Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)

Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series) Features

Additional Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series) Information

The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.

Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. Gardening When It Counts helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.

Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies — working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.

Steve Solomon is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades which has appeared in five editions.

What Customers Say About Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series):

The difference between knowledge and informationThis is one of those rare books that combines the information and the wisdom you will need to use it. I followed Steve advise to the letter and am currently growing massive tomatoes on a bed I water once a week only if it doesn't rain.And yes it get mighty hot here.I liked his "Grandfatherly" style and I recommend the book to gardeners of any level.but especially urban gardeners who every year make a definite economic loss on their veggie patch.

One reviewer wanted a dot point guide. He runs the Soil and Health library (well worth looking at and donating towards), is a horticulturalist and has practiced every thing he preaches (for or against) over many years in different environments. He covers small details and large and explains the reasons for everything. Steve's book provides a extensive guide to establishing a garden, and possibly small farm if you have space, on which to provide supplemental food or even a complete diet. I have many gardening books, but with Steve's I could probably throw most of them out. This book also provides valuable meat-on-the-bones for those interested in ideas such as permaculture. I believe Steve really knows his material. I do not find his style grand-fatherly or condescending at all (like one reviewer), just matter of fact.

I have no hesitation recommending this book to any serious vegetable grower (urban or small acreage) as well as to those interested in establishing/running community gardens and recycling schemes etc. I think producing dot points oneself would be a good exercise as there is a lot of knowledge in this book and it is all worth spending time understanding and absorbing. In fact, I do use the others, but just for occasional reference items. Steve clearly identifies when you should do more reading, and I am sure following his suggested references would save many wasted book purchases and hours reading. Personally I like the explanations of why you should do things the way he suggests (based on his mistakes and experience). I often re-read sections over, but I would not want them written any other way. He emphasises the environmental effects of many of the possible decisions you may make. In summary: with this book you jump-start your vegetable growing by gaining access to years of practical experience, study and trial-and-error learning.

Great Service. Book wanders. Seems like the author lost track of what he wanted to talk about. Not actually on the title topic.

Despite the naysayers whining about Mr. Solomon's condescending tone and lack of compost expertise, I found his information to be amazingly practical and useful.

This is overall a fair to good gardening manual, and it presents a different viewpoint, which makes you think.But., it's not a survival type gardening manual, so I think that its title is not accurate.