Organic Gardening for Everyone

Homegrown Vegetables Made Easy - No Experience Required!

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Pub Date 24 Dec 2019 | Archive Date 23 Dec 2019

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Description

If you want to grow healthy vegetables at home, but have hesitated because it seems too hard and time consuming, Organic Gardening for Everyone is your perfect hands-on guide—an “if I can do it, you can do it” case study that addresses your concerns and gets you started.

Loaded with practical advice and step-by-step guidance, Organic Gardening for Everyone takes a very personal and friendly approach to a subject that can be intimidating. It is a first-class primer on organic vegetable gardening, and an inspirational story about how anyone can balance the rigors of gardening with the demands of a modern, family-oriented lifestyle.
 
In 2012, a California mom decided to start an organic vegetable garden. But she went about it in an unusual way: she crowdsourced it by launching a YouTube channel under the name "CaliKim" and asking for help. And then she started planting. As questions came up, she turned to her viewers and subscribers and they replied with answers and advice. As she learned, her garden grew successfully—even in the hot, harsh California climate. Her expertise also grew, and now she answers many more questions than she asks and has become a very accomplished home gardener.

And CaliKim has a great story to tell: growing healthy organic vegetables for your family is not difficult, even for today’s time-challenged lifestyles. She provides complete step-by-step information on growing the most popular edibles organically, and also gives sound advice on how to take on the challenges of balancing a hectic lifestyle with successful growing—and how to involve the whole family in the process. 

You'll be rewarded for your effort every time you place a plate of natural, organic vegetables on the family dinner table knowing exactly what they are, what is in them, and where they came from.
If you want to grow healthy vegetables at home, but have hesitated because it seems too hard and time consuming, Organic Gardening for Everyone is your perfect hands-on guide—an “if I can do it, you...

Marketing Plan

Key Selling Points: Interest in gardening is still growing, especially among Millennials who prefer organics. The most common objections to starting to garden vegetables are “It takes too much time” and “It is too difficult”; this book addresses both subjects directly and reassuringly. Author is highly dynamic and relatable with a very strong social media reach.  

Key Campaign Activity Target home, gardening, sustainability/green media Utilize author’s social media reach: CaliKim You Tube channel has 178,000 subscribers and over 12,600 followers at Facebook  

Consumer Marketing: CaliKim YouTube channel campaign – propose multiple videos: book announcement, reveal, projects and other content from the book Quarto Knows social media push Quarto Knows B2C email campaigns Giveaways at select blogs and websites      

Publicity/Media: National Magazines, Gardening/Gardening Coverage: regional gardening magazines, Fine Gardening, House Beautiful, Birds & Blooms, Martha Stewart, Bungalow, Su Casa, Country Gardens, Cottages & Bungalows, Horticulture Magazine, Garden Design, American Gardener, Coastal Living Better Homes and Gardens, Southern Living, Nature’s Garden, Birds & Blooms, Country Woman, Fine Gardening, Mother Earth Living, Sunset Magazine, Living the Country Life, Garden Gate, Organic Life, Garden Design, Cottage Life, Country Gardens, Country Woman, Blogs and Websites (Gardening):  GardeningKnowHow.com Mother Earth News, Savvy Gardening, Empress of Dirt (Canada), In the Garden, Gardenista, Garden Therapy, Kiss The Earth, Penn Live Blog, Diggin’ In, HGTV Garden Blog, Let's Get Dirty, Gardening Gone Wild Major emphasis on city/urban lifestyle-focused media such as Apartment Therapy, HGTV.com, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Forbes Online, Parade, Uptown, Upper East Side Magazine, TriBeCa Magazine, Town & Country, regional and city-specific outlets

Daily Newspapers with Gardening Coverage, syndicates & Wire services: Associated Press, Knight Ridder, Tribune Media Services, Regional Magazines with Home & Garden Coverage: Midwest Living, Southern Living, Sunset, Northern Gardener, Texas Gardener, Alabama Gardening, Carolina Woman, Triangle Gardener, Cleveland Magazine, Columbus Monthly

Garden Center/Wholesalers media: Green Profit, Grower Talks, Nursery Management, Floral Management Landscaping Trade Media: Land8 (website), Turf, Landscape Architecture Magazine, Landscape Contractor, Total Landscape Care, Lawn & Landscape, Landscape Management, SCAPE, LAND Online, Places Journal, The Dirt, Landscape Business, Book Trade:  Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Bookish, Shelf Awareness

Radio & Podcasts – Local & Syndicated Programs: You Bet Your Garden/Philadelphia (and national NPR syndication), Bob Tanem In the Garden/ San Francisco, Garden Talk/San Francisco, Joy In the Garden/Vermont, In the Garden/Memphis, Mike Nowak/Chicago, Garden Life Radio  

Key Selling Points: Interest in gardening is still growing, especially among Millennials who prefer organics. The most common objections to starting to garden vegetables are “It takes too much time”...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9780760365342
PRICE $24.99 (USD)
PAGES 160

Average rating from 21 members


Featured Reviews

Organic Gardening for Everyone by CaliKim is a great beginner’s guide to organic gardening. The photography was lovely. Even though I am experienced gardener, I picked up some tips.

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A useful and informative introduction to organic gardening. I liked how the book is organised and the advice.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

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This is a good beginner book for people looking to start their first organic garden. However, if you've already got experience, you won't find much new here (though I did like the specifics on starting seeds indoors, especially the lighting options). I was hoping for more on the "organic" piece of the title - there was a tiny bit about pest and disease control, and a mention of healthy soil, but very little in the way of details.

