Book Review: The Postage Stamp Garden {Blogging for Books}

The Postage Stamp Vegetable Garden: Grow tons of organic vegetables in tiny spaces and containers by Karen Newcomb

ISBN: 9781607746836

Paperback, 224 pages

Publisher: Ten Speed Press

Retail: $18.99

About the book
This classic gardening bestseller (over 500,000 copies sold) uses ecologically friendly, intensive biodynamic methods to produce large amounts of vegetables in very tiny spaces. Revised for an all new generation of gardeners, the 40th anniversary edition includes brand new information on the variety of heirloom vegetables available today and how to grow them the postage stamp way.

To accommodate today’s lifestyles, a garden needs to fit easily into a very small plot, take as little time as possible to maintain, require a minimum amount of water, and still produce prolifically. That’s exactly what a postage stamp garden does. Postage stamp gardens are as little as 4 by 4 feet, and, after the initial soil preparation, they require very little extra work to produce a tremendous amount of vegetables–for instance, a 5-by-5-foot bed will produce a minimum of 200 pounds of vegetables.

When first published 40 years ago, the postage stamp techniques, including closely planted beds rather than rows, vines and trailing plants grown vertically to free up space, and intercropping, were groundbreaking. Now, in an ever busier world, the postage stamp intensive gardening method continues to be invaluable for gardeners who wish to weed, water, and work a whole lot less yet produce so much more.

About the author
Karen Newcomb has contributed to and co-written eight gardening books with her late husband, Duane. She is a lifetime vegetable gardener, garden blogger, and avid writer, and has been a writing teacher for more than twenty years. She lives in Rocklin, California.

My thoughts:

I don't like the paper this is printed on. There I said it. I feel like it is going to tear any moment. I don't feel it is a book I can take outside while I am actually doing my gardening. Okay, that's out of the way. 

Follow this link to see an excerpt and table of contents of the book. 

I do not do well with plants of any kind. We've had a garden for almost every year since 2005 and I have done terribly every single year. No joke. Last year the most prolific plant was the green bean which yielded approximately 1 large bag of beans. The size of bag you'd find in the freezer section at the store. My husband called them the $600 dollar green beans. Yeah, I really do not do well with plants.

I requested this book in hopes it would help me do better with less space. We have a greenhouse that is pretty small. I wanted to grow vegetables in containers, both in the greenhouse and out. I'm desperate, you see. That is why I requested this book. 

Unfortunately, at this time I don't have time to read every single line in the book. But you can't simply search something in the index, flip to that page and know what you need to know. Really, and this may be common to everyone else but me, you have to go from the front to the back with this book. It is set up different than other gardening books I've looked through. Or so it seems to me. 

Since I have not read it cover to cover, I cannot definitively say it's a good/bad gardening book. Also, I am not a good gardener so my opinion may be worth nothing in that regard. I think it has potential and I am going to give it another go. When I do take that much needed time to thoroughly consume the book, I am sure the sections on soil preparation, placement of containers (in sun, in shade, near the house, away, etc.) will be very helpful. 

Oh, another point, it doesn't help if you have deer eating your plants. The book does tell some tips for keeping smaller animals like rabbits and birds out of your garden. 

**Disclaimer: I received this free for the purpose of this review from the Blogging for Books program. No compensation was given. See Disclosure/Policies.**