*A Wall Street Journal “Best Read”

*2024 Nautilus Book Award Gold Medal Winner: Nature & Animals

Join author, activist, and garden expert Maria Rodale as she reflects on her surprising conversations with the spirits of the familiar plants and animals around us—and the knowledge they share with us.

In Love, Nature, Magic, organic advocate and former CEO of a global health and wellness company Maria Rodale combines her love of nature and gardening with her experience in shamanic journeying, embarking on an epic adventure to learn from plants, animals, and insects—including some of the most misunderstood beings in nature. Maria asks them their purpose and listens as they show and declare what they want us humans to know. From Thistles to Snakes, Poison Ivy to Mosquitoes, these nature beings convey messages that are relevant to every human, showing us how to live in balance and harmony on this Earth.

Through journeys filled with surprises, humor, and foibles, follow Maria’s evolution from resenting to accepting—and even falling in love with—our most difficult neighbors (including human ones).

Maria’s journeys include conversations with: Mugwort • Vulture • Bat • Rabbit • Lanternfly • Lightning Bug • Osage Orange • Deer • Paper Wasp • Dandelion • Tick • Groundhog • Milkweed • And more!

Throughout, Maria shares an essential truth that resonates across her shamanic explorations: We first must heal our own hearts, for only then can we truly love others and begin to heal planet Earth.

“Love, Nature, Magic will blow your mind and open your heart.”—John Grogan, author of Marley & Me

“Anyone interested in plant intelligence, and in journeying WITHOUT plant medicines, will want to read this new book.”—Michael Pollan, author of This is Your Mind on Plants (via X)

“Maria Rodale has written a book for anyone and everyone who loves nature, the garden, and the planet. The book we didn’t know we needed, at the time we needed it most. For comfort, for solace, for the heart and the mind.”—Bette Midler (via X)

“Let’s hear it for women intent on conquering new worlds—especially on the astral plane . . . [This] is a fascinating book . . . Rodale bares her soul. . . This is a journey into her heart.”—Dominique Browning, Wall Street Journal

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“This remarkable book is not just a manual for market gardeners; it’s a masterpiece.”—Huw Richards, Youtuber, author, and gardener

A highly detailed and beautifully illustrated guide to growing nutritious herbs, flowers, fruit and vegetables, ideal for the home grower and market gardener.

In 2006, Perrine and Charles Hervé-Gruyer set out on a mission to discover a new form of agriculture that provides organic crops and creates meaningful employment in the local community. Using a combination of biointensive methods and permaculture design, with they have named ‘ecoculture’, and backed by scientific research, resulted in their farm producing abundantly, sequestering carbon and freeing up land for Nature. 

Perrine and Charles Hervé-Gruyer designed a farm in Normandy that is so productive it provides a living for five people whilst only cultivating just a small percentage of the land, leaving the rest for Nature. In Living with the Earth, Volume 1, they described the overarching principles and influences of ecology and permaculture and share how they work with Nature to create highly productive systems.

Living with the Earth, Volume 2 of this comprehensive series dives deep into the details. Subjects include:

• Growing methods
• Seeding & soil preparation
• Plant densities and replicable crop associations
• Tools, irrigation and harvesting
• Growing year-round
• Vegetables, fruits, microgreens, flowers, mushrooms, tree crops and forest gardens 

Beautifully designed and full of useful, descriptive photographs, diagrams and charts, this manual provides a wealth of research and practical experience. These volumes are ground-breaking, with principles and practices that can be used on any scale. They are, however, of particular interest to small- to medium-scale farmers, horticulturalists, forest gardeners, agronomists, and market gardeners. 

The post Living with the Earth, Volume 2 first appeared on Chelsea Green Publishing.

In 2006, Perrine and Charles Hervé-Gruyer set out on a mission to discover a new form of agriculture that provides organic crops and creates meaningful employment in the local community. Using a combination of biointensive methods and permaculture design, which they have named ‘ecoculture’, and backed by scientific research, resulted in their farm producing abundantly, sequestering carbon and freeing up land for nature. 

This beautifully illustrated, comprehensive volume will show you how natural systems work, and discover many simple and effective techniques that create an ecological diverse garden or a highly productive farm. The in-depth section on ‘Nature’s School’ explains weather patterns, soil types, and ecosystem services to give the reader sound knowledge of the environment they are growing in. The section on ‘Designing a Farm’ provides everything needed to implement an abundant food system, from understanding permaculture and its design tools, the full design process and the designs used on the Bec Hellouin farm as a successful example. Additional chapters on composting, mulching, fertilisers, green manures and working with beneficial microorganisms offers the reader a selection of tools for creating healthy soil in a closed loop system. 

