The Self-Sufficient Gardener: A Complete Guide to Growing and Preserving All Your Own Food (Using the New Deep Bed Method to Grow More Food in Less Space)
by John Seymour

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Book Reviews of The Self-Sufficient Gardener: A Complete Guide to Growing and Preserving All Your Own Food (Using the New Deep Bed Method to Grow More Food in Less Space)

Book Review: This Book should still be in print!
Summary: 5 Stars

Gardening: The introdution explains the fundamentals of nature's cycles and the ecology of gardening. The edible parts of plants are explained. There are then several pages of (beautiful!) illustrations of vegetables, fruits & herbs. The cycle of seasons is discussed in the next chapter and it shows illustrations of what your garden might look like during each season and what gardening chores you perform during the different seasons. The essentials of good gardening are discussed in depth in the fourth chapter, such as soil treatment, composting, propagation, grafting & pruning, controlling pests, harvesting & storing, and the deep bed method of gardening.

Growing: Chapters 5-7 describe how to grow vegetables, fruits & herbs. What I like most is that in addition to explaining a little of the history of the plants, and how to grow them and propagate them, it also explains how to harvest and preserve the food that results. It also explains how to grow unusual food, like kumquats and quince, in addition to all the usual things you'd expect. Greenhouse growing is discussed in chapter 8.

Preserving: Chapter 9 describes how to preserve all the food that results from your garden. It explains the fundamentals of why food rots and the basic methods of preserving (salting, drying, pickling, canning, jamming, freezing). When making jam, this book assumes you get pectin by adding lemons or apples, not by running to the store to buy a packet of it. It shows how to make a solar dehydrator to dry your food, and which foods are best preserved using each method. It also goes into details on how to make wine, cider, and mead (honey wine).

Miscellaneous: The tenth chapter describes a miscellany of self-sufficient gardening topics, such as raising animals like chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, rabbits, and bees. Water drainage, terracing, garden paths, hedges, fences, sheds, and caring for tools are all discussed briefly.

If you can get a copy of this book, keep it! It's a jewel.

Summary of The Self-Sufficient Gardener: A Complete Guide to Growing and Preserving All Your Own Food (Using the New Deep Bed Method to Grow More Food in Less Space)

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