Keeping a great garden is a year-round job. From planning during the winter months to planting in the spring and finally harvesting during the summer, there’s always work to be done. The Mother Earth News Premium Issue: Guide to Starting a Garden is full of helpful information for your garden to thrive during each season.

Sometimes, it can seem like projects on the homestead never end. From taking care of animals to fixing farm equipment, you never know what might pop up next. But with the projects found in Mother Earth News Premium: Homestead DIY Projects, 4th Edition, you’ll be prepared to handle whatever comes your way … and you’ll even have a little fun with it!

Create a backyard oasis by repurposing wood pallets into furniture; learn how to grow more food by building your own hoop house; feed your animals by making your own hay; and give your land a little spunk by adding a classic homestead outhouse or a unique cob cabin. From the inside of your house to the outside, the projects packed into this special issue will keep your homestead looking good and running smoothly.

Other articles include:

• Do-It-Yourself Porch Swing: Everyone needs a comfy spot to relax and sip some iced tea, and this plan works even if you don’t have a porch.
• Zero-Waste Living: Find more than 20 easy, economical ideas to minimize or eliminate landfill-bound trash in every room of your home.
• Fall Garden Medicine Chest: Harvest and preserve these six multipurpose plants now for maximum wintertime health.
• And more!

This premium issue of Mother Earth News will give you all the know-how to grow your own quick and simple organic garden! With over 100 pages of content, this guide will give you everything you need to know start to finish. Starting with a guide for beginners, the guide will take you through thorough instructions for maintaining your garden naturally, and even teach you how to store the end product. Get all the knowledge with articles including:

• Maintain a Weedless Organic Garden
• Build Better Soil with Free Organic Fertilizer
• Poultry: Secret Weapon for Organic Pest Control
• Expert Tips for Growing Early Tomatoes
• How to Store Fresh Vegetables
• Grow Great Salads Year Round
• DIY Greenhouse for Winter Growing
• And more!

Whether you’re looking to begin the process from scratch or you’re an experienced gardener looking for more hacks and tips, this guide will give you all the knowledge to be a successful, natural, organic home gardener!

The Mother Earth News Premium Issue: Super Herbs will prove the usefulness of herbs whether you’re using them in your kitchen or stocking the medicine cabinet. With articles written by experts such as Jessi Bloom, Maria Noël Groves, Stephanie Tourles, and more, this collection offers valuable information on every page.

Spring, summer, fall, winter! This regional guide is loaded with expert-recommended techniques as well as crop varieties so that you can break through seasonal barriers in your climate and eat from your own garden all year. Plus: • Grow Shiitake Mushrooms • Smoky Barbecued Onions • 5 Delicious Wild Greens • Craft Backyard Apple Cider • Winter Soups from the Cellar • Savory and Satisfying Venison

Mother Earth News has released a special double issue, The Best of Mother Earth News Collector Series! This new collector series is 192 pages of expertly written articles covering building and DIY projects, real food and cooking, gardening, homesteading, raising livestock, and natural health. The guide is filled from cover to cover with beautiful color photographs, detailed step-by-step illustrations for building projects, valuable resources, easy-to-follow recipes, and more.

Learn how you can turn that unused grain bin into a perfect house, backyard retreat, storage shed, and more. With the easy-to-follow, step-by-step directions inside this special guide, you can build a fire pit or assemble a clay-pot smoker in just one weekend. If you are a good baker and have the right kitchen setup, look into starting your own food business with the expert advice found here! Discover how vertical gardening techniques can maximum your vegetable returns by producing bigger, better cukes, beans, tomatoes, and cantaloupes. Read how to raise livestock on your homestead; the article inside this guide contains information and advice on housing, feeding, and slaughtering pigs. Ready your yard for spring and summer by discovering which naturally mosquito-repellent plants and homemade mosquito traps will help you have a less buggy summer.

Other articles include:

• Build a Basement Root Cellar – While a spare refrigerator may work in a pinch, a real root cellar is better and even more spacious for preserving foods.
• Drying Herbs: Easier Than You Think – You’ll never buy dried herbs again after you try one or more of these six methods for drying your own herbs at home.
• How to Raise Honey bees – If the draw of fresh honey has given you bees on the brain, learn how to raise honey bees for excitement and sweetness for years to come. Become a beekeeper for fun and profit.
• Start a Self-Sufficient, 1-Acre Homestead – Live off the land with these strategies for establishing self-sufficient food production, including tips on crop rotations and raising livestock.
• Fish Farming – It’s a lot like vegetable gardening, only wetter.
• Make Your Own Homemade Soap – Follow along as we make decorative bars of soap using herbs and flowers. Use these simple steps to create beautiful works of art for your home or for gifts.

The Winter 2015 edition of The Best of Mother Earth News includes more than 25 articles that cover a range of topics from food and cooking to organic gardening, from beekeeping to renewable energy. With more than 100 pages, this is the ultimate self-sufficient guide for any modern homesteader.