Written as a companion to the bestseller, Restoration Agriculture, this book will help farmers capture water in areas they want to, and avoid having water flow immediately to the low point. The result? Less water expense, healthier crops and livestock, and less erosion ... just to name a few. What you will read in this book is a distillation of over 25 years of on-the-ground experience working with and modifying the Yeomans' Keyline Plan. From the back yard suburbs to 10,000-acre ranches and everywhere in between, from permafrost mountainsides just shy of the Arctic Circle, to equatorial boulder fields of East Africa, areas with 300 inches of rain per year to those with less than 3 inches, I have personally installed systems based on the Keyline design methodology and its modified forms.What you will read in this book is tried and true. It is intended to give a sufficient background to any landowner so that they can optimize their water resource for higher site productivity, have greater drought resistance and just as importantly, to know deep in their heart that they have made even one little piece of earth a little more life-filled, livable and green.

**********THIS IS A "SHORT," NOT A FULL-LENGTH BOOK!!!********** This booklet tells how to make the best bread in the world. And it's made from only wheat, water, and salt! You'll love this tasty, wholesome, easy-to-make bread from a tradition thousands of years old. In fact, it may spoil you for all other bread! ///////////////////////////////////////////////// Mark Shepard is the author of several books on simple living and nonviolent social change, and also on the flute. ///////////////////////////////////////////////// CONTENTS The Starter The Ingredients The Sponge The Two Things You Must Always Remember The Dough The Rising The Baking Final Facts ///////////////////////////////////////////////// A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR I first learned to love this bread while visiting the Community of the Ark, a utopian society founded in France by an Italian disciple of Gandhi. On my return home, a friend taught me how to make the same bread -- or pretty close. Some further experimenting ended up with the method in this booklet. If you've made other breads, you'll find it refreshingly simple. No matter how much of this bread I've eaten, I've never grown tired of it.

The entanglements of people and data, code and space, knowledge and power: how data and algorithms shape the world—and shape us within that world. With the emergence of a post-truth world, we have witnessed the dissolution of the common ground on which truth claims were negotiated, individual agency enacted, and public spheres shaped. What happens when, as Nietzsche claimed, there are no facts, but only interpretations? In this book, Mark Shepard examines the entanglements of people and data, code and space, knowledge and power that have produced an uncommon ground—a disaggregated public sphere where the extraction of behavioral data and their subsequent processing and sale have led to the emergence of micropublics of ever-finer granularity. Shepard explores how these new post-truth territories are propagated through machine learning systems and social networks, which shape the public and private spaces of everyday life. He traces the balkanization and proliferation of online news and the targeted distribution of carefully crafted information through social media. He examines post-truth practices, showing how truth claims are embedded in techniques by which the world is observed, recorded, documented, and measured. Finally, he shows how these practices play out, at scales from the translocality of the home to the planetary reach of the COVID-19 pandemic—with stops along the way at an urban minimarket, an upscale neighborhood for the one percent, a Toronto waterfront district, and a national election.

Around the globe most people get their calories from "annual" agriculture - plants that grow fast for one season, produce lots of seeds, then die. Every single human society that has relied on annual crops for staple foods has collapsed. Restoration Agriculture explains how we can have all of the benefits of natural, perennial ecosystems and create agricultural systems that imitate nature in form and function while still providing for our food, building, fuel and many other needs - in your own backyard, farm or ranch. This book, based on real-world practices, presents an alternative to the agriculture system of eradication and offers exciting hope for our future.

