The intelligent gardener: growing nutrient-dense food

339 Pages·2013·14.324 MB·English

by  Reinheimer, Erica;Solomon, Steve

Praise for
The Intelligent Gardener
A new book from Steve Solomon is reason for excitement
in itself. With The Intelligent Gardener, he has re-thought
one of the most basic aspects of gardening — basic soil
chemistry — and generously supplied us with sensible,
practical methods to increase the nutrient density of the
food we grow. This book forces serious growers to reconsider
some fundamental gardening principles, and to question
much of the accepted wisdom on the subject. It’s hard to
imagine this book not having a significant and lasting impact
on the way organic farmers and gardeners grow their crops.
— Mark McDonald, West Coast Seeds
The true test of any gardening book is whether it inspires the
grower to new action. The Intelligent Gardener indeed inspires
me to action, to test my soils more thoroughly, to re-examine
my assumptions on compost management and to seek to
improve the nutritional value of our produce with a better
understanding of our farm’s soil. Steve Solomon draws on
his years of experience and research to challenge our assump-
tions of what is good organic soil management and to share
his insights for growing the highest quality, nutrient dense
food. We are what we eat, and our food is only as healthful
as the soil we grow it in. The Intelligent Gardener is a
valuable tool for anyone seeking to get the highest food
value from their garden.
— Darrell Frey, author of Bioshelter Market Garden
The Intelligent Gardener is more than just “intelligent,”
it is bold, it is courageous, and it challenges many of our
preconceptions about food, about soils, about farming,
and about health. The storytelling is excellent, the
science based on experience rather than some out of
context lab experiment, the advice and application easy to
follow. Everyone should read this, not just gardeners, as it
reminds us of where we came from, where we need to go,
and provides some clear direction for getting there.
— Michael Ableman, farmer, author of
Fields of Plenty, On Good Land, and From The Good Earth
Gardeners in temperate climates should be very grateful to
Steve Solomon for addressing the issues of soil testing for
fertility in such an engaging and clear way. I look forward to
spending time working with the technical methodology.
— Binda Colebrook, Horticulturist and author of
Winter Gardening in the Maritime Northwest

