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  <title><![CDATA[Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)]]></title>
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  <description><![CDATA[<p>The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.</p>     <p>Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing  used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. <em>Gardening When It Counts</em> helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.</p>    <p>Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.</p>     <p><strong>Steve Solomon</strong> is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including <em>Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades</em> which has appeared in five editions.</p>]]></description>
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        <name><![CDATA[Steve Solomon]]></name>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)]]>
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    <![CDATA[<p>The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.</p>     <p>Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing  used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. <em>Gardening When It Counts</em> helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.</p>    <p>Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.</p>     <p><strong>Steve Solomon</strong> is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including <em>Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades</em> which has appeared in five editions.</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
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    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
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  <date_added>Mon Oct 08 08:50:22 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Oct 08 08:53:42 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Whew - this book kinda blew much of what I thought I knew out of the water.  For example, Mr. Solomon really does not believe in sheet mulching (where you prepare your beds by creating a lasagna-like situation out of layers of straw, manure, etc.)  He debunks lots of popular ideas - about watering, ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7420315">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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      <review>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)]]>
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  <average_rating>3.86</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>101</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<p>The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.</p>     <p>Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing  used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. <em>Gardening When It Counts</em> helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.</p>    <p>Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.</p>     <p><strong>Steve Solomon</strong> is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including <em>Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades</em> which has appeared in five editions.</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[back to the landers, northwest gardeners]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Tue Mar 10 12:19:03 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu May 17 16:56:23 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Mar 10 12:19:03 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[An extremely useful book, full of information on how to get maximum nutrition at minimum cost from your vegetable garden. Detailed without being confusing or overly technical. He's got great advice on tools, water-saving techniques, and seed varieties. ]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1281715]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1281715]]></link>
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      <review>
  <id>81327997</id>
    <user>
    <id>2166338</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Amelia]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Galway, 10, Ireland]]></location>
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    <![CDATA[Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)]]>
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  <average_rating>3.86</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>101</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<p>The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.</p>     <p>Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing  used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. <em>Gardening When It Counts</em> helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.</p>    <p>Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.</p>     <p><strong>Steve Solomon</strong> is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including <em>Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades</em> which has appeared in five editions.</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <read_at>Tue Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Dec 17 14:55:50 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Dec 17 14:59:12 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I don't know why I'm suddenly so into reading gardening books, but this was one that I couldn't put down. The author is quite opinionated, which made for livelier reading than it might have been if he'd stuck to presenting his information in a more neutral tone.  <br/><br/>I don't actually have a ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/81327997">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/81327997]]></url>
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</review>
      <review>
  <id>36824398</id>
    <user>
    <id>844556</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Yarrow]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Albuquerque, NM]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/844556-yarrow]]></link>
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  <text_reviews_count type="integer">33</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443m/183595.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443s/183595.jpg</small_image_url>
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  <average_rating>3.86</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>101</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<p>The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.</p>     <p>Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing  used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. <em>Gardening When It Counts</em> helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.</p>    <p>Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.</p>     <p><strong>Steve Solomon</strong> is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including <em>Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades</em> which has appeared in five editions.</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Nov 03 09:31:22 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Nov 03 09:35:37 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Brilliant book, full of deeply useful gardening advice. Very, very well-written.  A couple major flaws: his bias towards water-rich bioregions is a real problem for a reader living in the desert southwest, which is a bioregion this author appears to have never even heard of, from the way he talks.  ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/36824398">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/36824398]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/36824398]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>29580205</id>
    <user>
    <id>806278</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Sally]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/806278-sally]]></link>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)]]>
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  <average_rating>3.86</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>101</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<p>The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.</p>     <p>Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing  used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. <em>Gardening When It Counts</em> helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.</p>    <p>Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.</p>     <p><strong>Steve Solomon</strong> is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including <em>Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades</em> which has appeared in five editions.</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
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  <read_at>Tue Oct 28 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Aug 07 21:27:18 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Mar 08 11:27:07 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Wow, this guy has a chip on his shoulder.  From the dedication:<br/><br/>&quot;Since the time I was sent to elementary school, my feet have marched to the beat of a different drummer than Everybody Else's....  This book is for Mr. and Ms. Everybody Else, who are well known and highly respected aut...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/29580205">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/29580205]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/29580205]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>11331675</id>
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    <name><![CDATA[Wayne]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Columbus, OH]]></location>
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    <![CDATA[Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)]]>
