Synopses & Reviews
Scientist/gardener Carol Deppe combines her passion for gardening with newly emerging scientific information from many fields - resilience science, climatology, climate change, ecology, anthropology, paleontology, sustainable agriculture, nutrition, health, and medicine. In
The Resilient Gardener, Deppe extends these principles with detailed information about growing and using five keystone crops that are especially important for anyone seeking greater self-reliance: potatoes, corn, beans, squash, and eggs.In this book you'll learn how to:
- Garden in an era of climate change and unpredictable weather
- Grow, store, and use more of your own staple crops
- Garden efficiently and comfortably (even if you have a bad back)
- Save your own seed potatoes, or find sources who sell certified seed
- Grow, store, and cook different varieties of potatoes
- Grow corn to make your own fast-cooking polenta, cornbread, parching corn, corn cakes, and even savory corn gravy
- Make whole-grain corn-based breads and cakes using the author's original gluten-free recipes involving no other grains, artificial binders, or dairy products
- Grow and use popbeans and other grain legumes
- Grow, store, and use summer, winter, and drying squash
- Keep a home laying flock of ducks or chickens, while integrating them with your gardening activities and growing most of their feed,/li>
The Resilient Gardener is both a conceptual and a hands-on gardening book, and is suitable for gardeners at all levels of experience. "Resilience" here is broadly conceived, and encompasses a full range of problems, from personal hard times such as injuries, family crises, financial problems, health problems, and special dietary needs (gluten intolerance, food allergies, carbohydrate sensitivity, and a need for weight control) to serious regional and global disasters and climate change. In the end, though, this is a supremely optimistic as well as realistic book about how resilient gardeners (and their gardens) can flourish even in challenging times and help their communities to survive and thrive through everything that comes their way - whether it's tomorrow or in the next thousand years.
Review
The Resilient Gardener is the most comprehensive and detailed book about gardening that I have read to date, and I could not find one sentence that I would quibble with. Not only does Deppe discuss all the immediate, nose- to- the- grindstone kind of information about producing and using homegrown food, but also all the surrounding environmental and cultural aspects of gardening that are so vital to success. A must read for beginning gardeners, and full of details even the most experienced will find invaluable. --Gene Logsdon, author of Small-Scale Grain Raising and Holy Shit: Managing Manure to Save Mankind
Review
Carol Deppe's celiac-friendly approach to gardening and nutrition provides a wealth of information on how to overcome food intolerances many are confronted with each day. If you struggle with food allergies or sensitivities--or want to use natural resources to create a healthy world for you and your family--this book is for you.--Peter HR Green, MD, Director, Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University
Review
Library Journal -"Resilient" gardeners adapt to challenging health, dietary, weather, or financial situations to produce food that can sustain a family through adverse times. In this guide to becoming such a gardener, plant breeder Deppe (
Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties) details her methods for safe and reliable food production-and covers more than strictly gardening-no matter your state of health or what climate you are in. She focuses on five crops with calorie, nutrient, and storage values: potatoes, corn, beans, squash, and, yes, duck eggs. In each chapter, Deppe describes her experiences with specific varieties of crops (with particular reference to her own climate in coastal Oregon), specific techniques for success, and unusual recipes suited to the varieties she grows (all are designed for those with gluten intolerance).
VERDICT Deppe's idiosyncratic personality shines through her writing-this is as much a series of personal anecdotes by a lifelong expert gardener as a gardening book that will appeal to readers of a similar bent. Ideal for dedicated, independent gardeners who want to focus on food production despite dietary challenges, poor health, or other issues.
ForeWord Reviews-In
The Resilient Gardener, scientist and author Carol Deppe offers readers an inspiring approach to gardening. For many, gardening is a hobby-a source of solace and an experiment in self-sufficiency. Gardens are designed to offer up good things during good times-handfuls of bulbous tomatoes after weeks of careful watering, weeding, and monitoring for invading insects, for example. But what happens when gardeners-along with the rest of society-face uncertain times?Uncertain times, caused by an unstable economy, changing weather patterns, or personal injury, result in an expanse of time when the "garden suffers because people have other priorities." With this premise in mind, Deppe introduces the concept of resilient gardening. In Deppe's world, gardening transcends the world of leisurely pursuit and transforms into an act of empowerment.In twelve intensely detailed chapters,
The Resilient Gardener empowers readers with the knowledge they need to design, build, and maintain gardens that can withstand intense hardship and thrive despite periods of complete neglect. The first half of the book marries the practice of gardening with emerging global issues, such as climate change, increasing attention to weight control, and the rise of food allergies. Readers must first achieve a firm grasp of how these issues intersect with the process of gardening in order to fully benefit from the hands-on guidelines provided later in the book. Deppe's analysis is thorough; her research delves deep. By discussing the interaction between gardening and prevalent world issues, she establishes gardeners as hubs of sustainability and survival, their individual efforts producing movements of resilience that can benefit society as a whole.One of the major strengths of this book-and what sets it apart from the deluge of gardening books currently on bookstore shelves-is the union of Deppe's scientific knowledge with her personal gardening experience. The second half of the book details the five essential crops of self-reliance-potatoes, corn, beans, squash, and eggs-and how to grow them. Though these sections are largely "dip and skip" depending on the reader's level of knowledge, they are expressed in crisp, detailed, and incredibly fluid prose. Deppe is able to transmit the nitty-gritty of gardening through invaluable parcels of personal anecdotes that make the material relatable and a pleasure to read.Deppe's unique approach to her topic makes
The Resilient Gardener an appealing selection for both experienced and beginner gardeners, as well as readers interested in issues of sustainability and global reform.
