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How to Grow Food: A step-by-step guide to growing all kinds of fruits, vegetables, herbs, salads and more (Firefly Books, March 2011, $29.95 hardcover)
A complete illustrated guide to the hundreds of plants that are easy to grow in any size home garden - provides gardeners and would-be gardeners with everything they need to know to grow their own fruit, vegetables and more.
Participation in food gardening has seen remarkably significant increases over the last few years. Currently 31% of all U.S. households participate (or desire to participate) in food gardening and participation crosses all generations, all regions, and all income groups.
Food gardens are popping up in the most unlikely places. Would-be good gardeners are attending classes at greenhouses and community centers in record numbers. And, many municipalities can't keep up with the demand for community garden plots.
There are several reasons for this. One of them is that consumers want organic, pesticide-free foods and want to know where their food comes from. Consumers also want the health and culinary benefits of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as the opportunity to save money.
Author and plant scientist Richard Gianfrancesco emphasizes gardening techniques that can be applied to any size of garden, from a window box to a side yard to the biggest back yard.
Gianfrancesco's clear instructions and reliable advice includes the use of organic and biodynamic gardening instructions. He also makes it easy to choose crops that fit in with the time gardeners want to spend tending their crops.
‘Growing food doesn't need to be all about rows of vegetables and spending hours watering and weeding. Grow smart and select the right plants for your plot and you can really enjoy your gardening without it becoming a burden," Gianfrancesco says.
Some of the topics covered are:
• Types of gardens and choosing the best site
• Designing, preparing and planting a productive garden
• Maximizing the use of space, such as vertical planting and fruit cages
• Harvesting, storing and preserving
• Training and pruning plants for maximum yield
• Tools, pests, weeds and growing from seed
• Helpful do's and don'ts
• Plant ratings related to variety, value, maintenance and season
• The author's personal selection of star plants.
Using the features in How to Grow Food, gardeners and would-be gardeners will find all the information they need to grow their own fruits and vegetables. They'll also find advice, ideas and traditional recipes for storing and preserving their harvest. More importantly, they'll find that growing their own food is both an achievable goal and a pleasure.
Richard Gianfrancesco is a gardening author and a plant scientist. He has been conducting plant trials for over 20 years, and his findings have been widely published. He has also conducted many trials on how to use one's time most effectively in the garden and how to get the best out of a garden plot.
How to Grow Food: A step-by-step guide to growing all kinds of fruits, vegetables, herbs, salads and more Written by Richard Gianfrancesco
Available at bookstores, online booksellers or at www.fireflybooks.com