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  <ratings_count>101</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<p>The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.</p>     <p>Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing  used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. <em>Gardening When It Counts</em> helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.</p>    <p>Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.</p>     <p><strong>Steve Solomon</strong> is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including <em>Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades</em> which has appeared in five editions.</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[Anyone who's read Jeavons]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Dec 31 07:35:51 -0800 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Dec 31 07:44:03 -0800 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This book is the perfect counterpoint to John Jeavons' <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/529041.How_to_Grow_More_Vegetables_And_Fruits_Nuts_Berries_Grains_and_Other_Crops_Than_You_Ever_Thought_Possible_on_Less_Land_Than_You_Can_Imagine" title="How to Grow More Vegetables  And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine by John Jeavons">How to Grow More Vegetables</a>. Solomon debunks the Grow Biointensive method as requiring too much investment of time, labor, water, and amendments for too little gain. A former seed man with experience in biointensive gardening, Solomon takes us t...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/11331675">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/11331675]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/11331675]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>28777149</id>
    <user>
    <id>1048429</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Miriam]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Albany, NY]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1048429-miriam-axel-lute]]></link>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">183595</id>
  <isbn>086571553X</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780865715530</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">33</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443m/183595.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443s/183595.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/183595.Gardening_When_It_Counts_Growing_Food_in_Hard_Times</link>
  <average_rating>3.86</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>101</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<p>The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.</p>     <p>Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing  used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. <em>Gardening When It Counts</em> helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.</p>    <p>Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.</p>     <p><strong>Steve Solomon</strong> is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including <em>Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades</em> which has appeared in five editions.</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

    <rating>0</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
            <shelf name="food" />
        <shelf name="how-to" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[gardeners, especially those with land]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sat Jun 13 08:52:04 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Jul 30 13:13:45 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sat Jun 13 08:52:04 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[So far, this book is equal parts inspiring and frustrating. Since one of his main goals is to get gardeners to space things out more, allowing them to water less, and I'm an urban gardener with no choice to add another half-acre of lawn to my garden we're off to  an awkward start. And he's a little ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/28777149">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/28777149]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/28777149]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>50846417</id>
    <user>
    <id>1691015</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Edward]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1691015-edward]]></link>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">183595</id>
  <isbn>086571553X</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780865715530</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">33</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443m/183595.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443s/183595.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/183595.Gardening_When_It_Counts_Growing_Food_in_Hard_Times</link>
  <average_rating>3.86</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>101</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<p>The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.</p>     <p>Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing  used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. <em>Gardening When It Counts</em> helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.</p>    <p>Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.</p>     <p><strong>Steve Solomon</strong> is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including <em>Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades</em> which has appeared in five editions.</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Mon Mar 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Mar 29 15:59:38 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Mar 29 16:16:29 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[A complete fount of knowledge. It takes the reader from ground level explaining every step involved in growing your own food. Easy for the novice to understand but not boring or condescending to the expert. The recipe for mixing your own soil conditioning fertilizer alone is worth the price of the b...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/50846417">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/50846417]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/50846417]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>78808544</id>
    <user>
    <id>2933597</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Chris]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Columbus, OH]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2933597-chris-wright]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-U-111x148.jpg]]></image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">183595</id>
  <isbn>086571553X</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780865715530</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">33</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443m/183595.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443s/183595.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/183595.Gardening_When_It_Counts_Growing_Food_in_Hard_Times</link>
  <average_rating>3.86</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>101</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<p>The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.</p>     <p>Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing  used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. <em>Gardening When It Counts</em> helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.</p>    <p>Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.</p>     <p><strong>Steve Solomon</strong> is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including <em>Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades</em> which has appeared in five editions.</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
            <shelf name="non-fiction" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Nov 23 19:49:12 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Nov 23 19:50:43 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I liked this book alot, and it has alot of good information in it. They try to bill it as a disaster survival book, but it is really a guide to organic vegetable growing. I think the quality of information is at least enough to get someone started on an effort of self sufficiency.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78808544]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78808544]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>14994093</id>
    <user>
    <id>211650</id>
    <name><![CDATA[bruin]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Oakland, CA]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/211650-bruin]]></link>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">183595</id>
  <isbn>086571553X</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780865715530</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">33</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443m/183595.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443s/183595.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/183595.Gardening_When_It_Counts_Growing_Food_in_Hard_Times</link>
  <average_rating>3.86</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>101</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<p>The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.</p>     <p>Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing  used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. <em>Gardening When It Counts</em> helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.</p>    <p>Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.</p>     <p><strong>Steve Solomon</strong> is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including <em>Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades</em> which has appeared in five editions.</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
            <shelf name="skill-building" />
        <shelf name="sustainability" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sun Apr 13 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Sat Feb 09 12:38:08 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Apr 13 10:18:31 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[i love a book about food growing and sustainability that blows most of what i know and have been taught completely out of the water.  i feel like solomon is actually putting food growing/urban gardening in the context of rapidly declining fertility and imminent lack of access to water.  he goes back...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/14994093">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/14994093]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/14994093]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>50907174</id>
