To accommodate today’s lifestyles, a garden needs to fit easily into a very small plot, take as little time as possible to maintain, require a minimum amount of water, and still produce prolifically. That’s exactly what a postage stamp garden does. Postage stamp gardens are as little as 4 by 4 feet, and, after the initial soil preparation, they require very little extra work to produce a tremendous amount of vegetables–for instance, a 5-by-5-foot bed will produce a minimum of 200 pounds of vegetables.
When first published 40 years ago, the postage stamp techniques, including closely planted beds rather than rows, vines and trailing plants grown vertically to free up space, and intercropping, were groundbreaking. Now, in an ever busier world, the postage stamp intensive gardening method continues to be invaluable for gardeners who wish to weed, water, and work a whole lot less yet produce so much more. – Goodreads
Guys, I’ve decided that this book is the Holy Grail of container gardening. Seriously. It has everything from when to plant what, zones, soil composition, nutrients, watering, germination and an entire section on specific vegetables that details the how and what, which is my favorite part that I’ll touch on later in the review.
The book is laid out in an easy to read reference way. It starts with an introduction, then goes in order of what you need to know. I’m about to buy a new house and I know I want a garden. As a complete gardening, black-thumbed newb, I tried to research beginner stuff on the internet with little luck. Even the ever faithful Pinterest didn’t help with zoning, soil, and when to plant. As a beginner, I appreciated the ease and simplicity of the information in this book.
I LOVED the reference guide in the back. Take, for example, cucumbers. The book rates them excellent for postage stamp gardens, and is highly recommended for the small garden. It talks about how they are when planted (they like heat and should be planted four inches apart). It gives recommendations for plant placement and variety. It lists multiple varieties and details their grow time, size, appearance ,and what they’re good for (eating raw, etc). It also discusses their typical problems, such as bitterness. Finally, it details harvesting, storage, and growing tips. It does ALL of this for tons of different plants, which is pretty darn cool.
Lastly, the book has a troubleshooting guide of sorts in the back if your plants are dying or sick and includes ways to fix them.
Overall, this book is amazing and I can’t wait for my garden to flourish this summer and fall! HIGHLY recommend to those who are looking to start a container garden or several raised beds. I rated it 5/5.
HUGE thank you to Blogging for Books for the opportunity to read and review (and reference this summer!) this book.
lifebetweenreads.com 