Gardening At The Dragon S Gate

Johnson and Te Salle deliver a meditative, beautifully illustrated yet profoundly practical book that takes readers deep into the natural world and into a new understanding of the art of gardening.

“For vegetable gardening in the Bay Area, Golden Gate Gardening is indispensable—if you buy one gardening book, this is the one.” --Michael Pollan This fully revised fourth edition of the ultimate food gardening bible for Central and Northern Californians includes updates that address changes in climate, crop availability and sources, and pest management strategies, and includes expanded help for inland, hot summer gardeners. The gardening guide has become a perennial seller, beloved by both new and experienced gardeners for its friendly, practical advice on how to grow fresh produce all year long. Expert author Pam Peirce shows how to use the unique local conditions of climate, soil, and rainfall to grow both common and unusual vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, cut flowers, and fruit from trees and shrubs including berries, citrus and avocados for your kitchen garden. This encyclopedic guide covers all the bases, including what to plant in every season, how to select varieties, assess a microclimate, organize a garden, manage pests and weeds safely and effectively, attract beneficial creatures, conserve water, improve soil, make compost, harvest wisely, and garden in containers. It includes delicious, seasonal garden-to-table recipes and an essay on learning to eat from a garden. Charts, sidebars, illustrations, maps, resource lists, and cross references make it easy for readers to find the information they need. This vegetable gardening book will especially help readers in the San Francisco Bay Area and in California coastal areas from Humboldt County south to San Luis Obispo, as well as those in nearby mild-winter inland climates (including Alameda, San Mateo, Marin, Santa Clara, Monterey, and Santa Cruz counties).

There Is a Garden in the Mind presents an engaging look at the work and life of pioneering organic gardener Alan Chadwick and his profound influence on the organic farming movement. In this wide-ranging and philosophical memoir, author Paul Lee recounts his first serendipitous meeting with Chadwick in Santa Cruz, California, in 1967, and their subsequent founding of the Chadwick Garden at UC Santa Cruz, the first organic and biointensive garden at a U.S. university. Today, there are few who would dispute the ecological and health benefits of organically produced food, and the student garden project founded by Chadwick and Lee has evolved into a world-renowned research center that helps third-world farmers obtain high yields using organic gardening. But when Chadwick and Lee first broke ground in the 1960s, the term "organic" belonged to the university's chemists, and the Chadwick Garden spurred a heated battle against the whole system of industrial existence. Lee's memoir contextualizes this struggle by examining the centuries-old history of the conflict between industrial science and organic nature, the roots of the modern environmental movement and the slow food movement, and the origin of the term "organic." His account of Chadwick's work fills in a gap in the history of the sustainable agriculture movement and proposes that Chadwick's groundwork continues to bear fruit in today's burgeoning urban garden, locavore, and self-sufficiency movements. Table of contents: Chapter one The English Gardener Arrives Chapter two The English Gardener Goes to Work Chapter three The Garden Plot Chapter four Goethe the Vitalist contra Newton the Physicalist Chapter five Urea! I Found It! Chapter six USA and Earth Day Chapter seven The Method Chapter eight Chadwick Departs Chapter nine A Moral Equivalent of War Chapter ten The Death of Chadwick Chapter eleven California Cuisine and the Homeless Garden Project Chapter twelve A Biodynamic Garden on Long Island Chapter thirteen Chadwick's Legacy

Mindfulness in the Garden offers simple mindfulness verses (gathas) composed to connect the mind and body and to bring the reader/gardener’s awareness to the details of the present moment as they work in the garden. These gathas are signposts leading to nature, to the present, and ultimately to one’s self through the love and understanding they evoke. The gathas offered with each gardening activity serves to water the seeds of mindfulness within us, and softening and preparing the ground for our ability to be present. Mindfulness in the Garden values weeds as important messengers seeking to bring into close communion our spiritual nature with that of the environment. It likens spiritual practice to cultivating a garden and inspires each person to accept themselves and start where they are, weeds and all. Through the practice of mindful gardening, we invite not only the thriving of the natural world but also the flowering and beauty of the pure land of our true self to emerge. Features black and white botanical illustrations throughout. Introduction by Thich Nhat Hanh, author of Present Moment Wonderful Moment Foreword by Wendy Johnson,author of Gardening at the Dragon's Gate

California abounds with edible selections to grow in the diverse conditions of the state. California Fruit & Vegetable Gardening addresses the critical elements of climate, soil, sun, and water that affects growing success. More than sixty fruits, vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers are highlighted, and helpful charts and graphs for planning and planting the garden are included.

In The Healing Garden, Deb Soule, founder of Avena Botanicals, offers an inspiring guide to herb gardening and crafting herbal remedies that promote wellness of spirit and body. Soule combines her passion for plants gardens, and healing with her extensive experience working with medicinal herbs, flowers, roots, and berries. Her practical advice addresses each aspect of fostering a garden filled with helpful, healing plants: biodynamic gardening practices; gathering plants and setting up a drying room; and creating herbal teas, decoctions, tinctures, syrups, tonics, vinegars, essences, and more. A chapter outlining eighteen medicinal herbs provides detailed information on their cultivation and healing properties. Molly Haley's colorful photography showcases Avena Botanicals' lush herb gardens in all seasons. The Healing Garden is grounded in respect for the interconnectedness of all living beings and is an eloquent plea for spiritual awareness and the wholeness of individuals, communities, and our planet.

Written for both lay readers and practitioners, Awaken to Healing Fragrance is divided into three parts structured around the past, present, and future of aromatherapy. The book begins with profiles of prominent female historical figures—from Cleopatra to Elizabeth I—known to have used essential oils for mind, body, and spiritual health. Part two explains the value of aromatherapy today: modern methods for using essential oils—from relaxation practices like massage and facials to treating common conditions like PMS, stress, and a sore throat—and describes how and why they work. Also featured are case studies, research on anti-infectious qualities of the oils, and a section on psychoneuroimmunology that shows how essential oils can help restore the mind-body-spirit connection and create balance. Awaken to Healing Fragrance concludes by exploring the future of essential oil therapy and how it can be integrated into traditional medical systems. Jones discusses energetic medicine, creating aromatic gardens, and establishing integrative medicine clinics where doctors trained in Western medicine would collaborate with alternative therapists such as acupuncturists, nutritionists, and aromatherapists to bring a new consciousness and sense of well-being to healthcare.

For nearly a century, the worldwide anthroposophical movement has been a catalyst for environmental activism, helping to bring to life many modern ecological practices such as organic farming, community-supported agriculture, and green banking. Yet the spiritual practice of anthroposophy remains unknown to most environmentalists. A historical and ethnographic study of the environmental movement, Eco-Alchemy uncovers for the first time the profound influences of anthroposophy and its founder, Rudolf Steiner, whose holistic worldview, rooted in esoteric spirituality, inspired the movement. Dan McKanan shows that environmentalism is itself a complex ecosystem and that it would not be as diverse or transformative without the contributions of anthroposophy.