Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[<mdnagel@verizon.net>]

On the theme of books about people returning to the land, I'd like to offer 
White Goats and Black Bees 
(http://www.amazon.com/White-Goats-Classics-Southwest-Ireland/dp/0911797866) 
as a wonderful read.  It's not so much filled with practical information as 
it is about a way of life.  The Grants were in their 50s, and not only did 
they move out into the country for the first time in their lives (having no 
experience whatsoever), but they moved to Ireland!  Donald Grant became proud 
to refer to himself as a peasant.  Circa 1970s, this has to be one of the 
most enjoyable books I have ever read.

Here's one of the review of the book (from above Amazon link):

Donald Grant and his wife, NY journalists, retire and move to a cottage in 
Ireland. Their experiences and adjustments to their neighbors, to small scale 
farming, and to the culture of Ireland makes entertaining reading.

They learn goat keeping, rabbit raising, and the ways of bees and geese. The 
evenings chatting in the pub, the village interactions, the local customs and 
other trivia of daily life make you feel a part of their Irish experience.

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-Mark Nagel
Everett, WA