A classic in the field of sustainable gardening, HOW TO GROW MORE VEGETABLES shows how to produce a beautiful organic garden with minimal watering and care, whether it's just a few tomatoes in a tiny backyard or enough food to feed a family of four on less than half an acre. Updated with the latest biointensive tips and techniques, this is an essential reference for gardeners of all skill levels seeking to grow some or all of their own food.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From the Publisher
* A revision of the revolutionary guide to growing abundant organic fruits, vegetables, and other plants using sustainable methods and very little space. * Thoroughly revised and updated, with new information on harvesting, rotating crops, composting, and fertilizing, and a vast and varied resources section.
About the Author
JOHN JEAVONS is a cofounder of the group Ecology Action and the father of the modern biointensive gardening movement. He lives in Willits, California, where he has been growing more vegetables for decades.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
160 of 167 people found the following review helpful
By Ideasinca
Format:Paperback
I am impressed at how many people misunderstand the purpose of this book. It's not just a gardening book. It lays out a comprehensive guide to growing the most food you can on the least amount of land in the most sustainable way -- meaning the way that is, on an ongoing basis into perpetuity, most healthy both for your family, your land, and the wider world. All those things are connected, and maintaining the connection is part of what the book and authors are all about.
The title means what it says, and they tell you exactly how to do it, basing their recommendations on the work of the organization that publishes the book, Ecology Action. They have been growing experimental gardens and conducting detailed research over the past 35 years. In succeeding editions of "How to Grow More Vegetables" they summarize their continuing research for those interested in personally benefiting from their methods and discoveries.
Some may object to the excruciatingly detailed charts and plans. Some of us find them a godsend. Regardless of what we think of them, they are the outgrowth of years of research and are intended to help, not just backyard gardeners in the US, but people in Kenya, India, Russia, Mexico, and other places around the world, whose lives and livelihoods, not to mention the health of their environment, may depend on maximizing their yields while minimizing their purchased inputs and water usage.
The central fact underlying this method is this: the only way to achieve the highest sustainable yields is to build and feed your soil, and the only way to build your soil without taking away fertility from someone else's soil (through purchased inputs such as compost, fertilizer, etc.) is to make and use your own compost. This book explains why, and shows you how. It works.
Though we are still shielded from it in the US, the world is facing a potentially devastating loss of agricultural fertility due to a combination of squandered topsoil (lost through both development and abuse by chemicals and poor tillage practices), water shortages, and soaring prices and reduced availability of fossil fuels (which power the farm equipment, get it to market, and form the basis of most chemical fertilizers). Years ago, Ecology Action set out to discover in a rational and scientific way, just how much land and labor it would take to grow the amount of food, properly balanced for calories and nutrition, required by one person for one year. Could a family of four truly feed itself from a 1200 square foot garden if it had to, or wanted to? How much work and water would it take? How much fertilizer would they have to buy? Could they grow their own fertilizer? What tools would they need? What about fiber for clothing? Building materials? Animal feed?
The "How to Grow More Vegetables" books answer those questions, and much, much more. As the years go by, (and with each succeeding food contamination scandal) more of us, even in the US, are realizing just how important those questions are. You may not need or want all the information in this book. But it is all there, and nowhere else that I am aware of, for those who do want it.
This book could save the world, if only the world would pay attention. But it will also show you how to grow fabulous, tasty vegetables with less water, less work, less weeding, less money.
The title means what it says, and they tell you exactly how to do it, basing their recommendations on the work of the organization that publishes the book, Ecology Action. They have been growing experimental gardens and conducting detailed research over the past 35 years. In succeeding editions of "How to Grow More Vegetables" they summarize their continuing research for those interested in personally benefiting from their methods and discoveries.
Some may object to the excruciatingly detailed charts and plans. Some of us find them a godsend. Regardless of what we think of them, they are the outgrowth of years of research and are intended to help, not just backyard gardeners in the US, but people in Kenya, India, Russia, Mexico, and other places around the world, whose lives and livelihoods, not to mention the health of their environment, may depend on maximizing their yields while minimizing their purchased inputs and water usage.
The central fact underlying this method is this: the only way to achieve the highest sustainable yields is to build and feed your soil, and the only way to build your soil without taking away fertility from someone else's soil (through purchased inputs such as compost, fertilizer, etc.) is to make and use your own compost. This book explains why, and shows you how. It works.
