The Intelligent Gardener - by Steve Solomon (Paperback)

About the Book

Centuries of agriculture have depleted our soils causing the nutritional value of crops to decline, but the process of returning soil to true fertility is misunderstood. The Intelligent Gardener is an essential guide to achieving better health by remineralizing your soil using natural materials to grow nutrient-dense produce.

Book Synopsis

"It is bold, it is courageous, and it challenges many of our preconceptions about food, about soils, about farming, and about health." --Michael Ableman, farmer, author of Farm the City

To grow produce of the highest nutritional quality, the essential minerals lacking in our soil from intensive agriculture must be replaced. The Intelligent Gardener is the practical, step-by-step guide for any serious gardener who wants to:

• Demystify this process
• Debunk much of the false and misleading information perpetuated by both the conventional and organic agricultural movements
• Re-mineralize our soil.

Accompanied with customizable web-based spreadsheets, this toolkit calls for far more attention to detail than the simple addition of composted manure or NPK fertilizers. It conclusively establishes the link between healthy soil, healthy food, and healthy people.

Vegetables, fruits, and grains are a major source of vital nutrients, but centuries of intensive agriculture have depleted our soils to historic lows. As a result, the broccoli you consume today may have less than half the vitamins and minerals that the equivalent serving would have contained a hundred years ago. This is a matter of serious concern, since poor nutrition has been linked to myriad health problems including cancer, heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes. For optimum health we must increase the nutrient density of our foods to the levels enjoyed by previous generations.

The Intelligent Gardener goes beyond organic--it offers the essential tools for those who care about the quality of the produce they grow.

"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

From the Back Cover

BEYOND ORGANIC - A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO NUTRIENT-DENSE FOOD

"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"
--Michael Ableman, farmer, author of Fields of Plenty, On Good Land, and From The Good Earth

Vegetables, fruits and grains are a major source of vital nutrients, but generations of intensive agriculture have depleted our soils to historic lows. As a result, the broccoli you consume today may have less than half the vitamins and minerals than the equivalent serving would have contained a less than a century ago. The Intelligent Gardener shows you how to achieve optimum health by remineralizing your soil using natural materials to grow nutrient-dense produce.

Starting with an overview of nutrient density, the history of organic agriculture and an accessible primer on basic soil chemistry, this comprehensive manual demonstrates how the home gardener can use the results of an inexpensive soil test to create their own individually tailored soil prescription. The author systematically demystifies the replacement of a wealth of essential minerals while simultaneously debunking much of the false and misleading information perpetuated by both the conventional and organic agricultural movements.

Nothing short of revolutionary in its approach, The Intelligent Gardener conclusively establishes the link between healthy soil, healthy food and healthy people. Caution: this book may change the way you think about your garden forever.

"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

"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

Steve Solomon is the author of several landmark gardening books including Gardening When it Counts and Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades. The founder of the Territorial Seed Company, he has been growing most of his family's food for over 35 years.

Review Quotes

This practical step-by-step guide shows all is not lost as Steve Solomon shows us the link between healthy soil, healthy food and healthy people. - Sandra Barrera, The Daily Breeze

If you garden, no matter if you're an omnivore, vegetarian, or carnivore I think this book is a good read., blogger, Throwback at Trapp Creek

The nutrient density of the crops we grow and the remineralization of our soils have been almost constantly on our minds and usually on the tips of our tongues. Our biggest inspiration has come from reading Steve Solomen's new book The Intelligent Gardener. - Shannon Jones and Bryan Dyck, bloggers, Broadfork Farm

Any agriculture or home gardening library will find this an accesible, popular lend. James Cox, Midwest Book Review

This practical step-by-step guide shows all is not lost as Steve Solomon shows us the link between healthy soil, healthy food and healthy people. - Sandra Barrera, The Daily Breeze

If you garden, no matter if you're an omnivore, vegetarian, or carnivore I think this book is a good read., blogger, Throwback at Trapp Creek

The nutrient density of the crops we grow and the remineralization of our soils have been almost constantly on our minds and usually on the tips of our tongues. Our biggest inspiration has come from reading Steve Solomen's new book The Intelligent Gardener. - Shannon Jones and Bryan Dyck, bloggers, Broadfork Farm

Any agriculture or home gardening library will find this an accesible, popular lend. James Cox, Midwest Book Review

"This practical step-by-step guide shows all is not lost as Steve Solomon shows us the link between healthy soil, healthy food and healthy people." - Sandra Barrera, "The Daily Breeze"
"If you garden, no matter if you re an omnivore, vegetarian, or carnivore I think this book is a good read.," blogger, Throwback at Trapp Creek
"The nutrient density of the crops we grow and the remineralization of our soils have been almost constantly on our minds and usually on the tips of our tongues. Our biggest inspiration has come from reading Steve Solomen s new book "The Intelligent Gardener. - Shannon Jones and Bryan Dyck, bloggers, Broadfork Farm
"Any agriculture or home gardening library will find this an accesible, popular lend." James Cox, "Midwest Book Review"
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About the Author

Steve Solomon is the founder of the Territorial Seed Company. He has been growing most of his family's food for over 35 years, and is the author of several landmark gardening books including Gardening When it Counts and Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades . A lifelong evangelist for the value of self-sufficiency, his writing, lectures and classes are focused on helping people become financially independent through producing their own necessities. He currently homesteads in Tasmania.