Introduction To Raised Bed Gardening

The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Starting a Raised Bed Garden and Sustaining Organic Veggies and Plants. (The Green Fingered Gardener ™)

Non-Fiction - General
166 Pages
Reviewed on 04/11/2021
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    Book Review

Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite

Looking for a better way to feed yourself and your family? A healthier, more enjoyable way? Imagine a store-bought piece of fruit or vegetable. Who knows where or when it was harvested, but it probably was underripe when picked and shipped a fair distance, perhaps even halfway around the world. Sounds rather unsustainable, doesn’t it? And the taste confirms it. Face it, store-bought foods are not always the best option. With ever-increasing food prices, less reliability, and even countless recalls of certain products due to various issues like e-coli contamination, it makes sense to grow as much as you can of your own food, if not all of it. Even if you live in a small space, like an apartment, there are ways to maintain a healthy gardening experience. Like, for instance, raised gardens.

Peter Shepperd’s book, Introduction To Raised Bed Gardening, is just the book to help you get started, or even offer some advice and suggestions for the more seasoned gardener. The book is well organized and an interesting read. It begins with the author’s garden journey, which had its roots in his memories of the tasty food that came from his grandmother’s garden. Memories sparked the author and he decided to aspire to his grandmother’s wonderous garden produce. I share a similar bond that sparked my interest in gardening, as my great-grandfather had a superb garden, with everything from gladioli to vegetables and his specialty, rhubarb. I aspire to grow as prolific a garden as he did. Great-Grandpa grew most of his produce directly in the ground, but he also had raised gardens.

I have developed an interest in the raised garden approach and this book has provided me with some excellent suggestions and advice. I was fascinated with Peter Shepperd’s approach to presenting his material. After summarizing his own personal attraction to gardening and, in particular, raised gardens, he launches into a fascinating look at the history of gardening. Then he discusses the benefits of not only gardening but specifically raised gardening. Some of his points I already knew, but others added an interesting dimension to my argument in favor of raised gardens. He then systematically goes through the procedure of planning, preparing, and considering all viable options for the best raised garden given the limitations of one’s personal space. This is not only an excellent resource but also an interesting read.

Mamta Madhavan

Imagine having fresh vegetables grown in your garden being used for cooking instead of going to the market and buying them. Imagine the happiness you can get by plucking the vegetables grown in your yard, washing them, and using them in your daily cooking. Have you thought about what it takes to have your own vegetable garden at home? Introduction To Raised Bed Gardening: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Starting a Raised Bed Garden and Sustaining Organic Veggies and Plants by Peter Shepperd is a wonderful book that will make readers realize how easy gardening can be, and also guide them on a journey similar to what the author has been doing for many years. Peter has used his grandmother's notes and put together the additional information he has gathered over the years to help readers understand that growing food is a passion, an art, an exercise. He gives the right tools and tactics, beginning from soil preparation to harvesting, with a little bit on storage and preservation. Readers will see themselves in a position where they and their families can eat the vegetables they grow. Gardening is a good way to understand the pace of nature and the different scales of time it offers where lives are extremely busy and slowing down has become almost impossible.

Introduction To Raised Bed Gardening is uplifting and engaging and will help readers make many discoveries. Gardening can be fun and wonderful, and Peter Shepperd encourages readers to adopt unconventional methods to enjoy the process of gardening. The tips and tools will make readers partially self-sufficient when it comes to growing their own products. These will be higher in vitamins and nutrients, and keep them safe from consuming harmful chemicals and exposure to toxic products. The author's way of tackling the subject is interesting, and there are beautiful pictures that will encourage readers to try having their own vegetable garden at home. The extensive and methodical manner in which the topic has been dealt with makes it easy for readers to apply the suggestions while they start gardening. There is useful information about how to have raised beds in gardening, what soil to use, what to plant, etc. It makes this book a must-have in all homes, especially where readers love gardening and are looking for good tips and ideas for having a vegetable garden at home.

Edith Wairimu

Introduction To Raised Bed Gardening: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Starting a Raised Bed Garden and Sustaining Organic Veggies and Plants by Peter Shepperd is packed full of practical advice for beginners in gardening. Many of us with little or no prior horticultural training fall for the myth that gardening is a complicated process meant only for a few. In the introductory part of the guide, Shepperd explains why this belief is simply not true and that anyone can learn how to grow their favorite foods. The book explores the benefits of raised bed gardening, such as pest control and drainage benefits. It delves into how to build and place a raised bed garden, how and when to plant specific vegetables such as potatoes and lettuce, irrigation, green fertilizer as well as pest control.

Introduction To Raised Bed Gardening is a valuable guide with information that anyone regardless of their location will find useful. For instance, the raised bed system can be effectively applied in a community garden or small space for people living in cities. The guide also accommodates gardeners with different budgets. In explaining how to build a raised bed garden, different options are explored and the book also explains the basic tools gardeners will find useful. Color, clear photographs are included that help explain the information in the book. The methods of preparation and planting explained are also simple and easily accessible. Introduction To Raised Bed Gardening by Peter Shepperd includes applicable content that any beginner in gardening will find useful.