********#1 AMAZON.COM BESTSELLER IN WAR & PEACE (JUNE 2013)******** *********#1 KINDLE (INDIA) BESTSELLER IN POLITICS (NOV. 2015)********* *****#1 KINDLE (INDIA) BESTSELLER IN SOCIAL SCIENCES (NOV. 2015)***** "All my actions have their source in my inalienable love of humankind." -- Gandhi Mahatma Gandhi is one of the least understood figures of all time -- even among his admirers. In this Annual Gandhi Lecture for the International Association of Gandhian Studies, Mark Shepard tackles some persistently wrong-headed views of Gandhi, offering us a more accurate picture of the man and his nonviolence. ///////////////////////////////////////////////// Mark Shepard is the author of "Mahatma Gandhi and His Myths," "The Community of the Ark," and "Gandhi Today," called by the American Library Association's Booklist "a masterpiece of committed reporting." His writings on social alternatives have appeared in over 30 publications in the United States, Canada, England, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan, and India. ///////////////////////////////////////////////// "A model of Gandhian journalism. . . . [Shepard] has put his finger on seemingly all of the popular (and some less common) misconceptions of both Gandhi and his philosophy, including some particularly important ones. . . . This book takes little space to cover its topic concisely and well. It would be [some] of the most valuable pages many people could read about Gandhi." -- Global Conscience, July-Sept. 1990 ///////////////////////////////////////////////// SAMPLE I suspect that most of the myths and misconceptions surrounding Gandhi have to do with nonviolence. For instance, it's surprising how many people still have the idea that nonviolent action is passive. It's important for us to be clear about this: There is nothing passive about Gandhian nonviolent action. I'm afraid Gandhi himself helped create this confusion by referring to his method at first as "passive resistance," because it was in some ways like techniques bearing that label. But he soon changed his mind and rejected the term. Gandhi's nonviolent action was not an evasive strategy nor a defensive one. Gandhi was always on the offensive. He believed in confronting his opponents aggressively, in such a way that they could not avoid dealing with him. But wasn't Gandhi's nonviolent action designed to avoid violence? Yes and no. Gandhi steadfastly avoided violence toward his opponents. He did not avoid violence toward himself or his followers. Gandhi said that the nonviolent activist, like any soldier, had to be ready to die for the cause. And in fact, during India's struggle for independence, hundreds of Indians were killed by the British. The difference was that the nonviolent activist, while willing to die, was never willing to kill. Gandhi pointed out three possible responses to oppression and injustice. One he described as the coward's way: to accept the wrong or run away from it. The second option was to stand and fight by force of arms. Gandhi said this was better than acceptance or running away. But the third way, he said, was best of all and required the most courage: to stand and fight solely by nonviolent means.

Yogurt is the quickest and simplest of all the fermented foods you can make at home -- or it SHOULD be. More recent methods tend to complicate the process or make it less efficient. "Smart Yogurt" strips away unnecessary steps and identifies the most practical equipment, so your prep takes no more than a few minutes. But maybe you have special needs or goals for your yogurt. For those who want to go beyond basics, "Smart Yogurt" presents a wealth of possibilities: -- Improving taste and texture without adding to prep time. -- Adding natural flavors and colors before incubation, without interfering with firming. -- Making your own lactose-free yogurt to increase tolerance. -- Boosting your yogurt's probiotic value by starting it from scratch -- without any yogurt starter, dried "heirloom" culture, or probiotic tablets. -- Making your own non-dairy yogurt without thickeners or stabilizers. Whether you want to simplify your yogurt making, explore new options, or just understand all the ways milk can be turned into one of the world's most popular foods, "Smart Yogurt" is your guide. ///////////////////////////////////////////////// Mark Shepard is the author of two popular books on sourdough, "Simple Sourdough" and the revolutionary "Smart Sourdough," among others. He has made fermented foods -- yogurt, sourdough, pickles, and more -- for much of half a century. Mark now lives in Bellingham, Washington, with his wife and fellow author, Anne L. Watson. ///////////////////////////////////////////////// "Slim but thorough This valuable guide's explanations and examples will inspire both new and veteran yogurt makers." -- Kirkus Reviews, June 20, 2025 ///////////////////////////////////////////////// CONTENTS Getting Started Yogurt Facts and Fictions Minimizing Prep Optimizing Output Improving Taste and Texture Adding Natural Flavors Reducing Intolerance Boosting Probiotics Appendix: The Non-Dairy Option ///////////////////////////////////////////////// GETTING STARTED (excerpt) Let's handle a few basic questions up front. Why eat yogurt? It's a tasty food that's both healthful and satisfying. It has all the nutrients of regular milk and more, in a form that may be digestible even for those who cannot otherwise tolerate dairy. Most yogurt also contains live bacteria that can be beneficial to gut health. Why make your own? One reason might be saving money. The cost of homemade yogurt could be as low as a quarter of the cost of store-bought. And it's never likely to rise above half, even if you splurge on premium milk. Another reason might be to avoid commonly added ingredients like thickeners and stabilizers. You might also want a specialized yogurt that's hard or impossible to get commercially -- a yogurt with even richer taste, or with lactose more heavily reduced, or with greatly strengthened probiotics. Why not make your own? There are good reasons here too. Most home recipes are exacting and time-consuming. And in the end, you may wind up with a product you like less than commercial yogurt, with little or no added health benefit. I stopped making my own yogurt for years, because it didn't seem worth the effort. Eventually, though, my experiments convinced me otherwise -- and led me to write this book. Here I hope to put to rest your reasons against and strengthen your reasons for, while also exploring possibilities that might be entirely new to you.

