The Tao of Gardening

The Tao of Gardening
Author: Pamela K. Metz
Publisher: Green Dragon Books
Total Pages: 179
Release: 2001-05
Genre: Gardening
ISBN: 089334740X

Most books on gardening are read for information. Those books provide important details on the "do’s" and "don’ts" of growing things. This book, The Tao of Gardening, is to be read for inspiration. Using English translations of the classic Tao Te Ching by the Chinese sage, Lao Tzu, the author has adapted the words and concepts to the universal human activities of gardening. Rod MacIver, in Heron Dance, writes "The Tao Te Ching is a poem, a book, set of guideposts, leading to a way of being that is simple, and that is harmonious. It celebrates the workings of nature and of the universe, the cycles of life, the cycles of water. Taoism grew out of pre-dynastic China, a time when people lived close to the land. It is a philosophy more than a religion - rather than attempting to define the Great Mystery, it espouses humble acceptance, gentleness and non-interference. The Tao is about a harmony that can be more often sensed than described or understood." The Tao of Gardening then, is a way of gardening that is a journey and a way of living. It recognizes the inner and outer spiritual dimensions of the many parts that make up the whole of gardening.

The Tao of Vegetable Gardening

The Tao of Vegetable Gardening
Author: Carol Deppe
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2015
Genre: Gardening
ISBN: 1603584870

The Tao of Vegetable Gardening explores the practical methods as well as the deeper essence of gardening. In her latest book, groundbreaking garden writer Carol Deppe (The Resilient Gardener, Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties) focuses on some of the most popular home garden vegetables--tomatoes, green beans, peas, and leafy greens--and through them illustrates the key principles and practices that gardeners need to know to successfully plant and grow just about any food crop. Deppe's work has long been inspired and informed by the philosophy and wisdom of Tao Te Ching, the 2,500-year-old work attributed to Chinese sage Lao Tzu and the most translated book in the world after the Bible. The Tao of Vegetable Gardening is organized into chapters that echo fundamental Taoist concepts: Balance, Flexibility, Honoring the Essential Nature (your own and that of your plants), Effortless Effort, Non-Doing, and even Non-Knowing. Yet the book also offers a wealth of specific and valuable garden advice on topics as diverse as: - The Eat-All Greens Garden, a labor- and space-efficient way to provide all the greens a family can eat, freeze, and dry--all on a tiny piece of land suitable for small-scale and urban gardeners. - The growing problem of late blight and the future of heirloom tomatoes--and what gardeners can do to avoid problems, and even create new resistant varieties. - Establishing a Do-It-Yourself Seed Bank, including information on preparing seeds for long-term storage and how to "dehybridize" hybrids. - Twenty-four good places to not plant a tree, and thirty-seven good reasons for not planting various vegetables. Designed for gardeners of all levels, from beginners to experienced growers, The Tao of Vegetable Gardening provides a unique frame of reference: a window to the world of nature, in the garden and in ourselves.

The Resilient Gardener

The Resilient Gardener
Author: Carol Deppe
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2010
Genre: Gardening
ISBN: 160358031X

Scientist/gardener Carol Deppe combines her passion for gardening with newly emerging scientific information from many fields climatology, ecology, anthropology, sustainable agriculture, nutrition, and health science. In The Resilient Gardener, Deppe extends these principles with detailed information about growing and using five keystone crops that are especially important for anyone seeking greater self-reliance: potatoes, corn, beans, squash, and eggs.

Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties

Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties
Author: Carol Deppe
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2000-11-01
Genre: Gardening
ISBN: 1890132721

"[Book title] is the definitive guide to plant breeding and seed saving for the serious home gardener and the small-scale farmer or commercial grower. Discover: how to breed for a wide range of different traits (flavor, size, shape, or color; cold or heat tolerance; pest and disease resistance; and regional adaptation); how to save seed and maintain varieties; how to conduct your own variety trials and other farm- or garden-based research; how to breed for performance under organic or sustainable growing methods."--Back cover.

Beyond the War on Invasive Species

Beyond the War on Invasive Species
Author: Tao Orion
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2015-06-17
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1603585648

Invasive species are everywhere, from forests and prairies to mountaintops and river mouths. Their rampant nature and sheer numbers appear to overtake fragile native species and forever change the ecosystems that they depend on. Concerns that invasive species represent significant threats to global biodiversity and ecological integrity permeate conversations from schoolrooms to board rooms, and concerned citizens grapple with how to rapidly and efficiently manage their populations. These worries have culminated in an ongoing “war on invasive species,” where the arsenal is stocked with bulldozers, chainsaws, and herbicides put to the task of their immediate eradication. In Hawaii, mangrove trees (Avicennia spp.) are sprayed with glyphosate and left to decompose on the sandy shorelines where they grow, and in Washington, helicopters apply the herbicide Imazapyr to smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) growing in estuaries. The “war on invasive species” is in full swing, but given the scope of such potentially dangerous and ecologically degrading eradication practices, it is necessary to question the very nature of the battle. Beyond the War on Invasive Species offers a much-needed alternative perspective on invasive species and the best practices for their management based on a holistic, permaculture-inspired framework. Utilizing the latest research and thinking on the changing nature of ecological systems, Beyond the War on Invasive Species closely examines the factors that are largely missing from the common conceptions of invasive species, including how the colliding effects of climate change, habitat destruction, and changes in land use and management contribute to their proliferation. There is more to the story of invasive species than is commonly conceived, and Beyond the War on Invasive Species offers ways of understanding their presence and ecosystem effects in order to make more ecologically responsible choices in land restoration and biodiversity conservation that address the root of the invasion phenomenon. The choices we make on a daily basis—the ways we procure food, shelter, water, medicine, and transportation—are the major drivers of contemporary changes in ecosystem structure and function; therefore, deep and long-lasting ecological restoration outcomes will come not just from eliminating invasive species, but through conscientious redesign of these production systems.

