Food Grown Right, In Your Backyard: A Beginner's Guide to Growing Crops at Home

by Colin McCrate, Brad Halm, Hilary Dahl (Photographer)

Overview

As the founders behind the Seattle Urban Farm Company, Colin McCrate and Brad Halm have heard it all: My backyard is too small; how can I make space for a garden? Do I really need to buy fertilizer? What on earth is that creature crawling on the tomatoes? My crops took off and the zucchini are in the sidewalk — who has time to harvest this all?!

Food Grown Right, in Your Backyard is a primer for these questions and more. In response to the rising interest in homegrown foods, the Seattle Urban Farm Co. builds vegetable gardens for everyone from busy families to restaurants. Along the way, Colin and Brad teach beginner growers from all walks of life the techniques of organic food production. In this full color, beautifully photographed guide, they prove that anyone can develop a "green thumb," as they show readers how to build a garden from the ground up, explain general garden basics, discuss the best types of crops to try, and much more, including:

* Garden size and design for any setting (no matter how small!), including container gardens
* Soil types, and watering and irrigation
* Plant life 101, and profiles of recommended vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, and berries
* Garden tools and time-saving rules
* Crop planning, tips on what to do with the harvest, and a garden calendar to keep your garden growing year-round

Q&A material, profiles of other beginner gardeners, and step-by-step instructions all come together in this unique, friendly guide that was inspired by the kinds of questions Colin and Brad hear every day on the job with the Seattle Urban Farm Co.

"The book is clear, concise, and beautifully illustrated. Even the more technical sections are presented in 'layman’s terms,' so even if you are new to gardening you will understand them. The photographs make understanding the text easy. Additional tables throughout the text also help, including one giving materials for composting. Because of the way the information is laid out, it won’t matter where you live, you will still be able to use the information. If you wish to plant a vegetable garden, this is easily one of the most useful books I’ve seen."

— The National Gardener

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781594856839
Publisher:	Mountaineers Books, The
Publication date:	05/28/2012
Pages:	317
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

COLIN McCRATE has been growing food organically for more than a decade. He worked on a variety of small farms in the Mid-West before taking a position as Garden Manager at an Environmental Education center on Orcas Island, WA. After leaving Orcas, Colin stayed in the Pacific Northwest, working simultaneously for Farmhouse Organics in Poulsbo, WA and as a residential landscaper in Seattle. After spending a few seasons designing and installing gardens in the city, he officially founded the Seattle Urban Farm Company in January of 2007. It all started with a simple question: "Does anyone need help setting up a vegetable garden?" and it turned out, quite a few did. Learn more at seattleurbanfarmcompany.com

BRAD HALM'S interest in food production started in a small vegetable garden at the Homestead, an experiential living option at Denison University in Ohio. After graduating, he apprenticed on organic farms around Ohio for several years, then took a position as the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Manager for Village Acres Farm in Pennsylvania. He moved to Seattle in 2007 to help Colin start the Seattle Urban Farm Company, and he has been building urban farms ever since. Learn more at seattleurbanfarmcompany.com

HILARY DAHL, a Seattle native, has been with the Seattle Urban Farm Company since the winter of 2010. She brings with her an educational background in landscape architecture and urban planning from the University of Washington. During college Hilary spent three summers interning on a sustainable, net-zero energy housing construction project on Lopez Island in the San Juan Islands where she learned traditional and alternative construction skills as well as organic gardening methods. Hilary is also our in-house photographer and you will find her photos on this website and on our other outreach material.

Table of Contents

Introduction 9

Part I Garden Profiles 13

What Do You Want from Your Garden?

Part II Building a Garden 23

1 Choosing a Site 25

2 Determining Garden Size 35

3 Designing Your Garden 39

4 Preparing Your Soil 47

5 Creating Garden Beds 55

6 Creating a Container Garden 69

7 Watering and Irrigation 75

Part III Garden Knowledge 87

8 Plant Life 101 89

9 Garden Tools: The Only 11 Tool You'll Ever Need 97

10 Fertilizing Your Garden 101

11 Compost 109

12 Essential Garden Skills 117

13 Know Your Climate 139

14 Crop Planning 145

15 Storing Your Harvest 153

Part IV Crop Profiles 155

16 Annual Vegetables 157

17 Perennial Vegetables 213

18 Herbs 221

19 Flowers in the Vegetable Garden 241

20 Berries 251

Part V More Garden Knowledge 259

21 Month by Month 261

22 Your Garden in Winter 267

23 Garden Problems and Solutions 273

Reference Tables 297

Succession Planting 297

Planting Dates 300

Crop Size, Spacing, and Scheduling 304

Fertilization 307

Resources 309

Acknowledgments 313

Index 314

Editorial Reviews

Discover your own green thumb with this wonderfully detailed introduction to backyard gardening.”

“Save time and money, while eating more healthfully with this easy, inspiring book of instruction.

Territorial Seed Company 2014 Spring Gardening Catalog

With gorgeous photos and conversational writing, the authors lay out an easy-to-follow plan.

The Everett Herald

The cofounders of Seattle Urban Farm Co.—a nationally recognized outfit that has helped hundreds of families, schools and restaurants design and implement urban gardens—share the wisdom they have accumulated over the years in this overstuffed, lively and personable tome.

Cascadia Weekly

With information based on organic farming and gardening principles, from building a raised bed to specific growing techniques, this guide will make you a farmer from the get-go.

Mount Baker Experience

McCrate and Halm prove that anyone can develop a green thumb.

Urban Farm magazine

[Food Grown Right] teaches beginners the basics, like where to put their gardens, how to test their soil and how to keep their plants alive.

The Akron Beacon Journal

..There's nothing stopping you from settling down with these inspirational and informative tomes out on the porch swing, backyard hammock, or from the comfort of a bench in a local park.

Mother Nature News

Beginners should (green) thumb through Food Grown Right, in Your Backyard, the new tome from Seattle Urban Farm Company.

Daily Candy

featured as a "Best Beach Reads 2012: Green and Gardening Books for the Summer"

Huffington Post Green

If you are in your first couple seasons of growing and you find yourself with more questions than answers when you look at your raised bed, or if the idea of vegetable gardening sounds great – until it sounds way too overwhelming to try – then this is the book for you.

Northwest Edible Life

If only all textbooks were this pretty. Founders of the Seattle Urban Farm Co. have created a terrifically informative, nicely photographed guide to gardening—not just for Western Washington, but for any planting zone.

Edible Seattle