After eight months in his childhood home helping his mother through her bout with cancer, Matthew Frank and his wife were themselves desperate for comfort. They found sanctuary in the most unlikely place—amid a collection of outcasts and eccentrics on a plot of land miles outside their comfort zone: a “mostly medical” marijuana farm in California. Pot Farm details the strange, sublime, and sometimes dangerous goings-on at Weckman Farm, a place with hidden politics and social hierarchies, populated by recovering drug addicts, alternative healers, pseudo-hippie kids, and medical marijuana users looking to give back. There is also Lady Wanda, the massive, elusive, wealthy, and heavily armed businesswoman who owns the farm and runs it from beneath a housedress and a hat of peacock feathers. Frank explores the various roles that allow this industry to work—from field pickers to tractor drivers, cooks to yoga instructors, managers to snipers, illegal immigrants to legal revisionists, and the delivery crew to the hospice workers on the other end. His book also looks at the blurry legislation regulating the marijuana industry as well as the day-to-day logistics of running such an operation and all the relationships that brings into play. Through firsthand observations and experiences (some influenced by the farm’s cash crop), interviews, and research, Pot Farm exposes a thriving but unsung faction of contemporary American culture.

A practical, systems-based approach for a more sustainable farming operation To many people today, using the words "factory" and "farm" in the same sentence is nothing short of sacrilege. In many cases, though, the same sound business practices apply whether you are producing cars or carrots. Author Ben Hartman and other young farmers are increasingly finding that incorporating the best new ideas from business into their farming can drastically cut their wastes and increase their profits, making their farms more environmentally and economically sustainable. By explaining the lean system for identifying and eliminating waste and introducing efficiency in every aspect of the farm operation, The Lean Farm makes the case that small-scale farming can be an attractive career option for young people who are interested in growing food for their community. Working smarter, not harder, also prevents the kind of burnout that start-up farmers often encounter in the face of long, hard, backbreaking labor. Lean principles grew out of the Japanese automotive industry, but they are now being followed on progressive farms around the world. Using examples from his own family's one-acre community-supported farm in Indiana, Hartman clearly instructs other small farmers in how to incorporate lean practices in each step of their production chain, from starting a farm and harvesting crops to training employees and selling goods. While the intended audience for this book is small-scale farmers who are part of the growing local food movement, Hartman's prescriptions for high-value, low-cost production apply to farms and businesses of almost any size or scale that hope to harness the power of lean in their production processes.

Furnishes a provocative account of marijuana advocates Tom Crosslin and Rollie Rohm, founders of Rainbow Farm, a campground and concert venue in rural Michigan that became the focus of marijuana and environmental activism in the state, and the protest that led to them being gunned down in a raid by the FBI.

"An experienced cannabis farmer, feminist, and zen practitioner teaches you to grow up to six plants to yield a professional-grade crop of legal, medicinal weed"--Provided by publisher.

Winner of the IACP 2019 First Book Award presented by The Julia Child Foundation "Like Madhur Jaffrey and Marcella Hazan before her, Naz Deravian will introduce the pleasures and secrets of her mother culture's cooking to a broad audience that has no idea what it's been missing. America will not only fall in love with Persian cooking, it'll fall in love with Naz.” - Samin Nosrat, author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: The Four Elements of Good Cooking Naz Deravian lays out the multi-hued canvas of a Persian meal, with 100+ recipes adapted to an American home kitchen and interspersed with Naz's celebrated essays exploring the idea of home. At eight years old, Naz Deravian left Iran with her family during the height of the 1979 Iranian Revolution and hostage crisis. Over the following ten years, they emigrated from Iran to Rome to Vancouver, carrying with them books of Persian poetry, tiny jars of saffron threads, and always, the knowledge that home can be found in a simple, perfect pot of rice. As they traverse the world in search of a place to land, Naz's family finds comfort and familiarity in pots of hearty aash, steaming pomegranate and walnut chicken, and of course, tahdig: the crispy, golden jewels of rice that form a crust at the bottom of the pot. The best part, saved for last. In Bottom of the Pot, Naz, now an award-winning writer and passionate home cook based in LA, opens up to us a world of fragrant rose petals and tart dried limes, music and poetry, and the bittersweet twin pulls of assimilation and nostalgia. In over 100 recipes, Naz introduces us to Persian food made from a global perspective, at home in an American kitchen.

“A gimlet-eyed and often hilarious account of the author’s round-the-world reefer safari . . . A surprisingly clear-headed view of potheads worldwide” (The New Yorker). In Pot Planet, journalist Brian Preston sets out on a global ganja safari to explore strange new cannabis cultures, to seek out new growers, activists, and other reefer revolutionaries . . . and to boldly get baked with each of them. Preston’s journeys take him across every strata of pot cultivation and enjoyment. In the Canadian Kootenays, he meets hemp farmers struggling to harvest their crop on the fringes of legitimacy. In Cambodia and Morocco, he explores the final frontiers of Third World weed enthusiasts. In northern California, he takes a clear-eyed look at the medicinal marijuana movement, seeing both its promises and its problems. In England, Switzerland, and Spain, he observes grudging governments catching up to public tolerance. And at the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam, he joins in the raucous multiday tasting competition and celebration at the international summit of the best breeders, growers, and connoisseurs in the world. Part investigative travelogue, part cultural history, part polemic for the unfettered enjoyment of nature’s most perfect and pleasing herb, Pot Planet is an unforgettable odyssey into the multifaceted world of hemp, full of wit, insight, and inspiration. “Fun to read, gallops along and, should you like to embark on such an odyssey yourself, might even serve as a guide . . . [or] an intoxicated mystery tour.” —Salon “A marvelously entertaining, well-written and probing look at the world though marijuana . . . Throughout, Preston proves himself to be both an intrepid traveler and a fine storyteller.” —Publishers Weekly

Ed Rosenthal has been teaching people how to grow marijuana for decades. Let him help you cultivate bountiful buds, and lots of them. The techniques and tools for growing cannabis have changed over the past five years. Ed shows you the most productive and easiest methods in his new, most comprehensive book. Cannabis Grower’s Handbook features the latest innovations in marijuana cultivation that will save you time, money, and energy, including: How to set up different types of home gardens, indoors and out The newest, most efficient LED lights including adjustable spectrum fixtures How to use sustainable regenerative gardening techniques Fast, reliable drying and curing methods Comprehensive integrated pest management Choosing what to grow—find out more about high THC, autoflowers, and CBD varieties Many more tools, tips, and techniques! Cannabis Grower’s Handbook is the definitive guide for all cultivators. First-time home growers will learn how to get started and enjoy a successful first harvest. Experienced growers will find new information about lighting, flowering, outdoor CO2, stimulating growth, and harvesting. This book is an essential reference for developing standard operating procedures, whether for micro-operations or large-scale commercial cannabis operations. 600 PAGES OF FULL-COLOR PHOTOS, DIAGRAMS, AND CHARTS. ED ROSENTHAL is a legend—a veteran educator and an outspoken proponent of Full Legalization and The Right to Grow. His books are beloved by growers for their accessible style, accuracy, and innovative content. Ed wrote Cannabis Grower’s Handbook with a team of botanists, industry consultants, and scientists to ensure that you have the most up-to-date, accurate information to help you grow. This is the most extensively researched book about marijuana cultivation available. It will be your handy guide, like having an expert in your garden.