Gardening
- Apauled: Gardening
Books
- Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)
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.
- I am a gardener and I read books and magazines in addition to my hands on efforts. This book has made me think about the way I have been gardening and the complications that I have put on my efforts. This is a much more simple way to do things and I have learned so much about larger spaces, the effort levels of fruits and vegetables, simple tool use and care and water resources.
Excellent book. Although I bought it for myself, I had to get it away from my husband. - All New Square Foot Gardening
Do you know what the best feature is in All New Square Foot Gardening?
Sure, there are ten new features in this all-new, updated book. Sure, it's even simpler than it was before. Of course, you don't have to worry about fertilizer or poor soil ever again because you'll be growing above the ground.
But, the best feature is that anyone, anywhere can enjoy a Square Foot garden. Children, adults with limited mobility, even complete novices can achieve spectacular results.
But, let's get back to the ten improvements. You're going to love them.1) New Location - Move your garden closer to your house by eliminating single-row gardening. Square Foot Garden needs just twenty percent of the space of a traditional garden.
2) New Direction - Locate your garden on top of existing soil. Forget about pH soil tests, double-digging (who enjoys that?), or the never-ending soil improvements.
3) New Soil - The new "Mel's Mix" is the perfect growing mix. Why, we even give you the recipe. Best of all, you can even buy the different types of compost needed.
4) New Depth - You only need to prepare a SFG box to a depth of 6 inches! It's true--the majority of plants develop just fine when grown at this depth.
5) No Fertilizer - The all new SFG does not need any fertilizer-ever! If you start with the perfect soil mix, then you don't need to add fertilizer.
6) New Boxes - The new method uses bottomless boxes placed aboveground. We show you how to build your own (with step-by-step photos).
7) New Aisles - The ideal gardening aisle width is about three to four feet. That makes it even easier to kneel, work, and harvest.
8) New Grids - Prominent and permanent grids added to your SFG box help you visualize the planting squares and know how to space for maximum harvest.
9) New Seed Saving Idea - The old-fashioned way advocates planting many seeds and then thinning the extras (that means pulling them up). The new method means planting a pinch- literally two or three seeds--per planting hole.
10) Tabletop Gardens - The new boxes are so much smaller and lighter (only 6 inches of soil, remember?), you can add a plywood bottom to make them portable.
Of course, that's not all. We've also included simple, easy-to-follow instructions using lots of photos and illustrations. You're going to love it!
- I got this book from the library and loved it and could only find it on Amazon. I intend to follow the system in my new vege garden
- The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control: A Complete Problem-Solving Guide to Keeping Your Garden and Yard Healthy Without Chemicals
- End your worries about garden problems with safe, effective solutions from The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control!* Easy-to-use problem-solving encyclopedia covers more than 200 vegetables, fruits, herbs, flowers, trees, and shrubs* Complete directions on how, when, and where to use preventive methods, insect traps and barriers, biocontrols, homemade remedies, botanical insecticides, and more* More than 350 color photos for quick identification of insect pests, beneficial insects, and plant diseasesNewly revised with the latest, safest organic controls.A New York Times Best Gardening Book
- As a Master Gardener, I get a lot of questions about insects and plant diseases in the home/backyard setting. Unfortunately, bugs have always been my weakest knowledge area, so it used to take me forever to figure out just who the culprit was and the damage it could inflict. This book has been invaluable in providing excellent pictures so that I can quickly identify the critter in question, and understandable text to know what, if anything, to do next. I highly recommend this book for novices as well as accomplished bug people.
- Square Foot Gardening: A New Way to Garden in Less Space with Less Work
- One of the bestselling garden books ever is fresher than ever! Ready to inspire a whole new generation of gardeners.When he created the "square foot gardening" method, Mel Bartholomew, a retired engineer and efficiency expert, found the solution to the frustrations of most gardeners. His revolutionary system is simple: it's an ingenious planting method based on using square foot blocks of garden space instead of rows. Gardeners build up, not down, so there's no digging and no tilling after the first year. And the method requires less thinning, less weeding, and less watering."I found a better way to garden, one that's more efficient, more manageable, and requires less work," Bartholomew explains. Not surprisingly, his method quickly received worldwide recognition and has been written up in every major newspaper and gardening magazine. His book, which served as the companion to the nationally acclaimed television series, has sold over 800,000 copies. Now freshened with new illustrations, the book Ingram calls "the largest selling garden book in America" is reissued for the delight of a whole new generation of gardeners.
- I liked the idea of a well-planned garden and this book had it all. I set my 10X15 foot garden up according to the illustrations and made tomato trellises using metal posts and wire. I have to say that by the end of the season there was a lot of die-off from fungus. Frankly, 1 foot square is not enough room for the average tomato plant, even on its nifty trellis. My melons and zucchini caught the fungus, too. I'd recommend using this book as a guide and spacing the plants further apart. It did keep everything neat and easier to weed. Overall good system.
