Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)

I have read far and wide on the subject and this book is a premier choice. The author is detailed enough without being overly academic. He takes quite controversial and revealing positions on heirlooms vs. hybrids, seed saving, buying seedlings, starting seeds, seed company tactics, plant spacing, intensive garening, fertilization and how much space, time and effort you really need to either reduce your food bills or else get "off the grid".

Refreshing and practical.

I am very glad I got this book.

Steve Solomon finally confirms what I've suspected all along - that intensive gardening doesn't deliver what it promises. Undersized beets and radishes, under-productive corn, potatoes, peas, and beans are what I've harvested using the crowded "square foot" method. This year I'm going to go back to the old fashioned row cropping method for most of my garden, and hope to enjoy large, succulent, tasty veggies again.

Solomon shares the realities of composting, use of manure, and advises spacings for irrigated, rainfall, and dry-cropping. Pictures of roots on various vegetables helped me understand why these spacings are important for optimal plant performance.

There is also a valuable section on recommended seed dealers according to climate. Solomon recommends only ethical seedsmen who actively test the varieties they sell, to insure that the gardener receives the very best seeds and consequently, the best results.

If he had only explained where I can find affordable land so as to have room for such a widely spaced garden, the book would be complete!

We live in the high desert of rural Nevada. We try every year for a successful garden. I've really learned a great deal from this book. It won't change our conditions here, but the author's no nonsense approach to seed starting, fertilization and a multitude of other topics is refreshing.

After reading this book, I can hardly wait for spring. As a self-taught gardener, I can appreciate the many solid examples, instructions, and anecdotes that weave a robust thread. Clearly, Steve Solomon is a man who loves his work and the sharing of his decades of hard-won knowledge. Whether good times or hard times, there are a lot of fine gardening tips and rules here for improving any garden. The section on making your own fertilizer and how to apply it is worth the price of the book alone. The book would have benefited from a few more drawings, but that is a small complaint.

This book is an exciting addition to books on vegetable growing- so much so, that many
others become unnecessary. The author covers in detail everything about the art- from seed buying,
his own complete organic fertilizer recipe, preparing the soil, simple tools, planting and watering etc
His long experience and total integrity and commitment shine through and make it a must for those
wanting to seriously feed themselves.