Full of first-hand tried and tested experience from Bec Hellouin, there is also a synthesis of the authors’ research and the scientific and technical monitoring carried out on the farm. This is a unique, groundbreaking book for the serious gardener, farmer, agronomist and permaculture designer.

The post Living with the Earth, Volume 1 first appeared on Chelsea Green Publishing.

What are the amazing healing effects of trees and shrubs? How does tree bark effectively reduce inflammation? How can fruits and leaves help recovery and build resilience? Discover the therapeutic benefits of trees and shrubs, ranging from forest bathing to soothing remedies, from painkillers to stressbusters.

Anne Stobart draws on her direct experience as a medical herbalist sharing how to recognize useful trees and shrubs, and then harvest and create a range of herbal supplies.

Anne includes profiles of 80 trees and shrubs suited to temperate climates with recommendations on their uses. Learn the abundant and sustainable sources of healing available from trees and shrubs and how they can be safely used within a range of settings, from gardens and food forests to woodlands and permaculture projects. 

The book is laid out in two parts.

Part One introduces:

• The potential of the medicinal forest for therapeutic use
• Remedies for common complaints
• Medicines for repair and recovery from illness
• How these healing plants can be grown and used for the health of people and planet

Anne explains the importance of reconnecting with medicinal trees and shrubs through sustainable use and the benefits for environmental concerns.

Part Two incorporates a directory of 80 woody species, from large trees to small shrubs, offering a range of plants for any sized growing space. Each profile comes with illustrated and accessible content on identification and habitat, medicinal parts and uses, safety advice, suggested preparations alongside a suggested recipe for each medicinal tree or shrub.

Ideal for foragers, gardeners and growers, walkers and wilderness lovers, agroforesters and forest schoolers, and anyone interested in herbal medicine.

“If you live in a temperate climate and want to go out into your neighborhood and make medicine with the plants around you, this book is for you!”—Journal of the American Herbalists Guild

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“So much thoughtful insight and practical advice is contained in these pages . . . Jane uses nature as a guide to living life in harmony rather than discord.”—Rosemary Gladstar, author of Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs

Insight, ideas, and inspiration abound in this highly practical guide to growing successfully in harmony with the moon, the Earth, and other planetary influences.

Planting by the moon is an age-old gardening tradition, but did you know that the cycles of the moon and the zodiac can be a powerful tool to improve your success with all kinds of gardening tasks? In The Celestial Garden, longtime gardener and herbalist Jane Hawley Stevens explains how the movement of the moon through the constellations of the zodiac provides a detailed calendar of optimal times for planting seeds, roots, and transplants, as well as for pruning, weeding, propagation, harvesting, and even starting new garden projects or throwing garden parties. While herbs are Stevens’s specialty, she loves growing all kinds of plants, and The Celestial Garden provides excellent gardening tips for every gardener, whether their passion is for vegetables, fruits, herbs, or flowers. At a deeper level, Stevens believes that gardening by the moon and learning about astrological cycles can help restore our elemental interconnection with Nature and the Earth.

The Celestial Garden introduces and explains all aspects of astrological gardening:

• What moon signs are, and why and how the phase of the moon affects plant growth and development
• How to align the moon’s passage through the constellations of the zodiac with your choice of daily garden tasks and projects
• Specific tips and advice for the best activities to undertake during each of the moon’s phases
• How to incorporate simple, creative seasonal rituals into your astrological gardening practice
• How to design a unique chakra garden
• How to apply what you learn about astrological influences beyond the garden to experience a greater sense of flow and satisfaction in all aspects of your daily life

Photos of the author’s garden throughout the book provide visual evidence of the positive results that come from gardening in harmony with the moon and planetary influences. Illustrations and charts help readers understand the lunar cycle and its influence on plants, the astrological rulers of the body, and the relationship between the signs of the zodiac and the four elements (earth, air, water, fire).

Gardeners of every level of experience will find new insights, ideas, and inspiration in this unusual, beautiful, and highly practical guide to the simple yet expansive art of consulting with the cosmos to inform our garden tasks on any given day, week, or month and enjoy greater gardening satisfaction and success.

