At last I’ve finished the proof-reading! It took me two whole weeks at about 3 hours a day. The design people at New Society Publishers sent me a layout of the pages with text, drawings and photos. Another step closer!
We’ve had to downsize to one eight-page section of color photos rather than two, because of the extra length of the text, which I talked about in my last update. This big book is going to be great value for money! As I said last time, people buying the electronic version will still get the “deleted scenes” and people buying the print version will get a link where they can read what we couldn’t print (so to speak!).
I also rounded up and sent in eleven more lovely drawings as chapter headers for the crop chapters which didn’t yet have one.
I’m working on collecting up more photos to use in some of the spaces at the ends of chapters, where they finish high up the page. When NSP sends me the pdf of the color photo section I’ll know which photos from my collection haven’t been used yet.
This weekend I’m off to the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association Conference, where I’m presenting a workshop on growing great garlic. I’ve been slaving away over my powerpoint presentation, and tomorrow I’ll make some handouts. I’ll be taking postcards and fliers to distribute too.
I’ve been working really hard lately, and I’m looking forward to going to some of the workshops other people are presenting, and learning form them. Ag conferences are wonderful for re-vitalizing tired farmers like me!
Various kind and knowledgeable gardeners, researchers and teachers of organic gardening and farming are reading the electronic draft of my book in preparation for writing something honest and hopefully encouraging about my book, and Lynn Byczynski, the editor of Growing for Market, is writing the foreword.
I’m still working on making lists of magazines, websites and organizations that are a good match with my book, and good places to put reviews or advertisements.
I’ve got several more powerpoint presentations to prepare for. I’ll be at Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Conference in January presenting parts of three workshops. One on my own on Producing Asian Greens for Market; one co-taught with Edwin Marty of the Hampstead Institute, Alabama on Intensive Production on a Small Scale; and as part of a panel on Integrating Organic Seed Production into Your Diversified Farm: Is it Right for You?
Then at the Virginia Biofarming Conference in Richmond, Virginia on February 8-9, I’m giving a workshop on Crop Rotations for Vegetables and Cover Crops.
I’m negotiating a possible March booking too.
Meanwhile, I’m writing another article for Growing for Market magazine, for the two-month issue coming out in December. And I’ve got my ideas for my January article already lined up.
The book will get printed in late November and December and the publication date is February 1, 2013. I’m excited!
I much appreciate your articles in GFM. Growing food for a hundred people is a REAL accomplishment. Thanks for the tip on Tyee spinach. It’s better. I’m looking forward to your book. There is so much info out there these days but so little good food. Keep up the good work and thank you for it.