Grow Your Soil! - by Diane Miessler (Paperback)

About the Book

The key to success for every gardening venture is rich soil. Achieving that basic building block is easy with this accessible soil improvement guide, which offers a broad understanding of the science of soil's microbial life in an engaging, entertaining style.

Book Synopsis

Growing awareness of the importance of soil health means that microbes are on the minds of even the most casual gardeners. After all, anyone who has ever attempted to plant a thriving patch of flowers or vegetables knows that what you grow is only as good as the soil you grow it in. It is possible to create and maintain rich, dark, crumbly soil that's teeming with life, using very few inputs and a no-till, no-fertilizer approach. Certified permaculture designer and lifelong gardener Diane Miessler presents the science of soil health in an engaging, entertaining voice geared for the backyard grower. She shares the techniques she has used -- including cover crops, constant mulching, and a simple-but-supercharged recipe for compost tea -- to transform her own landscape from a roadside dump for broken asphalt to a garden that stops traffic, starting from the ground up.

From the Back Cover

Creating healthy soil isn't rocket science.

It's easier than you think! Step away from the rototiller, stop digging, skip the fertilizers, and let microbes do the heavy lifting. Discover no-sweat soil-building steps like turning weeds into on-the-spot mulch, using cover crops and kitchen waste to feed and protect your soil food web, and brewing super-easy, super-charged compost tea to fend off soil pathogens. Then sit back, relax, and watch your garden thrive.

About the Author

Diane Miessler is the author of Grow Your Soil! She is a certified permaculture designer, a soil science enthusiast, and a gardener with more than 50 years of experience. She has a monthly column in The Union, a newspaper that serves Nevada County, California.
Dr. Elaine Ingham discovered the soil food web nearly 4 decades ago and has been pioneering research ever since. Widely recognized as the world's foremost soil biologist, she's passionate about empowering ordinary people to bring the soils in their community back to life.