Grow a Sustainable Diet : Planning and Growing to Feed Ourselves and the Earth

Everyone loves to prepare a meal with ingredients fresh from their own garden. But for most of us, no matter how plentiful our harvest, homegrown produce comprises only a fraction of what we eat. And while many gardening guides will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about individual crops, few tackle the more involved task of helping you maximize the percentage of your diet you grow yourself. Grow a Sustainable Diet will help you develop a comprehensive, customized garden plan to produce the maximum number of calories and nutrients from any available space. Avoid arriving in August buried under a mountain of kale or zucchini (and not much else) by making thoughtful choices at the planning stage, focusing on dietary staples and key nutrients. Learn how to calculate: Which food and cover crops are best for your specific requirements How many seeds and plants of each variety you should sow What and when to plant, harvest, and replant for maximum yield Focusing on permaculture principles, bio-intensive gardening methods, getting food to the table with minimum fossil fuel input, and growing crops that sustain both you and your soil, this complete guide is a must-read for anyone working towards food self-sufficiency for themselves or their family. Cindy Conner is a permaculture educator, founder of Homeplace Earth, and the producer of two popular instructional DVDs on sustainable gardening. Her passion is exploring growing a complete diet in a small space while minimizing the use of fossil fuels. Review Grow A Sustainable Diet is just the book you have been looking for! ---John Jeavons, author of How To Grow More Vegetablesand Fruits, Nuts Berries, Grains and Other Crops Than You Ever Thought Possible On Less Land Than You Can Imagine Amid the plethora of how-to garden books, this book stands out as the comprehensive resource written from the lifetime of rich experience of a successful gardener. Cindy not only gives us experienced guidelines for the management of a healthy organic garden, but clearly explains the practical details of every aspect of managing a successful garden-homestead from planning, tending, harvest and storage to preserving the harvest. If you are seeking one book to to carry you through the full cycle of gardening, seek no further! ---Eli Rogosa . Heritage Grain Conservancy, growseed.org Grow a Sustainable Diet is both timely and timeless. Cindy Connors book is a valuable addition to current locavore lexicon. The practical down home advice she provides will be of use for generations of gardeners to come. Cindy speaks with authority, drawing on her real life experience, her teaching skills and her love of the earth, providing practical guidance to help readers to design the garden and to grow, store and use the fruits of their labor. A combination of bio-intensive gardening, permaculture planning , and straight forward down home wisdom Grow a Sustainable Diet shows us that good nutrition is a close as our own back yard. ---Darrell E. Frey, Three Sisters Farm, author of The Bioshelter Market Garden Are you looking for ways to better nourish your family, care for your garden, and walk more lightly on the planet? Come spend a day, a season or the cycle of seasons with one of the nations leaders in ecological home food production in the pages of Grow a Sustainable Diet. * Ms. Conners practical innovations will guide your homesteading endeavors, and her commitment to living in harmony with all life will inspire you.* --- Mark Schonbeck, consultant in sustainable agriculture Too many of us see gardening as an analog in miniature to Big Ag--an essentially extractive process powered by machines and fossil fuel, requiring purchased inputs to replace depleted soil fertility and protect crops from insects. Imagine gardening instead as a process which improves the soil even as we grow our crops, helps balance and enrich the ecology, relies on free services of nature rather than purchased inputs--and is powered with energy from the nearest star. That is the way of gardening Cindy Conner offers in Growing a Sustainable Diet. ~ ---Harvey Ussery, author of The Small-Scale Poultry Flock “This book reminds us that hunting provides sustenance for both body and soul, and that mindful eating requires both respect and gratitude.”—Tovar Cerulli, author of The Mindful Carnivore Wild meat, hunted in a responsible way, is one of the most healthful, sustainable foods possible. Depending on how it is done, hunting can be as local, intimate and humane as it gets. And aside from this, it demands the hunter enter a world of awareness, wildness, life and death that as a culture we have lost connection to. The Compassionate Hunter’s Guidebook is for those who come to the act of hunting with pure intentions, motivated by a desire for healthy food that comes directly from the land where they live. This practical manual suggests that hunting is not a “sport” and the animals whose lives are taken are not “game.” It combines a deep, philosophical exploration of the ethics of killing with detailed instructions on every step of the process including: Understanding your prey Tools, techniques and preparation The act of the hunt From forest to table—processing, preserving and preparing your kill. A unique and comprehensive, fully-illustrated guide to the complexity, ethics and spirit of the hunt, The Compassionate Hunter is a must-read for beginning and experienced hunters alike. It will appeal to anyone who wishes to delve more deeply into the complex, humbling and ultimately profound reality of our relationship with the food that nourishes us. “Arguably the food that most closely approximates our nutritional needs, wild game assumes a sacred and satiating beauty in The Compassionate Hunter .”—Joel Salatin, farmer and author of Pastured Poultry Profits

Row by row - maximize your harvest and feed your soil by developing a customized plan for your garden

Everyone loves to prepare a meal with ingredients fresh from their own garden. But for most of us, no matter how plentiful our harvest, homegrown produce comprises only a fraction of what we eat. And while many gardening guides will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about individual crops, few tackle the more involved task of helping you maximize the percentage of your diet you grow yourself.

Grow a Sustainable Diet will help you develop a comprehensive, customized garden plan to produce the maximum number of calories and nutrients from any available space. Avoid arriving in August buried under a mountain of kale or zucchini (and not much else) by making thoughtful choices at the planning stage, focusing on dietary staples and key nutrients. Learn how to calculate:

• Which food and cover crops are best for your specific requirements
• How many seeds and plants of each variety you should sow
• What and when to plant, harvest and replant for maximum yield.

Focusing on permaculture principles, biointensive gardening methods, getting food to the table with minimum fossil fuel input, and growing crops that sustain both you and your soil, this complete guide is a must-read for anyone working toward food self-sufficiency for themselves or their family.

Maximize Your Harvest and Feed Your Soil by Developing a Customized Plan for Your Garden, It's not just how you grow - what you grow and where you grow it are at the root of truly sustainable food production. Grow a Sustainable Diet will help you develop a comprehensive, customized garden plan to produce the maximum number of calories, dietary staples and key nutrients from any available space. Learn how to calculate: Which food and cover crops are best for your specific requirements, How many seeds and plants of each variety you should sow, What and when to plant, harvest and replant for maximum yield. While many gardening guides will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about individual crops, few tackle the more involved task of helping you maximize the percentage of your diet you grow yourself. Focusing on permaculture principles, biointensive gardening methods, minimum fossil fuel input, and growing crops that sustain both you and your soil, Grow a Sustainable Diet is a must-read for anyone working toward food self-sufficiency for themselves or their family. Book jacket Sustainable diet Garden maps Crop choices How much to grow Cover crops and compost: planning for sustainability Companion planting Plan for food when you want it Rotations and sample garden maps Seeds Including animals Food storage and preservation Sheds, fences, and other stuff Rethink everything!