The Resilient Gardener: Food Production and Self-Reliance in Uncertain Times

Variety goes beyond just gardening to being resilient on your land.Example- My favorite quote:“When you first move to the countryside, accept all presents joyfully. This person’s pie. That person’s bushel of apples after they’ve just been harvested. Someone offers to help you get in your firewood. Another offers to take care of your kids while you go to town. They are showing off their skills and meeting you with expressions of goodwill. In addition, as your new neighbors, they are trying to work you into their trade and labor-exchange network. You need to do your part. Figure out what you can share, what you can produce extra of, and what skills you have (or can develop) that are worthy of sharing. You share the delights of the good things you have in life. Part of the good things others have comes back to you.“

Excellent in many ways, this book teaches some interesting and important tips for growing food for self-sufficiency. I'm especially intrigued by her ideas for potatoes, corn, squash, and beans. If I could only have the fertilizing and pest control benefits of funny, adorable ducks without their poisonous-to-me product or, perish the thought, their meat, I would be in heaven. Supposing the homesteading/gardening stars ever align for me, I'll take the bits I like from Deppe, Dowding, Coleman, Stout, Ralph, Hemenway, and Eayre-Fryer, mix them up, and come up with a pretty, peaceful, productive, protected place that will feed my stomach, senses, and spirit. However, as with children and long-term goals, imaginary and paper gardens rarely go as planned. A girl can dream (and read); can't she? If you love the idea of gardening for self-reliance, you should absolutely add this book, plus those from the authors above, to your library.

This is a fine book, especially if you are a gardener in the Pacific Northwest as Carol is. Carol explains clearly why gardeners need to select open pollinated varieties that are suitable for growth in the microclimate the reader lives in. Unfortunately the book tells you what open pollinated varieties works for her but kinda leaves you hanging if you live elsewhere. In this regard the book is a call to action to get off your butts and start experimenting with regional varieties that will grow well in your area, before TEOTWAWKI.The book focuses on four survival crops; corm, beans, squash/pumpkin and potatoes. These are crops that have high yields and also STORE WELL. One crop Carol left out IMHO is cabbage which historically has been a long storage crop and is easily preserved as sauerkraut.I have mixed feelings about deducting a star for that particular omission however, the corn section is mostly about open pollinated varieties which she has bred herself but the seeds are extremely hard to acquire. Based on these two deficiencies, I finally decided that four stars was more appropriate than five.That being said, this is still a very good book and if you have food allergies or a prepper, I'd say this book is a "must have" on your bookshelf

Incredibly this book does it! It goes into understanding what is going on and why you are doing things...it's NOT a cookbook recipe but instead covers what it's all about and what makes it work (or not). Most garden books tell you to plant so deep, so far apart, and when. Deppe explores the "why" you plant at a particular depth (how you could alter it depending on your particular set of environmental constraints). Here you learn the intelligent approach to working within your food growing set-up.Deppe expands the "how and why" depending on the particular planting style you utilized. Do you use a rototiller, a sm tractor, or hand tools?The creme-de-la creme, is that she discusses growing methods, using the products, and appropriate storage techniques without it being boring and dry.I'm so tired of the usual: take potatoes and store them. Hmm, how, and what makes a difference on getting a potato to store one month vrs 6 months.How do I get them out of the ground without damaging them, what does light actually do to them, what can I do with potatoes that start to sprout, etc. are all questions that are covered in her topic discussion. What are the nutrient values, why would I grow this vrs another crop in terms of protein and calorie count. What about water needs: when, why, and how, instead of " water as needed".Deppe, in essence (AND in a very readable format), brings her depth of knowledge and experience to the table, sharing it so that I have the informational tools to make intelligent decisions. I am able to fine-tune my food production, as needed, to my particular setting. That builds in the resilience that makes my process adaptable to changing conditions... some people would label it as "increased food security"!This is one book that will fill a huge hole in my gardening library, productively speaking (pun intended)!