France's Community of the Ark is one of the past century's most successful experiments in utopian living. Founded by Lanza del Vasto, a Christian disciple of Mahatma Gandhi, it offers an inspiring model for a nonviolent society. Mark Shepard shared the life of this remarkable community for six weeks in 1979 and reported on what he found. ///////////////////////////////////////////////// Mark Shepard is the author of "Mahatma Gandhi and His Myths," "The Community of the Ark," and "Gandhi Today," called by the American Library Association's Booklist "a masterpiece of committed reporting." His writings on social alternatives have appeared in over 30 publications in the United States, Canada, England, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan, and India. ///////////////////////////////////////////////// "A joy to read." -- Ray Olson, American Library Association Booklist, Sept. 1, 1989 "Will be welcomed by many. . . . Highly informative and full of little-known information." -- Harmony, Sept.-Oct 1989 "Shepard is able to transform the community and its members from mere images or abstractions into real individuals with both their [virtues] and their defects. Anyone interested in the history of contemporary communities will profit from Shepard's keen observations." -- Andre J. M. Prevos, Utopian Studies "Shepard makes the community come alive." -- PRC Newsletter, Spring 1990 ///////////////////////////////////////////////// SAMPLE Palm Sunday. The bell in the tower tolls, first weakly, but quickly building up strength to a full-bodied tone -- then stops abruptly. When I reach the courtyard of the main building, there are already people there, talking in small groups -- people from La Borie Noble, from the Ark's other villages, and guests from the local area; others are still on their way on the paths from La Flayssiere and Nogaret. The people of the Ark wear their festival clothes, handmade all from white wool: the men with their heavy sweaters and pants, the women with their long dresses, and many of both with hooded cloaks down to their feet. The children rush around among the adults, then after a while pass out boughs for the adults to hold. The sun shines brightly, though the air hanging between the tree-covered mountain slopes is still icy-cold. Now all gather in a circle, each one holding a bough. Soon the singing begins: a hundred voices raised in stately, full harmonies. Hallelujah! Glory to God in the highest heaven And peace on earth to men of good will. In the music, in the entire scene, the ancient and the modern seem to blend, giving a sense of timelessness. It is as if this could take place anywhere, in any time -- while it is surprising to find it at all.

