Imagine growing vegetables that require just about the same amount of care as perennial flowers and shrubs, need no annual tilling or planting, yet thrive and produce abundant and nutritious crops throughout the season.

Get the best information on growing these easy and interesting crops from Eric Toensmeier’s award-winning book Perennial Vegetables, and tour his own lush forest garden in the new DVD, Perennial Vegetable Gardening with Eric Toensmeier. The book and DVD are now available in a convenient set.

About Perennial Vegetables:

In Toensmeier’s book, Perennial Vegetables (Chelsea Green, 2007), the adventurous gardener will find information, tips, and sound advice on less-common edibles that will make any garden a perpetual, low-maintenance source of food. In his book, readers will find perennial vegetables are perfect as part of an edible-landscape plan or permaculture garden. Profiling more than a hundred species, with dozens of color photographs and illustrations, and filled with valuable growing tips, recipes, and resources, Perennial Vegetables is a groundbreaking and ground-healing book that will open the eyes of gardeners everywhere to the exciting world of edible perennials.

About Perennial Vegetable Gardening with Eric Toensmeier (DVD):

In the DVD—a culmination of workshops recorded in Mexico, Florida, and Massachusetts—plant specialist Eric Toensmeier introduces gardeners to more than 100 species of little-known, underappreciated plants. Ranging beyond the usual suspects (asparagus, rhubarb, and artichoke) to include such delights as ground cherry, ramps, air potatoes, the fragrant spring tree, and the much-sought-after, antioxidant-rich wolfberry (also known as the goji berry), Toensmeier explains how to raise, tend, harvest, and cook with plants that yield great crops and culinary satisfaction. Toensmeier also takes viewers on a plant-by-plant tour of his garden in Massachusetts. Get a sneak peek in this video:

Toensemeier has been gardening in Holyoke, Massachusetts for more than a decade, and has turned his tenth of an acre lot into a lush paradise full of delicious fruits and vegetables — many of them perennials. His newest book, Paradise Lot, tells the story of developing the garden, and hoping for love as well. Paradise Lot is available for pre-order now.

Independent book publisher Chelsea Green announced today that due to a record-setting sales year and strong revenue growth, employees would each receive a $2500 end-of-year bonus. Leading the company’s record revenue growth was the strong sales of The Art of Fermentation, a New York Times bestselling book by self-described “fermentation fetishist” Sandor Katz. This is the fourth Chelsea Green book to make the list in the last 10 years.

Released in June, the $39.95, 500-page hardcover reference book features an inspiring foreword from Michael Pollan. After four printings there are now more than 50,000 copies in print.

“If Random House can give all their employees a $5000 bonus for 50 Shades of Grey, then Chelsea Green can give everyone a $2500 bonus due to the phenomenal success of The Art of Fermentation,” announced Margo Baldwin, president and publisher.

Call it 25 Shades of sauerkraut. Or, kim chi. Or kefir. Or Kombucha.

It’s fitting that in a year in which the mainstream publishing industry became domineered by erotic fiction and saw decreasing print book sales, Chelsea Green once again bucked the trend and saw double digit sales growth of its list that focuses on DIY living, organic food and farming, homesteading, and building community resiliency.

To be fair to the bacteria necessary to make all that delicious fermentation happen—they are probably having a grand old time reproducing in those bubbly crocks and mason jars.

Overall sales through November were up 30 percent year-to-date, with a 40 percent increase in ebook sales and a 29 percent increase in print book sales.

Sales were not all due to sauerkraut, however.

In 2012, Chelsea Green saw strong sales across the board and in all categories.

Chelsea Green saw strong overseas, and subrights, sales for 2052 by Jorgen Randers, a look forward at what the next 40 years will be like in the wake of increasing climate change, flat economic growth, and a growing population. Other top sellers, so far, included the first book in our Community Resilience Guides series (published in collaboration with Post Carbon Institute), Local Dollars, Local Sense by Michael Shuman. The second book in that series,  Power from the People by Greg Pahl, was released in September. The third book, Rebuilding the Foodshed by Philip Ackerman-Leist, will be released in March. Other top-selling books from 2012 include Janisse Ray’s remarkable book about seed saving, The Seed Underground, and Gov. Madeleine M. Kunin’s call for true family-friendly economic and workplace reforms in The New Feminist Agenda.

