Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre

Excellent, well-organized guide on moving from casual gardener to self-sufficient gardener
While I’ve maintained small gardens and potted plants for years, for 5+ years I’ve casually kept a 1,000 square foot garden. I’ve mostly winged it… sometimes impressively, other times with dismally. But, never consistent year over year results.I picked up this book to take my gardening to the next level and broaden my horizons.In short, I’m very satisfied with the insights and guidance I’ve gleaned from this book. I’d go so far as to say that while you don’t need a background in gardening to benefit from this book, this book is a perfect fit for people in my situation.Here are the pros and cons from my perspective.Pros:- The content of each chapter is very well organized, with concepts building onto one another very neatly.- The broader subject matter of the chapters takes one through the process of planning, preparing, selecting, timing, managing, etc. most everything one would need to successfully grow a garden.- This book strikes a good balance between giving you the key information you need for any one aspect of self-sufficient gardening, but not inundating you with too much detail. (In other words, this book threads the needle on delivering a lot of helpful information, while still feeling like an easy read.)- I’ve seen other reviews for this book that complain that the author ‘rips off’ others’ ideas and re-packages them for profit. I read quite a bit and have over the years seen serious examples of what these other reviewers are claiming. But, in the case of this book, while the author informs on alternative (and even competing models) for gardening, the author always informs the user on what, in his experience, has or has NOT worked from various models; how he has modified some of those ideas to work in his growing climate; and where he completely parts ways from others’ techniques and espouses his own approach (including very clear instruction on how to use his modified or totally unique processes).- Finally, where possible, the author provides the equivalent of ‘modified workouts’ for those ‘less fit’ (MY WORDS, NOT HIS) in their gardening abilities. In other words, the author provides sufficient detail on what might be the most efficient and beneficial approach to say irrigation or composting, but then across the various subjects covered in the book, he provides a less expensive/quicker/initially easier alternative for those lacking the time, resources, space, skills, etc. to fully implement the best possible approach for one aspect or another of gardening. For example, as I’ll be looking to expand my garden this next spring, I fully intend to utilize some of the quicker soil prep techniques offered up in this book for use in a pinch while I build up my long-term composting and soil amendment routines.Cons:- While some of the chapters really cover all the bases for the targeted subject matter (i.e. plant spacing, soil prep, etc.). Others give you just enough to run with but leave you wanting more. A good example of this would be Chapter 7 (“Time and Yield”). While the author gives a good and broad overview of timing techniques (i.e. succession planting, timed planting, interplanting etc.), for such an important subject matter, I was disappointed by just how short this chapter was. I live in Michigan, with a shorter growing season. I see this topic as critical for people in shorter growing zones like mine, and apart from a quick overview of each of the techniques used to maximize productivity, and a handful of real-world examples of plant groups that work well for things like succession planting (taking into consideration their hardiness in colder climates), this chapter really leaves readers wanting.- While this book is beautifully illustrated, there’s no doubting that the abundance of pretty pictures of garden produce, chickens, tools, etc. serve as fill to make the book feel a bit more substantial in size than it need be. I don’t want to over play this point, as A LOT of the illustrations (pictures/graphics/tables) are pertinent to the content of the book (and in any event, some amount of artwork is always nice to have), BUT… I think you could produce this book, still with plenty of beautiful illustrations, and reduce it from its current 227 pages (including the index and notes pages) down to 175 pages.

AMONG THE VERY * BEST * GARDENING BOOKS!
This book is a gardener’s gem. I hesitated buying it only because of the low price! Don’t judge a book by its cost. This lovely volume is worth a lot more. It is straight to the point in a pleasant, readable fashion.I was raised on a small farm. Yet I was truly surprised at how much I learned! He covers so much of what I’ve grown up doing, and still doing for over 50 years. He mentions two books, both classics; both of which I’ve incorporated into my own growing. He compares these books and suggests what works and doesn’t and why.The book is fast and succinct, with a bounty of information. I marveled at how he got it all in there!! It reads quickly too. Of course he is an engineer, and the book was recommended by a best-friend, also an engineer. :-} This is probably why the information on irrigation, timers and simple watering formulas is easy to learn, painless to recall.Double-digging is beautifully explained. His charts are straight-forward and quick to comprehend. (not all charts are created equal!). The spacing tip is a precious gem. He presents information without blatant bias. And the material on horse manure is worth a lot of the composting I’ve done. Thanks to Brett, I’ve decided not to use it again.This book arrived the same day as a carefully researched treatise on aquaponics. While aquaponics may be the ultimate food-growing solution, it was a relief to realize my heart is (and always will be) in the dirt. To paraphrase, “fresh air, sunshine, healthy exercise’; Dirt growing has many benefits besides fresh food. I will embark on aquaponics, yet continue my passion of mini-farming.Two suggestions, more information on transmutable diseases from chickens, especially their manure borne pathogens. (Yes I could research this myself. but now I’m spoiled). And please, please keep writing. I look forward to your next one!

This book is a thoroughly good read to introduce you to the idea of efficient food production on a small plot, and effectively bypasses the more traditional folklore-based practices of traditional home veg growers. Various named theories of intensive growing are explained and appraised.There is good science here, explained clearly, and with sufficient information and references to explore further. Although the writer’s experience is in New England, the book makes it very simple to convert everything to a place with different climate.I read the book through in a couple of days. It was something of a page turner! I am now using it as a reference for development of my own far-from-perfect plot.

Good but not best.” All new square foot gardening” is much better.