How to Grow More Vegetables, 8th Edition

How to Grow More Vegetables, by John Jeavons, was initially published in 1974 by John and Ecology Action with the help of copying machines. While that happened before I was even born, I have heard the claim substantiated by folks who bought the first edition long ago, and 35 years later made it to their first tour of Ecology Action's gardens. A few editions down the line it was picked up by Ten Speed Press, of Berkeley, which also publishes a number of other great books (and which has been recently bought by Random House).

It became thicker, edition by edition, as EA's work progressed and the concept of biointensive, and then GROW BIOINTENSIVE, mini-farming was further developed. And, as those of us who have owned recent copies know, it contained nearly sixty pages at the back known as The Bibliography that listed thousands of resources that pertained to sustainability, agriculture, simple living, solar cooking, and the like.

When Margo and I began our agricultural life we had the 6th edition, and soon after coming to EA the 7th edition was published.

Some folks, depending on their philosophy of sustainability, count it as the Bible of sustainable agriculture. We found it as a combination of three sections: a great introduction to principles of successful gardening (in general) and biointensive gardening (specifically), a constant reference for crop-specific flatting, transplanting, and diet information, and a collection of sample garden plans modeling true sustainability.

The first section, once read and understood, I seldom returned to except as a teaching aid. After practicing it the information has been internalized. The second section is known, infamously to some, as the Master Charts. Before attending a workshop at EA they were a mystery of numbers and lists, and now they are a constant companion in our planning. I never took much time with the third section, because it came across as too technical, and I didn't have the attention span for that kind of reading.

For the Master Charts, though, our book has accompanied us everywhere from dining room table to garden bed, California to North Carolina.

The 8th Edition has been published and is now on sale. Small and medium changes have been made throughout, with three large ones I've noticed so far: the technical "sample garden plan" section I talked about above has been boiled down from 20 pages in the earlier edition to 9 pages in the new one, and presents itself in a more approachable way. The Bibliography has been cut out entirely, and is now available online at EA's website on this page. In its place is a list of helpful tools and plans on how to build them. And, most pertinent in our long-term use of the book, the Master Charts have undergone a transformation. In previous editions each set of 20 crops would span four pages, requiring the planner to flip back and forth to get all the information. In the new edition crops are in sets of 10, and span two facing pages. Those who own a copy and have used the Master Charts will know what I mean; it will require some adjustment for us, but will likely be a big improvement.

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In other news, we have flatted our alfalfa, clover, onions, and leeks, and will flat our green onions next week. Our pseudo-greenhouse has maintained temperatures above freezing for the last few weeks, which is good. I finished processing the last of our crops from 2011 and now have the yields for all of them calculated and logged, and plan to add a page to the blog that lists our high yields. So our sights are set on 2012 now, with EA's March Three-Day Workshop in Willits coming right up, classes at our local Audubon center on seedling propagation, compost, and bed preparation soon after, and then planting!

Winter, for all practical purposes, seems to be over...

9825

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You (Part II)

Here's a running list of books we've read. We'll endeavor to keep it updated in order, but initially it will be what we remember having read. The ones we've found to be exceptional in some way get an asterisk. Ones we didn't finish get a minus.