Two books released in Fall 2011 sold strongly throughout the year, too, those where Reinventing Fire by Amory Lovins and The Holistic Orchard by Michael Philips.

Keeping with tradition, Chelsea Green’s backlist continued to sell strong, with several older titles ranking among the top-selling 25 books of the year. Those include Katz’s earlier book, Wild Fermentation, as well as Toby Hemenway’s Gaia’s Garden, Elliot Coleman’s Winter Harvest Handbook, Harvey Ussery’s Small-Scale Poultry Flock, Mat Stein’s When Technology Fails, and the book Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning.

The end-of-year sales and revenue announcement comes on the heels of a busy year for Chelsea Green Publishing, its staff, and its authors.

In June, the company became employee-owned, making it one of only a handful of independent book publishers that can claim employee-ownership status, and of those Chelsea Green will be near the top in terms of the percentage of stock controlled by its employees. After the transaction, nearly 80 percent of the stock is held by employees; the remaining percentage remains in control of Margo and Ian Baldwin, the company’s founders.In 2012, Chelsea Green was recognized by ForeWord Reviews as its 2011 Publisher of the Year, in which the company was recognized for its “significant contributions in the categories of politics and sustainable living.”

At the start of the year, Chelsea Green added staff in an ongoing effort to expand its digital offerings and improve its existing online presence, as well as provide greater outreach and publicity support for its authors.

Farming isn’t easy. In fact, it’s probably one of the most challenging jobs on Earth. Farmers grapple with unpredictable weather, back-breaking days of weeding and seeding, small and sometimes finicky markets for their wares, and the ever-present danger that Murphy’s Law will rear its contingent head (this especially applies to farms with livestock, who are always testing fences, attracting predators, sometimes fighting with each other, eating things they shouldn’t, etc.). On a farm, whatever can happen will, and it’s not always fun.

But the ever-shifting nature of the work also makes farming an incomparable adventure, and as we begin the second decade of the millenium, many are being tempted away from cubicles and suits to try their hand at tending the land.

Our new book, Farms with a Future, by Rebecca Thistlethwaite, is designed to help beginning farmers get started on the right foot, and guide those who have been at it a few years to fine-tune their processes to make their farms run sustainably. Thistlethwaite offers advice from her own years raising grassfed beef, as well as from her journeys across the United States, visiting dozens of farms and taking note of what works.

In the excerpt below, Thistlethwaite outlines some quick tips for beginners. Grab a notebook and pen and check it out!

For the Beginner: An Excerpt from Farms With a Future

We continue our holiday sale this week, featuring books on the politics of sustainable living. Our political books are full of inspiring stories from the front lines of the movement to build resilient towns, and practical tools you can use to reinvigorate your own community.

Money is power, and local investment matters. Books like Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money by Woody Tasch, and Local Dollars, Local Sense by Michael Shuman show how bringing finance back home can improve the health of the soil, your local economy, and your pocketbook.

Power also comes from within. Books like our bestseller Don’t Think of an Elephant! by George Lakoff, and Get Up, Stand Up by psychologist Bruce E. Levine take the idea of politics to a personal level, and show that even the ways you think and speak affect how empowered you feel — and how much positive change you can enact in the world.

Stock up on inspiring and educational gifts for your friends and family from Chelsea Green (and don’t forget about yourself). Our books will inspire and empower you for years to come. Keep in mind that the last day for you to get holiday orders in is Thursday December 20th, as we will be closed for inventory from December 21st to January 2nd.

Happy Holidays from the Employee Owners at Chelsea Green Publishing!

P.S. Don’t forget to use the code CGFL12 when you checkout at chelseagreen.com.

