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Twenty-five years ago, when author Hans Morsbach became interested in cultivating trees and managing small woodlands, he searched for a good how-to manual. He never found one, so he decided to write his own. Based on his subsequent experience, combining deep research into the academic literature on forestry with his successes and failures as a small-scale commercial tree farmer, the result is Common Sense Forestry, a MOTHER EARTH NEWS Book for Wiser Living, is an indispensable reference for anyone who owns or wants to own wooded property. Morsbach is an unabashed nature lover as well as a businessman, and well understands the essential importance of a long-term approach to sustainable forest management. In this highly readable and entertaining text, the author offers a comprehensive look at managing existing woodlands by creating, and later maintaining, forests that promote biodiversity while providing an income stream. This comprehensive examination of sustainable forestry includes everything from choosing land to beginning a forest through seeding and transplanting, from pruning and thinning to harvesting trees, from debates over herbicides and clearcutting to working with professional foresters, from business strategies to tax planning. While Morsbach's personal experience is in the Midwest, the information in this book is applicable to a wide range of trees and is relevant to all regions of North America.

About the Author:

When he's not in the woods, Hans Morsbach lives in Chicago, where he is a successful restauranteur.

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This new edition of Living the Good Life and Continuing the Good Life brings together the Nearings' classic guides to the theory and practice of rural homesteading.

Today, more than ever before, our society is seeking ways to live more conscientiously. To help bring you the very best inspiration and information about greener, more sustainable lifestyles, MOTHER EARTH NEWS is recommending books to its readers. For more than 30 years, MOTHER EARTH NEWS has been North America’s “Original Guide to Living Wisely,” creating books and magazines for people with a passion for self-reliance and a desire to live in harmony with nature.

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Written by career conservation officer and seasoned homesteader Charles A. Sanders, this is a classic hands-on text for genuine country living. Featuring more than 50 helpful photographs and line drawings, this book is written for both the novice and veteran homesteader.

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In the '60s it was called the "back to the land" movement, and in Helen and Scott Nearings' day, it was "living the good life." Whatever the term, North Americans have always yearned for a simpler way. But how do you accomplish that today?

Blending inspiration with practical how-to's, Rural Renaissance, a MOTHER EARTH NEWS Book for Wiser Living, captures the American dream of country living for contemporary times. Journey with the authors and experience their lessons, laughter and love for the land as they trade the urban concrete maze for a five-acre organic farm and bed and breakfast in southwestern Wisconsin. Rural living today is a lot more than farming. It's about a creative, nature-based and more self-sufficient lifestyle that combines a love of squash, solar energy, skinny dipping and serendipity.

Among the many topics explored in Rural Renaissance include:

• "right livelihood" and the good life
• organic gardening and permaculture
• renewable energy and energy conservation
• wholesome organic food, safe water and a natural home
• simplicity, frugality and freedom
• green design and recycled materials
• community, friends and raising a family
• independence and interdependence
• wildlife conservation and land stewardship

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This is the key reference to living off the land. Packed with practical information, tried-and-tested tips, Seymour's visionary handbook explains how to reap the harvest, respect the land, stay healthy and waste nothing.

The Self-sufficient Life and How to Live It teaches all the skills needed to live independently, harnessing natural forms of energy, raising crops and keeping livestock, preserving foodstuffs, making beer and wine, basketry, carpentry, weaving, and much more.

This new expanded edition includes 150 new full-color illustrations and a special section in which Seymour, the father of the back-to-basics movement, explains the philosophy of self-sufficiency and its power to transform lives and create communities. More relevant than ever in our high-tech world, The Self-sufficient Life and How to Live It is the ultimate practical guide for realists and dreamers alike.

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This 476-page book is a compendium of treasured knowledge from hundreds of small booklets published as "Country Wisdom Bulletins" in the 1970s. Whether you want to build a stone fence, make strawberry-rhubarb jam or plant an herb garden, this book will show you how.

Recommended Product for Wiser Living: Today, more than ever before, our society is seeking ways to live more conscientiously. To help bring you the very best inspiration and information about greener, more sustainable lifestyles, MOTHER EARTH NEWS is recommending books and products to its readers. For nearly 40 years, MOTHER EARTH NEWS has been North America’s “Original Guide to Living Wisely,” creating books and magazines for people with a passion for self-reliance and a desire to live in harmony with nature.

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Life in the country is full of pitfalls, but it's also the most rewarding life you can have if you're willing to meet the challenges and do the chores. Humorist Roger Welsch condenses over 30 years of experience learning about country life the hard way into one volume.

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Skilled lumberjacks Frank and Stephen Philbrick show you how to bring a tree from forest to fireplace. This is your complete guide to bringing in wood, from felling the tree, to splitting and drying the wood, to stacking and burning.The father and son duo will give you detailed instructions on managing a woodlot, felling and bucking, splitting and stacking, and even include fun facts on burning wood

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This book reflects Bill Coperthwaite's lifelong exploration of simple, self-reliant living. Coperthwaite writes about his coastal Maine homestead, where he lives in a handmade yurt and crafts his own tools and furniture. Guiding rather than preaching, he helps us see the beauty, justice and satisfaction that can be found in everyday tasks and skills.

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Here is the information you need to help you build your own handcrafted log home: detailed, practical instructions by an experienced builder and teacher, Robert Chambers. This is the best and most complete how-to book available, with detailed, how-to instructions and details that no other book has. The Log Construction Manual is the #1 selling how-to log home book.

More than 270 pages of valuable log building lessons. Hundreds of photos and drawings. Clearly written, with easy-to-understand explanations of all topics. Step-by-step directions. Log building secrets revealed by a master builder and teacher. You can learn how to build like a professional, instead of like an amateur.