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In about two weeks a new garden adventure will begin for me, as I’ll be moving to a new property together with my girlfriend and our two small kids. What’s new for me is that this time it’s a rented place compared to our current house, which I own myself. We had a brief talk with the landlord, and it turns out that the former renters were allowed to put up a greenhouse,  and we’re free to do what we want in the garden as long as it “appears cultivated” as he put it. I’m still a bit unsure about what I can and what I can’t do, but maybe it’s better to ask for forgiveness instead of permission in this case Of course I’ll leave any old trees alone, but I’m certainly planning on converting part of the lawn into vegetable beds. Whether I’m bringing in a truckload of concrete slabs to be used as paths between beds I’m not sure, but I guess most of what I would like to do in the garden can be cleaned up and removed in a matter of weeks. The ultimate garden dream is still to have my own land to play on. I’m looking forward to that.
I’m leaving five old wonderful apple trees behind, but luckily there are two old ones on the new property and according to the owner they produce loads of apples and they are free for us to use. I’m glad we bought a high quality juicer last year, perfect for apples too. The apple trees provide shade in the garden, but it also has an open space with lots of sun. To the south west there’s even a small stream running by, and across the stream there’s a field with grazing horses. Very nice scenery.
Unfortunately I’ll have to leave my 30 sq m (320 sq ft) garage behind and cram most of my stuff into a much smaller, unheated shed, in like only one fifth of the area. I’ll have to sell or give away some of it, but that’s okay, this was never meant to be a high tech operation anyway. I’m keeping the shredder though – that is just an awesome piece of equipment, a Bosch AXT 2500HP. I’ll post some pictures and videos of that beast later on. It has helped me produce great composting ready material, so I’m seriously considering moving my three compost heaps with me to the new location, if the content is not too gross. Gotta feed the soil, right?
Speaking of feeding the soil – sometimes I get carried away and just go on and on, talking about  soil and manure and homesteading, and somewhere along the road my girlfriend somehow convinced herself that rabbits running freely around the garden is a total win-win situation. When will I learn to shut the hell up? I’m not sure I agree entirely with that But at least neither one of us talks about chopping them up for meat like good old John Seymour did. That’s just too old school for us vegetarians. I’m sure the kids would love to play with them though. We just need to convince them that it’s NOT candy that’s scattered all over the lawn

This is a 43 pages eBook about making compost written by Rod Turner in 2005 titled “The Worlds Best Compost – The How & Why“. My own attempts at making compost have been a bit disappointing. Of course there’s some kind of break-down of organic material into humus, but I can ensure you it’s not world class. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that this is actually a book about biodynamics, which was not mentioned in the sales pitch. I paid $34.77 to download the eBook.

How to make the worlds best compost

According to Rod the best compost is a kind of material that resembles jelly. It contains fluid but the material feels dry when you touch it. Jelly also contains the good stuff too. This property must be the same in compost if you want it to be world class. Rod calls this type of compost colloidal humus compost, because it contains up to 75 % water plus all the nutrients. The high amount is needed by the plants in order to grow normally. The water provided to plants must be free of nutrients or it’ll mess up their system!

You need to build your compost pile in a single day. Therefore you have to collect the material in different piles throughout the months prior to building the pile. A key ingredient is fresh animal manure, in fact up 40% of the pile needs to be manure. Nitrogen rich materials, carbon rich materials and manure have to be really wet when you build your pile or else the composting process will not run properly. The three different types of materials need to be in close contact throughout the pile which is then covered with straw during its 3 to 6 months life. And it is literally life. All kinds of organisms and animals will come and go when needed to take part in the composting process. Add some biodynamic herbs and mojo and you got yourself world class compost.

What I LIKE about The Worlds Best Compost

* It uses a biodynamic approach to making compost. I’m fascinated by biodynamics because curiosity, respect and harmony are key aspects in this way of gardening.

* It’s easy to read although it contains a lot of information.