    <user>
    <id>1865186</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Jess]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Le Roy, WV]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1865186-jess]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1231686134p3/1865186.jpg]]></image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">183595</id>
  <isbn>086571553X</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780865715530</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">33</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443m/183595.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443s/183595.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/183595.Gardening_When_It_Counts_Growing_Food_in_Hard_Times</link>
  <average_rating>3.86</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>101</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<p>The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.</p>     <p>Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing  used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. <em>Gardening When It Counts</em> helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.</p>    <p>Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.</p>     <p><strong>Steve Solomon</strong> is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including <em>Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades</em> which has appeared in five editions.</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Mar 30 07:42:18 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Mar 30 07:44:04 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[if you are an experienced gardener or a complete beginner this is the one book you need.  i bought it for my husband a couple years ago and we have both read it through numberous times and reference it over and over during the garden season ]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/50907174]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/50907174]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>34742486</id>
    <user>
    <id>1599468</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Arrianne]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1599468-arrianne]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1223404575p3/1599468.jpg]]></image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">183595</id>
  <isbn>086571553X</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780865715530</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">33</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443m/183595.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443s/183595.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/183595.Gardening_When_It_Counts_Growing_Food_in_Hard_Times</link>
  <average_rating>3.86</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>101</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<p>The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.</p>     <p>Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing  used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. <em>Gardening When It Counts</em> helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.</p>    <p>Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.</p>     <p><strong>Steve Solomon</strong> is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including <em>Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades</em> which has appeared in five editions.</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[The author]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Oct 07 11:45:27 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Oct 14 09:56:05 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count>3</read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This is a serious book for serious gardeners.  Solomon used tried and true methods that get results and covers a variety of very important topics that are often overlooked by hobbyist books.  <br/>As a gardener, Solomon lives off of what he grows all year round.  This is a great book for anyone loo...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/34742486">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/34742486]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/34742486]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>52182891</id>
    <user>
    <id>786277</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Susan]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[College Park, MD]]></location>
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  <id type="integer">183595</id>
  <isbn>086571553X</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780865715530</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">33</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443m/183595.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443s/183595.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/183595.Gardening_When_It_Counts_Growing_Food_in_Hard_Times</link>
  <average_rating>3.86</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>101</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<p>The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.</p>     <p>Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing  used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. <em>Gardening When It Counts</em> helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.</p>    <p>Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.</p>     <p><strong>Steve Solomon</strong> is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including <em>Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades</em> which has appeared in five editions.</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Thu May 07 08:24:13 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Apr 10 08:11:25 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu May 07 08:24:13 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Solomon's a high-Pitta guy, and it comes out in his writing. There's a lot of great information in here, and he's clear about what he's trying to teach his readers to do. I find this one goes better in context with other gardening books to suit my needs, but there's no doubt this guy knows what he's...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/52182891">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/52182891]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/52182891]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>47683335</id>
    <user>
    <id>175199</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Mel]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Adena, OH]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/175199-mel]]></link>
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  <id type="integer">183595</id>
  <isbn>086571553X</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780865715530</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">33</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443m/183595.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443s/183595.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/183595.Gardening_When_It_Counts_Growing_Food_in_Hard_Times</link>
  <average_rating>3.86</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>101</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<p>The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.</p>     <p>Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing  used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. <em>Gardening When It Counts</em> helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.</p>    <p>Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.</p>     <p><strong>Steve Solomon</strong> is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including <em>Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades</em> which has appeared in five editions.</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Thu Mar 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Feb 27 07:51:57 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Apr 15 02:30:07 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[There was a lot of good information in this book, but the thing it really drove home for me was the fact that you can't make something out of nothing. That is, compost made from nutritionally deficient materials will still be nutritionally deficient. It's interesting that many of the agriculture boo...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/47683335">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/47683335]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/47683335]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>72126779</id>
    <user>
    <id>2095414</id>
    <name><![CDATA[John]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Minneapolis, MN]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2095414-john]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-M-111x148.jpg]]></image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">183595</id>
  <isbn>086571553X</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780865715530</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">33</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443m/183595.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443s/183595.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/183595.Gardening_When_It_Counts_Growing_Food_in_Hard_Times</link>
  <average_rating>3.86</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>101</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<p>The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.</p>     <p>Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing  used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. <em>Gardening When It Counts</em> helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.</p>    <p>Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.</p>     <p><strong>Steve Solomon</strong> is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including <em>Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades</em> which has appeared in five editions.</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sun Sep 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Sep 22 11:03:35 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Sep 22 11:03:44 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This is a great resource for learning how to garden when things are tight, water is scarce, and your garden is your primary source of food.  ]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72126779]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72126779]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>60120226</id>
