Shiny green
cucumbers;
firm, juicy
tomatoes; baby lettuces handpicked one salad at a time —
these are the
tasty benefits of the backyard vegetable garden. But earth gardens are
a lot of work. They require a plot of plantable land and a significant
time commitment to sowing, watering, weeding, and tending each
plant.
|
Is there a solution?
Self-watering
containers allow vegetable gardeners — from the casual
weekender interested
in a tomato plant or two to the very dedicated gardener with limited
space
— to grow richly producing plants in a controlled,
low-maintenance environment. |
Lifelong gardener Ed
Smith became
fascinated with the possibilities of self-watering containers and began
testing dozens of vegetables in various containers, experimenting with
nutrients, soil mixtures, plant varieties, and container positioning.
Now
Smith is here to tell gardeners that anyone can grow and enjoy
wonderful
organic vegetables, using pots with continuous- flow watering
systems.
Smith shares advice
on
choosing appropriate
containers, how to provide balanced nutrition using his secret soil
formula,
and what additional tools benefit the container gardener. The reader
will
also find advice on starting from seed versus buying plants, which
vegetables
thrive in containers and which might be a bit more challenging, along
with
space-saving tips on pairing plants in single containers. After the
last
green tomato has been picked and is ripening on the windowsill, Smith
wraps
everything up with a chapter on fall clean-up and preparing for next
spring.
Now there’s really no excuse for store-bought tomatoes! .
|
Incredible
Vegetables
from Self-Watering Containers: Using
Ed's Amazing Pots System
by
Edward C.
Smith
Storey
Publishing,
2005.
Order
a copy
Reviewed
in The Book
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|
