The Ruth Stout No-Work Garden Book: Secrets of the Famous Year-Round Mulch Method

WOW...so wished I had this book years ago...but now I do. I've already revamped my growing strategy from here on out. In just the short time I had, late in season last year I had reaped a harvest in December!! Loved it so much, I've purchased 2 more for family and friend.

I did not hear of Ruth Stout while she was alive, but her ideas are interesting. Unfortunately, my area's summer temps average 117 daily so all the hay does is attract kazillions of white flies, sprout a variety of different mushrooms, and smells awful. Possibly if I were in Louisiana or Missouri again, I will try her ideas there.

One of the best books on gardening I have read. A must have for all gardeners.

I bought this book twenty years ago. I read it and didn't do it. Now I am on a farm and have a half acre garden. I re-read the book, and after three years of mulching a la Ruth Stout, and putting in the tomato fence that is described in one of the later chapters, I truly have my garden under control. It didn't happen over night. It took three gardening seasons for the mulching to become very effective, because each year the weeds are under a little better control. Last summer, I wasn't ashamed of my garden, not even in August, when it used to be a complete tangle of weeds. A nice side effect is that all of that mulch turns into wonderful compost, just lying there in the garden. No turning, no nothing, just mulch and let it do its thing. Buy it and try it - it will change the way you garden forever!

I sincerely wish I could have met the old girl. Her gardening advice boils down this: mulch with straw, and heavily, and often. The rest of the book is pure Ruth, and it's worth a read just to have her voice in your head. If you've been curious about no-dig, this one is the original and best. I wish she was still with us today to comment on this crazy, wonderful resurgence of vegetable gardening.

After reading The Ruth Stout No-Work Garden Book, one might think it is too simply put and lacking important information, but it's not. Year-round mulching is just so incredibly simple in itself. We have been mulching in our vegetable garden for about ten years now and the soil has become rich enough that we don't use the tiller anymore, just a slight loosening via a pitch fork works fine. Earthworm population has increased dramatically since we did that. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in gardening.

With arthritis, degenerative disk disease and spinal stenosis, I may very well be spending my last years in a wheelchair. With Ms. Stout's method of gardening, I will never go hungry. It is possible to plant a few plants (or harvest a few things) every day in the very early morning hours when I can stand to be outside. When my kids come see me, they lay a few bales of hay (or straw) around here and there so I can grab a handful and throw it on anything growing without permission. She was a wise old woman (with a great sense of humor)!!