Customer Reviews

Golden Gate Gardening: Year-Round Food Gardening in the San Francisco Bay Area and Coastal California

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

So this past spring I decided, once and for all, that I wanted to start a garden. I had no experience in this subject, and I searched for a good book at the library. I found this book. I ended up renewing it five times, and finally ordering it from Amazon.com. It has truly been a life saver. What I like best is the way the book is laid out, with sections on vegetables, fruits, and flowers, as well as special sections on pests and other problems. The book is well organized and the index points the reader in the right directions, making it easy to find what I'm looking for down to the tiniest detail. The charts make it clear which San Francisco Bay Area microclimates are suitable for which plants, and the book explains down to the tiniest detail how to start plants, transplant them, grow them, and harvest them. At the same time that this book is informative beyond all my original expections, is also excels in not being condescending (one of my pet peeves). I believe it is the perfect book for the seasoned gardener just moving into the area, the seasoned gardener in need of more detailed information, and someone like me, with no gardening experience whatsoever.

This is a good book both for the avid gardener as well as the beginner. I've given this book as gifts to many people throughout the SF Bay area and everyone has loved this book!It is particularly a good gift if they grow vegetables and have had limited success in some aspects of gardening such as trying to grow tomotoes the coastal areas of the Bay Area. This book has growing charts of when to plant and harvest, best varieties for the bay area, and covers points to explain the many microclimates even within the same city.

A great book with lots of pointers. Note that this is not a book to compete with Sunset's Western Garden Book but rather to supplement it. This book doesn't have the details with regard to horticultural specifics.

Don't let the cumbersome title scare you away from this handy book for Bay Area and coastal California gardeners. Pam Pierce understands the unique Mediterranean microclimate(s) of our great gardening region, and offers sound advice on what to grow, when and how to grow it best. Very helpful and well-organized.

Havi Hoffman
Vegetable Gardens
Growing food in Berkeley, CA

I love this book. I have never read it all the way through, but rather I look up things that I am interested in.

The seed company (and variety) recommendations are likely out of date.

I really appreciate Peirce's reports about her experiences with different plants.

About me: I bought Golden Gate Gardening before starting my first backyard vegetable garden two years ago. Everything was new to me. Soil, weeds, water, sun. About the book: [fawning alert] Ms. Peirce has no agenda, other than to give clear, useful, concise information. Her introduction let me know she has a soul. Her information let me know she is an expert. And her information is useful. It appears that Ms. Peirce puts herself into the place of the gardener, answering questions which might reasonably arise. And the information is organized in an accessible manner. The calendar processes are essential, and I refer to them often, and can tell you without looking that the transplanting guide is on page 53. I use it that often. I go to the section on vegetables three or four times a week. Following her guidelines, I had a very successful first year in the garden, raising 30 varieties of vegetables - from arugula to zucchini.

It includes useful details that I haven't found anywhere else, even in specialty Web sites and books -- about how to cope with deer and blackberries, for instance, both of which most of us love, but we hate their interference with our gardens. Get it!

$90 for new copies of this? Don't bother. It's been released again in 2010 under a slightly different title for around $20. Buy that one. Do a search for:

Golden Gate Gardening: The Complete Guide to Year-Round Food Gardening in the San Francisco Bay Area and Coastal California

by Pam Peirce

(Note the spelling of the name.)

Otherwise, FANTASTIC BOOK. You'll love it. Even with details like the soil in San Francisco being full of lead from all the paint over the years on the Victorians and so on, so recommending new soil or raised beds with new soil (raised beds are always a plus for growing food anyway since they heat up better than the ground and produce more stellar results, sometimes quicker and sometimes for a longer period of time).

San Francisco has many microclimates and differing growing seasons because of our unique geography. This book clearly explains how to plan and plant gardens to maximize the altered growing seasons. It also details neighborhood by neighborhood, which plants will likely grow given the soil (we live near the beach with sandy soil) and weather conditions. An invaluable, smart resource!

Excellent resource. Bought two copies - one for me and one for my dad.

i purchased this for my boyfriend and he uses it all the time. and we've had a lot of success growing all sorts of terrific produce in our little plot, which is in large part due to tips from this handy gardening book that discusses plants, soils, climate, etc that do best and or worst in different areas of san francisco, as well as information on pests and so forth.