The New Horse-Powered Farm – Book Review

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The New Horse-Powered Farm
Tools and Systems for the Small-Scale Sustainable Market Grower
by Stephen Leslie
Foreword by Lynn Miller
ISBN: 9781603584166
RRP: £28.99
Paperback, 346 pages
Published by Chelsea Green Publishing on 25 July 2013

For many farmers, particularly those working organically, the financial and ecological cost of fuel used in farm machinery is a real concern. Including working horses in the farming mix can bring a satisfying solution, offering a viable model for a sustainable, resilient small farm. The New Horse-Powered Farm presents all the information a small-scale farmer will need to incorporate draft horses into the farm’s working day.

Using horsepower on the farm, says author Stephen Leslie, is better for the land and better for the soul. “From an ecological standpoint, it’s just so clean, versus burning fossil fuel and the compaction you get with a tractor,” he said. “But on that other level, there is just this unending learning curve that keeps you engaged… This book is not about trying to go back to some idyllic past. It is designed to be a manual to help us move a few steps forward to a more sustainable future.”

The popularity of TV shows such as the BBC’s The Victorian, Edwardian and Wartime Farms demonstrates that there is considerable interest in more traditional ways of working the land. For anyone seriously interested in draft horses and how they can contribute to a closed-loop, resilient farm, The New Horse-Powered Farm will be an essential resource.

Included:

• Getting started with workhorses

• The merits of different draft breeds

• Various training systems for the horse and teamster

• Haying with horses, seeding crops and raising small grains

• In-depth coverage of tools and systems

• Managing a woodlot, farm economics, education, agritourism and more

Stephen Leslie and the methods outlined in his book have been featured in The New York Times. For the past 17 years he has earned his living by farming and gardening with draft horses. He currently manages an organic farm in Vermont.

This is a very detailed book on the use of the horse in farming and market gardening operation today and can be regarded right now already as the handbook for the modern horse-powered farm.

Unlike John Seymour in “The Complete Book of Self Sufficiency” when dealing with the use of horses on farms where he was but looking at the “old” breeds and doing it the very old-fashioned way this book looks at new(er) breeds of draft horses predominately and at more modern implements for horse-farming, many of which seem to have first seen their light of day on Amish farms.

Considering the fact that farming with large tractors and combines and such like is slowly but surely, aside from being not environmentally sustainable, heading towards its end as the cost of fuel and the amount of fuel those huge machines use will soon make them too expensive and thus the horse will, in due course, come back into its own. This book will then, as already now for those transitioning, a most valuable resource and reference.

The book contains lots of photos and illustrations and is well written making it pleasure to simply read as well. Together wish the listed resources and the case studies this must be the ultimate modern guide – so far – to working with horses in farming, market gardening and forestry.

As someone who is advocating a return to the working horse on the farm it is a book I am most happy to recommend.

© 2013

Nontoxic Housecleaning – Book Review

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Nontoxic Housecleaning
(a Chelsea Green Guide)
by Amy Kolb Noyes
96 pages paperback, 4.75 x 6.5 inches
with color photos
Published by Chelsea Green Publishing (August 2009)
ISBN: 9781603582032
Price: $7.95 USD

When it comes to cleaning products, society often values convenience over personal and planetary health, thanks to decades of advertising propaganda from the chemical companies that market overpriced and dangerous concoctions. But awareness is changing: Not only are homemade and nontoxic cleaners strong enough for the toughest grunge, they are often as convenient as their commercial counterparts.

Nontoxic Housecleaning – the latest in the Chelsea Green Guide series – provides a way for people to improve their immediate environment every day. Pregnant women, parents of young children, pet owners, people with health concerns, and those who simply care about a healthy environment – and a sensible budget – can all benefit from the recipes and tips in this guide.

A nice touch by the author of this small guide to nontoxic housecleaning is that she did not burden the reader yet another of the so often cited lists of cleaners and their toxic ingredients. This saves skipping many pages and often they are a lot of them; I have counted more than 20 in one book.

This small volume is broken up into three main parts: The Basic Toolbox; Room by Room; and the Top Ten Recipes.

Included in this small volume are tips for:

• The basic ingredients: what they are, and why they work.
• Specific techniques for each room and cleaning need in the house.
• Detailed recipes for homemade cleaners, including floor polishes, all-purpose cleanser, disinfecting cleanser, window cleaner, oven cleaner, furniture polish, mold- and mildew-killing cleansers, bathroom scrub, deodorizers, stain removers, laundry boosters and starch, metal polishes, scouring powder, and more.

While this book is but 96 pages the information is precise and to the point, hence making it a great pocket guide to all aspects of nontoxic cleaning around the home.

Amy Kolb Noyes lives at Indecision Farm in Vermont and writes frequently on home and garden topics for a variety of regional and national publications. An environmental activist, she is vice chair of the nonprofit Green Up Vermont, has long served on its board of directors, and has authored Living the Green Up Way.

© 2009
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The Winter Harvest Handbook – Book Review

Review by Michael Smith

THE WINTER HARVEST HANDBOOK
Year-round Vegetable Production Using Deep Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses
by Elliot Coleman
published by Chelsea Green Publishers April 2009
29.95 USD
Paperback, 7inches x 10inches, 256 pages, printed on recycled paper
ISBN: 978-1-60358-081-6

Published in April 2009 THE WINTER HARVEST HANDBOOK, Year-round Vegetable Production Using Deep Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses by Elliot Coleman is a clear and concise book full of information and instructions. The word “handbook” definitely describes this book well and to a tee.

The author leads the reader step-by-step through all the states of how it is done and how it should be done. Even a chapter about the right tools is included with the “instruction” also as to how to develop a good transplanting trowel from an ordinary bricklayer's one. That is definitely a tool that I want to make for my personal and professional use.

In his book the author provides a practical model for supplying fresh, locally grown produce during the winter season, even in climates where conventional wisdom says it “just cannot be done”.

This book will, definitely, be indispensable to small farmers, homesteaders, smallholders, market gardeners, allotment gardeners, and home gardeners who seek to expand their production season.

I must say that I was also very taken with the idea of growing tomatoes and cucumbers in a space saving way by training them to grow up vertically. Not only does this save space, in my opinion, but it also makes harvesting, especially for the cucumbers so much easier – no need to bend to pick them. My back will be more than thankful.

While this book is written by a professional farmer and grower who, in this case, talks about growing vegetables all year round – including in winter in unheated greenhouses in climate conditions like those of the Northern New England States – on a relatively large scale in the book, I am sure that this can be scaled to almost any size for vegetable growing.

I certainly want to see how I can adapt some of this for my vegetable production here at home.

A great book that shall definitely be a guidebook in my attempt to become more self-sufficient in produce.

© M Smith (Veshengro), 2009
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