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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] How do you start?
  • Date: Sat, 05 Apr 2008 20:08:38 -0600


Amazon carries a review of Smith's book at
http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1580172121/105-8442561-4454828?SubscriptionId=1NNRF7QZ418V218YP1R2

One of the very best and most detailed on the care of individual vegetables
is Tanya Denckla, The Organic Gardener's Home Reference. Used copies start at
$6.00 at
http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&qi=Ztq,12Oqby8z0qmM0BijlD8IVL4_3455741543_1:14:524&bq=author%3Dtanya%2520denckla%26title%3Dorganic%2520gardener%27s%2520home%2520reference%2520a%2520plant%2Dby%2Dplant%2520guide%2520to%2520growing%2520fresh%252C%2520healthy%2520food

Or just plug in the title and author at http://www.bookfinder.com/ . Also
covers herbs, fruits & nuts, & pests. Someone at Ecology Action said that
Jeavons kept giving away copies of Denckla's book, so they decided to start
selling it.

That mulching certainly cuts down on the watering.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

On 4/5/2008 at 9:54 AM yarrow@sfo.com wrote:

>You don't *need* an irrigation system. I hand-water most of my
>garden, which is practical because the whole thing is less than 1000
>sf, including paths. I do have soaker hoses in the raspberry beds and
>in one of the artichoke beds, though. Because the beds are mulched
>(or planted so densely that the leaves shade the soil), I don't need
>to water more than twice a week (it doesn't rain here in the summer).
>The only time I water more often is if I've just planted seeds or
>have seedlings, and sometimes the container plants need to be watered
>more often during the one or two weeks when it gets hot.
>
>If you're looking for a book about wide permanent beds, organic
>methods, etc., a good one is The Vegetable Gardener's Bible by Ed
>Smith.
>
>>I guess I'm having trouble with the concept of "walk out there, put in
>>irrigation system, put in plants, cover with mulch. Wait for things to
>>grow." I know when you look at it, it's not that much different than
>>regular gardening, but is that really all it is? With fine tuning
>>according to location and plant needs of course.
>
>I have trouble with that concept, too. It doesn't describe the kind
>of gardening I do. One of our local landscape contractors, who
>teaches a lot, said that the most important thing to do in the garden
>is to leisurely walk through it every day. He likes to go out in the
>morning with a cup of coffee, looking at how things are doing. And I
>think John Jeavons has talked about the benefits of hand-watering
>similarly: a chance for protracted and careful observation about
>what's going on in the garden. For one thing, if you have an idea of
>how things normally look, you're more likely to notice the first sign
>that something is awry. For instance, you may spot the first cucumber
>beetle and shoo it away (hey, it worked last year, and they never
>came back!!). Of course, I almost never sit down and relax in the
>garden, I always have a mental list of hundreds of things I need to
>do, so hand-watering becomes a way to focus on one plant (or one area
>of the garden) at a time.






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