Carol Deppe - The Resilient Gardener: Food Production and Self-Reliance in Uncertain Times

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR
The Resilient Gardener:

The Resilient Gardener is so essential, timely and important, and I will recommend it to everyone I know. It doesnt matter if you garden or if you dont this is practical wisdom good for humans to know, passed on by a careful student who has deeply studied her life. Carol Deppes 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 Everyone

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

In 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 Gaias Garden:
A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture

Carol Deppes 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 familythis 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 Deppes previous book, Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties.

SANDOR ELLIX KATZ, author, Wild Fermentation
and The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved

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 systems 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 Seed

Carol Deppe is informative, funny, and intriguing as she guides us through every phase of gardeningdispelling 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 Planet

THE RESILIENT GARDENER

Food Production and Self-Reliance
in Uncertain Times

CAROL DEPPE

Chelsea Green Publishing
White River Junction, Vermont

Copyright 2010 by Carol Deppe. All rights reserved. No part of this
book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, by any means, without
permission in writing from the publisher.

Project Manager: Patricia Stone
Developmental Editor: Benjamin Watson
Copy Editor: Cannon Labrie
Proofreader: Eileen M. Clawson
Designer: Peter Holm, Sterling Hill Productions

All photographs by Carol Deppe, unless otherwise credited.
Illustrations by Abrah Griggs, Sterling Hill Productions

Printed in the United States of America
First printing September, 2010
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 10 11 12 13

Our Commitment to Green Publishing
Chelsea Green sees publishing as a tool for cultural change and ecological stewardship. We strive to align our book manufacturing practices with our editorial mission and to reduce the impact of our business enterprise on the environment. We print our books and catalogs on chlorine-free recycled paper, using vegetable-based inks whenever possible. This book may cost slightly more because we use recycled paper, and we hope youll agree that its worth it. Chelsea Green is a member of the Green Press Initiative (www.greenpressinitiative.org), a nonprofit coalition of publishers, manufacturers, and authors working to protect the worlds endangered forests and conserve natural resources.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Deppe, Carol.
The resilient gardener : food production and self-reliance in uncertain
times / Carol Deppe.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
eBook ISBN: 978-1-60358-315-2
1. Vegetable gardening. 2. Organic gardening. 3. Natural foods. 4.
Self-reliant living. I. Title.

SB324.3.D475 2010
635--dc22

2010023535

Chelsea Green Publishing Company
Post Office Box 428
White River Junction, VT 05001
(802) 295-6300
www.chelseagreen.com

to
Merry Youle

CONTENTS

Appendix A.
Chapter Notes and References

Appendix B.
Seed Companies and Sources

For information, encouragement, company, and camaraderie, I thank Merry Youle, Nate France, Alan and Linda Kapuler, Rose Marie Nichols McGee, Mike Hessel, Harry MacCormack, Paul Harcombe, Dave Holderread, and Tom Wagner.

For their belief in me and support of this book project I thank Mark Deppe, Nick Routledge, Charlotte Anthonisen, Julia Mallalieu, Janet and Jerry Russell, Dawn McGee, Mary Saunders, Andrew Still, Sarah Kleeger, Kathy Ging, Denise-Christine, James Rodell, Janice Wilson, Beverly Scholz, Bev Koch, Kathy Saranpa, Jacqueline and Joseph Freeman, Elaine Zablocki, and Tree Bressen.

Anything I accomplish in this world is in its turn part of the accomplishments of my special mentors, whom I pause to remember and acknowledge now: my scientific mentors, geneticist Henry Wallbrunn, biochemist Arthur L. Koch, and fungal geneticist John R. Raper; my writing mentors, Roger Swain and Christina Ward.

I thank my literary agent Christina Ward for encouragement and guidance at every stage as well as occasional hand-holding beyond the call of duty.

Finally, I thank Ben Watson for his expert, gentle editing and Cannon Labrie for his tough, thorough copyediting.

CHAPTER ONE
Gardening and Resilience

Hard Times Great and Small. Special Dietary Needs as Hard Timesand an Invitation to Gardening Adventures. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Y2K. Practicing Balance. Appropriate Self-Sufficiency. How Much Land Do You Need? Gardeningan Essential Survival Skill.

For ten years, I cared for my ill and elderly mother while she was bedridden and slipping into oblivion. Ultimately, she died at homepeacefullyholding my hand. It was worth it. But it was the hardest thing I ever did. At times my garden and my gardening was an immense comfort and satisfaction. It grounded me. It soothed and restored me. It reminded me of the basics. It regularly ushered me into a contemplative time and space that allowed me to see the bigger picture. It also gave me something to show and tell to my mother that she could still understand and take pleasure in. She loved to look at and touch the bright delicious fruits and vegetables and hear the stories about what they were and exactly how I grew them. She couldnt remember the stories, but she liked hearing them. And she still enjoyed good food. Really superb food of the most flavorful varieties, picked at its prime and prepared optimallyit is a special pleasure. My mother enjoyed that great food until the end. The garden helped sustain us both, physically and emotionally.