Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades: The Complete Guide to Organic Gardening

Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades: The Complete Guide to Organic Gardening | Steve Solomon | outstanding resource

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	Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades: The Complete Guide to Organic Gardening Steve Solomon Sasquatch Books, 2007 - 368 pages average customer review:based on 3 reviews view larger image
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Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades is an invaluable resource for any gardener looking to become more knowledgeable and grow better vegetables. The book features basic info on soils, composting, chemical-free fertilizing, efficient water usage, and planning, but it is also filled with up-to-date tips on seed sources and new growing and cultivation techniques. Featuring a Earth-friendly focus on organic gardening practices, the book helps readers acquire a foundation of master-gardening knowledge that they can use to organize and plan their own gardens however they want.

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Indispensable for those in Portland Oregon area (and Seattle?)

I'm amazed there aren't more reviews of this book!!!

This book, written by the founder of Territorial Seed Company, is *vital* for those living west of the Cascade mountains, where heavy winter rain, unique soil conditions (we don't get deep freezes), and mild summer temperatures really makes other American gardening books (including Colemans' New Organic Grower) less than optimal. Indeed, he suggests using British gardening books, since our climate is more similar to England than New England!

A recent transplant from Arizona, I was lucky enough to stumble onto this book about June 2008, halfway through the growing season. His predictions about which vegetables worked were indeed accurate (eggplant and peppers are extremely difficult to grow in this climate, and you can forget about watermelon).

Before covering vegetables, he first lays the groundwork with a background, including why simply adding fertilizer is not a good idea (the amount of rainfall washes away most of what we want to preserve, the book is organic-based, as well as focusing on return on investment). Instead of simple chemicals, he argues for composting, as well as over-wintering with clover, fava, and others, depending on your soil's needs.

Chapter 1: Basics -- some near heretical words here about the futility of early starts -- because light intensity is so low (as well as soil temperature), you're not going to benefit by putting starts out in March. Good basic instruction on how to use a hoe (including the proper alignment and the importance of keeping it sharp). A fundamental philosophy is the importance of early weeding while plants are getting started, and the ease of weeding when efficiently using a well-sharpened hoe.

Chapter 2: Soil -- "millenia of heavy winter rains have leached all of our soils onto a kind of chemical imbalance that won't grow highly nutritious food." Three-year crop rotation scheme. Importance of lime. Manure vs. fertilizer. Tilling. Raised beds. Clay.

Chapter 3: Composting -- I haven't done any composting so can't comment on this chapter.

Chapter 4: Planning -- including succession, rotation, cloches, how to grow vegetables year 'round.

Chapter 5: Water -- this was a surprisingly interesting chapter, as I'd not read much on the different ways to water a garden before. He also talks about how to garden without *any* watering.

Chapter 6: Seeds -- after all, he *is* the founder of Territorial Seeds! He argues you need to get your seeds from companies that harvest their seeds in the same climate as you. Convinced me -- I will be getting my seeds from them next year!

Chapter 7: Transplants -- how to grow/plant/fertilize

Chapter 8: Predators -- well, if you're going organic (like I am), there ain't a whole lot of choices here. I think rotation is the best option. He thinks garlic/marigolds/etc are a waste of time, and hinder weeding/planting. I admit, I did both this year, but will not come next year. I had a plot in a community garden and saw almost no bugs, but I think it was blind luck.

Chapter 9: How to grow it -- detailed information on major types of vegetables. Invaluable. This is why you should buy the book. I found his observations for broccoli, tomatoes, corn (don't!), carrots, beets, eggplant, watermelon, squash to be dead on. There are a lot of other vegetables I will try next year.

Summary: my gardening next year will be driven completely by this book. If you garden in the Pacific NW, get this book! If you rely on Colemans' New Organic Grower you will plant too early.

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outstanding resource

i highly recommend this gardening book for anyone west of the cascades. the author provides valuable information from seed sources to soil preparation to planting to harvesting. most appreciated is his recommendations for varieties.

Must-read for webfooted gardeners

As a longtime Cascadia resident and the founder of Territorial Seeds, Solomon is a guy who knows what he's talking about when it comes to gardening in the Pacific Northwest, and he isn't afraid to contradict the Conventional Wisdom based on his own experience.
I learned a lot from this book, including (perhaps most importantly) why a great deal of the gardening advice you read simply doesn't apply to this part of the world.
I also learned about the critical importance of seed quality. Solomon doesn't pull any punches when he describes how a lot of seed companies sell their floor sweepings to home gardeners, and he lists reliable sources for seed. He's reachable by email and has promptly answered a couple of questions I asked him.
Be sure to get at least the sixth (and probably last) edition, which Solomon says corrects some errors in earlier editions.

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