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Good flow with lots of information. Written extremely well, put in layman's terms. The text is broken up nicely with fabulous illustrations.
SO MUCH INFORMATION and not overwhelming. This is for the layman. It has certainly helped my friends come to love gardening and made my life easier. I love it, and my roomates are not garden enthusiasts but now refer to this book. I am not exactly an amateur, but certainly not a professional. This has completely changed the way I go about growing my food, with seasonal and yearly charts in the back to help guide you for the first 5 years, even.
Very informative. We found this book most helpful to us in improving our gardening techniques.
For my part, I was expecting information on, ummm, how to grow more vegetables than I thought possible on less land than I could imagine. That's just what I want and not a 30 page chapter on the minutiae of bed prep.
It has an approach and it sticks to it. I have to admit that there is some digression here and there (the sustainability chapter has a few) but for the most part the chapters don't overwhelm the reader with too much information to follow and too many alternatives to put into practice.
As a non-specialist gardener with limited resources and space, I found a great deal of practical advice that I was able to put into practice on my small plot immediately. The chapter on bed preparation, a key to high yields, is a case in point: short but concise and with clear instructions on how to prepare your plot, large or small, for maximum yields.
I'm very glad I purchased this book. I've read some of the negative reviews and I still don't know what exactly most of those writers were expecting.
Well, I feel that the book delivers on that.
The planting charts in the book, central to the whole process of growing in a small space, are difficult for us to decifer, especially the expected yields. The untrodden five-foot wide rows make it easy to reach across and weed. We found the information on plant "compatibility" more amusing than factual, but in the spirit of the book, tried the interplanting of so-called "compatible" plants and herbs. (Note: Rows should be kept at least two-feet apart, if not more, in order to kneel, reach and work easily).
This book has a great explanation for the need to "grow soil" vs. Initial preparation of each bed took almost twice as long as the book estimated. The Borage grew much larger than we expected, but it was filled with pollinating bees throughout the season, as the book suggested, which was great to watch. simply growing food.
Initial preparation of each bed took almost twice as long as the book estimated. We found the information on plant "compatibility" amusing, but true to the spirit of the book, tried the interplanting of so-called "compatible" plants and herbs, with grumpy potatoes in their own patch. There are great examples for how to compost, how to dig and enrich rows and how to plant seed. The close planting of crops DEFINITELY decreased the amount of weeds, but special care needs to be taken in humid conditions to prevent disease.
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