looking for some good reading?  greenhorn Janna Berger is compiling a stellar list of "pages to turn with calloused fingers" and has written a nice essay to accompany the list.

Farming the Library
When I brainstorm my dream farm I oscillate between ambition and a daunted daze. 'So, we're going to grow apples and keep honey bees which will pollinate the apple blossoms and of course we'll want bread so we'll have to grow wheat and we'll need to grow some dry beans and of course we need...

Uh oh. This farm is getting out of hand.'
When deflated and overwhelmed I often take a trip over to my bookshelf, to scan the colorful spines that make a diverse farm seem achievable. The sight of books like The Apple Grower, Natural Beekeeping, and Small-scale Grain Raising all lined up in a row launch me out of my discouraged quagmire and back to rambling 'Okay, so we've got to grow quinoa and...''
I can always turn to one of author Lynn Byczynski's eminently functional publications for further inspiration. In her books Market Farming Success and The Flower Farmer, and as the editor of the monthly newsletter Growing for Market, Byczynski demystifies a wide range of practical topics like how to prepare for a marketing meeting with a chef or how to convert an air-conditioner into a cooler compressor. Whereas Byczynski is a farmer, her neighbor on the farming how-to shelf, author Vernon Grubinger, is a research scientist. His book Sustainable Vegetable Production from Start-Up to Market is a good resource for technical details on topics like irrigation system design, using soil test recommendations and how different pesticides work.
When you choose a profession that society has branded a relic of the past, like small-scale organic farming, you need advice from contemporaries to know that what you are doing is still doable.
continue reading at http://farmingthelibrary.blogspot.com/