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An irreverent romp through the natural science of gardening, with eye-opening insight and practical guidance for getting the most out of your plants.
Curious why caressing your cucumber plants will help them bear more fruit? Or why you should grow oranges from seed even if the fruit is inedible? Or why trees need to sleep and how to help them? Join acclaimed gardener, scientist, and author Lee Reich on a journey through the delights of your garden in this laugh-out-loud treatise on the scientific wonders of plants and soil.
The Ever Curious Gardener includes information on:
- How to maximize both flavor and nutrition in your garden bounty
- Helping plants thrive during drought
- Outwitting weeds by understanding their nature
- Making the best use of compost
- Tips on pruning and orchard care
- Why the dead language of Latin can make you a better gardener.
"Behind the pleasures of the successful garden, there are the apparent mysteries. How does it all work? Curious gardeners have questions and Lee Reich answers them as effectively as that favorite science teacher in school did -- clearly and concisely."
— Eliot Coleman, farmer; past Executive Director, International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements; host, "Gardening Naturally;" and author, Four Season Harvest
"As an ever-curious gardener who seeks to understand the science behind all things gardening, I look to my horticultural heroes for that. Lee Reich is always one of my top go-to authorities. Much to my delight, and no surprise, this book is everything I was hoping and more. Leave it to Lee to blend science with real-world application, mixed with a chuckle or two throughout the pages. A fresh, fun, and fascinating must-read for every curious gardener."
— Joe Lamp'l, Creator & Host, PBS's Growing a Greener World
"From root to shoot, flower to fruit, here is an essential field guide to the science behind plant cultivation. Chapter by chapter it will steer the gardener's hand and delight the mind at the same time."
— Roger B. Swain, Host, PBS-TV's "The Victory Garden"
"Armed with Lee Reich's brand of gardening science, I brush a hand along the tops of my seedlings so they grow sturdier stems. Or I jostle their trays and say, "Good morning". When hoeing weeds, I wear a long skirt that brushes the tops of my cucumber and melon plants and they produce more female flowers, hence, more fruit. Combining scientific reasoning with the joy of touch and observation will not only make you a better gardener, you'll find yourself with permission to play in a curious world full of intrigue and creativity."
— MaryJane Butters, organic farmer, small dairy owner, beekeeper, author, magazine editor MaryJanesFarm.org
"As a commercial grower, I don't read that many gardening books... although I make an exception for Lee's Reich books. The Ever Curious Gardener explains some of the science behind what's going on above ground and below ground in your garden and — most important — how you can work with these natural systems to grow plants that are healthier, more productive, and more attractive. For a better garden and more interesting gardening, read this book."
— Jean-Martin Fortier, author, The Market Gardener
"The Ever Curious Gardener is a wise and witty book that offers not just the "how-to" of gardening but also the "how come". By showing you the science behind growing plants, it gives you the tools to follow Nature's rules – the only ones that count. What Harold McGee is to the cook, Lee Reich is to the gardener."
— Barbara Damrosch, author, The Garden Primer and The Four Season Farm Gardener's Cookbook
"Gardeners in the know wait for books by Lee Reich, and The Ever Curious Gardener shows why. Very few writers combine science, history, and personal observations to produce a great (and humorous) read with so much practical advice quite like Reich. This latest, and hopefully not last book, does not disappoint."
— Jeff Lowenfels, author, Teaming with Microbes Series
This is perhaps the most readable gardening book that I have ever encountered. Full of carefully presented garden practices supported by scientific know-how, it's fun and informative -- what more can I sa."
— Jeffrey Gillman, Director, UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens and author, The Truth About Garden Remedies
"There are far too few garden scientists with the ability to write for a popular audience, so thank goodness Lee Reich can do just that! His newest book is full of current, factual information that's of immediate use to gardeners everywhere. It's the perfect excuse to "let your curiosity get the better of you."
— Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott, WSU horticulturist and author, The Informed Gardener series and How Plants Work: The Science Behind the Amazing Things Plants Do
"With The Ever Curious Gardener, Lee Reich presents some of the natural science behind the scenes in the garden. Not in a detached, academic manner, but pragmatically (and sometimes humorously), as it can be applied to make for a better garden and gardener. Read this and reap."
— Ron Khosla, Professor Environmental Sciences, Southern Oregon University, International Consultant to United Nations FAO, and founder, Huguenot Street Farm
"The Ever Curious Gardener cultivates curiosity and brings out everyone's inner science nerd. Lee Reich's engaging and authentic style blend science with practical gardening knowledge. Anyone reading these pages is guaranteed to harvest new, insightful knowledge."
