|
Product Description
"Instead of taking us through his work, season by season, crop by crop--the narrative approach--Madison explores his farm and its methods analytically, from many overlapping angles. The result is profoundly interesting." -- The New York Review of Books
As the average age of America’s farmers continues to rise, we face serious questions about what farming will look like in the near future, and who will be growing our food. Many younger people are interested in going into agriculture, especially organic farming, but cannot find affordable land, or lack the conceptual framework and practical information they need to succeed in a job that can be both difficult and deeply fulfilling.
In Fruitful Labor, Mike Madison meticulously describes the ecology of his own small family farm in the Sacramento Valley of California. He covers issues of crop ecology such as soil fertility, irrigation needs, and species interactions, as well as the broader agroecological issues of the social, economic, regulatory, and technological environments in which the farm operates. The final section includes an extensive analysis of sustainability on every level.
Pithy, readable, and highly relevant, this book covers both the ecology and the economy of a truly sustainable agriculture. Although Madison’s farm is unique, the broad lessons he has gleaned from his more than three decades as an organic farmer will resonate strongly with the new generation of farmers who work the land, wherever they might live.
*This book is part of Chelsea Green Publishing’s NEW FARMER LIBRARY series, where we collect innovative ideas, hard-earned wisdom, and practical advice from pioneers of the ecological farming movement―for the next generation. The series is a collection of proven techniques and philosophies from experienced voices committed to deep organic, small-scale, regenerative farming. Each book in the series offers the new farmer essential tips, inspiration, and first-hand knowledge of what it takes to grow food close to the land.
Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
- The New Farm: Our Ten Years on the Front Lines of the Good Food Revolution
- This Blessed Earth: A Year in the Life of an American Family Farm
- Blithe Tomato
- Start Your Farm: The Authoritative Guide to Becoming a Sustainable 21st Century Farmer
- The Market Gardener: A Successful Grower's Handbook for Small-Scale Organic Farming
- Farming for the Long Haul: Resilience and the Lost Art of Agricultural Inventiveness (New Farmer Library)
- The New Organic Grower, 3rd Edition: A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener, 30th Anniversary Edition
- Letter to a Young Farmer: How to Live Richly without Wealth on the New Garden Farm
- Dirt to Soil: One Family's Journey into Regenerative Agriculture
- The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution: High-Production Methods for Small-Scale Farmers
*If this is not the "Fruitful Labor: The Ecology, Economy, and Practice of a Family Farm (New Farmer Library)" product you were looking for, you can check the other results by clicking this link. Details were last updated on Dec 25, 2024 22:45 +08.