In their myriad forms, fields are the one of the most familiar and well-tended parts of the countryside and have been so for millennia. They are places in which we work and play, tranquil spaces to be explored or simply admired from afar. The text combines many aspects, including history, natural history, folklore, food, and armchair travel. It also includes practical features on subjects such as collecting and drying wild herbs, a well as identification guides to help readers spot different types of flora and fauna.
Contents include the following: Introduction - what is a field and different field types and definitions; Field Forbears - birth of agriculture, the first domestic crops, the first fields - how to sow seeds; Shaping the Landscape - rice paddies and terracing, open fields and strip farming, hedgerows, and water meadows - how to build a dry stone wall and how to plant a hedge; Brave New World - New World fields, such as prairies, outback, veldt, pampas - how claims were staked and slashing and burning fields; and, Field Flora - a global guide to plants found in fields - Darwin's Meadow, grass as the world's carpet, grains, wildflowers and herbs, mushrooms and other fungi - how to press flowers and the backyard meadow.
This title also includes following contents: Field Fauna - a global guide to the creatures great and small that share the field - cattle, flying things, bugs, beasts - the importance of grazing and beginner's guide to sheep-shearing; Tools and Technology - a look at the devices we've invented to assist in tending our fields, from the plow, to hand tools, to tractors, and mechanical harvesters - how to use a hoe and how to plow a field; Nature's Bounty - guide to the myriad field plants that sustain us, from grains to herbs, fruits, and berries - how to dry herbs and what plants to avoid; and, Field Folklore - fields create a barrier between the true wilderness and where we live - every region has its own collection of tales, legends, and folklore that revolve around fields, herbal remedies, weather lore, fairy rings, and superstitions.