— Lisa Kivirist, author, Soil Sisters: A Toolkit for Women Farmers and Homemade for Sale
"Lee Reich demystifies the giant science experiment of the garden to help us become more expert, successful gardeners."
— Margaret Roach, A Way to Garden website and podcast
Lee Reich, PhD, dove into gardening decades ago, initially with one foot in academia as an agricultural scientist with the USDA and then Cornell University, and one foot in the field, the organic field. He eventually expanded his field to a "farmden" (more than a garden, less than a farm) and left academia to lecture, consult, and write. He is author of many books including Weedless Gardening, The Pruning Book, and Landscaping with Fruit, as well as a syndicated column for Associated Press. In addition to providing a year-round supply of fruits and vegetables, the farmden has an educational mission and is a test site for innovative growing techniques. Science and an appreciation of natural systems underpin his work, and Lee's goal is to get more people to grow more food sustainably and organically. He has a PhD in Horticulture from the University of Maryland, an MS in Soil Science, and a BA in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin. He blogs at leereich.com/blog from his farmden in New Paltz, NY
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Propagation and Planting
• A bit of deception helps me get some seeds to sprout that under natural conditions would wisely stay asleep
• Burial in tundra might be ideal for seed storage but I choose more practical storage for my vegetable and flower seeds
• Electricity temporarily suffices when access to sunlight is lacking
• In which the pre-plant toughening up of seedlings is shown to be necessary, but with a gentle touch
• Plants exhibit all sorts of changes, some sought after, some not, as they go through puberty
• A recommendation to plant citrus from seed even if fruit is improbable or not worth eating
• Containing some of the ways in which I use a few or many plant cells to conjure up whole new plants
• I revisit totipotence, using stems again, this time joining them to existing roots
• Neither monstrous nor scary, but often beautiful - yes, real chimeras may be in our midst
• Knowing that a bulb is, essentially, a stem lets me multiply them with the same "pinch" that makes stems branch
Soil
• In which we watch the progress of water traveling through soil, with methods to, at the same time, speed it up and slow it down
• A common sense recommendation that turns out not to make sense
• Contains a description and an opinion of hydroponics
• In which I pay homage to humus, even though it may be a misnomer
• Wherein I check my ground's acidity and then tweak it, as needed
• On my ostensibly occult practice which turns out to be good gardening
• How I manage to tame nitrogen's comings and goings for my plants
• Even without squealing like hungry pigs, my plants can tell me if they're hungry, and for what
Flowering and Fruiting
• Sex is introduced and its sometime importance is emphasized
• In which I make right the products of plants' sexual excesses
• Describing the importance of night for coaxing blossoms, and a gardener's trickery
• In which a small gas molecule has a big effect on flavor
• Contains a question and an answer: is hybrid always high-bred?
Stems and Leaves
• In which my thumbnails, pruning shears, and branch bending coax plants into bushiness, lankiness, or anything betwixt
• Wherein I make designs with the traceries of my fruit plants' branches
• Questioning the advice to put the brakes on tree growth with summer pruning
• On the genesis, reason for, and propagation of weeping trees • A comfortable seat in a sunny spot gets trees and shrubs ready for winter...
• In which it is demonstrated that buds are not boring
• How buds become burls and witches' brooms
• On entreating and helping trees to stay asleep
• About a quick and easy way to hasten spring
• Sunlight is important but sometimes shade offers improvement
Organizations
• Wherein families migrate together around my garden, and for good reason
• How plant families got put in order
• On Latin being a foreign tongue but providing a useful understanding of plant relationships
• Making up a new category name, fortunately, does not ruin flavor or appearance
• Relating a true story about how my plants broke the law
Stress
• On steps, human and otherwise, to avoid the havoc of icy cells during frigid temperatures
• In which hot days bring on a tug of war between hunger and thirst, in plants
• No water, no matter - because I take these steps for drought
• A very local search for congenial weather
• Seedlings' transition to the garden is helped along with tough love, timely and not in excess
• Unwanted plants - that is, weeds - are best understood before they are outwitted
• A sometime threat that straddles the fence between living and nonliving
• In which is clarified a name as a sign, rather than a symptom, of disease
• Fire blight, first noted not far from my home over 200 years ago, has the honor of being the first plant disease to be caused by bacteria
Senses
• In which I elucidate, abet, and alter the color of leaves, vegetables, and flowers
• An Italian who tied together plant growth, art, and other things too innumerable to mention
• Here I make sense of scents, equally so for insects and humans
• The touch here is that felt by the plants
• And finally, the efforts I take to grow the best tasting fruits and vegetables
Epilogue: The Scientific Method
Index
About the Author
About New Society Publishers