Book List: 2012 Spring DIY Farm and Garden Books and Zines! (Part 3 of 3)
And now we proudly present our third and final list of books and zines on the subject of growing-your-own. The first is here and here’s the second. Thanks for reading! Oh, and if you do end up starting a garden or a farm or just growing some DIY bucket potatoes, send us pictures! We’d love to see them. Yo: adam@microcosmpublishing.com
Fireweed: A Zine of Grassroots Radical Herbalism and Wild Foods Connecting With Kids and Family Life
by Jess Krueger
Fireweed, as the full title implies, is all about introducing your kids to plants. It’s about teaching young children the joy of gathering edibles, and making them into candies, teas, jellies, or even medicines. There’s tips for going on plant walks, and suggestions for good introductory plants like ginger, mint, and marshmallow. There are recipes for prickly pear crisp, catnip tea, and simple fermented herbal infusions. The authors conduct a couple interviews with parents about their experiences sharing plants with their children. Overall, this zine is really inspiring. https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/zines/2836/
Fireweed: A Zine of Grassroots Radical Herbalism and Wild Foods Connecting with Kids and Family Life, #2
by Jess Krueger
We are so incredibly stoked to have issue two of the Fireweed zine in stock! Like its subtitle says, Fireweed is about getting kids (and friends and your family) in touch with herbalism and wild plants in a radical sense. Issue two is a massive 67-page collection of essays and interviews, reviews and articles. Some of the features include: a piece on harvesting wild plants by Fireweed‘s editor, Jess; an article on the magic of chamomile; an interview with Herbal Feral Family; a piece on Magical Arts; a piece on the healing properties of plantains; advice on herbal baths; writing on doulas; Traci Picard’s “Holistic Support for the new mama in a scrubbled up world,” and much, much more! This zine is a real treasure trove of wisdom, advice, and inspiration for living a life closer to the land. We endorse Fireweed with a massive thumbs up! https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/zines/3768/
Greenwoman #4
by Sandra Knauf
Greenwoman is a mother’s look at her life of family and gardening. A majority of the issue is a long well-written piece on raising chickens, with beautiful photos of her children holding the birds. It’s all the ups and downs that come along with raising animals, including untimely death. Sandra, the author, also spends alot of time thinking about her garden, the earth, and how to make it a better place for everyone. This includes more inclusive sex education for children, and less wasteful lawns. Spirited and opinionated, Sandra endeavors to share the dynamic experiences of her world. https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/zines/2793/
Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food In Hard Times
by Steve Solomon
Gardening When It Counts helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food. Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies – working an average of two hours a day during the growing season. https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/2721/
Seeds: An Anthology of Comics About Food
by Offshore Comix
“Seeds” collects comics about food, from 18 different people. Some people address food production, like the harvesting of syrup, large scale agriculture, or where the meat you eat comes from. Others address the meaning of food in their lives. Includes comics by Matthew Reidsma of High Maintenance Machine zine, and Dan Archer of “What a Whopper” zine. This zine also comes with a free organic seed packet! https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/zines/2664/
Guerrilla Gardening: A Manualfesto
by David Tracey
An introduction to guerrilla gardening that covers the basics. Where to plant, what to plant, and what to do if your urban garden meets resistance from local officials. “Guerrilla Gardening” helps you start from scratch as an excited future gardener. It also contains inspirational interviews with people who change the street-scape in a myriad of ways: From city planners to street artists, many different perspectives are explored! https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/2555/