Chapter 7 – Compost, is essentially a chapter that explains how the home gardener can produce their own fertilizer. Here’s some of the author’s context for this home production effort:

• “… feedlot manures and composted chicken manure are widely available and seem inexpensive to most people right now, and industrial agricultural wastes like seed meals and slaughterhouse wastes are also cheap. But if present trends — peak oil, climate change, irresponsible monetary manipulation by central banks, competition over resources — result in the least desirable outcomes, then ordinary people will find it ever more difficult to afford to eat healthfully. It seems almost inevitable to me that the real (inflation-adjusted) cost of amendments is going to increase substantially. Composting is the alternative to purchasing. It allows small-scale food growers to make their own fertilizer, to manufacture “well-rotted manure” without the need to own livestock.”

And this:

• “If you can’t afford to have your food gardening efforts fall far short of your hopes, if you can’t afford to shrug off this years catastrophe and hope that it’ll be better next time …I suggest that you read this chapter more than once.”

In PH’s opinion, the author understates both the current situation and the effort you should put forth in mastering this abbreviated treatment of perhaps the key subject in hard-times gardening.

Mr. Solomon immediately moves from composting rationales to composting topics and techniques, such as: “Mulch gardening“. “Carbon to nitrogen ratios (with a great “Carbon nitrogen ratios” for additional clarity)”, “Sheet composting (We‘re working with a slight variation of the author’s stated technique here at PH.)”,”Temperature and decomposition“, to “What is this thing called compost?”. From this last topic, this: ”Composting decomposes organic materials before they are put into the soil so they become instant plant food.” and a very informative chart that provides an “Analysis of various composts”.

The author continues with a discussion of low, medium and high grade compost that is combined with a ten page presentation on “Composting procedure”. This is followed by a short treatment of “Green manure and cover crops” – along with their some of their pluses and minuses- to end the chapter.

Sandwiched in (so to speak) between ‘procedure’ and ‘cover crops’ is a small, one page topic called “Humanure”. After giving the reader an excellent reference on the subject, Mister Solomon reminds us again that this book is a serious treatment of hard-times gardening:

“If times got rough enough that I could not afford to spend a few hundred dollars each year on maintaining the gardens fertility, or if the materials to do so got so scarce that there was little choice, then we would definitely start using humanure.”

This chapter has broken down the complex subject of “compost” into a set of topics, any of which could be a book in itself, that are clear to the layman/lay-gardener and yet extensive enough to offer a short reference. It’s hard to offer praise beyond this.

Until next time; keep your eyes on the horizon as the weather’s changing fast.

It is because of the serious nature of gardening and providing food in hard times that the author wants to provide information on the gardening center. His goal here is to aid the home gardener avoid the pitfalls and mistakes abundant in dealing with these centers. He’s very aware that most of us family gardeners get our seeds and vegetable transplants from this/these sources and with that in mind he reminds us:

“… the garden has to be given the same degree of attention that other enthusiasts give to selecting the right fishing lure, modifying their automobile, or refining their golf swing.”

Mr. Solomon begins with  the topic of “Transplants ” and by identifying some of the vegetables that are very difficult to transplant and some that transplant relatively easily.

He continues his presentation by discussing the problems of seedling mislabeling and poor variety choices along with what to look for when choosing seedlings for transplant. By way of further guidance he offers this; “… make sure you can trust the seller.”
The author then moves on to the topic of growing your own seedlings and presents an easy way to do so; beginning with having the right soil for growing seedlings and then proceeding on with how to use it in various containers.
Fertilizer for seedlings comes next, in a careful discussion combined with recommendations  that include the all-important “whys and how’s”. Here’s a brief example concerning the use of coffee grounds:

“Used coffee grounds are a seed meal that hot water has been passed through. Judging by how coffee makes leap forward, I would reckon the grounds to be about half as strong as chicken manure. … They could also be put in a compost heap in place of chicken manure.”

“The garden center seedrack” gets its own section with this critical seed-choice guideline: “… I learned that every product or service could be compared to a three-legged stool with the legs being price, quality, and service. If lowered one leg, you had to lower the others accordingly or the stool tilted…”.
Commercial quality seed is discussed as well in this chapter along with the critically important aspect of vigor. These areas of discussion are enhanced with an excellent two-page “Germination standards” chart that shows a number of common garden seeds with their germination standards/rates from the USDA, a high quality seedsman, and commercial quality seeds. Also presented is a column that gives seed-storage longevity graded in years.
Lastly, “Regionality” is presented as an important aspect in seed choice that allows the home/family gardener another way to improve gardening results.