Living More with Less: the 30th Anniversary Edition by Doris Janzen Longacre finished 2/10/12 -- An inspiration and record of ideas toward simple living. I wish they had a version that didn't so highly praise the original book. This one can stand on its own merits without constantly citing the reputation of the first edition.
Unbowed, by Wangari Maathai finished 11/23/11 -- As the narrative evolved past the first chapter it became more and more incredible to think she managed to get anything accomplished. And if it had been biography instead of autobiography I would have wondered at what point she would be "disappeared". Peris substantiated this sense by commenting that she was the only one who stood up to President Moi, and everyone expected she would be killed. Read this book to see what is possible in impossible circumstances. We learned the sad news two days after dropping Peris and Mary off at the airport, that on that Sunday, September 25th, she passed on.
Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë finished 3/15/11 -- Like The Sixth Sense, it has a plot twist plot twist that everyone who's read it will give away inadvertently when you tell them you are reading it. But we enjoyed it anyway.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, by Victor Hugo finished 11/20/10 -- Dan was disgusted with it. Especially all of the really boring parts, which he would have skipped but Margo said were "part of the experience". It is, however, great writing, and he strings you along to the very end, just like Melville's Moby Dick.
*Shogun, by James Clavell
Tai Pan, by James Clavell
Middlemarch, by George Eliot (actually Mary Anne Evans)
Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen
The Continuum Concept, by Jean Liedloff
*Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramahansa Yogananda
Moby Dick, by Herman Melville
- Look Homeward, Angel, by Thomas Wolfe -- Margo loved it, Dan didn't.
- Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley -- Dan loved it, Margo didn't.
Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkein
The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkein
Harry Potter, 1-3, by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter, 4-7, by J.K. Rowling -- Margo didn't read these.
Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis
The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway
The Three Musketeers, by Alexandre Dumas
Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
Don Juan, by Lord Byron
Saving Fish from Drowning, by Amy Tan
The Kitchen God's Wife, by Amy Tan
The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan
Le Père Goriot, by Honoré de Balzac
Dune, by Frank Herbert
Dragons in the Water, by Madeleine L'Engle
An Acceptable Time, by Madeleine L'Engle
Many Waters, by Madeleine L'Engle
Arm of the Starfish, by Madeleine L'Engle
A Swiftly Tilting Planet, by Madeleine L'Engle
A Wind in the Door, by Madeleine L'Engle
A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle
The Odyssey, by Homer
The Golden Compass Trilogy, by Philip Pullman
The Mary Russell books, by Laurie R. King
The Complete Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Seabiscuit, by Laura Hillenbrand
Mister God, This is Anna, by Flynn (actually Sydney Hopkins)
Artemis Fowl; The Lost Colony, by Eoin Colfer
The Call to Shakabaz, by Amy Wachspress
Kidnapped! , by Robert Louis Stevenson
Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Black Arrow, by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You

One of our favorite activities together, right up there with game playing, is reading to one another. It started with Harry Potter (before the series got a little too dark for Margo's enjoyment), moved on to other series books one or the other of us knew well, and grew to Lord of the Rings proportions by the time we got married. In the past four years we have begun targeting masterpieces. Ones we have never read (or read and forgot) but that we have heard of many times, and maybe feared. Like Moby Dick, which we found very entertaining. Or Don Juan, the epic poem by Lord Byron, which took a little time in getting the flow right, but which was also very enjoyable. Sometimes it's a book that one of us has read and wants to introduce to the other, like Dune or Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Very infrequently we will give up in the middle of one due to one party or the other's objections. Like Mists of Avalon and Look Homeward, Angel.

You might wonder where we get so much time to read. Somehow it justs fits into spaces. Like when I am driving or doing dishes, or when Margo is cooking or knitting. And if the book is very good, we make time.

All this is to introduce our current reading, which I would like to keep updated as we go along with a reference from the sidebar. Once this post is buried under the many to come, that is.

Last month we finished Tai-Pan, by James Clavell. We read it because we liked Shogun so much. It was entertaining, even riveting at points, but not the grand read that Shogun is.

We just finished Saving Fish from Drowning, by Amy Tan. Having read a few others by her we both feel like this one is alright, is entertaining, but has not made us better people or expanded our horizons. This might sound a little foolish, but the latter two are the main characteristics of what we call a great book.

We just started The Continuum Concept, which was a baby shower gift from our friend Dawn. It has the mark of a book that will help us significantly in perspective for child-raising, and will alter the way we look at the world. Needless to say, we are very much enjoying it. Its one peculiarity is that the style is a bit text-booky, in terms of big words and long sentences. This means that I have to be the one to read, because I focus better that way.

And we have a list of all-time greats, which will hopefully grow. It is in no particular order.

Shogun, by James Clavell, was fascinating, enlightening, and held our attention for months. It really helped me understand the samurai origins of Aikido, and what bushido means. It gave us both a better understanding of life and death, and what honor is. In a way. One of the best stories I have ever read.

Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramahansa Yogananda. I can't say much about it without making it sound lame. It is about saints and enlightened masters, how you get to be that way, and stresses that the capacity for love is the most powerful tool one can have. Besides that, and that it is at the top of our list, there isn't much more I can say to recommend it.

Our advice, if you want to find the best books in the library, is to talk to your librarian. We had great conversations with ours at the Willits Public Library almost every time we were there. One of the highlights was when we asked the head librarian, "Donna, we want to read some Hemingway. Which one would you start with?" Her answer was "None of them! I can't stand Hemingway!" She explained that her focus was the romantics, like Thomas Wolfe. Minimalists just weren't her cup of tea. But she did go on to consult the summer reading program's lists, and came up with The Old Man and the Sea. Which we liked just fine.