Are you facing drought or water shortages? Gardening with Less Water offers simple, inexpensive, low-tech techniques for watering your garden much more efficiently — using up to 90 percent less water for the same results. With illustrated step-by-step instructions, David Bainbridge shows you how to install buried clay pots and pipes, wicking systems, and other porous containers that deliver water directly to a plant’s roots with little to no evaporation. These systems are available at hardware stores and garden centers; are easy to set up and use; and work for garden beds, container gardens, and trees.
Huw Richards set himself a challenge - to grow his own fruit and veg for free for a year. He succeeded and now wants to help you do the same. Can't afford a raised bed? Try repurposing an old wooden pallet. Don't want to spend money on buying plants? Look in the fridge and your kitchen cupboards for food that you can plant. Need a particular tool? Barter or borrow from a neighbor. Don't have a garden? See if someone in your area has an untended patch you can turn into a well-loved veg plot. Huw's Grow Food for Free has the inspiration and practical advice you need to start, grow, love, propagate and harvest your own fruit and veg organically and at zero-cost. This is real sustainability!
If you want to grow healthy vegetables at home, but have hesitated because it seems too hard and time consuming, Organic Gardening for Everyone is your perfect hands-on guide—an “if I can do it, you can do it” case study that addresses your concerns and gets you started. Loaded with practical advice and step-by-step guidance, Organic Gardening for Everyone takes a very personal and friendly approach to a subject that can be intimidating. It is a first-class primer on organic vegetable gardening, and an inspirational story about how anyone can balance the rigors of gardening with the demands of a modern, family-oriented lifestyle. In 2012, a California mom decided to start an organic vegetable garden. But she went about it in an unusual way: she crowdsourced it by launching a YouTube channel under the name "CaliKim" and asking for help. And then she started planting. As questions came up, she turned to her viewers and subscribers and they replied with answers and advice. As she learned, her garden grew successfully—even in the hot, harsh California climate. Her expertise also grew, and now she answers many more questions than she asks and has become a very accomplished home gardener. And CaliKim has a great story to tell: growing healthy organic vegetables for your family is not difficult, even for today’s time-challenged lifestyles. She provides complete step-by-step information on growing the most popular edibles organically, and also gives sound advice on how to take on the challenges of balancing a hectic lifestyle with successful growing—and how to involve the whole family in the process. You'll be rewarded for your effort every time you place a plate of natural, organic vegetables on the family dinner table knowing exactly what they are, what is in them, and where they came from.
Master organic vegetable gardening in 4 different low-water conditions—including high and low desert, drought, and voluntary water conservation. Features over 100 photos, maps, and diagrams—perfect for vegetable gardeners in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and more! Dedicated home gardeners will discover how to grow delicious produce in dry times with this authoritative full-color handbook. Using modern techniques, as well as tips from native traditions ranging from the southwestern United States to the Middle East, this guide offers the best of ancient wisdom and the newest innovations in conservation. Inside you’ll find over 100 color photos, maps, and diagrams, plus expert information on: • Gardening in high and low desert, drought conditions, and for voluntary water conservation • How to assess your site and climate modification • Water-wise gardening methods: in-ground, container, and raised bed gardening • Soil science, proper watering methods, and pest control • How to choose drought-tolerant and desert-hardy vegetable seeds • Recommended varieties by region, plus a seasonal crop guide • Resource list, checklist, and glossary While this guide is geared towards those who live in high desert, low desert, mountains (short season), Pacific coast, and inland valley areas of the Western United States, gardeners anywhere in the world looking to save water can find useful guidance. As more communities suffer the effects of climate change, experienced desert gardener Maureen Gilmer’s sage advice on dry gardening becomes more and more relevant.
Work in partnership with nature to nurture your soil for healthy plants and bumper crops - without back-breaking effort! Have you ever wondered how to transform a weedy plot into a thriving vegetable garden? Well now you can! By following the simple steps set out in No Dig, in just a few short hours you can revolutionize your vegetable patch with plants already in the ground from day one! Charles Dowding is on a mission to teach that there is no need to dig over the soil, but by minimizing intervention you are actively boosting soil productivity. In fact, The less you dig, the more you preserve soil structure and nurture the fungal mycelium vital to the health of all plants. This is the essence of the No Dig system that Charles Dowding has perfected over a lifetime growing vegetables. So put your gardening gloves on and get ready to discover: - Guides and calendars of when to sow, grow, and harvest. - Inspiring information and first-hand guidance from the author - “Delve deeper” features look in-depth at the No Dig system and the facts and research that back it up. - The essential role of compost and how to make your own at home. - The importance of soil management, soil ecology, and soil health. Now one of the hottest topics in environmental science, this "wood-wide web" has informed Charles's practice for decades, and he's proven it isn't just trees that benefit - every gardener can harness the power of the wood-wide web. Featuring newly- commissioned step-by-step photography of all stages of growing vegetables and herbs, and all elements of No Dig growing, shot at Charles’s beautiful market garden in Somerset, you too will be able to grow more veg with less time and effort, and in harmony with nature - so join the No Dig revolution today! A must-have volume for followers of Charles Dowding who fervently believe in his approach to low input, high yield gardening, as well as gardeners who want to garden more lightly on the earth, with environmentally friendly techniques like organic and No Dig.
