Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times

allenwrench · Intermediate Crude Joined: Apr 23, 2008 Posts: 893

Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times by Steve Solomon is a book that
I'm just starting to read. Seems like a timely work as we transition to a post carbon world.

http://www.amazon.com/Gardening-When-Counts-Growing-Mother/dp/086571553X

Here are some photos of Steve's garden

http://www.soilandhealth.org/05steve%27sfolder/05aboutmeindex.html

FireJack · Heavy Crude Joined: Mar 16, 2005 Posts: 456

This is the book I'm following this summer. Seems to be pretty sound advice and from a guy who does it himself.

SpringCreekFarm · Intermediate Crude Joined: Mar 03, 2006 Posts: 925

I find it exciting to hear about all the people that are taking an interest in gardening lately.

Just a year ago some of these people would not dream of gardening simply because they did not see it as economically viable. Maybe now it does.

Better late then never!

If more and more people get into it. It gives me more confidence that the seed companies will continue to grow and we'll always have good quality seed available, which has always been a concern of mine.

Fishman

Very interesting book, it contrasts to "How To Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible" which recommends irrigating daily. I like his ideas of using "fertilizer" where ever you find it, like using roadkill. Solomon also has a short booklet thats good also.

joeltrout · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Sep 19, 2007 Posts: 1317

I saw a report on CNBC this morning before work talking about how many people are beginning to grow a garden because of rising food costs.

They interviewed a couple of seed producers and they said their seed sales were going to grow by at least 100% this year. They attributed the growth to urban gardens rather than large corporate farms.

They even ran some of the old victory garden ads. It was a good segment if you caught it.

joeltrout

IanC

I, too, am excited about gardening really taking off as a personal and community endeavor. The problem is, of course, the lack of land, especially in the city, for everyone to have a garden. We have a nice back yard in the middle of Portland and it is hardly enough to supply us with more than supplementation to our diets.

I'm jealous of Stephen and Annie's big garden space.

I'm a little fearful of all my neighbors in apartments who won't have the option to grow food even if they wanted to.

-IanC

allenwrench · Intermediate Crude Joined: Apr 23, 2008 Posts: 893

allenwrench · Intermediate Crude Joined: Apr 23, 2008 Posts: 893

TnAndy · Heavy Crude Joined: Aug 31, 2005 Posts: 100

Been gardening like it counts for many years now. This is last year's.....have to keep the things deer eat inside a tall fenced area or I don't get any. Fruit trees on the upper side, and strawberries in raised beds you can just see the edge of in the pic.

Ludi

Lookin' good, TNAndy! Smile

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alokin · Intermediate Crude Joined: Aug 24, 2007 Posts: 872

I had the book from our library. I didn't like it too much, but I found the title very interesting. I didn't like the bad humored tone the guy wrote.
The writer lives im Tasmania were it's very cold and I think what he writes does not apply to warmer or tropical climates. He writes against mulching and I think that without mulch the plants would simply die in summer.
The good aspect is that he tries not to buy material and I think in PO times it will be quite a problem getting all this sugar cane mulch as it must be transported.

strider3700

Tucker · Tar Sands Joined: Jan 29, 2008 Posts: 61 Location: Orygun

alokin · Intermediate Crude Joined: Aug 24, 2007 Posts: 872

we're in SE Queensland and I do a different gardening in summer than in winter. In winter I sow directly and mulch only some things when the plants are bigger or beans which can grow through the mulch. In summer it's necessary the evaporation rate is too high.