NO STARTER -- NO WASTE -- NO CHEAT -- NO FAIL 100% NATURALLY FERMENTED BREAD IN JUST 24 HOURS WITH YOUR HOME PROOFER, INSTANT POT, SLOW COOKER, SOUS VIDE COOKER, OR OTHER WARMER There's sourdough, and then there's SMART sourdough -- a whole new approach to an ancient bread! Most sourdough recipes lead you through days or even weeks of developing a starter before you can make your bread -- and then into a lifetime of maintaining that starter. But this book is based on the belief that all that rigmarole is no longer needed. With modern methods of regulating temperature, and with the easy availability of baker's yeast, honest-to-goodness naturally fermented sourdough bread can be made from start to finish in less than a day. With all the benefits of naturally fermented sourdough, it's only the hassle of making it that has discouraged home bakers. Well, hassle no more. The age of smart sourdough has arrived. ///////////////////////////////////////////////// Mark Shepard began baking his own sourdough bread in 1979 and went on to publish the bestselling booklet "Simple Sourdough." In 2012, he began developing a sourdough method that's even simpler and more reliable -- one that could be used by anyone, with no fear of failure. Mark now lives in Bellingham, Washington, with his wife and fellow author, Anne L. Watson. ///////////////////////////////////////////////// "A guidebook that introduces a quicker, easier, and more modern method for creating homemade sourdough bread . . . His straightforward strategy is particularly notable in that it takes less than a day and doesn't use a starter. The author provides useful chapters spotlighting how bakers can customize dough formation and taste variations based on loaf size, sourness level, and flavor diversifications; methods for rye, buckwheat, tomato basil, chocolate cherry, and other loaves are included, as well as sections on bread bowls, pizza crusts, and pancakes . . . Generously illustrated with charts, illustrations, and photographs. Overall, Shepard's book will encourage home bakers of any skill level to embark on a new, quicker, and easier way to make their own bread . . . A splendid and novel approach that takes the mystery out of a formerly time-consuming process." -- Kirkus Reviews, April 22, 2022 "A fresh new look at making your own sourdough . . . I love Mark's attention to detail. No matter your setup, tools, or needs, he's got you covered . . . I questioned his use of a pinch or two of baker's yeast, but his research and experiments have me sold. His recipes combine the advantages of cultivated yeast and naturally occurring sourdough bacteria to make bread that actually rises and doesn't take days to make."—Holly Howe, author of "Fermentation Made Easy! Mouthwatering Sauerkraut" “Mark Shepard shares how to make sourdough bread, with its characteristic flavor and health benefits, without maintaining a long-term starter. It’s relevant to anyone looking to save time in the kitchen, learn a new technique, or just read a very detailed and interesting book on sourdough.”—Emily Buehler, author of “Bread Science: The Chemistry and Craft of Making Bread”

"All my actions have their source in my inalienable love of humankind." -- Gandhi Mahatma Gandhi is one of the least understood figures of all time -- even among his admirers. In this Annual Gandhi Lecture for the International Association of Gandhian Studies, Mark Shepard tackles some persistently wrong-headed views of Gandhi, offering us a more accurate picture of the man and his nonviolence. //////////////////////////////////////////////// "A model of Gandhian journalism. . . . [Shepard] has put his finger on seemingly all of the popular (and some less common) misconceptions of both Gandhi and his philosophy, including some particularly important ones. . . . This book takes little space to cover its topic concisely and well. It would be [some] of the most valuable pages many people could read about Gandhi." -- Global Conscience, July-Sept. 1990 //////////////////////////////////////////////// Mark Shepard is the author of "Mahatma Gandhi and His Myths," "The Community of the Ark," and "Gandhi Today," called by the American Library Association's Booklist "a masterpiece of committed reporting." His writings on social alternatives have appeared in over 30 publications in the United States, Canada, England, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan, and India. //////////////////////////////////////////////// SAMPLE I suspect that most of the myths and misconceptions surrounding Gandhi have to do with nonviolence. For instance, it's surprising how many people still have the idea that nonviolent action is passive. It's important for us to be clear about this: There is nothing passive about Gandhian nonviolent action. I'm afraid Gandhi himself helped create this confusion by referring to his method at first as "passive resistance," because it was in some ways like techniques bearing that label. But he soon changed his mind and rejected the term. Gandhi's nonviolent action was not an evasive strategy nor a defensive one. Gandhi was always on the offensive. He believed in confronting his opponents aggressively, in such a way that they could not avoid dealing with him. But wasn't Gandhi's nonviolent action designed to avoid violence? Yes and no. Gandhi steadfastly avoided violence toward his opponents. He did not avoid violence toward himself or his followers. Gandhi said that the nonviolent activist, like any soldier, had to be ready to die for the cause. And in fact, during India's struggle for independence, hundreds of Indians were killed by the British. The difference was that the nonviolent activist, while willing to die, was never willing to kill. Gandhi pointed out three possible responses to oppression and injustice. One he described as the coward's way: to accept the wrong or run away from it. The second option was to stand and fight by force of arms. Gandhi said this was better than acceptance or running away. But the third way, he said, was best of all and required the most courage: to stand and fight solely by nonviolent means.