The Tao of Vegetable Gardening explores the practical methods as well as the deeper essence of gardening. In her latest book, groundbreaking garden writer Carol Deppe (The Resilient Gardener, Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties) focuses on some of the most popular home garden vegetables--tomatoes, green beans, peas, and leafy greens--and through them illustrates the key principles and practices that gardeners need to know to successfully plant and grow just about any food crop. Deppe's work has long been inspired and informed by the philosophy and wisdom of Tao Te Ching, the 2,500-year-old work attributed to Chinese sage Lao Tzu and the most translated book in the world after the Bible. The Tao of Vegetable Gardening is organized into chapters that echo fundamental Taoist concepts: Balance, Flexibility, Honoring the Essential Nature (your own and that of your plants), Effortless Effort, Non-Doing, and even Non-Knowing. Yet the book also offers a wealth of specific and valuable garden advice on topics as diverse as: - The Eat-All Greens Garden, a labor- and space-efficient way to provide all the greens a family can eat, freeze, and dry--all on a tiny piece of land suitable for small-scale and urban gardeners. - The growing problem of late blight and the future of heirloom tomatoes--and what gardeners can do to avoid problems, and even create new resistant varieties. - Establishing a Do-It-Yourself Seed Bank, including information on preparing seeds for long-term storage and how to "dehybridize" hybrids. - Twenty-four good places to not plant a tree, and thirty-seven good reasons for not planting various vegetables. Designed for gardeners of all levels, from beginners to experienced growers, The Tao of Vegetable Gardening provides a unique frame of reference: a window to the world of nature, in the garden and in ourselves.
This national award winning book, now in its second edition, was developed especially for Master Gardener volunteers and home gardeners and is a primary source for research-based information on gardening and landscaping successfully in North Carolina and the Southeast. A fundamental reference for any seasoned gardener, the North Carolina Extension Gardener Handbook is also written to appeal to beginners just getting their hands dirty. It explains the "why and how" basics of gardening from soils and composting to vegetable gardening and wildlife management. Advice on garden design, preparation, and maintenance covers all types of plantings including lawns, ornamentals, fruits, trees, and containers. This handbook provides color images, detailed graphics, diagnostic tables, case studies, frequently asked questions, and specific management strategies for insects, diseases, weeds, and other pests. Written by a team of the state's leading horticulture experts, it contains a wealth of information to support you in creating and managing thriving gardens, lawns, and landscapes. The North Carolina Extension Gardener Handbook is an essential book for serious gardeners in North Carolina and the Southeast. Want to learn more? * Visit go.ncsu.edu/eg-handbook to view information contained in this book in an open access format. * Access free gardening resources from NC State Extension by visiting gardening.ces.ncsu.edu. * Find the Extension center in your county to speak with local experts by visiting www.ces.ncsu.edu/directory. * Become a Master Gardener volunteer and join an outstanding group of life-long learners working together to change the world. Learn how at ncemgv.org.
Gardening YouTube sensation Huw Richards shows how to inexpensively grow year-round vegetables from just one raised bed. Keyed to a temperate coastal climate but adaptable to variations in temperature and rainfall, Huw's clear, practical advice will help you produce a bountiful harvest with minimal space and effort. In just one raised bed, green thumb wunderkind Huw Richards shows you how to grow vegetables easily, organically, abundantly, and inexpensively so you have something to harvest every month of the year. Month by month, discover what you need to do and how to do it. Try it in your yard, a small garden, or even on a roof terrace. Everything is explained in clear, photographed steps: building your bed, growing from seed, planting, feeding, and harvesting. Huw shows how to guarantee early success by starting off young plants on a windowsill. He suggests what to grow in each part of the bed and provides alternative vegetables to swap in or out depending on what you like eating. No-dig gardening methods remove most of the back-breaking work, too. Veg in One Bed goes beyond the inspiring demonstrations on his YouTube channel Huw's Nursery. In this book, he organizes all of his ideas and suggestions into a blueprint for growing your own vegetables month by month. Very little growing experience? Only a small space? No matter--with Veg in One Bed, you can still eat food you have grown throughout the year.
California abounds with edible selections to grow in the diverse conditions of the state. California Fruit & Vegetable Gardening addresses the critical elements of climate, soil, sun, and water that affects growing success. More than sixty fruits, vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers are highlighted, and helpful charts and graphs for planning and planting the garden are included.
Whether it's vegetables, fruits, or flowers; on a balcony or along your steps and walkways, you want information on container gardening that is foolproof and has step-by-step directions. Walliser provides scalable projects for differing needs, and give you ideas for reusing containers you have around your home. She covers the importance of drainage, irrigation, and other watering concerns for a successful garden.