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Politics & Social Justice: 

Please keep in mind that discount codes do not combine with other offers—our books already on sale

for example. Phone orders please call 800-639-4099.

From Nordic foods to nuclear power, some of our recent releases have gotten some great reviews in the publishing world. Congratulations, authors!

Below is a quick round-up of our favorite praise from the latest round of reviews.

Gar Smith’s new book Nuclear Roulette dismantles the specious arguments we hear all-too-often about the safety, cleanliness, and sustainability of nuclear energy. Kirkus, in particular, called Nuclear Roulette, “A penetrating argument against today’s nuclear age.”

Booklist and ForeWord also weighed in with positive reviews, which you can read here.

From the kitchen of Danish organic grain farmer Hanne Risgaard comes the lushly illustrated cookbook Home Baked. With simple recipes that still manage to use fresh ingredients in surprising ways, and information on using grains like spelt and rye in addition to wheat, Home Baked is a great addition to any baker’s bookshelf. The editors of ForeWord Reviews agree: “This is an easy to follow, surprising, and inspiring baking book. Risgaard’s joy in sharing her craft is contagious and home cooks will find themselves headed to the kitchen for the both warmth this book promises and that the recipes deliver.”

Read the entire review here.

Taste, Memory by David Buchanan introduces readers to a world of forgotten flavors. Booklist’s review calls the book: “Not just a feast for the palate, Buchanan’s book is a feast for the souls of those concerned about a fast-food culture that prizes uniformity and convenience over the kind of tastes that cannot be produced on an assembly line.”

Read the rest of this review, plus other reviews for Taste, Memory (which Amazon named one of the Top Ten Food Lit Books of 2012) here.

Last month marked the one-year anniversary of the death of scientist Lynn Margulis. Her son, Dorion Sagan, collated Lynn Margulis: The Life and Legacy of a Scientific Rebel, a book of essays from her colleagues and friends to commemorate her unique legacy. ForeWord Reviews writes: “In this thoughtful and expertly curated collection, Margulis’s son and long-time collaborator, Dorion Sagan, calls her ‘indomitable Lynn.’ A fearless and zealous advocate of her theories who could also display a loving heart, he writes, ‘[H]er threat was not to people but to the evil done to the spirit by the entrenchment of unsupported views.’ In other essays, Margulis’s complex personality beguiles, frustrates, charms, and elevates various writers, resulting in a stunning portrait that no single remembrance could have captured.”

And last but far from least, Slow Democracy, a new book from community organizer Susan Clark and scholar Woden Teachout looks at ways communities are coming together to decide their own destiny. Library Journal writes, “A convincing argument that time invested in this way benefits everyone in the community and reconnects citizens with their governments and each other. Recommended for anyone interested in being more politically engaged.” And Kirkus Reviews calls Slow Democracy,  “A valuable tool for improving the way government operates at the local level.”

Read the entire reviews here.

These reviews are from magazines and websites dear to the world of book-industry insiders, but they’re not the only reviews that matter to us. If you love a Chelsea Green book, and happen to shop online, don’t keep it to yourself! Taking a moment to post a review of an important book will help other readers find it, and discover the same empowerment and inspiration that you did.

It’s as likely as anything that the sun will rise on December 22 on a planet still facing all the same problems we face now: climate change, political division, corporate exploitation of people and the planet, environmental degradation. With an everyday reality like this, who needs a Mayan-inspired apocalypse?!

Whether the world ends on December 21, or the day passes just like any other, you’ll be set with plenty of inspiring and useful reading material as this week we’re featuring all our Nature & Environment and Simple Living books as part of our end-of-year sale.

If you’re prepping for the worst, take a look at Matthew Stein’s classic survival guide When Technology Fails for suggestions on how to survive in the post-apocalypse world—or, how to live in a post-peak-oil world. Pair that with Stein’s latest book, When Disaster Strikes, which details how to survive six specific disaster scenarios—fire, hurricanes, earthquakes, solar flares, and even nuclear fallout. Or perhaps, Dreaming the Future, a good choice for everyone who wants to build a better future by exploring the changes needed to chart a sustainable path forward.

