The Living Soil Handbook

May 17, 2021
No-Till Market Garden podcaster Frost takes a deep dive into soil health in his practical, informative debut. A “garden needs to be built on a solid foundation just as a house does,” Frost writes, laying out the three principles that inform his approach to soil tending: keep it covered, planted, and as undisturbed as possible. He emphasizes the importance of mycorrhizal fungi, which “act much like an underground internet, sending nutrients and messages across large distances among plants,” and of soil testing. On the advice front, he guides readers through no-till approaches, evaluating potential garden sites, and creating beds, and shares recommendations for compost, mulch, and cover crops. Seven “mainstay” crops—arugula, beets, carrots, cherry tomatoes, garlic, lettuce, and sweet potatoes—are highlighted, as is advice for selling one’s produce at market (for beets: “taking a few extra seconds to clean up the bunches makes all the difference”). While geared more toward the professional grower than the backyard gardener, Frost’s accessible explanations and encouraging delivery provide valuable insights: “Diving deeper into the process of photosynthesis and its relationship to the underground ecology... can make you a wiser steward of the soil.” Gardeners interested in sustainable agriculture will find this a great place to start.

Starred review from June 1, 2021
Centering on three principles--disturb the soil as little as possible, keep the soil covered as much as possible, keep the soil planted as much as possible--author Frost offers a comprehensive, science-based, sympathetic, wholly practical guide to soil building, that most critical factor in vegetable gardening for market growers and home gardeners alike. While allowing for certain exceptions, like the need to till compacted soil to break it down and amend it, the no-till method encourages soil to develop, undisturbed, the complex nutritional and architectural structure crops need to grow most successfully. More great advice: rather than pulling plants completely out of the ground to make way for subsequent crops during a growing season, Frost recommends slicing the tops off at ground level to allow the old plant to decompose and nourish the new one and to keep that nutrient-rich soil undisturbed. He ends the book by walking gardeners through the start-to-finish process of growing each of seven veggies: carrots, arugula, garlic, lettuce, sweet potatoes, beets, and cherry tomatoes. That process includes varieties to consider, bed prep, pest and weed controls, spacing, harvesting and yields, and even cautionary ""notable failures."" A gift to any vegetable plot that will keep on giving.

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