Gardening When It Counts

The Decline of Cheap Oil and the threat of harder times to come is prompting people to grow more food themselves. But currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods depend on cheap oil, requiring high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter. Prior to the 1970s, home food growing used more land because wider plant spacing reduces the need for irrigation and requires lower levels of soil fertility to be productive - and well-spaced plants can be weeded rapidly and conveniently with hand tools while standing upright. But these efficient systems have been largely forgotten. Gardening When It Counts helps readers rediscover these traditional low-input gardening methods in their quest to produce healthy and affordable food.

Steve Solomon has taught Master Gardener and Urban Farm classes at the University of Oregon in Eugene.