* It has lots of pictures and easy understandable illustrations (21 throughout the eBook).

* Straight to the point, no BS.

* Written by someone with 20 years of experience using the methods described (teaching it for 10 years).

* Interesting references to people and further reading.

* The reasons behind the different actions you need to take are explained too.

* Several bonus eBooks and videos included in the purchase: “Mysteries of Pruning Revealed”, “Professional Secrets to Stunning Azaleas” and “Wonder Plants and Plant Wonders”.

What I DON’T like about The Worlds Best Compost

* Not actually about the eBook, but the sales pitch page is just too much.

* The price is a bit high for a 43 pages eBook, but taking the bonuses into account it seems fair. They seem solid too.

* Some of the biodynamic mojo is included in the process without explanation. I would like to read a few critical thoughts about this whirling madness (you have to make some kind of soup if you want to be best in class).

Who should buy this eBook

You need more space to use the method described in this eBook than you would using traditional urban composting methods. You need space around the pile and space for storing the different materials before building the pile, so I think it’s best suited for people living in rural areas where you can raise your own cows and horses too. Of course you can transport the manure into your urban garden but it’s a lot more work. I think the book can be used by beginners as well as experienced gardeners. The only thing you need is a desire to provide the best growing conditions for you plants.

You can get the eBook here.

A couple of weeks ago I thinned the fruits on my small peach tree according to my garden “bible”. This is done when the fruits are about the size of walnuts. The fruits are thinned to about 25 cm (10 inch) spacing or else the tree will have a hard time maturing all of them. I removed more than half of the fruits (which was not popular with my girlfriend ):

I also find thinning a bit sad but it’s often necessary in order to have normal size vegetables or fruits.

This is how the tree looks after the thinning:

Luckily there are still no signs of peach leaf curl. Now I’m just waiting for the rain to come. The soil below the peach tree is not well-drained, so when it’s dry for longer periods the soil is compact and any water applied on top just escapes on the surface.

This is my highly subjective list of people who I think have contributed the most to the “grow your own food” community. If you know of someone I’ve missed please leave a comment below the list:

