CONTENTS Acknowledgments Introduction
xi xiii
1. Honoring the Land
1
Gardening in Nature’s Image—But Which Nature and Which Image? | Has Nature Thought of Everything? | On Being a Member of a Keystone Species. | Organic and Beyond.
2. Honoring the Essential Nature of the Plants
11
Sun, Earth, Air, Water, Warmth. | What Can We Grow? | Expected First and Last Frost Dates. | Sun and Shade Tolerance. | Some Like It Hot; Some Like It Cold. | When to Plant Everything. | Planting Guide.
3. Honoring Your Own Essential Nature
21
Discovering Your Inner Gardener. | Planning Versus Spontaneity. | Structure, Labor, and Freedom.
4. Flexibility
27
Choosing Gardening Styles and Methods. | Getting the Most from the Small Garden. | Volunteers. | How to Eat a Weed— Dandelions, Lambsquarters, Purslane. | The Prepper’s Garden.
5. Balance
43
Grand Versus Prosaic. | How Much Garden? | Limiting Factors. | Too Much Tilling. | Too Much Watering. | Too Much Fertilizer. | Too Many Pests. | Knowing When to Stop.
6. Non-Doing
59
Daring to Not Do. | On Not Tilling, Digging, Mowing, or Tending Absolutely Everything. | Twenty-Four Good Places Not to Plant a Tree. | Seven Reasons Not to Chop Down a Tree. | Thirty-Seven Reasons for Not Planting Various Vegetables. | On Not Planting Purple Flowers in Front of an Orange Brick House. | Flower-Patterned Shirts Attract Bees. | A Weed by Any Other Name Is Usually Still a Weed.