- Lasagna Gardening: A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens: No Digging, No Tilling, No Weeding, No Kidding!
- A gardening system that works-- so you don't have to!
Turn in your tiller for a stack of old newspapers! Replace your shovel with a layer of grass clippings! Let Pat Lanza show you how you can create lush, successful, easy-care gardens in practically any location without hours of backbreaking digging or noisy tilling.
* Practical, first-person advice from an experienced gardener
* Great ideas to let you spend more time enjoying your gardens and less time working in them
* Specific "lasagna" techniques for the most popular vegetables, flowers, herbs, fruits, and more - I love this book. Very informative, interesting and easy to read. I bought my friend one and he has bought his friends and family five more. This is another great Amazon experience.
Items for Gardening
- $50 Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Longhorn Gift Card
- Current Price: $47.09
- New Yard Or Garden 2 Tug Of War 8" Frogs With Rope!!!
- Current Price: $19.99
- Nwt Garden John Deere Yard Work Grip Utility Gloves L
- Current Price: $9.99
- Aerogarden Aero Garden Original Classic W/ Seed Kit
- Current Price: $129.95
- Crafts To Make & Sell (2000) Better Homes & Gardens
- Current Price: $11.50
- Stupid Politicians Large Garden Flag 28x40 *flawed*
- Current Price: $5.99
- 12pcs Malibu Outdoor Landscape Garden Bulb 12v 7w
- Current Price: $10.90
- The Original Knitowl Cute Garden Slug In Custom Color
- Current Price: $14.00
- 2 Cemetery Plots In Memory Hill Gardens, Memphis, Tn
- Current Price: $305.00
- Turquoise Gold Fleck Lampwork Glass Rose Garden Beads
- Current Price: $9.99
Questions and Answers
- Question:
- Gardening............?
Plz Give me important tips.....some necessary points which must be taken care of while gardening!!!! Early thanks to all.........! thnx all for ur kind suggestions..these might help me in my gardening process....!!! Thanks M A N for taking the pain of searching a related website..thnks again! - Answer:
- hi senn started gardening hmmmmmmmm............ anyways i don hav much knowldge abt gardening all i knw is that water them regularly n haan make sure that u don spray harmful insecticides on them take gud care of them..
- Question:
- GaRDENING>>>>>>>?
My fiance and I recently moved into our first home. Our grass has finally begun to come up and we were wondering about some ideas on what to plant. We both have full time jobs and not alot of time to work in the garden. Any suggestions? (I really like my yard to be colorful). And if you do have suggestions, could you please give me a step-by-step run-down of how to plant and take care of them? - Answer:
- I just brought a butterfly mat. It has about 500 seeds in it and it comes complete all you need to do is put it 3/4" in soil(they recommend one with fertilizer already in it) saturate the mat with water, put an 8th of an inch of dirt over it cover it completely and wait for it to grow. It says the flowers will grow in about 2 weeks but no weeding for 3to4 weeks. The flowers will be all different types and very colorful (butterfly's like these flowers so they will attract them) Some of the flower are Zinnia eklegans, Tagetes erecta, cornflowers, cosmos bipinnatus, and plains coreopis. They all are colorful and either annuals, biennial or perennials. I just planted mine today.
- Question:
- Is gardening with tires bad for the environment?
I have read many articles that suggest using old tires for container gardening. My father is considering making a vegetable garden out of tires. Does the tire pollute the soil and there fore the vegetables? I it is bad to burn tires.. Should I be concerned about the quality of the vegetables? Have you seen any scientific evidence about this topic? Or environmental tests? - Answer:
- If you already have the tires - I say use 'em. Don't burn them, however. I can't imagine there is any concern about the quality of the veggies since what that really depends on is the soil you put them in and how you fertilize etc. They make rubber mulch these days - probably from old tires... One critter warning - if you are not going to turn the tires inside out to eliminate the ridges, or if you are going to "store" tires, I would give you a caveat about mosquitoes who LOVE to breed in the little bit of water that usually sits in those ridges. Make sure the tires are packed tight with soil. If you don't have tires already, I don't see an advantage to this method over any other raised bed method. There are lots of unanswered questions that would help determine what the best garden situation is for you : Do you want raised beds because you have trouble up and down? If that is the case, build a box (make the bottom out of screening and landscape fabric so water will flow through) and set it on top of some table legs or horses. Or is it because you only have a little bit of space? Container gardening is easily done with vegetables. See the book Movable Harvest for really great ideas. You can use pretty much anything you can put a drainage hole in (provided it didn't have chemicals in it first!). Personally, I think anytime you are recycling something for a good use it is worthwhile - but for the love of God - PLEASE don't buy new tires to try this project out! Just in case you DO have a bunch of tires laying around, I attached a link to a site that has many ideas for using them up in the garden. Good luck to you and your dad!