Eco Living / Natural Gardening – North American Vegetarian Society

This is Hope: Green Vegans and the New Human Ecology

NAVS — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 19:42:10 +0000

Fresh, bold, compelling concepts about what we really need to do to solve environmental problems. Essential reading for everyone who cares about the future of the Earth and its inhabitants.

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The Humanure Handbook: A Guide to Composting Human Manure

NAVS — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 19:42:09 +0000

Thoroughly researched book on the topic of composting human manure. It includes a review of the historical, cultural and environmental issues pertaining to “human waste,” as well as an in depth look at the potential health risks related to humanure recycling, with clear instructions on how to eliminate those dangers in order to safely convert humanure into garden soil.

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The Good Life: Helen and Scott Nearing’s Sixty Years of Self-Sufficient Living

NAVS — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 19:42:09 +0000

This one volume edition of Living the Good Life and Continuing the Good Life brings these classics on rural vegetarian homesteading together. Helen and Scott abandoned the city for a rural life with minimal cash and the knowledge of self reliance and good health.

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The Composting Toilet System Book

NAVS — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 19:42:08 +0000

From systems for cottages to year-round systems with micro-flush toilets and graywater gardens, the wide range of ecological recycling toilet options are featured in The Composting Toilet System Book.

More than 40 systemsâincluding those you can buy and those you can buildâare featured. Composting toilet systems and other ecological wastewater management methods are increasingly installed in both seasonal and year-round homes, as municipalities require systems that won’t pollute the environment and drinking water. This book details whyâand how to choose, install and maintain them.

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How to Make a Forest Garden

NAVS — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 19:42:08 +0000

A forest garden is a food-producing garden, based on the model of a natural woodland or forest. It is made up of fruit and nut trees, fruit bushes, perennial vegetables and herbs. It can be tailored to fit any space, from a tiny urban back yard to a large rural garden.
A close copy of a natural ecosystem, it is perhaps the most ecologically friendly way of gardening open to us.
It is also a low-maintenance way of gardening. Once established there is none of the digging, sowing, planting out and hoeing of the conventional kitchen garden. The main task is picking up the produce!
This highly practical, yet inspiring book gives you everything you need to know in order to create a beautiful and productive forest garden,
including:
â¢ Basic principles
â¢ Layout
â¢ How to choose plants
â¢ Details of over one hundred plants, from apples to mushrooms
â¢ the most comprehensive account of perennial and self-seeding vegetables in print
â¢ A step-by-step guide to creating your garden
â¢ Full details of an example garden, and pictures of many more
Forest gardening is an important element of permaculture. This book explains in detail permaculture design for temperate climates and contains much of interest for anybody wanting to introduce sustainable practices into their garden.

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Forest Gardening: Cultivating an Edible Landscape

NAVS — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 19:42:08 +0000

Forest Gardening is a way of working alongside nature–an approach that results in great productivity with minimal maintenance, and a method for transforming even a small cottage garden into a diverse and inviting habitat for songbirds, butterflies, and other wildlife. Based on the model of a natural woodland, a forest garden incorporates a wide variety of useful plants, including fruit and nut trees, perennial herbs, and vegetables.

Hart’s book beautifully describes his decades of experience gardening in the Shropshire countryside, yet the principles of “backyard permaculture” he explores can be applied equally well in other locales across the planet, from tropical to temperate zones. Practical features of the book include:
â¢ Design guidelines for creating your own perennial food-producing garden
â¢ Lists of recommended plants and varieties, keyed to different climates
â¢ An explanation of how plants in different levels or “stories” –from ground covers to full-sized trees–coexist and interact in a healthy and productive landscape.

Robert Hart blends history, philosophy, anthropology, and seasonal gardening wisdom in a lucid sequence of essays, which together comprise a remarkable testament to the pleasures of “hands-off” as well as hands-on gardening. Forest Gardening is truly a book for our times, offering a fresh sensibility that will encourage and inspire ecological gardeners throughout the world.

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Comfortably Unaware: What We Choose to Eat Is Killing Us and Our Planet

NAVS — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 19:42:08 +0000

In Comfortably Unaware, Dr. Richard Oppenlander tackles the crucial issue of global depletion as it relates to food choice. We should all be committed, he tells us, to understanding the reality and consequences of our diet, the footprint it makes on our environment, and seek food products that are in the best interest of all living things. His forthright information and stark mental images are often disturbing-and that’s how it should be. As the guardians of Planet Earth, we need to be shaken out of our complacency, to stop being comfortably unaware, and to understand the measures we must take to ensure the health and well-being of our planet-and of ourselves. Hardcover

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