It all began on a lavender blue day—the kind of day when anything can happen. It was on such a day that Anna Lavinia’s father saw a double rainbow and went chasing after it. And it is on such a day that she and her cat, Strawberry, set off on their journey beyond the walled garden where the pawpaw trees grow, to a place where the buttercups bloom pink and the laws of gravity don’t always apply. Here Anna Lavinia will test her mother’s advice “Never believe what you see,” against her father’s wise words “Believe only what you see,” and just maybe she’ll finally be able to use the mysterious silver key her father left behind when he went chasing after rainbows. Beyond the Pawpaw Trees is a tour through a land as strange and wonderful as Oz, filled with people as delightfully batty as any in Alice’s looking glass. It is a place to return to again and again, beautifully brought to life in Palmer Brown’s fanciful words and intricate, sugar-spun drawings.

The largest edible fruit native to the United States tastes like a cross between a banana and a mango. It grows wild in twenty-six states, gracing Eastern forests each fall with sweet-smelling, tropical-flavored abundance. Historically, it fed and sustained Native Americans and European explorers, presidents, and enslaved African Americans, inspiring folk songs, poetry, and scores of place names from Georgia to Illinois. Its trees are an organic grower’s dream, requiring no pesticides or herbicides to thrive, and containing compounds that are among the most potent anticancer agents yet discovered. So why have so few people heard of the pawpaw, much less tasted one? In Pawpaw—a 2016 James Beard Foundation Award nominee in the Writing & Literature category—author Andrew Moore explores the past, present, and future of this unique fruit, traveling from the Ozarks to Monticello; canoeing the lower Mississippi in search of wild fruit; drinking pawpaw beer in Durham, North Carolina; tracking down lost cultivars in Appalachian hollers; and helping out during harvest season in a Maryland orchard. Along the way, he gathers pawpaw lore and knowledge not only from the plant breeders and horticulturists working to bring pawpaws into the mainstream (including Neal Peterson, known in pawpaw circles as the fruit’s own “Johnny Pawpawseed”), but also regular folks who remember eating them in the woods as kids, but haven’t had one in over fifty years. As much as Pawpaw is a compendium of pawpaw knowledge, it also plumbs deeper questions about American foodways—how economic, biologic, and cultural forces combine, leading us to eat what we eat, and sometimes to ignore the incredible, delicious food growing all around us. If you haven’t yet eaten a pawpaw, this book won’t let you rest until you do.

When her father decides Anna Lavinia's horizon needed broadening, he hits upon the plan of tearing down part of the garden wall to give her a new point of view. Anna Lavinia and Toby explore Dew Pond Hill set in the middle of her new viewpoint.

“With this valuable book, you can pawpaw your own food forests, restoring the diversity, abundance, and climate we all need.” —Albert Bates, permaculture instructor, ecovillage designer, author of The Biochar Solution Pawpaws is the first in-depth guide to small-scale commercial cultivation of pawpaws. Also known as Indiana bananas or hipster bananas, this almost forgotten fruit, native to North America, is making a huge comeback with foodies, chefs, craft brewers, and discerning fruit-lovers. Written by, and for, the organic grower, coverage includes: Botany and the cultural history of pawpaws Orchard siting and planning Choosing the best-quality nursery trees Descriptions of over fifty cultivars Propagation and organic growing tips Pests and disease management Marketing and selling fresh pawpaws, seeds, and starts Processing and producing value-added products. Get ahead of the farming curve, diversify your orchard or food forest, and discover the commercial potential of America’s almost forgotten native fruit with this comprehensive manual to small-scale commercial pawpaw production. “Blake Cothron is an authority on pawpaws and provides a clear, detailed guide for commercial success in growing this ‘oddly appealing species’ (his own words). The supply of this exotic, trending, easy-to-grow fruit has not yet met the demand. Blake shares the wealth of his knowledge, including challenges—and when he doesn’t know, he says so (it’s probable that others don’t know either).” —Pam Dawling, author of Sustainable Market Farming “The pawpaw’s revival is long overdue. Blake Cothron’s Pawpaws will help bring about the day when fragrant fruit is no longer a rare treat, but a regular part of our seasonal diet.” —Darrell E. Frey, Three Sisters Farm, author of Bioshelter Market Garden

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "The Big Sleep" by Raymond Chandler. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

When her mother dies, fifteen-year-old Keelie Heartwood must leave California to live with her nomadic father at a renaissance festival. Playacting the Dark Ages is an L.A. girl’s worst nightmare. But then Keelie starts seeing fairies and uncovers her connection to a community of elves.