    <user>
    <id>1009162</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Jill]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[San Antonio, TX]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1009162-jill]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-111x148.jpg]]></image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">183595</id>
  <isbn>086571553X</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780865715530</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">33</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443m/183595.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443s/183595.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/183595.Gardening_When_It_Counts_Growing_Food_in_Hard_Times</link>
  <average_rating>3.86</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>101</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<p>The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.</p>     <p>Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing  used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. <em>Gardening When It Counts</em> helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.</p>    <p>Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.</p>     <p><strong>Steve Solomon</strong> is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including <em>Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades</em> which has appeared in five editions.</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

    <rating>0</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Jun 17 20:14:59 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Jun 17 20:16:13 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Just started, but not sure this person has tried to apply his theories in Texas (or Arizona/New Mexico/Nevada/Southern California).  We'll see.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/60120226]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/60120226]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>32216776</id>
    <user>
    <id>65329</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Elly]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Portland, OR]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65329-elly]]></link>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">183595</id>
  <isbn>086571553X</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780865715530</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">33</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443m/183595.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443s/183595.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/183595.Gardening_When_It_Counts_Growing_Food_in_Hard_Times</link>
  <average_rating>3.86</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>101</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<p>The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.</p>     <p>Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing  used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. <em>Gardening When It Counts</em> helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.</p>    <p>Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.</p>     <p><strong>Steve Solomon</strong> is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including <em>Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades</em> which has appeared in five editions.</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[scientifically minded novice gardeners]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Sat Sep 06 19:48:21 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sat Sep 06 19:52:29 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Really informative, good advice, in my favorite tradition of garden books -- could have been dictated by your grouchy old uncle who has *very* particular ideas about how to do things, and doesn't mind throwing plenty of digressions into his account of them. There's an excellent reference book couche...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/32216776">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/32216776]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/32216776]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>49182230</id>
    <user>
    <id>1706885</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Camille]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1706885-camille]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-111x148.jpg]]></image_url>
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  <text_reviews_count type="integer">33</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443m/183595.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443s/183595.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/183595.Gardening_When_It_Counts_Growing_Food_in_Hard_Times</link>
  <average_rating>3.86</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>101</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<p>The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.</p>     <p>Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing  used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. <em>Gardening When It Counts</em> helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.</p>    <p>Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.</p>     <p><strong>Steve Solomon</strong> is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including <em>Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades</em> which has appeared in five editions.</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Mar 13 14:30:54 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Mar 13 14:30:54 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[spacing is important! <br/>no garden is a closed system]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/49182230]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/49182230]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>34656194</id>
    <user>
    <id>1593477</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Cameron]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Newport News, VA]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1593477-cameron]]></link>
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  <id type="integer">183595</id>
  <isbn>086571553X</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780865715530</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">33</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443m/183595.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172519443s/183595.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/183595.Gardening_When_It_Counts_Growing_Food_in_Hard_Times</link>
  <average_rating>3.86</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>101</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<p>The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.</p>     <p>Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing  used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. <em>Gardening When It Counts</em> helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.</p>    <p>Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.</p>     <p><strong>Steve Solomon</strong> is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including <em>Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades</em> which has appeared in five editions.</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

    <rating>2</rating>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sun Jun 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Oct 06 10:18:20 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Jun 14 08:50:54 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Written by a cranky old man with a serious superiority complex, this book comes off as unfriendly and elitist.  Gardeners who don't subscribe to his techniques are obviously rank amateurs with no hope of success, and he refers to them as &quot;Everyone Else.&quot;  If you can ignore this old codgers...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/34656194">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/34656194]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/34656194]]></link>
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      <review>
  <id>42704098</id>
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    <name><![CDATA[Andy]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Grand Rapids, MI]]></location>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">183595</id>
  <isbn>086571553X</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780865715530</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">33</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)]]>
  </title>
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  <average_rating>3.86</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>101</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[<p>The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.</p>     <p>Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing  used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. <em>Gardening When It Counts</em> helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.</p>    <p>Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.</p>     <p><strong>Steve Solomon</strong> is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including <em>Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades</em> which has appeared in five editions.</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
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  <read_at>Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Jan 11 13:36:43 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Jan 11 13:37:10 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Good introduction to vegetable gardening]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42704098]]></url>
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