Though we are still shielded from it in the US, the world is facing a potentially devastating loss of agricultural fertility due to a combination of squandered topsoil (lost through both development and abuse by chemicals and poor tillage practices), water shortages, and soaring prices and reduced availability of fossil fuels (which power the farm equipment, get it to market, and form the basis of most chemical fertilizers). Years ago, Ecology Action set out to discover in a rational and scientific way, just how much land and labor it would take to grow the amount of food, properly balanced for calories and nutrition, required by one person for one year. Could a family of four truly feed itself from a 1200 square foot garden if it had to, or wanted to? How much work and water would it take? How much fertilizer would they have to buy? Could they grow their own fertilizer? What tools would they need? What about fiber for clothing? Building materials? Animal feed?
The "How to Grow More Vegetables" books answer those questions, and much, much more. As the years go by, (and with each succeeding food contamination scandal) more of us, even in the US, are realizing just how important those questions are. You may not need or want all the information in this book. But it is all there, and nowhere else that I am aware of, for those who do want it.
This book could save the world, if only the world would pay attention. But it will also show you how to grow fabulous, tasty vegetables with less water, less work, less weeding, less money.
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is the sort of book you search for. You can now recycle your other garden books. This book along with a good seed catalogue is all you'll ever need. It is packed to overflowing with detailed information about the hows and why's plantings in your garden will or will not work. Inside it has lists of companion plantings, and plants that would be detriment to each other. It is science with practical field experience. It also contains detailed charts and guides to truly make the most of your garden. The author has given you exactly how many seedlings you need to plant to provide for a family of one to four. Brilliant! They've taken the guess work out of the adventure! And that is a huge relief!!
24 of 27 people found the following review helpful
By FRED NIKLAS
Format:Paperback
This is a definitive guide to the Bio- Intensive method of growing vegetables. It is well written, and you can see that a lot of time and effort are behind the concepts presented here.
Two things bother me; There`s an almost 100- page bibliography included in the book!? Couldn`t it have been put up on a website or something, instead of just making the book (look) bigger and thicker? The second issue is that I find it always a bit irritating when a lot of equipment or systems get mentioned in a book, but to get their specifics or plans you must buy another book. Maybe the plans for the U- bar or for the mini- greenhouse could have fitted on those bibliography pages?
Anyways, the four stars is for the part where the actual system gets described.
Two things bother me; There`s an almost 100- page bibliography included in the book!? Couldn`t it have been put up on a website or something, instead of just making the book (look) bigger and thicker? The second issue is that I find it always a bit irritating when a lot of equipment or systems get mentioned in a book, but to get their specifics or plans you must buy another book. Maybe the plans for the U- bar or for the mini- greenhouse could have fitted on those bibliography pages?
Anyways, the four stars is for the part where the actual system gets described.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Grow More
As a southwest gardener, I am constantly seeking how to better work with the land, the environment, the resources available to produce more from the ground. Read more
Published 3 days ago by Mary Lee Moeny
4.0 out of 5 stars
very good - but complex, not for a beginner gardener
Lots of good stuff here to appreciate slowly over the years, start with something more basic, like joy of gardening if you have less than 5 year in.
Published 2 months ago by Raw in the Garden
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great book for the vegie gardener
This book has facinated me from the first time I picked one up back in the '90s. The new edition has a lot more information on sustainability which goes a little deeper than most... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Katie Strader
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good info on the French Intensive Method
This is the only book I've been able to find on the French Intensive Method of growing vegetables. It's not mentioned as the French Intensive Method, it's reinvented as... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Diana Litaker
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very detailed and informative
Some information was a little hard to understand, but the book is very detailed about creating a sustainable garden, and keeping it going. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Frances G
5.0 out of 5 stars
Extremely useful book for intensive farmers and gardeners
This book is very inexpensive for the amount of valuable information it offers. The author, who is very well known for his sustainable approach to agriculture, gives handy charts... Read more
Published 6 months ago by klyons15
4.0 out of 5 stars
The 2002 6th edition is FREE
I read a library copy this book several years ago; I found a wealth of information that was useful and some that was just interesting. Read more
Published 6 months ago by The Sagacious Scribe
4.0 out of 5 stars
vegetable book
Good book for beginners in gardening. Goes into excellent details about planning, spacing, planting, fertilization. Shows excellent pictures for details.
Published 15 months ago by sundancecows
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exciting book!
This book is required for one of my classes which have not started yet, and I have already read 2 chapters into it, it is awesome!
Published 16 months ago by plant geek
5.0 out of 5 stars
Real how-to for serious homesteaders
My family of six and I are dabbling in homesteading and trying to grow "all our own food", at least theoretically, on about an acre and a half in Michigan. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Bizzy Mom
Citations (learn more)
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cites this book:
- Micro Eco-Farming: Prospering from Backyard to Small Acreage In Partnership with the Earth by Barbara Berst Adams on page 74
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