Product Description

This book describes the philosophy and methods of a holistic approach to limited space gardening that produces so much food that, within three years, you will be able to produce 85% of the food needs for a family of four on less than a quarter-acre, plus earn over $10,000 in cash annually - and you will be able to do this in less time than an equivalent job would require, netting the equivalent of $50/hour for your labor. Even if you have never been a farmer or a gardener, this book covers everything you need to know to get started: buying seeds, saving seeds, starting seedlings, establishing raised beds, soil fertility practices, composting, dealing with pest and disease problems, farm planning and much more. Since self sufficiency is the objective, subjects such as raising backyard chickens and home canning are also covered along with numerous methods for keeping costs down and production high.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #456421 in Books
• Published on: 2006-12-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 148 pages

Customer Reviews

One of the best on gardening, mini-farming, food self-sufficiency
I just read this book and I am very impressed. It compares favorably both to classics of intensive gardening and to classics on self sufficiency. Less complicated than How to Grow More Vegetables and Fruits: (And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops) (How to Grow More Vegetables: (And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains,), less expensive and resource-hogging (in terms of peat moss, vermiculite, and grids) than All New Square Foot Gardening (which is still well worth buying for the beginning gardener; the charts on planting for a continuous three-season harvest alone are probably worth the price of the book). More focused and with more current (though perhaps still debatable) numbers than One Acre and Security: How to Live Off the Earth Without Ruining It, and written for an even smaller (and tractor-free) scale than Successful Small-Scale Farming: An Organic Approach (Down-To-Earth Book).

This book contains the simplest and most understandble description of double-digging that I have ever read, and the simplest way of placing seeds at the correct spacing in intensive gardening. It has good discussions of thermophilic composting and of the importance of aging compost; various types of irrigation systems; food requirements per person and practical ways of meeting them (including the economic infeasibility of growing wheat in the home garden); making aerated compost tea with a simple and inexpensive homemade system; the best media for seed starting; an introduction to saving and storing seeds, and references to excellent books that provide more information (such as Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners and Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties: The Gardener's & Farmer's Guide to Plant Breeding & Seed Saving); inexpensive ways to extend the growing season; fruit trees, bushes, and vines; raising poultry for eggs and/or meat; organic and certified naturally grown; and maximizing the money you make selling produce. The chapter on preserving the harvest by canning, freezing, and dehydrating (no mention of Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables) is not in-depth and will not take the place of other books on the subject, but serves as a good introduction. The only disappointment to me was that there was no mention of sheet composting (see Lasagna Gardening: A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens: No Digging, No Tilling,No Weeding, No Kidding!); I might suggest building your raised beds in that way rather than by double digging.

If you are trying to move off the grid, grow 100% of your own food, and make your own clothes, this may not be the book for you. If you'd like to raise a lot of your own food in a garden that will fit in the typical suburban yard (the actual number of square feet he suggests cultivating for a family of three is just under 1/20th of an acre), this book is a great place to start.

The Edible is Political
If you are new to mini-farming, this is the book to get. Markham grows a tremendous amount of food in a postage stamp piece of land, and he tells how to do it in this book. From planting the seeds to processing the harvest to a lesson on soil chemistry in between, this book covers it all in a folksy, easy to read style.

It is a very practical book, for people who need to grow gardens to save money and to provide their children with better diets. America is dividing along class lines, and one of the major class differences is food. The poor eat junk food and suffer obesity, diabetes, arteriosclerosis and heart disease; while the wealthier class eats real food -- that stuff that EVERYONE ate back in the old days.

The fact that junk food exists at all is a great injustice; junk food is "feed" for us "human cattle," if only it were as nutritious as what we give livestock! The fact is, you'd be better off eating alfalfa pellets and cracked corn with a bowl of water, than Doritos and Pepsi. That's right -- livestock feed has more nutritional value than so-called "fun foods," which are becoming more and more a staple of the American diet.

How many square feet of cropland is necessary to feed one person? John Jeavons put the number at 1250 square feet. Brett Markham puts the number at 700 square feet, based on his experience. If Markham is right, that means the average suburbanite can supply most of the food for their family. I think it's worth getting this book and giving it a try. I got the book, and I'm going to try it this year.

And if you have children, for heaven's sake, feed them right! I work in a health care related field, and I can tell you that we are seeing an American pandemic of diet-related diseases, all because we gave up our gardens and turned out food supply over to ConAgra and Archer Daniels Midland. Most of our food is basically the corn surplus in fancy packages. Partially hydrogenated corn syrup will KILL YOU! The next time you go shopping, read the labels of all packaged foods, and think twice!

