Organic Gardening in Cold Climates

The cover artis for the newer addition, but this one is from 1991

The thing that struck me most strongly about this book was the common-sense approach the author uses. This isn't some idealistic "greenie" trying to further her cause; but a woman who has spent her entire life caring for the soil and garden that feeds her and her family. The sections on companion planting and rotation are invaluable for anyone attempting to reduce pests and disease in their garden without using pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. The fact that these methods also tend to increase your harvest yield is just a happy coincidence! One of the most distinctive differences with this organic gardening book is that it focuses on cold climates, in some cases even very cold climates, where we don't have the luxury of a long growing season or temperate winters. It's easier to be organic when you have 180+ days in your growing season and you don't have to worry about your compost pile freezing... it's a little more difficult when your "guaranteed" season is more like 60-90 days, and it gets so cold and for long enough that the ground freezes solid (not just your compost pile). By far, this is one of the best organic gardening "primers" I've read, the fact that it focuses on latitudes north of 40 is a special treat. Just the right amount of information to get you thinking and growing without being proscriptive.

Terrific book! Very, very helpful. I love it.

In this newly revised and expanded edition of Organic Gardening In Cold Climates, gardening expert Sandra Perrin draws upon her more than thirty years of experience gardening year-round in Montana to teach aspiring gardeners in the upper states of the U.S. and the provinces of Canada how to adapt to cold weather and early frosts when raising their garden vegetables. There are special sections devoted to "companion planting", season extenders, composting, natural pest and disease control, and "French Intensive Gardening". Every aspect of gardening in a northern climate is clearly addressed from planning the garden, to preparing the soil, to planting, to tending what has been planted, and harvesting. Enhanced with chapters devoted to fruit and vegetable seeds, growing herbs in a garden setting,, gardening and therapy, a listing of seed companies, and a bibliography of useful literature, Organic Gardening In Cold Climates is the perfect instructional reference for the novice gardener in a colder climate.

I'm 20 and in college and have a small (8' by 12') vegetable garden in Vermont and this book is perfect for anyone interested in doing the same sort of thing. It introduced me into many concepts I had never heard of including how to make a compost pile, companion planting, and season extenders such as hotbeds. One thing I liked was that it gave a number of ways to do each thing...it didn't demand that there was one best way to do things...it lets you choose what's best for you. The second half of the book lists a number of different varieties of each vege/herb and when/where you should plant them and how they should be cared for.