Happy Apocalypse, er, Holidays from the Employee Owners at Chelsea Green Publishing!

P.S. Don’t forget to use the code CGFL12 to save 35% when you checkout at chelseagreen.com. Plus, get free shipping on orders over $100.

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Simple Living, Nature & Environment: 

Please keep in mind that discount codes do not combine with other offers—our books already on sale

for example. Free shipping of orders $100 or more applies after discount code.  Phone orders please call 800-639-4099.

After years of hard work raising grassfed cattle, Rebecca Thistlethwaite and her husband decided to put their farm dreams on pause for a while, travel the country, meet other farmers, and figure out what makes the best farms work. They were well beyond any romantic notions of the farming life themselves, but Rebecca wanted to know more.

Farms with a Future: Creating and Growing a Sustainable Farm Business introduces readers to some of the country’s most innovative farmers who are embracing their “inner entrepreneur”: unabashedly marketing and sharing the pride they have for what they produce; building systems and finding efficiencies and cost savings so they don’t have to keep raising prices every year; shying away from huge debt loads by developing ways to build their businesses patiently over time using earned income or creative arrangements with their community of customers; harnessing natural processes to ensure they are not degrading the natural resources the farms depend upon, and treating their employees and volunteers like family.

Each chapter of Farms with a Future features a case study from one of these exceptional farmers, but you can also follow Rebecca’s travels by reading her blog Honest Meat.

The book has been praised by old-time farmers—the toughest audience around. Gene Logsdon, farmer and author of A Sanctuary of Trees, said,

“What is so great about Rebecca Thistlethwaite’s new book, Farms with a Future, is that it is not a generalized treatment about how to succeed in the new farm and food revolution, but a detailed and complete description of how some fourteen farms of various kinds have done it. This book does what books are supposed to do, that is, it gives the reader on-the-ground experience that would otherwise take years to gain.”

Recently, Publishers Weekly had this to say,

“In this down-to-earth, business-oriented guide to running a farm, Thistlethwaite gives new and prospective farmers a hard-nosed taste of what it takes to run a sustainable farm and what steps are needed to succeed in this field, drawing on her six years of farming and a yearlong adventure visiting and interviewing small farmers across America. . . .Thistlethwaite’s experience teaching beginning farmers is evident in the logical, easy-to-follow, realistic but encouraging text, which will help separate the wheat from the chaff. “

Farms with a Future is on sale this week for 35% off.

This just in from Tar Sands Blockade, Diane Wilson, author of Diary of an Eco-Outlaw and An Unreasonable Woman has been released from jail!:

After being held for nearly a week under the torturous and inhumane conditions of the Harris County Jail, Diane Wilson has been bailed out!

Diane is a 4th generation shrimper and a lifelong Texan. She is the Executive Director for the San Antonio Bay Waterkeeper’s, and a founding member of the following organizations: Code Pink-Women for Peace, the Texas Jail Project, Texas Injured Workers, and Injured Workers National Network. While in jail Diane was denied water for over 78 hours and will soon be giving a first person account of her experience.

On Thursday, November 29th, Diane locked her neck to an industrial tanker that was hooked up to a pumping station outside the Valero refinery in the Manchester neighborhood of Houston. She is also on the 7th day of a sustained hunger strike, demanding that Valero divest from the Keystone XL Pipeline and vacate the community that they have been poisoning for decades.

Diane is pictured here with a member of Tar Sands Blockade; they are wearing masks as a display of solidarity with all those who do not have the privilege of having their identity exposed. In the neighborhood of Manchester many people have differing levels of “legal” status. Let us make their struggle our struggle as well. ¡Compañer@s en la rebeldía!

