Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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The Resilient Gardener: In Tough Times, the Tough Grow Gardens
Jan 24, 2011 Kelley Smith
http://www.suite101.com/content/the-resilient-gardener-in-tough-times-the-tough-grow-gardens-a336358

Gardeners come to their art for different reasons. Some just enjoy plants. 
Some are looking for great taste. Some have concerns about modern food 
processing and pesticides. Some just want to save a little cash on the 
grocery bill. For all these gardeners and more, veteran author, Carol Deppe, 
has written, The Resilient Gardener: Food Production and Self-Reliance in 
Uncertain Times, sure to become a classic.

Emergency Survival or Just Good Eating

Deppe has a Ph.D., but no reader need be intimidated. Her down-to-earth style 
will quickly seize the attention of even a casual vegetable gardener. Deppe 
begins by reflecting on “hard times.” This can mean difficulties for 
individual families such as job loss or illness. It can mean difficulties for 
entire civilizations such as Europe during the Little Ice Age. For any of 
these situations, the self-reliance that comes from growing vegetables 
oneself is a source of hope.

The author’s vast knowledge of plant genetics and breeding quickly becomes 
evident. But more importantly, Deppe’s practical gardening experience shines 
through on every page. Any gardener will quickly recognize stories of 
successes, failures, and challenges as an authentic gardener-to-gardener 
story.

Gardening from the Basics to Plant Genetics

Deppe covers all the basics in a very thorough, yet inviting, manner. Her 
opening chapters include her personal experiences overlaid with highly 
specialized knowledge. She discusses soil preparation, wise water use, and 
describes some of her efforts to find and breed plants well suited to the 
Pacific Northwest. She favors heirloom garden seeds, seeing resilience and 
the ability to save one’s own seed as a hand-in-glove process.

The curious gardener will soon see that Deppe’s writing comes directly from 
her experience. But the depth of knowledge that Deppe brings to gardening 
will fascinate any gardener. Deppe’s discussion of planting depth for garden 
seeds (pp. 42-43), for instance, is worth the price of the book. Her 
suggestions for pre-soaking seeds (p. 44) will be something anyone who has 
ever failed at growing beans will want to try! The ideas presented are the 
everyday chores, struggles, and joys that any gardener knows so well. The 
explanations delve into botany, plant genetics, and biochemistry.

The Self-Sufficient Garden

Deppe has identified five homegrown foods for her resilient garden, and she 
devotes a chapter to each food. Four of these are plants; the fifth is eggs. 
She elaborates on her experiences with potatoes, beans, corn, and squash, 
providing a scientific understanding of each. The reader will learn of 
different types of corn – dent corn, flint corn, and flour corn. Deppe 
describes how she chooses different varieties, and how she processes, stores, 
cooks, and serves various types of corn.

The scientific description of squashes, potatoes, eggs, and beans is equally 
beneficial for the must-know gardener. The only downside is that much of 
Deppe’s knowledge is particularly suited to the Pacific Northwest and similar 
climates. One would wish every area had a Carol Deppe to provide this level 
of detailed information!

Resilient Gardening for Seniors

Any gardener who is “not as young as she used to be” will appreciate Deppe’s 
tips for making gardening easier on an aging body. Her ingenious but 
oh-so-affordable tube planters are amazing. (Why didn’t I think of that?) Her 
honesty about her own struggles with illness and the impact of her healthful 
foods from the garden will be an inspiration. Her discussion of planting 
methods and weeding are helpful.

Some recommended tools and techniques are pictured along with beautiful 
photos of unusual bean and corn varieties (and Deppe’s small flock of ducks!)

Perhaps these words (p. 52) reflect much about Carol Deppe’s vision and 
character:

For many gardeners, what we enjoy most about gardening is not so much what we 
grow but who we become.

The last chapter concludes with a short section on “guerilla gardening.” This 
section also reveals much of Deppe’s incisiveness – and dreams. It is an 
almost political but profoundly moral analysis of our current 
junk-food-fast-food-fake-food-agricultural-industrial complex. But Deppe does 
not leave the gardener with a simplistic indictment of an out-of-control 
situation. She leaves the gardener inspired – to become a resilient gardener.

The Resilient Gardener: Food Production and Self-Reliance in Uncertain Times 
by Carol Deppe (October 5, 2010, ISBN: 160358031X) is available from Chelsea 
Green Publishing in paperback for $29.95.