Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades: The Complete Guide to Natural Gardening (Paperback)

by Steve Solomon (Author) "Prior to 1870 most Americans grew up on family farms with a hoe and shovel in their hands..." (more)
Key Phrases: complete organic fertilizer, first leaf joint, autumn leeks, Willamette Valley, West Coast, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Here's a fully revised edition of this regional bestseller- considered to be the definitive food gardening manual for the Pacific Northwest. This is the bible of vegetable gardening for anyone turning the soil west of the Cascade Mountains-from Western British Columbia to Northern California. It includes the basics of soil, when best to plant, the art of composting, what varieties grow well here, which seed companies are reliable, information on handling pests, and an extensive section on the cultivation of each vegetable.

About the Author
Steve Solomon started the Territorial Seed Company and became a recognized expert on organic vegetable gardening. He has gardened in California and Oregon, and he continues to research the art and science of vegetable gardening.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Sasquatch Books; 5th edition (January 7, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570612404
• ISBN-13: 978-1570612404
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #668,837 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The one essential book for the Northwest vegetable garden., March 22, 2006

By	Larry Greisel (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Steve Solomon, who founded Territorial Seed Company in 1980, is arguably the world's leading authority on non-commercial-scale organic vegetable gardening in the Pacific Northwest. Mr. Solomon has experimented with all of the variables in vegetable gardening, in our mild Maritime climate, and he reports the results with an admirable degree of honesty and integrity. His book - plus the Territorial Seed catalog - is all that's needed to achieve excellent garden results (for the first few years) with the least input of capital and labor.

That said, I've gardened in Seattle for 15 years, and Mr. Solomon's book has two serious flaws:

1. As other reviewers have noted, Mr. Solomon is dismissive of city gardening on a 200 or 400-square-foot plot. The city gardener must sift through many chapters of advice that applies only to homestead gardens of 1/2 acre or more.

2. After a few years the organic gardener will begin to experience mysterious crop failures - seeds that fail to germinate. Mr. Solomon attributes this failure to symphylan infestation - I suspect that soil-borne seed pathogens (Pythium, Rhizoctonia, etc.) may also play a part - but in any case, this book does not offer any viable solution for the CITY gardener. We city gardeners can hardly afford to garden on only half of our too-small plot, leaving the other half fallow for 3 or 4 years, waiting for the soil to return to equilibrium. (The Seattle Tilth trial gardens have suffered this fate, with no solution in sight.)

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The BEST gardening book for the Pacific Northwest gardener!, March 27, 2000

By	Teresa M. Davidson (Washington State) - See all my reviews

This book is a must for every Northwest gardener, but I found it especially helful for a beginner like myself. Its very easy to follow and the author doesn't talk over the reader's head. I especially liked the focus on organic gardening. My vegetable gardens have been awesome since reading this book and following the basic guidelines given. I have given this book as a gift to family and friends and they have all loved it and the results it has made in their gardens. I would recommend it to any serious gardener in the Pacific Northwest!

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "Must" for gardeners, April 6, 2001

By	Leland E. G. Larson "buzzylee" (Portland, Oregon USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I love this book. It is so helpful in giving you hints on growing all sorts of vegetables. Especially valuable to me is the author's "super fertilizer mix" (my words) in which he suggests combinations of natural ingredients to supplement the soil. It works! Now, I mix his formula up and put in old garbage cans so I can always have it on hand to give my little veggies. And do they ever appreciate their "treats"! I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in gardening successfully and doing it in a respectful manner.