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#1
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Best books for biointensive gardening?
I would like to learn, starting from almost total gardening ignorance,
how to grow a substantial percentage of my family's diet in my back yard. Any suggestions on good books or other educational resources? Any comments on Bartholomew's "Square Foot Gardening" or Jeavon's "Grow More Vegetables"? |
#2
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Best books for biointensive gardening?
dan wrote:
I would like to learn, starting from almost total gardening ignorance, how to grow a substantial percentage of my family's diet in my back yard. Any suggestions on good books or other educational resources? Any comments on Bartholomew's "Square Foot Gardening" or Jeavon's "Grow More Vegetables"? Some things to think about. 1. You need to figure out is how much of various foods do you need to be reasonably self sufficient -- numbers of quarts and pints for example. 2. How much space is needed to grow this amount of food. In order to preserve 60 quarts of green beans you need 200 feet of plants. And that assumes a fairly decent harvest. 3. How you are going to preserve and store this amount of food. Why don't you start out by planting a few foods that your family likes and increase from that. You may find that it takes a lot of time to produce and preserve food. -- Susan N. There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who do not. |
#3
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Best books for biointensive gardening?
dan wrote in message . ..
I would like to learn, starting from almost total gardening ignorance, how to grow a substantial percentage of my family's diet in my back yard. Any suggestions on good books or other educational resources? Any comments on Bartholomew's "Square Foot Gardening" or Jeavon's "Grow More Vegetables"? I have been doing what you want to do for a few years now. I find it very rewarding. the books you are considering are good books. Since you are looking at those, I am guessing you don't have a lot of room. It would help if you specified the zone, area to be cultivated, number of people in family, how many hours of sun, and soil. some general comments (if you need to know more, just ask): 1) for intensive gardening, the soil has to be very good. High organic content, nice nutrient profile, and the texture that comes from years of compost or organic mulch (and thousands of earthworms). so go ahead, get a complete test, and then no matter what they say a little rock phosphate and two years of manuring to get things going. Keep in mind that the limiting factor for growth is almost always a macro- or micro-nutrient. 2) some veggies produce a lot, some produce little. much of that "grow more vegetables" is simply "grow more productive vegetables". If you have a small area, you better like lettuce, tomatoes, zucchini, chard, or french beans. 3) drip irrigation strongly recommended. I just installed my system and I can't believe I used to be without. check one of my past posts for how to. 4) some people can, some people have a root cellar, some people freeze, some people dry, and I extend my season with hoophouses over the beds. you can do all, of course, and some veggies are well suited to some of the techniques (zucchini are great dry, but don't freeze. peas are exceelent frozen, etc.). I pick my veggies well into january, and back again in march. I am emotionally attached to veggies, such as collard and radicchio, that keep top eating quality for months in the middle of winter at temperatures of 15F. 5) go with the soil, the seasons, and the zone. some stuff just grows well in your place, and some does not. Lettuce will grow in the fall, but just not as well as in the spring. Just about every other salad green will grow better in the fall. carrots in heavy clay are not great, and favas in sand are poor. Okra does not grow in Seattle, and zucchini resent part shade. Chard does not like acidic soil, and potatoes alkaline. zucchini may regularly catch a disease but tomatoes grow if only given sun and water. etc. etc. 6) you will need some equipment and you will have a learning curve. It now takes me minutes to start a tray with 288 seedlings. It would take me half an hour years ago. When you plan your garden, keep efficiency in mind. 7) perennial herb patch a must. 8) mulch everywhere you will start plants. I just weeded a bed where the soil was left bare (I ran out of leaves). It took four hours, and the radicchio had successfully closed its canopy, else it would have been much worse. Leave bare soil only where you will direct seed. it is very efficient, as it will reduce your watering and fertilizing, and alomst eliminate your weeding. |
#4
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Best books for biointensive gardening?
