Featuring over 80 self-contained projects, from growing your own food organically, cooking home-grown produce, keeping selected livestock, and leading a more sustainable lifestyle, this down-to-earth yet practical guide is the perfect start for someone looking to go 'green'. Offers urban, suburban and rural projects.

Reviews

This smorgasbord of organic recipes, tips and suggestions has something for everyone, but like a Jack-of-all-trades, it's a master of none. With an emphasis on food, from gardening and buying to preserving and preparing, it also covers household hints on such subjects as conservation (turn down the thermostat), safe cleaning products (baking soda) and the three R's of green living: reduce, reuse and recycle, with recipes for such products as baby food, sauerkraut and exfoliating skin scrub. Some of these slices of organic living are appealing and accessible, like instructions for growing potted herbs, making compost and drying tomatoes. Others, like the information on renewable energy and keeping honey bees, are too sketchy to be of real use. The six pages devoted to raising pigs (with one entire page on selecting your breeds) borders on the absurd for most people. The selections are randomly ordered, with churning butter next to "Make Organic Drinks." Profusely illustrated, the book may make an inspiring gift for those wishing to make their lives greener, but it's apt to frustrate and confuse novices trying out "organic," and those seeking in-depth information will have to look elsewhere. (June) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

This is for any reader wanting to live a more sustainable lifestyle, whether in a small city apartment or on several acres of land. Those newly aware of the planet's plight as well as longtime environmentalists will enjoy learning how small, daily changes can make a real impact. The majority of ideas relate to organic foods, perhaps because it is the most mainstream of the issues relating to an organic lifestyle. There are items about growing salad fixings in a window box, purchasing community supported agriculture (CSA) subscriptions, and even raising livestock. Cooks will find recipes as diverse as homemade sloe gin and baby food. But, as in Green Living: The E Magazine Handbook for Living Lightly on the Earth, there are also many entries devoted to water use, renewable energy, ethical shopping, holiday celebrations, campaigns, textiles, and hygiene products. Over 80 projects are arranged in three sections: those requiring no yard; those appropriate for a roof terrace, patio, or small yard; and those intended for people with a yard, community garden, or field. Includes directory. Recommended for public libraries.-Bonnie Poquette, Milwaukee Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.