	Jules Dervaes * Founded the “Dervaes Institute” in 2006 * Creator of the public urban homestead model “Path to Freedom” http://www.pathtofreedom.com/about/background/theman.shtml
	D. G. Hessayon * Wrote gardening manuals “Expert Guides” (50 million printed) * Guinness World Record for “bestselling non-fiction author of the 1990s” * Awarded the Royal Horticultural Society’s “The Veitch Memorial Medal”
	John Jeavons * Developed the “Grow Biointensive” method * Wrote “How to Grow More Vegetables” (500.000 copies) http://www.johnjeavons.info
	Eliot Coleman * Wrote “The New Organic Grower” (1989) * Co-owner of “The Four Seasons Farm” * Executive Director of the “International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM)”
	Alan Titchmarsh * Awarded the Royal Horticultural Society’s “Victoria Medal Of Honour” in 2004 (RHS in UK) * Runs his own charity: “Garden for schools” and “Seeds for Africa” * Host of TV program “Gardeners’ World” in UK
	Kent Whealy * Co-founder of “Seed Savers Exchange” * Received “The Genius Award”
	Amy P. Goldman * Wrote “Melons for the Passionate Grower” (2002) (American Horticultural Society 2003 Annual Book Award) * Wrote “The Heirloom Tomato” (2008) * Wrote “The Compleat Squash” (2004) (American Horticultural Society Book Award)
	Barbara Damrosch * Co-owner of “The Four Seasons Farm” * Wrote “The Garden Primer” * Co-hosted the TV-series “Gardening Naturally”
	Jeff Lowenfels * The world’s longest running garden columnist (32 years) * Wrote “Teaming with Microbes” * Founder of “Plant a Row for The Hungry”
	Maria Thun * Publishes an annual biodynamic gardening calender in 18 languages * Wrote “Gardening for Life” (2000)
	Mel Bartholomew * Wrote “Square Foot Gardening” (1981) * Created the “Square Foot Gardening Foundation” http://www.squarefootgardening.com
	Michael Pollan * Wrote “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” (2006) * Wrote “Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education” (1991)
	Carol Klein * Own plant nursery, “Glebe Cottage Plants” * TV show “Grow Your Own Veg” * In the TV show, “Gardeners’ World”
	Carol Cox * Ecology Action’s Garden Research Manager * Co-author of “The Sustainable Vegetable Garden”
	Toby Hemenway * Wrote “Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture” * Associate editor of “Permaculture Activist” from 1999 to 2004
	Barbara L. Bowling * Wrote “Berry Grower’s Companion” (2005) * Was chairperson of the “American Society for Horticultural Sciences’ Viticulture and Small Fruit Working Group”
	Joy Larkcom * Wrote “Grow Your Own Vegetables” (2002) * Was in 1993 awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal for her services to horticulture by the RHS, and was also Garden Writer of the Year in 1993
	Charles Dowding * Wrote “Organic Gardening: The Natural No-Dig Way” (2007) * Created a market garden in rural Zambia * Gave lectures to the RHS in Tokyo http://www.charlesdowding.com
	Eric Toensmeier * Wrote “Perennial Vegetables” * Co-author with Dave Jacke of the two-volume permaculture design manual “Edible Forest Gardens” * Manages the Tierra de Oportunidades new farmer program of Nuestras Raices
	Shane Smith * Wrote “Greenhouse Gardener’s Companion” * Director and a founder, in 1977, of the Cheyenne Botanic Garden, Wyoming’s only public botanic garden
	Stella Otto * Wrote “The Backyard Orchardist” (1995) * Benjamin Franklin Award winner (1994) * Fruit farm owner
	Fern Marshall Bradley * Author of Rodale’s Vegetable Garden Problem Solver (2007) * Co-author of “Vegetable Gardening” (2006) * Managing an organic market garden in western New Jersey
	Mike * Blogs about a 2 acres market garden * His blog has 1400 daily readers * 1300 links back to his blog from other websites http://tinyfarmblog.com
