It’s the second installment of our DIY gardening/farm book/zine/DVD reading/watching list! For the first list click the blue here right here. Keep your eyes here for the third installment coming soon!

How and Why: A Do-it-yourself Guide

by Matte Resist

“I dream of a better world,” writes zinester and How and Why author Matte Resist in the intro to his new book. He continues, “To me DIY culture is about grabbing a little piece of that dream.” What follows over the course of the next 176 pages is Matte doing what all dreamers must do—waking up from his dream, opening his eyes, and confronting what roadblocks and hurdles lie between him and his goal. Matte does this by laying down chapter upon chapter of blueprints for a better world. A sequel to our do-it-yourself handbook Making Stuff and Doing Things, How and Why gives us detailed, engaging, easy-to-use info on bicycles, home and garage, gardening, educating children, musical instruments, and the all-inclusive “everything else” section. If you dream of taking back your life and building a better world, How and Why might be your new best friend. https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/2857/

The Garden Cycles Bike Tour Presents: Faces From The New Farm

Liz Tylander, Lara Sheets and Kat Shiffler are the Garden Cycles Bike Tour. In the summer of 2007, these quirky ladies took off on bikes and filmed what would become a 35-minute film chronicling their 2,000 plus mile journey in search “the new American farmer”. From Washington, DC to Montreal and back, the trio interview enthusiastic gardeners in urban areas, youth involved in food justice, new immigrant farmers and a new generation of back-to-the-landers. The film features The Food Project, Nuestras Raices, The Germantown Community Farm, The Intervale Center, and many others redefining the word “farmer”. This is a great film for anyone interested in grassroots food and farming initiatives or do-it-yourself film projects and bike adventures. https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/videos/2864/

 

The Backyard Homestead

by Carleen Madigan

With just a quarter acre of land, you can feed a family of four with fresh, organic food year-round. This comprehensive guide to self-sufficiency has all the information you need to grow and preserve vegetables, fruits, herbs, nuts, and grains; raise chickens for eggs and meat; raise cows, sheep, and goats for meat or milk; raise pigs and rabbits; and keep honey bees. Simple instructions make it easy to enjoy canned, frozen, dried, and pickled produce all winter; use your own grains to make bread, pasta, and beer; turn fresh milk into delicious homemade yogurt, butter, and cheese; make your own wine, cordials, and herbal teas; and much, much more. It truly is possible to eat entirely from your backyard. https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/3598/

 

fix it, make it, grow it, bake it: The D.I.Y. Guide to the Good Life

by Billee Sharp

Fix It, Make It, Grow It, Bake It is an inspiring and instructive guide to living the handmade life by consuming less and creating more. Practical and profound, this handy how-to covers every area of life and offers easy-to-do tips, recipes, and advice on saving money and the planet. You and your family can live more joyfully and far more creatively, all on a dime. The best things in life are free — or if they aren’t, you can have a lot of fun making them. Learn how to: Ditch the lawn and raise organic veggies; cook healthy meals for pennies; eco-clean your house with lemons and lavender; cure minor maladies from the kitchen cabinet; join a seed sharing community garden; save big dollars with small repairs; organize a free market; put the “happy” back in your holidays; and more. https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/3287/

 

Greenwoman #6

by Sandra Knauf

Sandra is a “greenwoman” who loves to garden. She confesses her thumb could be greener, but she’s obviously passionate for plants. In this issue, her daughter turns 18 and graduates high school. Other changes include a greater focus on gardening in her town of Colorado Springs. The failing economy motivates alot more residents to try their hand at growing vegetables. Sandra also educates us about garlic, and writes a love letter to her stove. Contributor Pat Gulya attends a food pantry and weighs in on the experience, and Becky Elder writes a sweet ode to her garden. https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/zines/3212/

 

The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City

by Kelly Coyne

The Urban Homestead is the essential handbook for a fast-growing new movement: urbanites are becoming gardeners and farmers. By growing their own food and harnessing natural energy, they are planting seeds for the future of our cities.

If you would like to harvest your own vegetables, make homemade jam or bread, raise chickens or convert to solar energy, this practical, hands-on book is full of step-by-step projects that will get you started homesteading immediately, whether you live in an apartment or a house. It is also a guidebook to the larger movement and will point you to the best books and Internet resources on self-sufficiency topics. https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/3107/

 

 

Radical Mycology

by SLF

There’s a fungus-among-us…in the form of Radical Mycology zine! This zine is a mushroom primer, focused mostly on the Pacific Northwest, and contains a wild mushroom identification guide. This is a good time to point out that you should be very careful with wild edibles always! And you should not eat anything you can’t positively ID!! Moving on, this zine is a hefty one. Besides profiles on 11 different mushrooms, it contains info on medicinals, cultivation, making mushroom dyes and paper, bioremediation using mushrooms, and a little history on psilocybin-containing mushrooms. There are even mushroom jokes. This zine is really well put together. https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/zines/3041/