Timely, intelligent and comprehensive
While the author doesn't advertise himself as an economist (he calls himself a "polymath and engineer"), the back cover of this book published in December of 2006 predicts the current foreclosure crisis we see today. Right from the start, his accurate predictions of the economic future should tell you that the author is a lot smarter than the average bear.

The premise of this book is that, as long as you have even a few hundred square feet of land somewhere (even just a 20' x 30' space) -- even in the suburbs -- you CAN raise an economically significant amount of food. So if you are looking for real estate advice on how to find farm land -- this is not your book. Mini Farming for Self Sufficiency, instead, tells you how to make maximum use of the land where you already live, right now.

The author covers a great deal of information, with his greatest concentration on the aspects of farming or gardening that are most crucial to the economic viability of turning a small lot into a mini-farm. He comprehensively covers the most crucial aspects including soil management (crop rotation, cover-cropping, soil testing, organic fertilizers, microbial life and so forth), composting (thermophilic, carbon/nitrogen ratios, pathogen survival, handling animal manures and so forth), seed starting, timing of planting for double harvests and more. He comprehensively covers information not ordinarily found in garden books such as planting and raising fruit and nut trees and the proper pruning of cane fruits.

There is hardly any arena in which this book doesn't give you enough information to be completely self-sufficient; including ordinarily advanced areas such as seed saving, soil blocking and poultry raising. Also included is enough information (including comprehensive charts) to successfully can or freeze practically any fruit, vegetable or animal.

I have personally used the information in this book to start my own mini farm including apple and pear trees, grapes, raspberries and 14 garden beds which I will be expanding to 18 garden beds later this year. Using the methods in this book, in just two years, I have provided all of my own chicken meat (and eggs), and thousands of dollars worth of highest-quality organic fruits and vegetables. So far, we are selling eggs for $3/dozen (!!), plus all the lettuce we can grow at $2/lb. The author's advice about marketing produce is spot-on.

If I could have only one gardening book, this would be it. It contains comprehensive charts and information for planting times, expected yields, seed saving, canning/freezing and practically any other knowledge that a gardener needs at his fingertips. It even explains how to make your own fertilizers. An amazing book and an amazing value at any price.

There are a couple of areas where I think this book could be improved. Specifically, while the author has covered canning, freezing and dehydrating pretty well, he has left out cold storage/root cellaring. So if you would like to do root cellaring, this book says nothing about the topic. Also, while I think he alludes to certain aspects of no-till gardening by describing the maintenance of beds once they are created; I think the book would benefit from more attention to this topic specifically. No book as ambitious as this can be perfect, however; but these two omissions don't diminish the value of the book at all.

If I had never gardened before, I would get this book, a book on root cellaring and a canning recipe book such as the Ball Blue Book. (While this book gives you everything you need to know to can practically anything safely, it has no recipes to speak of.) Given these, I would be equipped to do practically anything.

I'm at a loss to understand some of the (less useful) reviews of this book. It's true that this book is not a real-estate guide on how to find farm land -- but it doesn't purport to be such a book either. Instead, it tells you how to use ANY land and turn it into maximally-productive land. The book IS 148 pages, but it is formatted as a full 8-1/2" x 11" book with only 1/2" margins and single-spaced 12-point type. Reformatted to a standard 6"x9" book with 1" margins, 12-point type and standard 1.5 line spacing, it would be around 300 pages.

As to whether or not the information is widely available on the Internet -- I honestly don't know. As you can find complete college textbooks on the Internet, I'm sure that for someone willing to spend a few days, a lot of the information (like how long to blanch broccoli before freezing) can be located. It's still handy to have everything from pre-planting to post-harvest all in one place. I seriously doubt you'd find the information he provides on most effectively employing florescent lighting for seed starting on the Internet; and one thing you just can't get off the Internet is the complete understanding of timing, interplanting and sequential planting that this book offers.

One other thing. Every year in the late winter/early spring, the author sends free organically grown seeds (anywhere from 2 to 4 generous packets) to readers who send him a SASE with an excerpt from the book. This past year, I received packets of organically grown dill, peppers, tomatoes and mustard for nothing more than the cost of a SASE. I failed to include enough postage, and he went ahead and paid the difference! If you have priced organic seeds lately, you know that the four packets he sent me were worth about $12.

If you are interested in starting a garden in order to take the edge off in tough economic times, I recommend this book most highly. It will give you everything you need to know to be successful right out of the box. Most valuable is his economic emphasis because he points out how most gardens become (at best) a break-even affair economically -- and he shows you how to turn that balance greatly to your favor.

Highly recommended!