Greenhouse Gardeners Companion Revised Growing Food and Flowers in Your Greenhouse or Sunspace

Greenhouse Gardeners Companion Revised Growing Food and Flowers in Your Greenhouse or Sunspace

There’s something refreshing about a gardening book that doesn’t start out with soil. Smith ( The Bountiful Solar Greenhouse ) puts off the nitty-gritty subject until chapter nine. In the meantime, he covers such subjects as vegetables, flowers and herbs, light and temperature, ground beds and containers, and crop spacing and scheduling. This is not a complicated book; the operative word for it is “companion.” And while some of the advice is rather elementary, it does lead the reader painlessly through the steps and requirements of owning and gardening in a greenhouse. Undoubtedly, Smith’s role as a lecturer and host of a radio gardening show has also inspired him to write in terms simple enough for beginners. His saving grace is a quiet sense of humor that’s evident throughout the book–from his warnings about weather to his “biased opinion of hydroponics.” When Smith does get around to soil, he goes at it from the point of view of providing plants with a healthy root system–covering soil pH and nutrients and organic soil amendments in beds and pots. The extensive final chapter is devoted to everything that can go wrong–i.e., pests and diseases, for which Smith recommends mostly organic and biologic controls. As he points out, a “greenhouse or sunroom garden is probably the closest garden you’ll ever live with.” This is a book to live with. Illustrated. Garden Book Club alternate.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Greenhouse Gardener’s Companion
Another great book on greenhouses…..My husband just got an old greenhouse that he put in the back of the house as it gets great sunlight alot each day….This book was a Christmas present and well enjoyed so far by the gardener in this family…..Highly recommended….

5 Stars Got a greenhouse? You need this book!
Shane Smith gives important basic information about passive solar design and production in a winter growing space. When I first started out, four years ago, it was the one book I was flipping through daily. I grow vegetables in winter in Minnesota, so I figured a guy in Wyoming would understand my challenges of weather conditions and day length. This made his planting schedules a useful tool. I did read this one cover to cover and then referenced certain sections again and again in those first two years. If you are thinking about building a greenhouse or just got one, add this book to your library and you won’t be sorry. He’ll show you how to save some money by applying passive solar design elements to your structure that will save you money in heating costs and make your growing space more productive and fun. As to the comments one reviewer posted about Smith’s aversion to hydroponics, I happen to concur with the author. I like working with soil. I don’t care if hydroponics has gone “organic.” It still creates waste water that must be dealt with and lacks the beneficial fungus interactions that soil provides for plant roots on a cellular level. At least Smith’s upfront about his preference and there are plenty of resource materials out there for folks who want to work with hydroponic systems. This book is a plain and simple introduction to greenhouse growing that makes it accessible to beginners. I still flip through it from time to time and always find some tidbit I can use to improve things in my own growing space.

5 Stars Shane Smith Greenhouse Gardeners Companion
This is a no-nonsense, common sense book, written in plain language so is easy to understand. I’m a seasoned gardener, but beginning greenhouse gardener, and they seem to be quite different. Some books, after you read them, make you just want to give up before you even start, but this one makes you think you can do it! It’s still too early for me to know how successful I’ll be, but I’ve got lettuce seedlings, and, it is December, we’ll see if I have salad greens in a few more weeks.

4 Stars the “Bible”
Very good book, very comprehensive, great for beginners (like me). There is a ton of information in here.

5 Stars Excellent Reference
I just purchased my first greenhouse and wanted a good reference book. This is it! An excellent resource which is easy to read and use. Love it!

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