To learn more about the inhumane conditions of the Harris County Jail please visit: www.texasjailproject.org

For photos and information about last Thursdays action: http://tarsandsblockade.org/13th-action/

NO REFINERIES! NO PIPELINES! NO COMPROMISE!

Our holiday sale continues! From now until the end of the year you can save 35% on any purchase at chelseagreen.com when you use the code CGFL12 at checkout. Plus, during the sale you’ll get free shipping on any orders over $100.

Fossil fuels have powered our civilization’s growth and created immense wealth for some, but the damage to the planet, its people, plants and animals—not to mention a key source of conflict around the globe—is far too costly. We publish books on renewable energy solutions that use natural resources—sun, wind and water—to power our homes and communities. We’ve highlighted some of our green building and renewable energy books below.

Our newest renewable energy book, Power from the People, gives community tools for financing and building small-scale, renewable sources of energy. Just take a look at the foreword by Van Jones to get a feel for what it has to offer. Power from the People is our latest book in the Community Resilience Guides series, a partnership with Post Carbon Institute.

Amory Lovins’s recent book Reinventing Fire takes a serious, scientific look at the future of energy, and puts forth a plan for leaving dirty, unjust fossil fuels behind — without relying on even-filthier nuclear power — by 2050.

We’ve continued our long history of publishing books that help home-builders build houses that can be more resilient and self-reliant on passive solar architecture and straw-bale construction. One of those books is The Natural Building Companion which comes with its own companion DVD and is the first in our Yestermorrow Design/Build Series.

Happy Holidays from the resilient Employee Owners at Chelsea Green!

P.S. Don’t forget to use the code CGFL12 when you checkout to save 35%.

Renewable Energy & Green Building: 

Please keep in mind that discount codes do not combine with other offers—our books already on sale

for example. Phone orders please call 800-639-4099.

Recently, the environmental blog Treehugger featured a Slow Money success story from North Carolina.

Slow Money is a movement founded on the idea that our economy can no longer afford to ignore the health of the soil, the happiness of people, and the importance of a robust food system that’s feeds communities instead of producing commodities.

Chelsea Green was proud to publish Inquiries Into the Nature of Slow Money, a rallying cry for the movement, back in 2008, and we’re always thrilled to spread the word about communities who are seeing the ethic of Slow produce big rewards. Author Woody Tasch has continued to grow Slow Money into a vibrant organization with fun, inspiring annual events, and we have continued to publish the work of people dedicated to the mission of bringing money back down to Earth.

Local Dollars, Local Sense, by Michael Shuman, is the most recent addition to the Slow Money bookshelf. Local Dollars was the first in our Community Resilience Guides series, a partnership with the Post Carbon Institute (learn more about the project at Resilience.org). You don’t have to choose between improving the financial health of your community and increasing the wealth in your portfolio. Shuman’s book shows you how to harness the power of local investments such as crowdfunding for new businesses, community buying clubs, local stock exchanges, and more.

The second guide in the series, Power from the People, showcases communities around the world that have planned, financed, and built renewable energy infrastructure — all by themselves.

Now, let’s pop on down to North Carolina and see what’s happening!

From Treehugger: How Slow Money Financing Helps Food Businesses Grow by Sami Grover

I once proposed the idea of Slow Business as a means to reclaim our lives. That meme never really took off, but Slow Money, on the other hand, has. A movement that facilitates direct loans between private individuals and sustainable food operations, Slow Money is becoming a powerful driver for grassroots business activism.

I recently had the opportunity to talk to Carol Peppe Hewitt, a founder of the vibrant Slow Money movement here in North Carolina, as well as some of the business owners who have borrowed through Slow Money NC.

“When you run a small business for years, it’s like you see a snapshot of what is going on with the wider economy.”

That’s how Carol Peppe Hewitt describes her entry point into Slow Money.

She had been running a successful artisan pottery business with her husband Mark for decades, and observed how hard it was for small businesses to access affordable credit. This was particularly true within the local food movement – where farmers, small processors and producers were unable to get loans to start up or expand their business.

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