In 1886 Leo Tolstoy wrote a slim pamphlet entitled What Then Must We Do? about the abject state of the peasants in his country. He wrote, “I sit on a man’s back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means—except by getting off his back.”

Gar Alperovitz has taken Tolstoy's mysterious title for his own new book, What Then Must We Do? After all, with an economy as systemically unequal as ...

If you want to turn a barren lot into a permaculture paradise, you've got to start from the ground up.

Sheet mulching is an easy way to start. You start with a biodegradable weed barrier like cardboard, and from there build a thick, layered substrate for your garden with compost and mulch. As the materials break down, worms move in, softening the soil below, and creating a healthy, aerated planting bed where once there was compacted, dead clay.

Eric Toensmeier transformed his rocky, desolate tenth of an acre into a modern-day Garden of ...

It's clear: we need a new economy, one where wealth is based on the health of the soil, and the true well-being of people. Ever since the publication of Woody Tasch's book Inquiries Into the Nature of Slow Money, Chelsea Green has been a prominent supporter of projects that push for a more-just way of doing business -- and last year we even made the shift to employee ownership, ensuring our own legacy of financial independence and economic justice.

At the forefront of the movement to make a better economy a reality ...

Three Mile Island, the nuclear plant in Pennsylvania that melted down on this day in 1979, is synonymous with nuclear disaster. The meltdown was stopped before any serious damage occurred, but 34 years after this near miss at Three Mile Island, how safe are we from this kind of catastrophe?

Ask the residents of San Clemente, California, who live in the shadow of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. The plant has been offline for months since an "unusual" leak was found to be releasing radioactive steam into the environment. Or ask the folks ...

Congratulations, you survived another long winter! Now, it's time to get your garden started.

Let us help you on your way with some of our key gardening books (and new DVDs!). Learn tried and true techniques from our expert gardening authors so you can reap a plentiful harvest this fall.

Essential Gardening Books -- 35% Off!

Many of our gardening books have been the classic go-to standards for organic and permaculture gardeners for years. Whether you're looking for new techniques to boost flavors and variety, grow vegetables year-round, save heirloom seeds, or grow ...