What became of the Gandhian tradition in India following the death of Mahatma Gandhi? Did it quietly die away? Or were there still Indians who believed in his philosophy and methods, committed to continuing his work? These were the questions that sent independent journalist Mark Shepard to India in 1978–79. There he found that the tradition begun by Gandhi was very much alive, in such individuals, groups, and movements as: -- An acclaimed saint who collected over four million acres in gifts of land for the poor. -- A leader of a nationwide protest movement that helped topple India's ruling party in the mid-1970s. -- A Peace Army that fought riots with nonviolence. -- A "Hug the Trees!" movement that physically blocked excessive logging in the Himalayas. -- A People's Court that even tried cases of murder and government corruption. -- A development center helping 400 villages rise from poverty. -- A nationwide movement of villages in which all land was held in common and decisions were made by unanimous consent. Learn about all these and more in this engaging report on the legacy of the twentieth century's greatest peacemaker and revolutionary. ///////////////////////////////////////////////// Mark Shepard is the author of "Mahatma Gandhi and His Myths," "The Community of the Ark," and "Gandhi Today," called by the American Library Association's Booklist "a masterpiece of committed reporting." His writings on social alternatives have appeared in over 30 publications in the United States, Canada, England, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan, and India. ///////////////////////////////////////////////// "A masterpiece of committed reporting. . . . History that needs to be better known, told in clear, compelling, common language." -- American Library Association Booklist, Feb. 1, 1987 (starred review) "Shepard has done a marvelous job describing individuals and groups keeping the spirit of Gandhi alive in India and throughout the world. His book presents living proof the ideals of the Mahatma will never die." -- Cesar Chavez, founder and President, United Farm Workers of America "This lively book fills a critical gap in our understanding of Gandhi's way. . . . A source of hope and inspiration." -- Joanna Macy, author/activist "A remarkable job of introducing the contemporary Gandhian movement -- readable, honest, challenging." -- Jim Forest, General Secretary, International Fellowship of Reconciliation "A fascinating study. . . . As useful as it is encouraging." -- Michael Nagler, founder, Peace and Conflict Studies Program, University of California at Berkeley, and author, America Without Violence "A fast-moving account of a living tradition. . . . Full of good ideas for peacemakers." -- Virginia Baron, Editor, Fellowship "The author is a committed partisan of Gandhian thought and methods, but he is also a reporter who makes a case that Gandhi is an important figure who keeps on marching. . . . Among [the successful experiments he visited] are some remarkable ones." -- United Press International (UPI), Jan. 18, 1988 "Highly recommended. . . . Will provide encouragement and inspiration to those working for a better world." -- Peace Magazine (Canada), Dec. 1987-Jan. 1988 "Finally there is a small, readable book on the Gandhian legacy. . . . Encouraging and positive." -- Thomas Weber, Legal Studies, La Trobe University (Australia) "May prove to be the most important book of 1987." -- Green Letter, Spring 1987