Gardening When It Counts – Growing Food in Hard Times Reviewed

By gardener | May 17, 2009

The author of Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series), Steve Solomon, is a well-known West Coast gardener who has written several books. He also teaches gardening master classes at the University of Oregon and throughout North America.

In today’s climate, more and more North Americans want to be more food self-sufficient and try to successfully grow vegetables in their backyard. This means spending less money on your food bill and helping the environment by cutting down on food miles.

In his book Steve talks about how to grow vegetables in your garden under difficult circumstances. The reader will learn about traditional low-input gardening methods, and how to keep growing through uncertain weather & economics. The book is geared towards the beginner gardener and the methods described can be used in all areas with the exception of tropics and hot deserts. It explains how food costs can be minimized and even halved by planting a vegetable garden in the back garden.

He supplies a basic tools list that will get the job done and how to maintain the tools. He also comments on unnecessary garden gadgets. He gives advice on simple methods for making compost fertilizer, how to space for different crops, which sprinklers to use and where to get them, how to determine soil type, how to grow a garden without irrigation, how to save seeds for next year’s crop and much more.

This book is a valuable guide for any gardener that wants to grow vegetables successfully for the least amount of effort and expense. Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series) is a must-read for any gardener’s bookshelf.

You might also be interested in his other book Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades: The Complete Guide to Organic Gardening

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