Seventeen-year-old Fern has not had many breaks in life. She struggles at school and lives with her mother in a roach-infested apartment. Then, suddenly, her mother has a heart attack and dies, and Fern is devastated. But she's a survivor, and she's not afraid of hard work. Sidestepping social services, she quits school and sets out to look after herself. With a little luck and ingenuity and a lot of determination, she manages to live rent-free by becoming a janitor in a crummy apartment building. When she runs out of toothpaste she gets freebies from dentists' offices. Then she tries to juggle two other shift jobs, including one in a restaurant kitchen, so she has access to leftover food. But despite her resourcefulness and resolve, the exhaustion and stress eventually take their toll, until Fern discovers that she is not really on her own after all.

Utilizing a handy, field-guide style, this book is divided into five sections by problem type: Pests, Diseases, Environmental Stresses, Nutrient Deficiencies, and Controls. Problems are alphabetized within each section and identified in full-color photographs. A quick overview of the problem and likely causes is followed by the author’s recommended fast and easy solution.

There is something terribly wrong with the state of exercise as we know it presently. Sales of treadmills, running shoes, gym memberships, and yoga classes are at an all-time high, but so too are our national levels of obesity and type II diabetes. Ever since the 1960s the exercising public has been told to stretch for flexibility and to perform low-intensity steady-state aerobic exercise for their cardiovascular systems and some form of resistance training to keep their muscles strong. With regard to diet, they have been told to restrict or omit macronutrients such as fats and carbohydrates and lots of other advice with regard to calorie-counting. Could it be that this information, however well intended, was mistaken? And is it really necessary to devote so much time to the pursuit? Fitness researcher and pioneer John Little has spent more than twelve years researching the actual science underpinning our most prevalent beliefs about exercise and has come away from the enterprise convinced that we need an entirely new paradigm, one that would involve reliance on briefer workouts. He presents this revolutionary new approach in The Time-Saver's Workout. Among the fascinating revelations presented in this book: • Certain types of exercise can actually make you less healthy and fatter. • Taking large doses of food supplements might actually shorten your life and put you at greater risk for disease. • Stretching to become more flexible or to recover quicker from injury has been found to do neither of these things. • Resistance training, once considered to be the weak sister of exercise, is now looking like the best form of exercise one should engage in. The new protocols that Little exposes offer a far safer alternative for those looking to become stronger, fitter, and healthier without spending their lives in the gym.

Presents the biography of the conservationist who began the Seed Savers Exchange with her ex-husband in order to save seeds passed down through generations and maintain horticultural diversity.

This book offers a baker's dozen of delightful projects designed to reduce the volume of a quilter's scrap stash. 48 pages. Softcover.

How do you define the good life? For many, success is measured not by health and happiness but by financial wealth. But such a worldview overlooks the important things in life: personal contentment, family time, spirituality, and the health of the planet and those living on it. A preoccupation with money and possessions is not only unhealthy, it can also drain the true joy from life. In recent years, millions have watched their American Dreams go up in smoke. The international financial collapse, inflation, massive layoffs, and burgeoning consumer debt have left people in dire financial straits—including John Robbins, a crusader for planet-friendly food and lifestyle choices, who lost his entire savings in an investment scam. But Robbins soon realized that there was an upside to our collective financial downturn: Curtailed consumerism could lead us to reassess our lives and values. The New Good Life provides a philosophical and prescriptive path from conspicuous consumption to conscious consumption. Where the old view of success was measured by cash, stocks, and various luxuries, the new view will be guided by financial restraint and a new awareness of what truly matters. A passionate manifesto on finding meaning beyond money and status, this book delivers a sound blueprint for living well on less. Discover how to • create your own definition of success based on your deepest beliefs and life experience • alleviate depression, lower blood pressure, and stay fit with inexpensive alternatives for high-cost medications • develop a diet that promotes better health—and saves you money • plan for—and protect yourself from—future economic catastrophes • cut down on your housing and transportation costs • live frugally without deprivation • follow in the footsteps of real people who have effectively forged new financial identities The New Good Life provides much-needed hope and comfort in a time of fear and uncertainty. Here is everything you need to develop high-joy, low-cost solutions to life’s challenges. Practical and timely, this book equips you with the skills needed not only to survive but to thrive in these challenging times.