	Rose Marie Nichols McGee * Co-author of “McGee & Stuckey’s Bountiful Container” * Blogs about gardening and food (100 links back to her blog) * Rose Marie is President of Nichols Garden Nursery http://nicholsgardennursery.wordpress.com
	Joe Swift * Wrote “Joe’s Allotment” (2009) * Wrote “Joes Urban Garden Handbook” * Host on BBC’s “Gardeners’ World”
	Steve Solomon * Wrote “Gardening When It Counts” (2006) * Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades (2006) * Wrote and self-published “Growing Vegetables South of Australia” (2002) http://www.soilandhealth.org/05steve%27sfolder/05aboutmeindex.html
	Gayla Trail * Wrote “You Grow Girl: The Ground Breaking Guide to Gardening” (2005) * Blogs about gardening * 2200 links back to her blog from other websites http://www.yougrowgirl.com
	Marjorie Harris * Wrote “Seasons of My Garden” (1999) * Wrote “The Healing Garden” (1996) * Wrote “In the Garden: Thoughts on the Changing Seasons” (1995)
	Jerry Baker * Wrote several books on gardening * Host on gardening TV and radio shows
	Liz Primeau * Wrote “Front Yard Gardens: Growing More Than Grass” (2003) * Founding editor of Canadian Gardening magazine * Former host of Canadian Gardening Television on HGTV
	Steve Ott * Wrote “Homegrown Vegetable Manual” (2009) * Co-author of “The A-Z Guide to Growing and Cooking Farm-fresh Food” (2008) * Editor of Kitchen Garden magazine http://www.kitchengarden.co.uk/thismonth.php
	Sarah Raven * Wrote “The Great Vegetable Plot” * Guest presenter on BBC’s “Gardeners World”
	Alys Fowler * Wrote “The Thrifty Gardener” (2008) * Horticultural researcher on “Gardeners’ World” on BBC in the UK
	Suzanne Peabody Ashworth * Wrote “Seed to Seed” (2002) * Owner of “Del Rio Botanical” http://www.delriobotanical.com/site_main.html
	Stu Campbell * Wrote “Let it Rot: The Gardener’s Guide to Composting” (2003) * Wrote “Mulch it!” * Wrote “Improving Your Soil”
	Anais Dervaes * Blogs about urban homesteading in California * 1900 links back to her blog from other websites http://urbanhomestead.org/journal
	Andy McKee * Wrote “The Polytunnel Handbook” (2009) * 500 links to his blog from other websites http://hedgewizardsdiary.blogspot.com
	Carleen Madigan * Wrote “The Backyard Homestead” (2009)
	Carole B. Turner * Wrote “Seed Sowing and Saving” (1998)
	Dick Raymond * Wrote “Joy of Gardening” * Head vegetable gardening specialist at Garden Way Gardens
	Edward C. Smith * Wrote “The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible” * Wrote “Incredible Vegetables from Self-Watering Containers”
	Kenneth E. Point * Internship on a forty acre organic farm (1985 – 1994) * Blogs about gardening (2005 – 2009) * 800 links to his blog from other websites http://www.veggiegardeningtips.com
	Tonopah Rob * Owner of 2,800 square meters farm in Tonopah, Arizona * Sold more than 550 kg produce in one weekend at Tonopah Rob’s Vegetable Farm stand http://tonopahrob.com
	Gillian Carson * Blogs about gardening * 1000 daily readers * 800 links to her blog from other websites http://mytinyplot.co.uk
	Sally Jean Cunningham * Wrote “Great Garden Companions” (2000) * Has a TV and radio show on gardening
	R. J. Ruppenthal * Wrote “Fresh Food from Small Spaces” (2008)
	Emma Rawlings * Co-author of “The A-Z Guide to Growing and Cooking Farm-fresh Food” (2008)
	Jeff A. Hartenfeld * Co-author of “The Farmers’ Market Book” (2007)
	Cavagnarok David * Co-author on “The Complete Vegetable & Herb Gardener : A Guide to Growing Your Garden Organically” (1997)
	Sharon L. Lovejoy * Wrote “Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children” (1999) * Serves on the National Children and Youth Garden Advisory Panel of the American Horticultural Society http://sharonlovejoy.blogspot.com

