Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre

I just read this book and I am very impressed. It compares favorably both to classics of intensive gardening and to classics on self sufficiency. Less complicated than How to Grow More Vegetables and Fruits: (And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops) (How to Grow More Vegetables: (And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains,), less expensive and resource-hogging (in terms of peat moss, vermiculite, and grids) than All New Square Foot Gardening (which is still well worth buying for the beginning gardener; the charts on planting for a continuous three-season harvest alone are probably worth the price of the book). More focused and with more current (though perhaps still debatable) numbers than One Acre and Security: How to Live Off the Earth Without Ruining It, and written for an even smaller (and tractor-free) scale than Successful Small-Scale Farming: An Organic Approach (Down-To-Earth Book).This book contains the simplest and most understandble description of double-digging that I have ever read, and the simplest way of placing seeds at the correct spacing in intensive gardening. It has good discussions of thermophilic composting and of the importance of aging compost; various types of irrigation systems; food requirements per person and practical ways of meeting them (including the economic infeasibility of growing wheat in the home garden); making aerated compost tea with a simple and inexpensive homemade system; the best media for seed starting; an introduction to saving and storing seeds, and references to excellent books that provide more information (such as Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners and Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties: The Gardener's & Farmer's Guide to Plant Breeding & Seed Saving); inexpensive ways to extend the growing season; fruit trees, bushes, and vines; raising poultry for eggs and/or meat; organic and certified naturally grown; and maximizing the money you make selling produce. The chapter on preserving the harvest by canning, freezing, and dehydrating (no mention of Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables) is not in-depth and will not take the place of other books on the subject, but serves as a good introduction. The only disappointment to me was that there was no mention of sheet composting (see Lasagna Gardening: A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens: No Digging, No Tilling,No Weeding, No Kidding!); I might suggest building your raised beds in that way rather than by double digging.If you are trying to move off the grid, grow 100% of your own food, and make your own clothes, this may not be the book for you. If you'd like to raise a lot of your own food in a garden that will fit in the typical suburban yard (the actual number of square feet he suggests cultivating for a family of three is just under 1/20th of an acre), this book is a great place to start.

While I've maintained small gardens and potted plants for years, for 5+ years I've casually kept a 1,000 square foot garden. I've mostly winged it... sometimes impressively, other times with dismally. But, never consistent year over year results.I picked up this book to take my gardening to the next level and broaden my horizons.In short, I'm very satisfied with the insights and guidance I've gleaned from this book. I'd go so far as to say that while you don't need a background in gardening to benefit from this book, this book is a perfect fit for people in my situation.Here are the pros and cons from my perspective.Pros:- The content of each chapter is very well organized, with concepts building onto one another very neatly.- The broader subject matter of the chapters takes one through the process of planning, preparing, selecting, timing, managing, etc. most everything one would need to successfully grow a garden.- This book strikes a good balance between giving you the key information you need for any one aspect of self-sufficient gardening, but not inundating you with too much detail. (In other words, this book threads the needle on delivering a lot of helpful information, while still feeling like an easy read.)- I've seen other reviews for this book that complain that the author 'rips off' others' ideas and re-packages them for profit. I read quite a bit and have over the years seen serious examples of what these other reviewers are claiming. But, in the case of this book, while the author informs on alternative (and even competing models) for gardening, the author always informs the user on what, in his experience, has or has NOT worked from various models; how he has modified some of those ideas to work in his growing climate; and where he completely parts ways from others' techniques and espouses his own approach (including very clear instruction on how to use his modified or totally unique processes).- Finally, where possible, the author provides the equivalent of 'modified workouts' for those 'less fit' (MY WORDS, NOT HIS) in their gardening abilities. In other words, the author provides sufficient detail on what might be the most efficient and beneficial approach to say irrigation or composting, but then across the various subjects covered in the book, he provides a less expensive/quicker/initially easier alternative for those lacking the time, resources, space, skills, etc. to fully implement the best possible approach for one aspect or another of gardening. For example, as I'll be looking to expand my garden this next spring, I fully intend to utilize some of the quicker soil prep techniques offered up in this book for use in a pinch while I build up my long-term composting and soil amendment routines.Cons:- While some of the chapters really cover all the bases for the targeted subject matter (i.e. plant spacing, soil prep, etc.). Others give you just enough to run with but leave you wanting more. A good example of this would be Chapter 7 ("Time and Yield"). While the author gives a good and broad overview of timing techniques (i.e. succession planting, timed planting, interplanting etc.), for such an important subject matter, I was disappointed by just how short this chapter was. I live in Michigan, with a shorter growing season. I see this topic as critical for people in shorter growing zones like mine, and apart from a quick overview of each of the techniques used to maximize productivity, and a handful of real-world examples of plant groups that work well for things like succession planting (taking into consideration their hardiness in colder climates), this chapter really leaves readers wanting.- While this book is beautifully illustrated, there's no doubting that the abundance of pretty pictures of garden produce, chickens, tools, etc. serve as fill to make the book feel a bit more substantial in size than it need be. I don't want to over play this point, as A LOT of the illustrations (pictures/graphics/tables) are pertinent to the content of the book (and in any event, some amount of artwork is always nice to have), BUT... I think you could produce this book, still with plenty of beautiful illustrations, and reduce it from its current 227 pages (including the index and notes pages) down to 175 pages.

I will have to admit when it comes to these type of books I generally see myself as a book browser. Rarely do I find a book that holds my attention to the end but I just finished this book this morning from end to end! I started marking things of interest and good info for others that look at it after me and it is packed with great information, detailed illustrations, resource suggestions etc. now in my late 50s I can say I have been gardening for a pretty long time but an old dog can always learn new tricks or ways of thinking about things and what is nice about this book is it is not overwhelming. Applying the methods to mini farming even if you have more than 1/4 acre just means you will be able to better grow rotate and manage your food production. It also has great details on pests and diseases. All in all I don’t usually write many reviews but I stopped immediately this morning and wrote this one because the book is just well put together. Oh I almost forgot they have some good information on raising chickens as well which I have started doing recently. Most of all have fun with it gardening and farming is supposed to be rewarding in more ways than just food output. I find plucking weeds and such a therapeutic exercise and good distraction in such a chaotic world we find ourselves in these days.

If you're learning this is the book for you. We've been living this lifestyle for almost 40 years so not much new info. However an excellent read if you're new or learning. Kind of dated on some prices, canning jars are more than double the price now as are a lot of the items quoted.