“[Stevens’] advice is plentiful . . [and her] horticultural degree underscore the science of her work.”—Booklist

“A unique and wonderful book, brimming with the knowledge and skills that arise from a lifetime in herbalism. . . This book is a major contribution to herbalism’s role not only in the alleviation of suffering, but the transformation of human consciousness. Thank you, Jane!”—David Hoffmann, RH (AHG), fellow, National Institute of Medical Herbalists; principal scientist, Traditional Medicinals

“In this easy-to-understand guidebook, Jane Hawley Stevens demystifies the moon and stars in relationship with nature and explains how you can use their powerful cycles to make your garden the most beautiful, bountiful, and happiest it can be.”—Maria Rodale, author of Love, Nature, Magic

The post The Celestial Garden first appeared on Chelsea Green Publishing.

Grow your own seasonal food in a low maintenance, nature-friendly garden that feels like a woodland glade. Scottish plant expert Alan Carter shows you how to plan and plant a temperate forest garden for any sized plot—from a small terrace garden to an allotment or smallholding.

Learn how to successfully layer root crops, fruit, perennial vegetables and edible shrubs below tree crops, cultivating an edible garden that doesn’t look like a traditional vegetable plot. A forest garden is wildlife friendly, provides nutrient-dense and often unusual food through every season, and requires minimal work to maintain.

The first part of this in-depth, practical guide explains how a forest garden works, how to map your climate and design your own plot, and how to manage it with mulching, weeding and pruning. What’s not to like about Alan’s motto of “the more you pick, the more you get,” and intriguing concepts such as the Panda Principle? 

The second half of the book is a detailed directory of more than 170 plants and fungi suitable for a wide range of temperate climates, complete with growing, harvesting and cooking tips based on over a decade of Alan’s own experience. Learn how to incorporate traditional fruit and vegetable crops, such as strawberries and beans, into your forest garden, and how to weave in more unusual crops, such as shiitake mushrooms and ferns.

Techniques from agro-ecology bring regenerative farming into the backyard, helping you to work towards greater self-sufficiency. Useful tips on seed saving and propagation help keep plant costs low, and there is practical advice on soil health, compost—essential for all no dig, organic gardeners—and pests and disease. A Food Forest in Your Garden will help you create your own productive forest gardens even in cooler climates. 

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The breakthrough resource for fruit and vegetable growers at every scale who want to go ‘beyond organic’ and build higher soil quality and fertility using fewer inputs through a unique ecosystem-balancing approach

“Atthowe’s book takes ecological farming to the next level. It is packed with useful, field-tested, innovative techniques for farming more gently without sacrificing productivity. . . This is the future of farming. I highly recommend this book.”—Ben Hartman, author of The Lean Farm

The Ecological Farm is the go-to guide for ecological growing, with a unique focus on reduced tillage, minimizing farm and garden inputs, and pest control.

Reflecting the wisdom that farmer, consultant, and educator Helen Atthowe and her late husband, Carl Rosato, gained during decades of farming experience, this book guides readers on how to reduce or eliminate the use of outside inputs of fertilizer or pesticides—even those that are commonly used on certified organic orchards and market gardens. In clear language and with color photographs, charts, and graphs throughout, the book emphasizes the importance of managing the details of an entire growing system over the full life of the enterprise.

Based on advances in scientific research in ecological food production, farmers, homesteaders, permaculturists, and gardeners alike will learn methods to:

• design a farm system that maintains a growing root in the soil year-round to feed the microbial community instead of just crops.
• strengthen the “immune system” of a farm or garden
• supply crop needs using only on-farm inputs such as cover crops and living mulch
• maximize the presence of beneficial insects and microbes that support healthy crop development
• minimize ecological impact in dealing with insect pest and disease problems

The Ecological Farm also features a crop-by-crop guide to growing more than 25 of the most popular and profitable vegetables and fruits, including specific management advice for dealing with pests and diseases.

The Ecological Farm makes complex, sometimes messy, ecological concepts and practices understandable to all growers, and makes healthy farming—in which nature is invited to participate—possible.

“[This book] will guide all of us as we learn to farm in harmony with an ecosystem and to become obedient to the whole rather than being distracted by the urge to tinker with the parts.”

—Wes Jackson, cofounder and president emeritus, The Land Institute

The post The Ecological Farm first appeared on Chelsea Green Publishing.

*From Liz Zorab, Winner of the Garden Media Guild Award Vlog of the Year 2022

Dig deeper into the processes of growing your own organic food with Liz Zorab, self-sufficiency practitioner.

In this personal gardening journey, she explores seasonal harvests and how the vegetable garden sits within the wider context of the gardening landscape – including weather, microclimates, water cycles, light levels, seasons and the gardener’s personal tastes.

