Preparedness Gardening: How to Grow Real Sustenance and Naturally Build Soil Fertility in Troubled Times by Jeff Fry

Preparedness Gardening: How to Grow Real Sustenance and Naturally Build Soil Fertility in Troubled Times by Jeff Fry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is a great read for someone thinking of starting a garden or who has a garden which I will get into later. It doesn't matter the size of the garden as the tips are for gardens less than 500 sq. ft. to farm size. It explains different gardens, such as lasagna garden, keyhole garden, and raised beds, to name a few. It also goes into optimizing water by use of swales and shaping the garden and what to plant on the sunnier, hotter side vs. the cooler moister side. There is also irrigation, yields, and so much more.

I found the chapters on the soil most interesting. After all, if the soil isn't right then it doesn't much matter how your garden is shaped or what you planted, it won't grow strong or produce well. Many different materials are covered that can be added to the soil to obtain the proper macronutrients level and it also covers how to keep it that way by use of cover crops.

A lot of useful information is given in the book on a wide variety of gardening right down to the plants. And although it is for someone starting a garden since it starts with breaking the ground, I just ignored the first chapter and found very useful information in it even though my garden is an existing one that works well for me. If my garden didn't work well, I would have found the different types of gardens in the first chapter just as interesting as well.

The book is short (65 pages on my kindle) and doesn't go into everything in a step by step explanation. In other words, it doesn't tell you that when you plant a potato to dig a hole, place the plant in the hole, cover around the plant with dirt, however it does tell you spacing, even dry spacing and what the plants should yield. So it does take into account you do know something instead of wasting time and space on unnecessary directions. It tell you enough that you know what to do, materials or tools needed, and the concept of how to do it. Also included are pros and cons of different techniques.

Something I haven't seen before in the other gardening books that this one covers is nutritional needs and diet which would really be useful for Preppers. Ideals on what to do with the produce once harvested and what to watch out for to avoid swing in your sugar levels. Although they are not true recipes explaining every cup or teaspoon, telling me that the author boils it and then adds butter is pretty much all that is needed for anyone with any kind of experience in the kitchen to be able to re-create. Another welcoming and unusual thing I found is the rather lengthy Bibliography at the end.

Although this book doesn't cover every type of garden possible and every aspect for gardening, it is full of useful information for anyone thinking of or having a garden and I do highly recommend it.

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