Garden Alchemy: 80 Recipes and Concoctions for Organic Fertilizers, Plant Elixirs, Potting Mixes, Pest Deterrents, and More

Description

Garden Alchemy is filled with recipes and instructions for making homemade versions of dozens of gardening products, including fertilizers, pest deterrents, potting soils, and more. This gardening recipe and project book is packed with over 80 ideas to naturally beautify your garden, using organic methods that regenerate your soil and revitalize your plants. By following the processes that are closest to nature, it brings the gardener in sync with the garden, allowing plants to thrive with less effort and less cost. Recipes for mixing your own potting soils and homemadeorganic fertilizers give you the freedom to choose what ingredients make their way into your garden. Step-by-step instructions for building a compost pile, concocting soil tests, and constructing inexpensive DIY seed-starting equipment are accompanied by gorgeous, full-color, step-by-step photography. You'll also find recipes for natural pest deterrents and traps, garden teas, and growth-boosting foliar sprays to help your garden grow strong all season long. Garden Alchemy starts with home experiments to help you get to know your soil and customize recipes for your individual needs. The rest of the chapters share how to decipher and combine natural ingredients to make the best quality amendments and elixirs. Detailed descriptions of earth-based materials demystify common ingredients, such as mycorrhizae, biochar, and greensand, and help you learn how to fix common garden problems with minimal effort. The simple method of making use of what you have available supports plants better than brand-name products. Dozens of recipes and projects include: Homemade seed bombs, disks, and tapes Granular and liquid natural fertilizer recipes DIY rooting hormone Herbal anti-fungal spray Plant propagation instructions Soil care recipes to adjust the pH and manage fertility 13 specialty potting mixes 7 clever traps for common garden pests This fun and beautifully illustrated book is packed with great ideas and inspiration for DIY gardeners who want to embrace their creativity and have more control of the garden's care.

Stephanie Rose is an award-winning author, freelance writer, instructor, and international speaker who aims to encourage better living through plants. As a long-time student and teacher of organic gardening, permaculture design, herbalism, and natural skin care formulation, she enjoys inspiring others to learn how to grow and use plants, with a focus on regenerative practices that are green, healthy, and natural. She is a member of Garden Communicators International, the Permaculture Institute of North America, the International Herb Association, and volunteers to develop children's gardens as a Vancouver Master Gardener.

"Rose's comprehensive yet compact book will profit beginning and advanced gardeners alike." * Publishers Weekly * "As someone who's made a career out of growing in small urban spaces, Stephanie's Garden Alchemy is a treasure trove of creative, DIY recipes to grow healthier, stronger plants, beautify your garden, and cultivate more biodiversity in your yard." - Kevin Espiritu, gardener, author of Field Guide to Urban Gardening -- Kevin Espiritu * Epic Gardening * "Stephanie empowers the reader to experiment with ways to fix common garden problems with minimal effort - and showing how there are so many things the home gardener can do before deciding to buy a "problem-solving" product at the store." * Frau Zinnie * "Equipped with a copy of Rose's new book, gardeners will feel confident that they're ready to tackle any problems that come up. Soil or fertilizer recipes needed? Check. Pest control problem? Double check. Propagation or composting question? She's got you covered." -- Shannon Cowan * EarthEasy.com * "Rose's rich guide, a mix of recipes and inviting do-it-yourself projects, kept my attention throughout its 128 pages...a thoughtful and informative guide." -- Sally Peterson * OregonLive.com * "...chock full of useful and magical recipes and elixirs sure to elevate your garden and garden experience...a delightful and enlightening read." -- Julie Bawden Davis * JulieBawdenDavis.com * "...this book is amazing... I see this being a book I am likely going to be referencing a lot in the future for my own garden!" * Budget Earth * "Every page is chock full of tips and tricks for how to create happier growth in your garden and how to use every part of that garden to create new and exciting things." * City Book Review * "...a compact, easy-to-follow, and visually attractive collection of recipes for do-it-yourself garden rejuvenation." * Washington Gardener * "I think this book deserves a spot on the bookshelf, or better yet, in the potting shed, where the recipes will soon be as dog-eared and annotated as any of your favorite cookbooks." * Gardener's Path *