Copyright © 2013 by Steve Solomon.
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Diane McIntosh.
(clockwise from top left) Chinese lettuce (c) iStock (Mordolff);
Beets (c) iStock (MarcusPhoto1); Spinach (c) iStock (coloroftime);
Carrots, (c) iStock (mrod); Artichoke, (c) iStock (assalve).
Printed in Canada. First printing October 2012.
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-86571-718-3
eISBN: 978-1-55092-513-5
Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of The Intelligent Gardener
should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below.
To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America)
1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com
Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:
New Society Publishers
P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada
[phone]
New Society Publishers’ mission is to publish books that contribute in funda-
mental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so
with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models this
vision. We are committed to doing this not just through education, but through
action. The interior pages of our bound books are printed on Forest Stewardship
Council®-registered acid-free paper that is 100% post-consumer recycled (100%
old growth forest-free), processed chlorine free, and printed with vegetable-based,
low-VOC inks, with covers produced using FSC®-registered stock. New Society
also works to reduce its carbon footprint, and purchases carbon offsets based on
an annual audit to ensure a carbon neutral footprint. For further information, or
to browse our full list of books and purchase securely, visit our website at: www.
newsociety.com
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Solomon, Steve
The intelligent gardener : growing nutrient-dense food / Steve Solomon ;
with Erica Reinheimer.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-86571-718-3
1. Crops and soils. 2. Soils and nutrition. 3. Crops--Nutrition.
4. Soil fertility. 5. Soil mineralogy. I. Reinheimer, Erica II. Title.
S596.7.S65 2012 631.4 C2012-906109-3
Contents
Acknowledgments ................................................................................vii
Preface – Erica Reinheimer ...................................................................xi
Introduction ...........................................................................................1
Chapter 1: Why Nutrient-Dense Food? ..........................................9
Chapter 2: History from a Nutritional Viewpoint ......................37
Chapter 3: The Shit Method of Agriculture (SaMOA) .............53
Chapter 4: Complete Organic Fertilizer .......................................71
Chapter 5: Remineralization ..........................................................93
Chapter 6: Le Batterie de Cuisine ................................................167
Chapter 7: The Soil Prescription .................................................193
Chapter 8: Soils with Excesses .....................................................201
Chapter 9: Compost ......................................................................237
Chapter 10: Epilogue .......................................................................277
Appendices ......................................................................................287
Index ......................................................................................304
About the Author ..............................................................................320
v
Books for Wiser Living
recommended by Mother Earth News
Today, more than ever before, our society is seeking ways to live
more conscientiously. To help bring you the very best inspira-
tion and information about greener, more sustainable lifestyles,
Mother Earth News is recommending select New Society Publishers
books to its readers. For more than 30 years, Mother Earth has been
North America’s “Original Guide to Living Wisely,” creating books and
magazines for people with a passion for self-reliance and a desire to
live in harmony with nature. Across the countryside and in our cit-
ies, New Society Publishers and Mother Earth are leading the way to
a wiser, more sustainable world. For more information, please visit
MotherEarthNews.com
vi
Acknowledgments
During the ten months it took to write this book, Erica Reinheimer
was strongly behind the project. We had endless email exchanges
about what might be the ideal target for manganese. She artfully
restrained my reckless enthusiasms without triggering any resistance,
prevented me from making a few major errors, and contributed a
sense of caution that can only come from much experience as a neigh-
borhood soil analyst. Erica read the proofs along with me, and then,
re-read them. I can’t thank Erica enough.
Erica and I were eagerly helped by the “in-group” posting at the
soilandhealth forum; these people repeatedly provided insights and
information. Especial thanks to Mike Kraidy, for sharing knowledge
from his many years advising farmers. Thanks to John Weil, Lloyd
Charles, Norm Cooper, Steve Diver, Jim Karnofski, John Slack,
Edmond Brown, Hugh Lovel, Frank Eagan and Roger Martyn. Thank
you Gary Kline of Black Lake Organics, for helping me improve my
own Complete Organic Fertilizer. Thanks to the many gardeners who
took me up on my offer of a free soil test analysis; without their help,
I could not have come to appreciate how broad the diversity of soils
can be. Finally, this book owes a huge debt to Justin Crawford, D.O.
Not long before I began this project, Justin accepted responsibility
for (and legal ownership of) The Soil and Health Library. The fact
that I no longer had to answer its mail and handle its daily ongoing
business liberated enough free attention to let me write The Intelligent
Gardener. And we all owe Justin a big thank you for continuing the
vii
viii The Intelligent Gardener
library; in that collection are most of the titles referred to in this book’s
Bibliography; all available for free download.
Kitchen gardens come and go with the prosperity of the
times. During times of emergency, when vegetables are
scarce, they become a necessity, and everyone who has
access to a small piece of land should feel under obligation
to plant a garden. The farm garden is particularly impor-
tant, because it is possible to produce so much food, for so
little effort and with no additional fertilizer. During times
of low prices, when farmers’ cash is scarce, the properly
planned farm garden can supply 75 per cent of the food
energy which he would ordinarily buy. This, with what he
gets from animals and poultry, should carry him through
any emergency.
Subsistence farming is a system of vegetable crop produc-
tion so fitted in with the production of poultry and animal
products, including sheep and wool for clothing, that the
family can grow everything it needs on the land, without
selling anything. This owner then depends on day labor
for sufficient cash income to satisfy his extra needs. It is
a system whereby a family can make a living instead of
going onto relief when wages are low and work is scarce.
It helps a person to maintain his self-respect even though
he may be out of work.
— Victor Tiedjens, Vegetable Crop Production, ca. 1942