PrudentHome Comments: Mr. Solomon’s Chapter 4 reminds us, directly and indirectly:

1. Choose your garden seeds from a regional seedsman or one with a climate that is similar to yours.
2. One of your gardening reference BOOKS should be geared to gardening in your climate and your micro-climate if possible.
3. The serious gardener/food producer must keep good records. Like all long-term sustainability: it has to begin, operate, and end with a pencil and a notebook.

Until next time; keep your eyes on the horizon as the weathers changing fast.

Chapter 3 – Tools and tasks: If Mr. Solomon’s book title and his first two

Photo Credit: Marc Smith

chapters left you with the slightest doubt about his seriousness concerning gardening in hard times then his ‘Chapter 3’ on tools and tasks will dispel that doubt.  His first section begins:

• “The basic three and a file – To handle a garden up to a quarter acre (1,000 square meters) in size, if are minimally fit (I said “minimally fit”; I did not say male nor did I say huge), only four tools are essential: an ordinary combination shovel, a common hoe, a bow rake, and a 10- to 12-inch long (25- to 30 centimeter) metal file (with handle) to periodically sharpen the  shovel and hoe. … “
• “Please do not buy cheap discount store tools. If you are what Australians call ’skint’ (broke). You will do better pawing through secondhand shops until you find good ones. Where can you find quality new tools? I suggest a visit to a commercial hardware store, landscapers or nursery supply company, or contractor’s supply store and inspect what they sell to trades people. … Quality tools aren’t cheap, but they work out to be the least costly in the long run.”

PH Comment: Here we would add a fifth tool; a “file card” to clean the file’s grooves after use each use and before a coat of oil is applied to prevent rust in- between filings. Also, consider -since there are only four basic tools- having a reliable back-up for each of these important four. Too, the standard “T” rake works very well for us in place of the bow rake (later in the book, Mr. Solomon acknowledges “I could do it with a “T” rake …”) and is easier to find.

Each of these ‘basic three and a file’ are discussed thoroughly, including their application, from the beginning with ’How to start a new garden” through  several types of gardens, including ’Raised beds and raised rows’ and ’Making hills’. Mr. Solomon keeps it clear, simple and workable

The author has a very special and brief section in the chapter called “Hills and survival gardening“.  Here’s just a small piece:

• Imagine this : It is spring planting time, but nothing has been dug and you urgently need to make a garden. There is sod. You have a shovel, some seeds and not much else. What do you do? Garden like the Native Americans taught us … . Don’t even consider growing any demanding vegetables. You’ll grow easy stuff: winter squash, corn, sunflowers, … tomatoes … .”
• Mr. Solomon then goes on to tell us how to prepare the soil, plant, fertilize and expand the garden under difficult conditions. Here also, he gives special attention to the potato and it’s growing.
• The balance of the chapter contains some expanded gardening instruction, tool selection, tool use and tool maintenance as well as an excellent chart on measuring soil amendments.
• There is then a section on miscellaneous tools such as the wheelbarrow, sprayer, small kitchen knife and bucket. As with the ’basic three and a file’, all are thoroughly, if briefly. discussed as to types, acquisition, use and maintenance.

Then the final section: ’Care of tools’. It’s here that the author shows us a brief glimpse of the complete gardener: “Once tools were expensive, valued, and cared for. … people have forgotten how to care for valuable tools.” Mr. Solomon reminds us of the value of tools: the value in using them well and maintaining them well especially under conditions where they might be hard to come by.

Until next time; keep your eyes on the horizon as the weathers changing fast.

Note: You can read the first part of our review here.

‘Continued Review’: Chapter 2 – Basics

The really smartest teachers and instructors begin their class with the assumption that the students know little or nothing about the subject matter that’s going to be presented and they begin from the beginning.  Mr. Solomon begins his class the same way in his Chapter 2 – Basics:

