Grow Your Soil took me by surprise! I didn't think a book on soil would interest me so much, but the science behind it all is amazing. If only it was published sooner as this would be a great Christmas gift for my father in law. The illustrations on the chapters and little doodles are brilliant too.

Grow Your Soil is such a well thought out and useful book! As gardeners, we spend so much time growing and caring for our plants, but often, the one thing overlooked is the health of the soil. The author focuses on letting nature take care of your soil, and while many of her suggestions were already part of my soil habits, some made me stop and think.
No rototilling? Well, that would be great and it turns out it is more harmful than helpful. No fertilizers needed( or very little)? Mulch and compost will save you time and money and your soil will say thank you. My favorite: don't drown your weeds with chemicals! Use the pulled up weeds for soil nourishment.
This was a wonderful book that made me think about my garden soil in a whole new way. I am so excited to picture my garden next year, thriving and with way less prep work. There is not only quite a bit of humor in this book but so much practical information. Not that I want to wish my life away, but I am super excited to try to incorporate those steps that I have been missing or doing wrong come spring! A great gift for yourself or a garden friend!
I received a DRC from Storey Publishing through NetGalley.

A hugely thorough look at soil, it's structure, and how to improve it. Discusses the different levels of soil from the microbacteria to the mulch to everything in between. Really really interesting and useful!

The content of the book is excellent. I am not an inexperienced gardener and this book still taught me a lot of really good information about soil building and composting. That being said, there were issues with the editing choices made that very well may be a result of this being an ARC. Those issues were things like references to page numbers with placeholders still in place or references to wrong numbers. One specific example is on page 58 where it refers to something on page 57 but should've been 59.

Still, this is a book I will purchase and one I would recommend for anyone 12 and over who are interested in gardening regardless of skill level.

I love plants. I love flowers. I love pretty things.
Unfortunately they do not seem to love me very much.
I plant and they grow and that's it. They stall. They cease to grow. My flowers do not bloom. My plants wither and so does my soul. I cry in the darkness and I become another ghost to roam this cold, dark lonely world.
...
AND ALONG COMES THIS BOOK TO SAVE ME
Basically what I learned from this book is that I was doing everything wrong lol. Regarding soil, placing the seeds, and everything else.
My main problem...is that I over water because I like coddling my plant babies. Apparently that's a big no no.
Stick with this book, you guys. Learn from my mistakes. Grow and flourish with the soil.
Thanks very much to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy of my ARC. All opinions are my own.