Organic Gardening in Cold Climates [Paperback]

Sandra Perrin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2002

For more than thirty years Sandra Perrin has gardened year-round in Montana, learning to adapt to cold weather. Consumer demand encouraged her to update this popular gardening book, adding new hardy varieties and time-tested hints. Among other things, you will learn how to store carrots in the ground for winter harvesting, fry zucchini &flowers, and ripen green tomatoes. So get ready to dig! Organic gardening is not only healthy for the body but also, in Perrin's words, "good for the soul."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Perrin provides plenty of down-to-earth advice on growing vegetables and herbs without chemicals. She also gives practical information on planning and preparing a site, starting seeds indoors, tending plants, and harvesting the crop. Included are special sections on companion planting, composting and pest control." Lauren Bonar Swezey, Sunset --Lauren Bonar Swezey, Sunset

About the Author

Sandra Perrin's passion for gardening started at a young age on a farm near Toulouse, France, where her father taught her how to grow vegetables. She has been living and gardening in Montana since 1969.

Product Details

• Paperback: 142 pages
• Publisher: Mountain Press Publishing Company; Revised edition (March 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878424512
• ISBN-13: 978-0878424511
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #589,005 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful tips for cold climate gardens, June 16, 2008

By 

Jennine L. Wardle (Kenmore, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Organic Gardening in Cold Climates (Paperback)

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.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book and quick to get through, April 25, 2006

By 

Matthew P. Szafir (Vermont USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Organic Gardening in Cold Climates (Paperback)

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.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect instructional reference for the novice gardener in a colder climate, August 5, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Organic Gardening in Cold Climates (Paperback)

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.