Organic Gardening Book Reviews

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Square Foot Gardening, Mel Bartholomew, Rodale Press 1981

This book is an oldie but a goodie. The raised bed gardening method I use is the square foot method described by Mel Bartholomew.

Be sure to read the introduction. In it Bartholomew establishes the premise for square foot gardening. He says that the way most people garden is based on large-scale agriculture, which does not scale down well.

Bartholomew describes how to create a super soil mix instead of trying to amend existing soil. This allows for a more intensive garden to be planted in much less space. In Square Foot Gardening, rows are replaced by individual square feet of soil. Each individual plant will require so many square feet of space.

As well, he points out that the square foot method is much more efficient and requires less labor. Therefore, people will be more successful in the garden.

I wholeheartedly agree. I followed Bartholomew’s suggestion to locate the garden close to the house where I could see it. My garden is just outside my living room window. It is attended to often, but doesn’t require lots of attention.

A key point in Bartholomew’s philosophy is that traditional gardening is overkill on so many levels: too many seeds planted, too much space used, too much work, and so on. Following the square foot method, you will produce more in less space, using less water and requiring less work.

Square foot gardening is a method and a philosophy well worth reading and applying.

High Density Gardening, Ric Wiley, 2008

To order High Density Gardening as an e book, click here .

This is a great book for beginners, and seasoned gardeners may find a few tips as well. The book covers creating raised beds, adding soil, making compost, garden layouts, harvesting rain water, and specific information for numerous garden vegetables.

One of the great advantages of the book are its great diagrams and photographs. I'm a little leary of any kind of work with lumber, but this book really shows you what to do.

Ric Wiley has a very practical, down to earth, philosophy of gardening and is eager to share his knowledge. A very thorough primer on high density gardening.

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