annuals. Identify and deal with exotic invasive plants that threaten our natural areas, and learn minimally damaging ways of dealing with insect pests. Plus, a month-by-month guide will help gardeners plan ahead as they strive to have gardens that are more earth-friendly.