• The author notes that vegetable plants are very much the product of human development and as such require an environment that is highly favorable to their development with sunlight, shelter, water, fertilizer and little competition from other (wild) plants or animals.
• “ … heirloom varieties, bred before the use of chemical fertilizers, are especially good at growing in ordinary soil.”
• Mr. Solomon breaks down vegetables, by name, in a chart according to the level of care needed to have them productive: Low Demand (carrots and turnip greens), Medium Demand (sweet corn and tomatoes), and High Demand (cauliflower and Italian broccoli).
• He points out that soils are richest where rainfall is just sufficient and therefore plants, animals and people are healthiest when growing in/on/from these soils. His example is prairie soil.
• The author continues by describing and defining a complete organic fertilizer (COF) he has developed, which along with compost  will provide optimum plant nutrition. He describes it as a “… concocted by the gardener.”
• On page 24, Mr. Solomon offers a key reason for growing your own vegetables: “… a comparison of nutritional tables published by the USDA over the past 25 years (covered in the March 2001 issue of Life Extension Magazine) shows that the average nutritional content of vegetables has also declined about 25 to 33 percent across the board — all vegetables, all vitamins and minerals. …”
• An excellent chart of “Fertilizing values of manures and simple fertilizers” is presented on page 28 and is sandwiched in between informed commentary on variables for the listed values with  suggested uses in/for your garden. Here it is also noted that the healthiest animals with the soundest nutrition provide the most valuable manure.
• In his section on Increasing soil fertility, Mr. Solomon shines by speaking to a broad economic range of readers and enabling almost anyone to improve their soil in a step-by-step program.
• His last chart in Chapter 2  is “Soil improvement in a nutshell”. This chart discusses soil improvement in terms of the demands placed on the soil by the types of vegetables to be grown in it: Low demand, Medium Demand, and High Demand. Preceding and subsequent pages of the chapter discuss soil improvement with clarity by presenting definitions, examples, and usages/applications.
• In his chapter Summary, Mr. Solomon says, “This chapter has provided the bare minimum of information and some basic techniques. If you knew nothing more than this, and if you spread some manure and lime (or, better, manure and COF), dug the ground once a year, followed the vague instructions on the back of seed packets, put in some seedling and a few seeds, hoed the weeds, and did a bit of thinning, you would have a productive garden.” — He’s absolutely right.

Chapter 1 and 2 alone should give the idea that Mr. Solomon’s book isn’t just a good gardening book but an excellent gardening “reference book” also. It is and we’ll be continuing our review and discussion of subsequent chapters shortly.

Until a little later; keep your eyes on the horizon as the weathers changing fast.

In this booklet was a section called “Ten Good Reasons To Grow Your Own” (there are actually 11 good reasons in this small section) . If the reasons sound good to you then go to bountifulgardens.org, click on the Ecology Action Research Papers section and look for BEA – 0017. We keep two copies as they’re valuable and inexpensive.

Anyway, they seemed to fit in well with our book review subject matter and here we are with “Ten Good Reasons To Grow Your Own“ (11):

#1. Fresher Food – - … “dinner at your doorstep.”

#2. Better Flavor – - “Produce in the market is bred for toughness and storability. You can choose varieties for flavor and harvest them at their peak.”

#3. No Pesticide Residues – - “You can control how your food is grown.”

#4. Money – - “A 50 square-foot garden can produce 75-150+ pounds of vegetables in 5-15 minutes a day. Your time saves money while you grow better food.”

#5. Reduce Air Pollution – -”Save trips to the grocery and reduce the amount of food that is trucked across country and shipped across oceans.”

#6. Reduce Garbage – - “Eliminate the wasted cans, bottles, boxes, and plastic bags that package our food. Compost your vegetable waste.”

#7. SAVE WATER (caps/PH) – - “80% of our water nationwide is used to produce food, and water is fast becoming a critical resource with underground reserves being depleted in many agricultural areas. Biointensive techniques use 1/3 to 1/16 the water per pound of food grown.”

PrudentHome Comment: This is the kind of information we had in mind during our beginning review of Steve Solomon’s book, “Gardening when it counts“, when we said that Mr. Solomon’s view that biointensive gardening used more water than some of the other techniques he proposed was open to question.

#8. Renew The Soil – - “Most agricultural systems eventually deplete the soil. Tests by a University of California soil science graduate student show that the biodynamic/French Intensive method may be one of the few approaches that actually build the soil over time. It also has the great potential for eventually helping reclaim decertified areas.”

#9. Create A Multiple-Use Homestead – - “Fruit – and nut- producing trees can shade your house, block cold winds, and provide wood and food.”

#10. Exercise – - plus the satisfaction of working with fresh air, soil, water, and living plants … .”

BONUS: #11. More Nutritious Food – - “Fresh-picked produce is higher in vitamins and adds more color, flavor, and texture to meals. Also, children love vegetables when they help grow them.”

FOOD SECURITY: From PrudentHome please add this vital reason to grow your own food.

A quick look at our world food situation should give support here:

1. More than 1 billion people now suffering from hunger in the face of a world population increasing at the rate of a Great Britain per year,
2. Climate change producing food-killing droughts, cyclones/hurricanes, etc.,
3. Peak Oil – With about 90% of the worlds food  produced via fossil fuels, then when oil production declines -  food production declines.,
4. Decreasing farm land availability – Major countries like China and India are buying farmland outside of their own countries to insure food security for their populations.,
5. Fresh water stocks diminishing, reducing agricultural production., and finally
6. World Food/Grain reserves are now low and there is a tendency to deplete reserves even more for both market ($) and humanitarian needs.

For family food security, the prudent family must stock food reserves and be able to produce additional food for itself.

Until a little later; keep your eyes on the horizon as the weathers moving fast.