Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades: Steve Solomon's Complete Guide to Natural Gardening (Paperback)

by Steve Solomon (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Here's the book with everything you need to know about growing vegetables in the mild, wet climate of the maritime Pacific Northwest. Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades explains the basic science behind making plants grow, so that you can understand the daily events in your garden and solve gardening problems as they occur.

Product Details

• Paperback: 339 pages
• Publisher: Sasquatch Books; Rev Sub edition (March 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 091236520X
• ISBN-13: 978-0912365206
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #596,393 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most useful gardening book I've ever read, January 1, 1999

By A Customer

If you are a gardener west of the Cascades you'll definitely find useful and readable information in this book. It includes an introduction to soil science, when to plant, what varieties grow well here, which seed companies are reliable and trustworthy, information on dealing with pests, and a section on the cultivation of each vegetable. Steve Solomon started the Territorial seed company, though he's no longer associated with it, and was growing most of his own food when he wrote this book. His approach is primarily organic, though not evangellically so. This is a good book for both the "corn and tomato" gardeners as well as somebody who is aspiring to grow a significant fraction of their own food. This is a regional book--probably one of its strongest points, since gardening is different in different bioregions. The regions include the Willamette Valley, SW Washington, Oregon coast and Southern Oregon, Puget Sound, Washington foothills, Yoncalla Valley, along the Umpqua, and northern California, with probably the most emphasis on the Willamette Valley and SW Washington. This is the book I begin every planting season (or seed purchasing season) with!

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades really works!, May 21, 2000

By	Rebecca Brown "rebeccasreads" (Clallam Bay, WA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In composing a review of a book we've used constantly & incessantly over the years, my husband murmured that I should describe our copy. Wherever we've found a portion that pertains to our patch of earth in a valley on the edges of a National Forest, I've stashed a marker. Sometimes it's an emery board, a letter from England, pages from scratchpads with recipes for slug bait or maps of our raised bed plantings for a year, postcards from friends warning us about their impending visit. This book is now double in thickness yet these markers allow me easy access to what I need most often. We have enjoyed every penny we invested in Steve Solomon's Complete Guide to Natural Gardening. When we've got a problem, there's usually an answer right in there. When we're wondering about our climate, or our soil or our expectations for a harvest, given our climate, Steve Solomon's got an answer. Really useful, just wish it had more illustrations!

5.0 out of 5 stars All about Vegetable Gardening in the Western U.S., July 2, 2009

By	BYF "Backyard Flix" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

CONTENTS:


INTRODUCTION
* Wherein the author attempts to hook the bookstore browser and raises a few eyebrows]


BOTANY 101
* The basics of consciously managing and assisting the growth of plants, explained for the multitudes who have forgotten their high school science; the importance of sharp garden tools for those who did not grow up on the farm


A SHORT COURSE IN SOIL SCIENCE
* Soil management for ordinary people, using the same scientific principles taught in agriculture colleges; the need for and intelligent use of fertilizer and lime; understanding and managing different soil types; some capital-O Organic systems debunked


PLANNING THE MARITIME GARDEN
* Maritime Northwest crop rotations and succession cropping; winter gardening, or how to get 12 months of delicious, fresh food; nearly everything you need to know about raised-bed gardening, green houses, cold frames and cloches in a few pages; a complete year-round planting calendar.


THE GARDENER'S TEXTBOOK OF SPRINKLER IRRIGATION
* The basic principles of irrigation science simply explained; why over-watering is just as bad as under-watering; a look at gardening without irrigation.


SEEDS
* The physiology of seeds, or how to make seeds come up; an honest guide to buying the best seeds available; the importance of correct varietal seduction in the maritime Northwest; hybrid versus open-pollinated seed; new directions for the seed trade.


BUYING AND RAISING TRANSPLANTS
* How to tell the good seedlings from the bad; hardening-off store-bought seedlings; tips for producing the healthiest bedding plants at home without a lot of unnecessary foofaraw; a complete calendar and guide to home production, species by species


DISEASES AND PESTS
* What bugs us here in the maritime Northwest, not in Ohio or California, and how to handle local pests without using chemicals; the symphylan story


HOW TO GROW IT
* A family-by-family and species-by-species guide tailored to the needs of the maritime Northwest gardener, including the specifics of culture, garden planning, insects and diseases, harvesting, growing your own seed and varieties that really grow west of the Cascades.