Human Skills
Growing Food
From soil to harvest, on any patch of ground.
Soil
What Soil Is Made Of
Sand, silt, clay and the life in between
Preparing a Bed for Planting
From weedy ground to ready soil in one weekend
Composting Without the Smell
Turn kitchen and garden waste into free soil food
Soil pH You Can Actually Measure
Testing it cheaply and shifting it slowly
Fertility Without Buying Anything
Leaves, wood, manure, ash, urine and seaweed
Compost at Household Volume
Hot heaps, ratios and how much you really need
No-Dig and When to Dig Anyway
Structure, fungi, cardboard and honest exceptions
Green Manures and Cover Crops
Growing your own fertility in the gaps
Seeds
Choosing and Reading Seeds
What the packet is trying to tell you
Starting Seeds and Taking Cuttings
Raise strong seedlings indoors and multiply plants for free
Planting
Planting Out and Sunlight
Spacing, timing and the first two weeks
Containers, Balconies and Herbs
Real food from a windowsill, terrace or tiny yard
Growing Fruit at Home
Strawberries, berries and a first fruit tree
Water
Watering the Right Way
Deep, early and less often than you think
Mulch and Simple Irrigation
Cut watering in half with a bale of straw and a hose
How Much Water a Crop Needs
Litres per square metre, and how to check instead of guess
When to Water and Where
Early morning, at the root, never at midday
Watering Without Mains Pressure
Gravity drip, ollas, basins and wicking beds
Growing With Almost No Water
Dry farming, spacing and the yield it costs
Storing and Stretching Water
Tank sizing, greywater rules and keeping it clean
Pests
Who Is Eating My Plants
Identify the ten pests behind most damage
Managing Pests Without Poison
Barriers, allies and the few sprays worth using
Harvest
Harvesting at the Right Moment
Pick more, pick better, and keep plants producing
Saving Your Own Seed
Never buy tomato, bean or lettuce seed again
Planning
Crop Rotation and Planning a Year of Food
Move plant families, fill every gap, eat all year
How Much Land Feeds One Person
The honest arithmetic behind a number everyone gets wrong
Why Salad Does Not Feed You
The staple four, and the hard problem of fat
Planning a Year of Eating
Work backwards from the kitchen, not forwards from the seed box
Getting the Harvest to Next Spring
Clamps, sand boxes, plaits and dry stores without a freezer
Protein and Fat on a Smallholding
Beans, eggs, birds, nuts and oil, with the hard parts stated plainly
Growing Grain by Hand
The area, the threshing and why most people buy flour
Seed Independence
Open-pollinated varieties, isolation, population size and viability
From a Garden to a Holding
Tools, hours, the labour calendar and the trap of starting too big
Seasons
Cool Season and Warm Season
Why timing beats effort in the vegetable garden
Frost Dates, Heat and Day Length
The four numbers that decide what you can plant today
The Potato Year
Chitting, earthing up, lifting and storing
The Allium Year
Garlic, onions and shallots from autumn to the store
Roots All Year
Carrots, beetroot, turnip and radish in succession
Brassicas for Winter
Cabbage, kale, broccoli and cauliflower sown in summer
Summer Fruiting Crops
Tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, courgettes and cucumbers
A Twelve Month Plan
Build a sowing calendar that fits your own climate