A little under 200 pages of wisdom from the author of one of my all time favorite books, Carrots Love Tomatoes. Louise Riotte is a master of neighborly writing, as if she were answering questions over the picket fence. In this book, she focuses on how to maximize gardening space and productivity within a small suburban yard or even around a mobile home. For those with larger plots, the reference charts are handy and I can’t wait to try some of her edible flower recipes this summer.
She devotes the first 7 pages to introducing “intensive gardening” and argues that a 25 by 15 foot garden, in ideal conditions, should be able to supply most of the vegetables for an average size family for the year. She gives the yield and space expected for various veggies.
The first 2 chapters cover planning. First, the location of your garden(s) within your overall property and then planting plans within the garden itself. She includes 5 property maps to illustrate ideas for configuring a fruitful and attractive yard. She offers a lot of landscaping suggestions for the reader’s consideration, but does not delve too deeply into any particular factor. In chapter 2, she gives 4 sample illustrations of simple intensive gardening strategies, which are both attractive and space-saving.
Chapter 3 is rich with ideas for getting the most out of a small plot. She gives brief overviews of catch cropping, succession cropping, vertical gardening, two-level gardening, terrace gardening, and tier gardening. Chapter 4 continues along this theme as she lists her preferred dwarf/midget varieties of veggies, getting the most out of every space. She illustrates which plants can handle some degree of shade and make use of marginal planting areas.
Seed saving and watering techniques are covered in chapters 5 and 6. Chapter 7 covers the critical aspects of soil testing and adjustment. It includes 7 charts on natural soil amendments. Chapters 9 and 10 cover dwarf fruit trees, shrubs, and nuts. Chapter 11 delves into edible flower varieties, and includes 8 pages of flexible floral recipes for using them. Chapter 12 is devoted to gardening for mobile home dwellers. The appendix is a fantastic resource with charts on the pH preferences and planting instructions on all common vegetables. She also includes capsule information on growing perennial herbs and a list of recommended suppliers.
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