Author:Dick Strawbridge
It's Not Easy Being Green follows Dick Strawbridge and his family as they leave their comfortable home in the Midlands to tackle a remarkable self-sufficiency project - New House Farm in Cornwall. Their main objective is to have as little negative impact on the planet as possible by producing no waste and removing their dependency upon fossil fuels - all without compromising on their comfortable, modern 21st-century lifestyles. It's a laudable aim, but they are definitely not eco-warriors!
With his hands-on, flamboyant approach, Dick offers practical tips on everything, from constructing water wheels, gadgets and greenhouses, to the trials of living with animals and knocking up 'proper' wholesome food. Packed with information about the cost of power, sourcing building materials, taking up permaculture and finding transport alternatives, It's Not Easy Being Green highlights the small steps that can change your life and is a simple, inspirational guide for everyone considering the path to green living.
an inspirational guide to a greener, and hopefully, more rewarding future
—— Manchester Evening News...for most of us it genuinely isn't always easy being green; the book's strength is to confirm that it is always worth trying
—— Gardens IllustratedFerguson doesn’t short-change her readers on the wonder-working details of 16th century European science and astronomy, which was then still close to alchemy and astrology. She is good on the profound differences in character between the rich, lordly astronomer Brahe and the poverty-stricken, middle-class mathematician Johannes Kepler, the differences between Brahe’s observational and technical obsessions and Kepler’s modest, seemingly simple-minded, genius that nagged at questions we take for granted now but which outraged his contemporaries. By putting together Brahe as Smaug the dragon sitting on a fabulous golden hoard with Kepler as Bilbo Baggins who wrests the treasure from him, and expounding the science with conscientious clarity, Kitty Ferguson has written an absorbing non-fiction fable that simultaneously stimulates our imagination and satisfies our scientific curiosity.
—— The TimesHer skill in explaining complex astronomical problems and procedures clearly and succinctly is nothing short of amazing.
—— Philadelphia EnquirerShe can précis her specialist sources briskly, and her own direct research (e.g. a mega kitchen for cooking ready meals) is lively
—— Vera Rule , Guardianfascinating history of the co-dependence of a city and country... dip into it...fascinating
—— Real Food Festivalthis is for the person who knows everything about food but nothing about its source
—— Sunday Tribunelively, wide-ranging, endlessly inquisitive book
—— IndependentA superb account of the uneasy relationship between the city and its means of sustenance, charting the historical rise of urban areas and the monopolisation of the food chain by conglomerates
—— Ian Critchley , Daily Telegraphdense with details, rippling with insight an easy to read... This is everything we need to know.
—— William Leith , Evening StandardAn intense, fluid, intelligent, highly absorbing text that provokes vital questions about sustainability
—— Food MagazineIt's one of those rare books dense with detail, rippling with insight, and easy to read...This is everything we need to know
—— Johanna Thomas-Corr , ScotsmanIn bringing food more directly onto the 'plate' of those who think about buildings and cities, she has done us all a great service
—— Richard Wilk , Building and Research InformationEmotional and resonant… Sharp, funny and sad in equal measure
—— Sally Morris , Daily MailWritten with the same passion and wit that punctuated his reviews for the likes of NME, Coleman shares his journey to reconnecting with the soundtrack of his life
—— Big Issue in the NorthI can’t tell you how good it is but I’ll try… It’s a superb analysis
—— William Leith , Evening StandardA warm, witty and very candid book
—— Natasha Harding , SunThe book offers experiences and, for anyone whose responsiveness to the world has slackened, a reminder of how full experience can be.
—— Amy Leach , ObserverTim Dee has a deep feeling for the natural world and an ability to celebrate it in ways that seem fresh and new.
—— Tim Richardson , Literary Review[Dee] writes so well, and so personably, that he casts a disarming spell over his readers.
—— Mary Blanche Ridge , Tablet[Dee] is at once a naturalist, environmentalist, journalist, historian and diarist. Dee’s rich writing delights as he imparts his considerable research and observations about life and the state of the world
—— Good Book Guide[It] belongs in the tradition of 'nature writing', but works with it too putting its beautifully written sentences in the service of description and evocation, but using them to frame a serious conversation about environmental preservation and its opposites; it’s a deeply attractive book and also an important one.
—— Andrew Motion , GuardianFelt very deeply and pondered very wisely, it takes four areas of the planet and tells their story in ways that bring the plight (and delight) of the earth as a whole within reach.
—— Andrew Motion , Times Literary SupplementA lyrical, poetic reflection on our relationship with the natural world.
—— Tim Maguire , Edinburgh Evening NewsThis profound work by Tim Dee is as creative and original as anything on the Man Booker shortlist and arguably more “useful”... The book’s reach is extraordinary.
—— Bel Mooney , Daily Mail[A] marvellous new memoir.
—— Richard Mabey , New StatesmanAn enthralling and unexpected book of what we have made of the natural world
—— Kathleen Jamie , GuardianThis is nature writing at its finest
—— Juanita Coulson , LadyWith the eye of a birdwatcher and the soul of a poet, Dee meditates on our green spaces and what we have made of them
—— Michael Kerr , TelegraphDee’s rich writing delights as he imparts his considerable research and observations about life and the state of the world
—— Good Book GuideCharged with meaning and lyrically luminous, Four Fields is an unquantifiable work – and an unmissable one
—— Melissa Harrison , The Times