Introduction

My interest in this book was originally due to the fact that my own wooden raised beds are rotting away. So I was thinking about using concrete tiles as building blocks instead. Then I saw this eBook and liked the idea of using cinder blocks instead. I did some research and found out that cinders blocks are used around here too for construction. They’re called foundation blocks.
The 224-page eBook is written by Lynn Mentgen-Gillespie, who has 13 years of experience in gardening, with her father Glen Mentgen as co-author. Lynn lives in the Colorado Rockies with her family. The price was $19.95 and you can buy it here.

What is the principle of Cinder Block Gardens?

The method described in the book for growing your own food actually looks pretty general, and it’s not exclusively for cinder block gardens. If you know a little about gardening you can probably recognize these steps:

1. Decide a location for your garden (south, east, north, west)
2. Order materials and build your garden. This is special compared to row-gardening
3. Produce your own soil. This is highly recommended for Cinder block gardens, but could be applied to wooden raised beds too.
4. Sow or plant
5. Water and remove weed throughout the growing season
6. Mulch
7. Harvest
8. Feed the soil
9. Evaluate and go back to 4) or 1)

What I like about Cinder Block Gardens

First of all, it was nice that I was able to see the whole table of content before buying, but that’s not really related to the eBook itself.

• It’s a practical book. There’s a certain method to be followed throughout the book, towards growing your own food. It’s what I would call a good down to earth explanation of the gardening principle
• Lynn and I share the same values that drives us to do this kind of work. Things like the quality of what we eat, respect for other living creatures and respect for the environment.
• There’s a sense of purpose in doing gardening the way she describes. It’s not just about doing the mechanical work, but it’s also about improving our health and the the health of our children.
• She writes from 13 years of experience and includes personal stories
• The location of your garden is discussed. I haven’t given this much thought myself but I think I have underestimated that.
• She explains ways to add trellis to a Cinder Block garden. That was a positive surprise I hadn’t contemplated.
• The important role of aisles between raised beds is discussed
• Pictures and illustrations are used throughout the contents. I really like that I can see what she’s talking about. I guess I’m a highly visual person.
• The Magic Soil Mix: This is a big one. There’s a lot of experience packed into that one. The whole idea of designing your own soil is new to me, and I think this is something I need to embrace in the future, if I want to take my gardening to a new level.
• Seeds, planting and transplanting are described very well and thoroughly.
• I’m not a mulcher myself, but again I think this is something I’ll be looking into in the future. Her description of mulching is an eye opener and I feel inspired to give it a try.
• I like the informative part on low water gardening
• The chapter about pest control acts as a good reference. I was pleasantly surprised to find advice on cats

What I DON’T like about Cinder Block Gardens

• I’m not sure what her father is doing in this book. I think Lynn would do just fine without the few pages that relates to him. It’s a bit confusing.
• Much energy is used on how to save money. Maybe this energy could be converted into creating more and better food. For instance a chapter or small eBook on how to make money from selling food.
• There’s a big overlap between growing food in wooden raised beds and cinder block gardens, for instance the chapter on the weed free garden. I expected this book to be more cinder block specific. I’ve already written about the advantages of growing food in wooden raised beds. I think there are quite a few chapters, that I really didn’t expect in a book about cinder blocks gardens, because they’re more general gardening advice:
  - Soil
  - Fertilizer and compost
  - Seeds, planting and transplanting
  - Season extenders
  If these were the areas I wanted information about I don’t think my first choice would have been the Cinder Block Gardens eBook.
• I didn’t find the chapter about the different sizes of cinder block beds particularly useful. It’s fine to describe the first standard unit but from there I prefer to just do the calculations to match the particular space requirements. It’s not like it’s a tough calculation or anything.
• I find the chapter about planting in the holes unnecessary. I imagine I would just go by feel and explore the possibilities myself.
• I don’t think I will ever use the vegetable reference guide, since it depends on what kinds of seeds I’ll be inspired to get each season. Usually there’s a good description on the paper envelopes. I’ll just do the math on the fly if I’ll do any at all.
• Anything to do with chemicals I would prefer was kept out of a book about gardening

Who should buy this book

I think this is a very good beginners book on vegetable gardening in general. It takes you all the way from scratch and up to a fully functional food producing garden. There’s a clear method to be followed all the way from start to finish, where you have your vegetables in your hand. Also, you shouldn’t be afraid of doing things in a new way, and answer questions from curious visitors or neighbours.

1. Planning – WHEN will you grow WHAT, and HOW?

2. Work every day – Find out what you can do TODAY to grow more food, and do it

3. Water your plants on dry days – How much WATER do your plants need?

4. Plant “seeds” – Order books, order seeds, make appointments

5. Read – Learn from WISE people (books and internet)

6. Cultivate more soil – bigger AREA -> more food

7. Compost – REUSE waste to improve soil quality

8. Expect change – Always BE OPEN to improve you methods

Please leave a comment if you have other tips. What do you do to maximize the yield?

Once you taste fresh picked fruits or just harvested vegetables from the garden there’s no turning back. It’s a whole other world than the pesticide covered pumped up things transported on stinking trucks for days. If you want to learn more about growing your own stuff I recommend “The Self-Sufficient Gardener” by John Seymour. It’s amazing how much knowledge he managed to get into that book, from soil analysis to bee-keeping. He wrote a lot of other books on self-sufficiency, but for now this is the only one that has managed to find its way to me. It has even been translated to Danish.