The Resilient Gardener is so essential, timely and important, and I will recommend it to everyone I know. It doesn't matter if you garden or if you don't-this is practical wisdom good for humans to know, passed on by a careful student who has deeply studied her life. Carol Deppe's lens is the garden-which is great for gardeners, but really, she speaks clearly to all of us. If you try to think like Deppe, you will find you have a new view of your life no matter who you are. This is a wise and intelligent book. Hats off to Carol Deppe!--Deborah Madison, Author of Local Flavors and Vegetarian Cooking for EveryoneIn the years since Carol Deppe wrote the classic Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties, she has continued to grow in deep wisdom and experience. The Resilient Gardener is brilliantly timely, and shows us how to create gardens that can survive our increasingly erratic weather, while supplying key nutrition lacking in most vegetable gardens. This book fills a critical niche, and I recommend it unreservedly.--Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale PermacultureThe Resilient Gardener is the most comprehensive and detailed book about gardening that I have read to date, and I could not find one sentence that I would quibble with. Not only does Deppe discuss all the immediate, nose- to- the- grindstone kind of information about producing and using homegrown food, but also all the surrounding environmental and cultural aspects of gardening that are so vital to success. A must read for beginning gardeners, and full of details even the most experienced will find invaluable.--Gene Logsdon, author of Small-Scale Grain Raising and Holy Shit: Managing Manure to Save Mankind"The Resilient Gardener gives concrete examples of how to deal with diet, climate, and economic changes before the need arises. Deppe challenges us to experiment with and practice all aspects of gardening, seed saving and food storage, and advises on the growing need to meet special food and climate requirements in the face of our food system's fragility. This book is an invaluable tool for gardeners and farmers as we experience more and more volatility in our food systems."--Suzanne Ashworth, author of Seed to SeedCarol Deppe is informative, funny, and intriguing as she guides us through every phase of gardening--dispelling myths while also orienting us to the technical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of growing food. The Resilient Gardener is the quintessential guide to gardening from an authority who also knows how to enjoy herself.--Didi Emmons, author of Vegetarian PlanetCarol Deppe's celiac-friendly approach to gardening and nutrition provides a wealth of information on how to overcome food intolerances many are confronted with each day. If you struggle with food allergies or sensitivities--or want to use natural resources to create a healthy world for you and your family--this book is for you.--Peter H.R. Green, MD, Director, Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University"Growing food is among the most positive changes anyone can make in the face of uncertainty about the future. The Resilient Gardener is an information-packed resource for people starting or expanding a garden practice. This book empowers readers with skills and understanding, as did Deppe's previous book, Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties."--Sandor Ellix Katz, author, Wild Fermentation and The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved
Synopsis
Winner of About.com's Reader's Choice Award: Best Garden Book Since 2010Selected by Amazon.com as one of the Top 10 Books of 2010 in the Home and Gardening Category!CREATIVE, PRODUCTIVE GARDENING FOR GOOD TIMES AND BAD.In an age of erratic weather and instability, people's interest in growing their own food is skyrocketing.
The Resilient Gardener presents gardening techniques that stand up to challenges ranging from health problems, financial problems, and special dietary needs to serious disasters and climate change.Scientist and expert gardener Carol Deppe draws from emerging science in many fields to develop the general principles of gardening for resilience. Gardeners will learn through Deppe's detailed instructions on growing, storing, and using the five crops central to self-reliance: potatoes, corn, beans, squash, and eggs.Learn how to:
- Grow food in an era of wild weather and climate change
- Garden with little to no irrigation or "store-bought" inputs
- Garden efficiently and comfortably (even with a bad back)
- Customize your garden to deal with special dietary needs or a need for weight control
- Make breads and cakes from home-grown corn using original gluten-free recipes (with no other grains, artificial binders, or dairy products)
- Keep a laying flock of ducks or chickens, integrate them with your gardening, and grow most of their feed
And more . . .
The Resilient Gardener is both a conceptual and a hands-on gardening book for all levels of experience. Optimistic as well as realistic, Deppe offers invaluable advice for gardeners (and their communities) to flourish.