Moss-Sprague - Stand up and garden: [the no-digging, no-tilling, no-stooping approach to growing vegetables and herbs]

Stand Up and Garden

MARY MOSS-SPRAGUE

THE COUNTRYMAN PRESS
WOODSTOCK, VT

Copyright 2012 by Mary Moss-Sprague

Illustrations by Kathren Moss

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages.

Photographs by the author unless otherwise specified

Book design and composition by Faith Hague

Published by The Countryman Press, P.O. Box 748,

Woodstock, VT 05091

Distributed by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.,

500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Stand Up and Garden

978-0-88150-983-0

The glossary of terms at the end of and editorial assistance for that section was kindly supplied by Dripworksusa.com. The author gratefully acknowledges their assistance.

To my late mother,
Ruby Ruth Fitzgerald Mackie,
my first gardening teacher and inspiration.
Her aching back would have loved
these off-the-ground methods!

Many thanks to Greg Aspinall, for his terrific skill with the camera; Dud and Nan Carlson, for their help with photographs and for being my best students in learning and improving upon these aboveground gardening methods; Agnes Dickens (Nans mother), for gamely navigating the garden for a photo shoot; Oregon State University Cooperative Extension Service and Cornell University Cooperative Extension Service, Wayne County, and especially Laurie VanNostrand, for all of the great master gardener training and teaching opportunities I received from CCE here in upstate New York; my talented daughter, Kathren Moss, for her dedication and talent in creating all of this books wonderful illustrations; and finally, my beloved and long-suffering husband, Albert Clark Sprague, who willingly helped all he could in the gardening tasks and cheered me on during the effort involved in writing this book.

Does kneeling on the ground to grow plants send you scrambling for aspirin? Do you dread the idea of bending and crouching to plant seeds, set out transplants, and keep the garden weeded? All of the necessary digging, tilling, picking out rocks, and trying to achieve a level area is a real hassle and hard on the body. Sure, its good exercise, but maybe youd prefer to save your leisure exercise time and effort for something more fun. I sure would!

Having inherited my sainted mothers osteoarthritis, I discovered many years ago that in-ground gardening just wasnt working for me. The price I paid for putting in hours of the painful work involved was just too much. Fortunately, before I gave up on the whole process of growing my own herbs and vegetables, a neighbor friend turned me on to the concept of gardening with straw-based raised beds. This method is just perfect for all kinds of herbs, radishes, scallions, and smaller plants, and, in , youll see how this revolutionary technique will give you a whole new approach to gardening.

Eventually, I was able to enroll in and graduate from the master gardener course offered by the extension service in my state. This helped me become a much better gardener at home while I helped others solve their own gardening problems.

A couple of years later, the ground in my usual tomato planting area was found to be rife with verticillium wilt. Nearly all of my newly planted, healthy tomato plants bit the dust from this fungal disease. Not being one to accept adversity without fighting back, I got the inspiration to lay out Typar, a nifty weed barrier material, and set out another batch of tomato plants, all in containers, on it. I followed that by installing a micro-drip irrigation system for the plants, which made keeping everybody watered properly a snap.

Everybody was happy then: me, the plants, and all of those who enjoyed the resulting bountiful tomato harvest. At that point, I was totally converted to growing everything up off the ground, and Ive never looked back. I couldand doliterally stand up and garden.

People are now getting into what is often described as vertical gardening, and their techniques can be used to great advantage. Youll find that many people have great ideas of their own and are for good ideas from other people that Ive come across over the past couple of years.

Hundreds of visitors to my garden used to ask me, Where can I find the book that shows how to do all this stuff, especially the straw-bale raised bed? I finally realized that Id better write that book, because no one else has done it.

So here it is: a book containing all of the instructions, supply lists, and explanations of what you need to know in order to have a successful, prolific, off-the-ground garden. Ive even included a chapter on composting, as well as everything youll need to know about laying out a micro-drip irrigation system. I figure that using one comprehensive book beats the heck out of confusedly flipping through five different volumes in order to find the necessary information.

Enjoy yourself as you discover how you can stand up and garden!

PLENTY OF PEOPLE are beginning to embrace vertical gardening methods, and for good reason. If youve never thought ofor known aboutgardening aboveground, then this book will be an eye-opener for you. Youll learn how to grow vegetables and herbs with innovative techniques and without the kneeling, tilling, digging, weeding, and other hassles.

This book differs from others on this topic because it shows and explains techniques not included in them. It will guide you into a new, all-gain, no-pain style of gardening that will make you a convert. Youll wonder why on earth you ever went through the hassles of growing plants in the ground when this way is so much easier!

Youll learn how to make a waist-high, raised growing bed using straw as a base, simple trellises requiring no nails or screws that can be constructed in about 30 minutes, a nifty drip irrigation system, custom soil mixes, and a system for making your own compost. Along the way, youll also learn how to deal with plant diseases, garden pests, and other hot topics that will help you succeed in your gardening efforts.