The Book of Tao

The Book of Tao
Author: Lao Tse
Publisher: ARC Manor
Total Pages: 68
Release: 2008-02
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9781604500981

Tao Te Ching is a classic Chinese text, probably from around the 6th century BC. While the authorship is still debated, most of the text is attributed to Lao-Tzu ("Old Master"), who was a court record keeper during the Zhou Dynasty. The text is considered an essential element of Taoist philosophy as well as having significant influences on Chinese religions, including Buddhism. This is a classic translation of the book by James Legge. Visit www.ArcManor.com for other, similar books.

The Tao of Inner Peace

The Tao of Inner Peace
Author: Diane Dreher
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2021-09-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0593187032

With its lively, demystifying approach, The Tao of Inner Peace shows how the Tao can be a powerful and calming source of growth, inspiration, and well-being in times of conflict and anxiety. Translated more often than any other book except the Bible, the Tao Te Ching has been a spiritual guide for centuries, helping millions find peace within themselves, with each other, and with the natural world around them. Written in workbook style, complete with exercises, questionnaires, journal-keeping techniques, and affirmations, The Tao of Inner Peace translates the ancient Eastern philosophy into a plan for contemporary Western living. Diane Dreher, Ph.D., shows the way to: • Bring greater joy, fulfillment, and creativity to daily life • Heal the body and spirit • Build self-acceptance and self-esteem • Resolve conflict • Reverse negative cycles of emotion • Understand life as a process of changes and challenges An essential handbook for mental wellness, The Tao of Inner Peace adapts the principles of Tao to today’s world, showing us how to integrate the many facets of our everyday lives to create a balanced, dynamic, harmonious whole.

Will Bonsall's Essential Guide to Radical, Self-Reliant Gardening

Will Bonsall's Essential Guide to Radical, Self-Reliant Gardening
Author: Will Bonsall
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
Total Pages: 402
Release: 2015
Genre: Gardening
ISBN: 1603584420

"Society does not generally expect its farmers to be visionaries." Perhaps not, but longtime Maine farmer and homesteader Will Bonsall does possess a unique clarity of vision that extends all the way from the finer points of soil fertility and seed saving to exploring how we can transform civilization and make our world a better, more resilient place. In Will Bonsall's Essential Guide to Radical, Self-Reliant Gardening, Bonsall maintains that to achieve real wealth we first need to understand the economy of the land, to realize that things that might make sense economically don't always make sense ecologically, and vice versa. The marketplace distorts our values, and our modern dependence on petroleum in particular presents a serious barrier to creating a truly sustainable agriculture. For him the solution is, first and foremost, greater self-reliance, especially in the areas of food and energy. By avoiding any off-farm inputs (fertilizers, minerals, and animal manures), Bonsall has learned how to practice a purely veganic, or plant-based, agriculture--not from a strictly moralistic or philosophical perspective, but because it makes good business sense: spend less instead of making more. What this means in practical terms is that Bonsall draws upon the fertility of on-farm plant materials: compost, green manures, perennial grasses, and forest products like leaves and ramial wood chips. And he grows and harvests a diversity of crops from both cultivated and perennial plants: vegetables, grains, pulses, oilseeds, fruits and nuts--even uncommon but useful permaculture plants like groundnut (Apios). In a friendly, almost conversational way, Bonsall imparts a wealth of knowledge drawn from his more than forty years of farming experience. "My goal," he writes, "is not to feed the world, but to feed myself and let others feed themselves. If we all did that, it might be a good beginning."

Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching

Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching
Author: Laozi
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2009
Genre: Audiobooks
ISBN: 1590307445

"Ursula K. Le Guin, a student of the Tao Te Ching for more than fifty years, offers her own thoughtful rendering of the Taoist scripture. She has consulted the literal translations and worked with the scholar J. P. Seaton to develop a version that lets the ancient text speak in a fresh way to modern people, while remaining faithful to the original Chinese. This rendition reveals the Tao Te Ching's immediate relevance and power, its depth and refreshing humor, illustrating better than ever before why it has been so loved for more than 2,500 years. Included are Le Guin's own personal commentary and notes along with two audio CDs of the text read by the author, with original music composed and performed by Todd Barton."--Publisher's website.

Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties

Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties
Author: Carol Deppe
Publisher: Little Brown & Company
Total Pages: 303
Release: 1993
Genre: Gardening
ISBN: 9780316181044

Provides information for developing new vegetables, and discusses plant breeding methods for breeding for flavor, size, shape, or color