OverviewThis book shows you how to grow four crops (beans/pulses, corn, potatoes and squash) and raise ducks in such a way as to be both sustainable and resilient to bad conditions. These conditions could be through either climate change or bad weather - it does not matter as the techniques laid down here work. Carol also talks about diet, the environment, and other matters that are pertinent, but not immediately apparent, to the subject at hand. Even though she concentrates on the four crops listed above, her methodologies can be applied to other crops that you may wish to grow with a little thought and research. I have found this book to be a most interesting read for political and philosophical, as well as practical, reasons. This comes highly recommended, especially for older gardeners.The MeatA lot of British reviewers' criticism has been that it is hard to grow corn in the north of the country, especially up in Scotland. This is fair comment, despite the fact that we now have hardier open-pollinated cultivars of corn. Leaving the corn issue aside, everything else in this book can be grown quite easily all over the UK, even squash. The gardener will just have to think about his or her own growing conditions and act accordingly. For example, even in the south I would still start summer squashes off in the green house as a given procedure not as an optional method. And if it is a bad spring / summer, keep them in the green house for longer and pot them on from starts.The point of the book is to get the gardener thinking about his or her own conditions. The level of detail Carol Deppe goes into on how she copes with her region's conditions is exactly the level of detail the reader should be going into about their own regional conditions. It is a jumping off point for building resilience into your own gardening practices, especially for those of us interested in old fashioned organic methods as opposed to modern 'conventional' methods. I really cannot stress this point enough about this book - it is a jumping off point into your own research into building resilience into your own vegetable growing practices, whatever crops you grow.I personally would be inclined to use this book along side her "Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties: The Gardener's and Farmer's Guide to Plant Breeding and Seed Saving" and Joy Larkom's "Grow Your Own Vegetables" rather than as a stand alone work. You can even substitute Carol Deppe's other book for Sue Stickland's "Back Garden Seed Saving" if you want something a little simpler to follow.Its use is not nearly as limited as some reviewers from the UK have said, if you treat it as a guide to further research rather than as a "this is how you do it" book. This is why I have given it five out of five.

By 30 pages in, this was one of my favourite gardening books. Its about how to look at and plan your garden, and how to think for yourself about your priorities, what suits you and how to adapt and experiment. Although it then goes on to detailed instructions about 5 key crops, this is more a book about attitude and independence, and an encouragement to emulate the author's serious attention to her garden and what works for her, in her area. As I live on a different continent, and grow on a far smaller scale much of what she has written is not directly applicable to my circumstances, but it is hugely inspiring to do better and to try to be more independent in growing storing and eating my own produce. Also wise words on how to look to a less certain future and key things to learn or in some cases stockpile. Not a beginners 'how to' book, but one even a beginner grower could enjoy for its insights and humour

This is a good and useful book. The author begins with a historical overview (which is quite general) of climate change, including brief remarks about prior 'Little Ice Ages' which were characterised by wet, wind and low temperatures. She goes on to encourage everyone to grow as much as they can, whether or not they actually own any land, because by doing so we re-claim some degree of control over our lives in a time demanding a lot of adaptation.The book continues with a detailed cover of her experience with potatoes, corn, squash, beans, and ducks, as these five she considers to be the most important food substances for health and suvival.She gives loads of useful data about her experience with developing seed varieties of each of these plant foods, as well as lots of info re preparing, storing and cooking.Altogether it really is a very useful book even tho' I was irritated by repetition at times and her frequent use of 'I'. However, it is a very readable book, making all the information easily understood and absorbed.

I was a little worried this would be alarmist prepare-for-the-end-of-the-world stuff but actually it is simply sensible, helping you prepare for personal eventualities when you simply can't get to your garden as much as you'd like; this will be the model for my future gardening! I think beginner and experienced gardeners alike will find something here.

The author, Carol Deppe, covers an extraordinary range of gardening and living topics that are actually important for non-gardeners as well. Carol provides useful tips on gardening as an essential survival skill, climate change issues, choosing and obtaining gardening land, diversification, diets and allergies, seed husbandry, labour and exercise, water and watering, soil and fertility and the essential survival crops: potatoes, corn, beans, squash and eggs.This is a book that I will constantly be referring back to until I've been gardening long enough for it to become second nature.