Meditations on growing garlic and on the farming way of life.

Readers of Stanley Crawford's first book on farming, A Garlic Testament, can look forward to an update on his farming practices and reflections on the natural world in THE GARLIC PAPERS: A Small Garlic Farm in the Age of Global Vampires . In the fall of 2014, Crawford questioned the U.S. Department of Commerce's granting of an exemption of duties to the largest importer of Chinese garlic, setting off a massive legal battle in which his small farm has been pitted against the Chinese importer and its several international law firms. An account of this David and Goliath battle, now in its fifth year, makes up the core of the book, in which Crawford describes his personal and farming life under a cloud of lawsuits and administrative skirmishes. The unusual case was of sufficient interest that it became the subject of a Netflix documentary, Garlic Breath," in the six-part series, "Rotten," released in 2018."

"Forty years ago I first linked up with Unguentine and we made love on twin-hulled catamarans, sails a-billow, bless the seas..." So begins the courtship of a certain Unguentine to the woman we know only as "Mrs. Unguentine," the chronicler of their sad, fantastical tale. For forty years, they sail the seas together, alone on a giant land-covered barge of their own devising. They tend their gardens, raise a child, invent an artificial forest--all the while steering clear of civilization. "Log of the S.S. The Mrs. Unguentine" is a masterpiece of modern domestic life, a comic novel of closeness and difficulty, miscommunication and stubborn resolve. Rarely has a book so perfectly registered the secret solitude of marriage, how shared loneliness can result in a powerful bond.

This is the writer's account of one garlic farmer's life from beginning struggles to the marketing with all the varieties of work in between.

This memoir of the author's experience as a mayordomo, or ditch boss, is the first record of the life of an acequia by a community participant.

“I’m reading this book right now and loving it!”—Cheryl Strayed, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wild How can a mother and daughter who love (but don’t always like) each other coexist without driving each other crazy? “Vibrating with emotion, this deeply honest account strikes a chord.”—People “A wry and moving meditation on aging and the different kinds of love between women.”—O: The Oprah Magazine After surviving a traumatic childhood in nineteen-seventies New York and young adulthood living in the shadow of her flamboyant mother, Rita, a makeup-addicted former television singer, Elissa Altman has managed to build a very different life, settling in Connecticut with her wife of nearly twenty years. After much time, therapy, and wine, Elissa is at last in a healthy place, still orbiting around her mother but keeping far enough away to preserve the stable, independent world she has built as a writer and editor. Then Elissa is confronted with the unthinkable: Rita, whose days are spent as a flâneur, traversing Manhattan from the Clinique counters at Bergdorf to Bloomingdale’s and back again, suffers an incapacitating fall, leaving her completely dependent upon her daughter. Now Elissa is forced to finally confront their profound differences, Rita’s yearning for beauty and glamour, her view of the world through her days in the spotlight, and the money that has mysteriously disappeared in the name of preserving youth. To sustain their fragile mother-daughter bond, Elissa must navigate the turbulent waters of their shared lives, the practical challenges of caregiving for someone who refuses to accept it, the tentacles of narcissism, and the mutual, frenetic obsession that has defined their relationship. Motherland is a story that touches every home and every life, mapping the ferocity of maternal love, moral obligation, the choices women make about motherhood, and the possibility of healing. Filled with tenderness, wry irreverence, and unforgettable characters, it is an exploration of what it means to escape from the shackles of the past only to have to face them all over again. Praise for Motherland “Rarely has a mother-daughter relationship been excavated with such honesty. Elissa Altman is a beautiful, big-hearted writer who mines her most central subject: her gorgeous, tempestuous, difficult mother, and the terrain of their shared life. The result is a testament to the power of love and family.”—Dani Shapiro, author of Inheritance

With over 200 authentic recipes, including 20 new recipes, for local specialities such as creme de noix and the famous cassoulets, Goose Fat & Garlic presents the entire repertoire of dishes from South-West France. Strang takes us chapter-by-chapter through regional delicacies, starting with the basic soup and continuing through to the various meats, fruits, desserts and wines. 'Rich with anecdotes, legends, the stuff of real daily life in South-West France, Goose Fat & Garlic is the kind of book you'll carry right into the kitchen, focusing your energies on meaty daubes, hearty country soups, simple salads dressed with rich, local walnut oil. As you turn the pages you can almost smell the potatoes cooking away with the garlic and parsley, and hear the sizzle of the fire as the leg of lamb turns on the spit. Culling recipes from the baker's wife, the cafe owner, anyone who would listen, Jeanne Strang has produced a book with a ring of authenticity; a must for all cooks with a sense of curiosity and a dose of ambition.' Patricia Wells.