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Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series) by: Steve Solomon List Price: $19.95 City Travel Guides Price: $13.57 You Save: $6.38 (32%)Prices subject to change. |
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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 635 EAN: 9780865715530 ISBN: 086571553X Label: New Society Publishers Manufacturer: New Society Publishers Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 360 Publication Date: April 01, 2006 Publisher: New Society Publishers Studio: New Society Publishers Sales Rank: 2750 Related Items:
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Editorial Review: Product Description: 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. Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Self obsessed author who talks down to his readersI would give this book zero stars if I could. I am so surprised this book has such high ratings. First, the author can not stop himself from talking down to his readers, and making himself appear as he is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Half the book is about how great he is and how "Everybody Else" is stupid and worthless. This is the most negative book on gardening I have ever read. I do not recommend this book at all. Rating:  - The only gardening book you needI've read so many gardening books, but this is the only one you really need. It is full of useful information you'll never see anywhere else. However, much of the important information is buried in the narrative and is not easy to find again, so mark those pages as you read. Rating: - Good Info. Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)Good information. Easy to read. Glad I purchased this book Rating:  - Beginner's organic gardening bookI bought this book because of the title "Growing Food in Hard Times" when I was obsessed with peak oil. The author discusses hard times very briefly and the main part of the book is low intensive organic gardening. My gardens before I got this book were pathetic low yield failures, except for tomatoes. I used only transplants and did nothing to the soil. Once I got the book I learned about complete organic fertilizer, seed planting and planting times, DIY transplants, vegetable descriptions, and a whole lot of other bits of useful information. Half of the growing season is over and I am up to my ears in beets, sweet snap peas, carrots, kohlrabi and cucumbers all planted by seed. Each of these vegetables is much better tasting ... Read More: Rating: - Just what I needed!Only a few pages into this book I realized I needed to read it before continuing with my gardening plans. I am thrilled to have the good solid advice. For me, I treasured the relearning of the things my father taught me so many years ago. Digging the garden, fertilizing the soil, using coffee grounds and how to weed were only vague memories which had been over-written by today's easy methods and equipment. Steve Solomon's words brought all the old learning back to my mind and provided so much more. I can't thank him enough and I highly recommend this book. The advice, techniques and subjects covered are of special importance for anyone interested in insuring their food source is available and safe. |
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