Liz’s salt of the earth approach to life and to the garden and her gentle humor makes The Seasoned Gardener an easily digestible read. She provides hundreds of practical tips, including how-to guides, observations and inspiration for both the beginner and practiced gardener alike. 

Unlike many gardening books that run from January to December, this book starts in the autumn, when harvesting is at its peak. Most of the fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers highlighted are grouped according to when we enjoy them most – at the point of harvest. 

The Seasoned Gardener will show you how to: 

• Enjoy the abundance of each month of the year 
• Decide which plants are best to grow in your garden 
• Find pleasure in your growing space year-round 
• Avoid the pitfalls of doing too much at once 
• Be creative with your garden resources 
• Make the most of your time and energy 
• Celebrate nature’s productivity as much as your own 

This is a journey of experimentation and learning that will inspire you to grow tastier food and savor the experience.

The post The Seasoned Gardener first appeared on Chelsea Green Publishing.

Join bestselling author, activist, and garden expert Maria Rodale on her shamanic journeys as she reflects on her surprising conversations with the spirits of the familiar plants and animals around us—and the knowledge they share with us.

In Love, Nature, Magic, organic advocate and former CEO of a global health and wellness company Maria Rodale combines her love of nature and gardening with her experience in shamanic journeying, embarking on an epic adventure to learn from plants, animals, and insects—including some of the most misunderstood beings in nature. Maria asks them their purpose and listens as they show and declare what they want us humans to know. From Thistles to Snakes, Poison Ivy to Mosquitoes, these nature beings convey messages that are relevant to every human, showing us how to live in balance and harmony on this Earth.

Through journeys filled with surprises, humor, and foibles, follow Maria’s evolution from being annoyed with to accepting—and even falling in love with—our most difficult neighbors (including human ones). Along the way, she tells her own story of how she learned about shamanic journeying and its near-universal manifestation in traditional cultures worldwide. She describes what her experiences of shamanic journeying are like—simply, honestly, and with a touch of irreverence.

Maria’s journeys include conversations with: Mugwort • Vulture • Bat • Rabbit • Lanternfly • Lightning Bug • Osage Orange • Deer • Paper Wasp • Dandelion • Tick • Groundhog • Milkweed • And more!

Throughout, Rodale shares an essential truth that resonates across her shamanic explorations: We first must heal our own hearts, for only then can we truly love others and begin to heal planet Earth.

The post Love, Nature, Magic (Audiobook) first appeared on Chelsea Green Publishing.

With recipes for gumbos and stews, plus okra pickles, tofu, marshmallow, paper, and more

Chris Smith’s first encounter with okra was of the worst kind: slimy fried okra at a greasy-spoon diner. Despite that dismal introduction, Smith developed a fascination with okra, and as he researched the plant and began to experiment with it in his own kitchen, he discovered an amazing range of delicious ways to cook and eat it, along with ingenious and surprising ways to process the plant from tip-to-tail: pods, leaves, flowers, seeds, and stalks. Smith talked okra with chefs, food historians, university researchers, farmers, homesteaders, and gardeners. The summation of his experimentation and research comes together in The Whole Okra, a lighthearted but information-rich collection of okra history, lore, recipes, craft projects, growing advice, and more.

The Whole Okra includes classic recipes such as fried okra pods as well as unexpected delights including okra seed pancakes and okra flower vodka. Some of the South’s best-known chefs shared okra recipes with Smith: Okra Soup by culinary historian Michael Twitty, Limpin’ Susan by chef BJ Dennis, Bhindi Masala by chef Meherwan Irani, and Okra Fries by chef Vivian Howard.

Okra has practical uses beyond the edible, and Smith also researched the history of okra as a fiber crop for making paper and the uses of okra mucilage (slime) as a preservative, a hydrating face mask, and a primary ingredient in herbalist Katrina Blair’s recipe for Okra Marshmallow Delight.

The Whole Okra is foremost a foodie’s book, but Smith also provides practical tips and techniques for home and market gardeners. He gives directions for saving seed for replanting, for a breeding project, or for a stockpile of seed for making okra oil, okra flour, okra tempeh, and more. Smith has grown over 75 varieties of okra, and he describes the nuanced differences in flavor, texture, and color; the best-tasting varieties; and his personal favorites. Smith’s wry humor and seed-to-stem enthusiasm for his subject infuse every chapter with just the right mix of fabulous recipes and culinary tips, unique projects, and fun facts about this vagabond vegetable with enormous potential.

The post The Whole Okra (Audiobook) first appeared on Chelsea Green Publishing.