On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 15:14:32 -0600, dan wrote:
I would like to learn, starting from almost total gardening ignorance, how to grow a substantial percentage of my family's diet in my back yard. Any suggestions on good books or other educational resources? Any comments on Bartholomew's "Square Foot Gardening" or Jeavon's "Grow More Vegetables"? I like Square Foot Gardening. It's a good place to start, with plenty of information, and well thought-out advice about how to garden logically and efficiently. I've adopted the system for my garden and use the 4 X 4 foot beds. |
#5
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Best books for biointensive gardening?
how to grow a substantial percentage of my family's diet in my back
yard. This is very possible, as long as you don't include grains, dairy products, and oils. Hardly ever mentioned in books, though, is the most time-consuming part of all--harvesting, processing (culling, washing, chopping, etc.) and preserving your harvest. Jeavons' Grow More Vegetables is excellent, but his yield calculations don't seem to take into account the inevitable bumps along the way--poor weather, insects, etc. There's always something. |
#6
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Best books for biointensive gardening?
how to grow a substantial percentage of my family's diet in my back
yard. This is very possible, as long as you don't include grains, dairy products, and oils. Hardly ever mentioned in books, though, is the most time-consuming part of all--harvesting, processing (culling, washing, chopping, etc.) and preserving your harvest. Jeavons' Grow More Vegetables is excellent, but his yield calculations don't seem to take into account the inevitable bumps along the way--poor weather, insects, etc. There's always something. |
#7
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Best books for biointensive gardening?
dan wrote:
I would like to learn, starting from almost total gardening ignorance, how to grow a substantial percentage of my family's diet in my back yard. Any suggestions on good books or other educational resources? Any comments on Bartholomew's "Square Foot Gardening" or Jeavon's "Grow More Vegetables"? I don't have his book but there is lots of info on the net. I'm doing SFG for the first time this year. I have 2 - 8' x 10' 1 8" deep and 3 - 8' x 10' x 10" deep raised beds as well as a temporary unraised bed. So far, everything is growing and healthy. Most of what I have growing was started from seed. Add a greenhouse if possible. However, I have already begun pinpointing some of those veggies that aren't producing as much or are taking up too much room as I would like so I won't be growing that variety next year. In general, the overall outcome has been very good though. Some general comments on SFG: planning is a good thing, look for veggies that can be staked and grown upwards instead of sprawling, go organic if at all possible, be creative especially for trellises, dowels are cheap, and have fun! You will quickly be able to find out what will work for you and what won't. |
#8
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Best books for biointensive gardening?
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#9
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instead of purchasing expensive books (unless you can find some in thrift
stores), why don't you lurk around the news groups and also go to www.gardenweb.com and some other garden sites and LEARN...to me, best way to learn is: ASK QUESTIONS!! (remember, the only stupid question is the one which never got asked!) From: dan Organization: XMission http://www.xmission.com/ Reply-To: Newsgroups: rec.gardens.edible Date: Thu, 29 Jul 2004 15:14:32 -0600 Subject: Best books for biointensive gardening? I would like to learn, starting from almost total gardening ignorance, how to grow a substantial percentage of my family's diet in my back yard. Any suggestions on good books or other educational resources? Any comments on Bartholomew's "Square Foot Gardening" or Jeavon's "Grow More Vegetables"? |
#10
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instead of purchasing expensive books (unless you can find some in thrift
stores), why don't you lurk around the news groups and also go to www.gardenweb.com and some other garden sites and LEARN...to me, best way to learn is: ASK QUESTIONS!! (remember, the only stupid question is the one which never got asked!) From: dan Organization: XMission http://www.xmission.com/ Reply-To: Newsgroups: rec.gardens.edible Date: Thu, 29 Jul 2004 15:14:32 -0600 Subject: Best books for biointensive gardening? I would like to learn, starting from almost total gardening ignorance, how to grow a substantial percentage of my family's diet in my back yard. Any suggestions on good books or other educational resources? Any comments on Bartholomew's "Square Foot Gardening" or Jeavon's "Grow More Vegetables"? |
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