| Date: 28 April 2011, 07:10
|
Slice of Organic Life
By Alice Waters
* Publisher: DK Publishing
* Number Of Pages: 352
* Publication Date: 2007-06-04
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0756628733
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780756628734
Product Description:
Featuring over 90 self-contained projects, from growing your own food organically, cooking home-grown produce, keeping selected livestock, and leading a more sustainable lifestyle, this down-to-earth, yet practical guide is the perfect start for someone looking to go "green." The team of experts offer options for city dwellers with little space, for those living in the suburbs with a bit of land, and for those who have acres of land and no ideas on how to use them. The book includes a foreword by alice Waters. AUTHOR BIO: Concerned by the poor quality of food on offer, Sheherazade Goldsmith started up an organic delicatessen that soon began to specialize in home-cooked food for babies and young children.
Summary: Terrible waste of paper...
Rating: 1
Not only is this book a completely shallow coffee table book, it gives actively bad advice. For example, taking a cruise is in no way an environmentally-friendly alternative to flying (pg. 74). Furthermore, I wouldn't be surprised if a few people get botulism or other kinds of food poisoning after following her lackadaisical advice about canning - jar sterilization gets half a sentence in a sidebar. The author cheerfully offers 2-4 page guides on buying chickens, bees, ducks, geese, and goats when any livestock purchase requires significantly more research - not a fact she mentions; it all sounds very easy and pleasant.
I guess it's pretty, though. Just make sure you actually get some proper instruction on things that are a bit more serious than "buying natural fabrics".
Summary: good ideas, lovely pictures
Rating: 4
Wonderful photography and great ideas.
Inspires to look deeper and research the subjects that appeal to you.
Summary: A slice of stupid
Rating: 1
Save for two tips, this book is just a bunch of comments anyone with even a little intelligence will go 'duh!' at. Recycle? Buy used? Buy local? where are the ideas that aren't ripped off of a million generic websites and other books?
I'll tell you where, where it says to raise livestock. No, I'm not kidding. It goes into some pretty good detail on how to raise chickens and pigs. But it doesn't list any drawbacks (save that some pigs get sunburn) about raising these animals. Annoying neighbors with roosters? Chicken poop everywhere? Maybe even the fact that some pigs CAN BE DANGEROUS? Nope, not listed. Apparently such problems don't exist.
Do yourself a favor, don't buy this and don't create waste.
Summary: Good for the city dweller who wants to be more "green"
Rating: 3
I was a bit disappointed in this book, as I thought it would be a more in-depth discussion of living and farming in a sustainable way. We live on a farm and are just starting an organic beef operation, and I was just looking for something more detailed. Instead, this book includes snippets of ways that people in more urban areas can live the organic life, such as making your own soap, growing plants in pots, using earth-friendly cleaning products, even keeping bees.
The information that is in the book is mostly helpful, although some important safety details are omitted from certain sections. For example, in the section on making jam, the instructions tell you to boil the fruit mixture, then "spoon it into jars and seal." There is no discussion of sterilizing the jars first or of how to tell if your seal is good on a jar - these things are the difference between safe and unsafe food. The section on woodstoves says nothing about the need for education on safely operating a woodstove or the expertise needed to properly install one so that it isn't a fire hazard. So - I would recommend that if you are new to the farming/country life and you want to try anything other than the most basic projects listed in this book, research it using other sources first so that you know what you're getting into.
Summary: Good Book on Natural Living Everyday+
Rating: 4
I would have given this good book four and a half stars.Yet,there are some difficulties with the book.Number one,you need space to do the projects suggested.Who is going to raise goats in their apartment suite? Also who is going to have a vegetable garden on a roof top?Or who is going to have an apiary of bees ,on their patio?Physically,the book is heavy-duty.It was not printed on recycled paper.Yet,like your family bible,you probably would like to retain this book as a reference ,for years to come. Now if you live in the sticks,with plenty of space,then this book is for you.This book is really a 'Back to Nature' book.The pictures are brillant and colorful.Many healthful recipes and flower suggestions.This organic lifestyle is best suited from communal living,and not really for individual people or couples. I think anyone or even a couple would become simply overwhelmed by the scope of true organic living.Like preserving jams and making whole-grain bread,it's quite time consuming.So you and your companions would have to fully cooperate to make these projects a daily and weekly success.This organic book does not have all the detailed answers on natural living.Yet,it does present many excellent eco-friendly suggestions and offers basic solutions for beginning a more rational ,healthier organic life.
|
DISCLAIMER:
This site does not store A Slice of Organic Life on its server. We only index and link to A Slice of Organic Life provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete A Slice of Organic Life if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.
|
 |
|
Comments (0)
All
