Are you someone who loves vegetable gardening? Having a garden is one of the best parts of home ownership since it allows you to save money on food and take control of the quality of your food. One of the most significant issues home gardeners are facing is climate change, especially with constantly changing temperatures, storms, and water shortages in some areas. We have been dealing with our issues, such as not having cherries for the past two years due to sudden frosts after having a too-early spring. Knowing that we have to make some changes, I was excited when I got the chance to review a complimentary book all about climate change – The Climate Change: Resilient Vegetable Garden: How to Grow Food in a Changing Climate by Kim Stoddart. As soon as my book arrived, I couldn’t wait to dig in and start reading!
The Climate Change Resilient Vegetable Garden: What It
Do you want to have a garden but are unsure how to deal with all the challenges climate change presents? If so, we think you will love The Climate Change Resilient Vegetable Garden. Here is what the publisher has to say about this new book:
Discover a new, more dynamic and durable way to grow food in the extremes of our changing climate in The Climate Change–Resilient Vegetable Garden.
Whether it’s water-usage restrictions, extended heat waves, disastrous flooding, “super weeds,” or prolonged pest lifecycles, the coming years will be filled with daunting challenges for food growers around the world. What’s a gardener to do? Author Kim Stoddart outlines a clear path toward building resilience in your vegetable plants, your soil, and yourself. With actionable tasks that reduce resource use, stabilize the garden’s ecosystem, and offer regenerative solutions to the most challenging issues faced by gardeners, Kim comes to the rescue with advice to help you weather these storms with ease.
Learn to:
- Foster adaptation by selectively breeding your favorite veggie varieties for local growing conditions
- Nurture biologically active soils that are better able to support your plants
- Create bioswales, berms, and rain gardens to improve your garden’s flood tolerance
- Plant windbreaks, erect cold frames, and make mini hoop tunnels to protect plants from wind, snow, and surprise frosts
- Enhance biodiversity in your garden to increase pest predation and keep “bad” insects in check
- Discover intensive planting techniques to improve yields while protecting your soil and reducing water usage
- Select the most adaptable fruit and vegetable crops to grow and tend them in a climate change–savvy way
- Recycle rainwater, repurpose household items, and live lightly on the land for a more resourceful gardening life
Even long-time vegetable gardeners will face unexpected challenges in the years to come. Take the time to build resilience in yourself and your garden by shifting your thinking today, and you’ll be prepared for the unpredictable future ahead.
Our Thoughts:
While the topic may be a bit sobering for those worried about climate change, I felt that this vegetable gardening book had a lot of fantastic advice. So much of the book focuses on changing how we think of gardening, ranging from forgoing power tools to repurposing items to help improve our gardens. While some topics are pretty typical for organic gardening (which is important for beginners), it is excellent to see advice from more experienced gardeners, such as natural pest control and remembering that quick fixes can cause more damage than you want for your environment.
For example, she spends much time focusing on the dangers of insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides since they usually cause more harm than the manufacturer describes. I avoid them because we have adorable wildlife in our yard (we have cute salamanders that live in my garden area and eat unwanted bugs). They are one of the little creatures that can easily be killed off by the horrible chemicals, not to mention you don’t want to be eating vegetables that are contaminated by the chemicals in the soil. As someone who worries about climate change, I consider The Climate Change Resilient Vegetable Garden a must for any gardener or homeowner wanting a vegetable garden!
The Climate Change Resilient Vegetable Garden: Where to Purchase
Would you like to purchase this gardening book for yourself or as a special gift for a gardener? Currently, The Climate Change: Resilient Vegetable Garden: How to Grow Food in a Changing Climate is available for pre-order and will be available starting February 6th for your Kindle or, if you prefer, paperback on February 27th.
About Susan Bewley
Susan Bewley is a professional writer who has been writing content online & in print format for over 10 years. As well, she is an alumni of the University of Louisville with a Masters Degree in Special Education. When not working as an online business consultant or ghost writing, she can be found writing on Budget Earth, on her own novel, or working with various entities in the pet industry.