Chris McLaughlin - 31 Dec

a LIVING FREE guide

Vertical
Vegetable
Gardening

by Chris McLaughlin

A member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

For my fellow gardeners who, like me, love the feel of the earth in their hands.

Make voyages. Attempt them. Theres nothing else. Tennessee Williams

ALPHA BOOKS

Published by Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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Copyright 2013 by Chris McLaughlin

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of information contained herein. For information, address Alpha Books, 800 East 96th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46240.

ISBN: 978-1-61564-323-3

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2012944493

15 14 13 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Interpretation of the printing code: The rightmost number of the first series of numbers is the year of the books printing; the rightmost number of the second series of numbers is the number of the books printing. For example, a printing code of 13-1 shows that the first printing occurred in 2013.

Printed in the United States of America

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Introduction

Ive always gardened in places where there were more people than cows or tractors. Garden beds in these places were never as big as Id planned and were soon devoured by just a few plants. So they filled themselves up and I tried to do things differently.

I wish I could say that I had a stroke of genius or like some crazed, brilliant, horticultural Einstein I began sketching structural masterpieces on the back of napkins. No, the truth is that Im extremely average. I learned about plants, soil, and microclimates by trying, failing, and finally succeeding. I still fail, and I still succeedgardening is cool like that.

I gleaned the lions share of any information I have from the generous gardeners Ive met along the way. The clever ideas in this book are no exception. We gardeners are zealous in our efforts to share seeds, cuttings, stories, recipes, and advice.

After all, the whole point of gardening is to grow things, and a gardeners personal growth is perhaps the most important. The only way I know for that to happen is to question, attempt, discover, and share. Gardeners are excellent at these things.

So come on in and see what the creative gardening folk all over this country have come up with so that everyone can plant, grow, and harvest crops in their own backyard no matter where they reside.

How This Book Is Organized

Vertical Vegetable Gardening is divided into four parts:

, The Beauty and Bounty of Vertical Gardening, explains why vertical vegetable gardening is one of the smartest gardening techniques around, and what makes it so versatile. Less work, less weeding, fewer pests, less time, less money, and more produce is what a vertical vegetable garden has to offer you. In this part I explore the advantages to gardening vertically, discuss how plants climb and what structures work well, and give advice for where to locate your garden. I also tell you how to frame a simple garden bed and create other structures from scratch, and discuss creative ways to repurpose items you may already have around your house.

, The Basics: Soil and Seed, explores the fundamentals of gardening: defining soil, compost, and amendments. I include directions for traditional composting as well as composting directly in a bed (the compost sandwich). I explain warm- and cool-season vegetables and which seeds can be planted directly into the garden bed and which you may want to start indoors first. I also discuss how to start seeds and take cuttings so that you may never have to buy another plant. If youre curious about the differences between heirloom, open-pollinated, and hybrid seeds, Ive got that covered in this section, too.