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It's a neat introduction to organic gardening with tips and tricks throughout the book. It also contains lots of photography.

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This is a great introduction to organic gardening. Lots of handy tips and hints spread throughout the book, along with really lovely photography. Growing seeds, an indoor light house and transplanting outside was really well done. Simple to follow with clear, concise instructions. Great book for a newbie gardener. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

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Useful, but didn’t quite meet my expectations for clarity/ how it was organized. There is use of frost dates and other terminology for a bit before they are actually explained, for example. For a pure beginners book, it is decently accessible but could be better.

Definitely a lot of helpful explanations sprinkled throughout and I like that it didn’t have too many plants involved and kept it to a focused group of vegetables.

An okay book to me!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Organic Gardening for Everyone is an accessible basic gardening guide for beginning gardeners to get started. Due out 24th Dec 2019 from Quarto on their Cool Springs Press imprint, it's 160 pages and will be available in paperback format.

This is a very basic guide absolutely brimming with enthusiasm and "yes-you-can" cheerful encouragement. The author also has a longstanding presence on YouTube and a wealth of Q&A videos and posts. The book is laid out well and the chapters follow one another logically. Why to garden, how to start (start simply and expand later so you don't get overwhelmed), seed starting, transplanting, siting and planning. The book also includes a couple of planning appendices for warm and cold weather plants, as well as a simple glossary, index, and supplies/vendors list (slanted toward readers in North America).

The photography is clear, cheerful, abundant, and clear. There are a lot of good suggestions for container and raised bed plantings in the photos (most are not covered specifically in the text - but are certainly clear enough to utilize).

This would be a great selection for a housewarming gift for new gardeners, community garden library, or a fun and encouraging book for readers looking to get started.

Four stars. Beautifully presented and fun.

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Organic Gardening for Everyone contains an Introduction, ten chapters that cover everything from why you would want to grow your food, to seed starting indoors, transplanting those precious seedlings and caring for them, and disease and pest control. It's apparent throughout this book, that the author is passionate about growing healthy food and you can't help but feel like this is something you can do too!
I've been growing my vegetables( Zone 7) for long enough to know some tips and tricks, and not long enough to not learn new things from every book, gardener, or YouTube channel. Different zones have different challenges, but the basics are the same whether you have a container garden, a few raised beds, or a yard where every available space is dedicated to the garden( I'm looking in the mirror, with this statement). This book will appeal to someone who has the desire to start or grow their home garden, and is willing to put in the time! No year is perfect, but you will learn from your failures and your success!
As CaliKim suggests, start small by planting something that you love, and if you are like me, the garden will become a satisfying and money-saving hobby that you will plan out every year in the offseason. The pictures looked lovely on my tablet, and I am sure they will look even better in the physical book( did I mention I will be adding a copy to my gardening bookshelf)! I learned a new tip about grow lights as well as a few other great suggestions. It would be quite hard for a gardening book to cover every topic, but this one goes a long way towards providing a nice overview.
As a side note, I first say CaliKim and her husband Jerry, the Camera Guy on one of my favorite YouTube channels, The Rusted Garden Homestead. If you are unsure if this is the right book for you, might I suggest taking a look at CaliKim's videos on YouTube? You will get a nice feel for what her garden and her style is all about!

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I hadn't heard of these guys on youtube before, I was just attracted by the warm, friendly photos and attitude of the writer. And my instincts were right - this is a lovely, easy-to-get-along with book that holds your hand as you figure out what to grow and how to grow it.
I already grow organically but found this useful as a primer, reminder, and it described the why of some things that I knew I should do but didn't know the reasons behind. I liked the inclusion of a section on harvesting, often missed out of other books,
There's advice, too, on the modern gardener's tricks: setting up grow lights, irrigation systems, building raised beds - but not in a pushy 'you must do this' way, only if you're interested. I haven't tried those before as it seemed too complicated, & I garden to relax not figure out tech, but it sounds easier than I thought. Friendly & warm wins again.
I'd definitely recommend this to a first-time gardener, & I think an old-hand will enjoy reading it over their shoulder...

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This is a very nice book for anyone who is wanting to start gardening and is afraid to do it. It is full of colorful pictures and easy to understand ideas. She starts with finding a good place (or container) and continues with picking plants to plant, seeds, how to plant for seedlings, how to water… just about everything you’d need to know. Even how and when to pick your crop.

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This would be a great guide for someone who is just starting to grow vegetables and wants to do it organically. As a retired horticulture professor, I can attest to the accuracy of the information provided (with just a couple minor suggestions I'll forward to the publisher.) The book is organized in a thoughtful manner and has clear, easy-to-read instructions. Helpful photographs of processes (e.g., starting seeds or installing drip irrigation) make learning easy. Each method's description is accompanied by lists of advantages and disadvantages for that method--very helpful when one is determining which method is right for them. Additional "accent" photos of produce and the author are beautifully done.

My only complaint is the recommendation of peat pellets, given that peat bogs have been over-harvested and are not easily renewable resources. In general, this would be a great resource for a beginning gardener.

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Organic Gardening for Everyone by CaliKim is a wonderful resource for anyone looking to start or do better at organic gardening. This book tells you why you should grow your own food and then walks you through each step with all the tips and secrets to be successful. With chapters on starting seeds, transplanting, placement, watering, garden pests, and harvesting this book has it all! I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in gardening.

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If you are looking for a practical guide to organic gardening, this is the book! Whether you are a first time gardener, or a seasoned one, you are guaranteed to learn something! It’s full of helpful advice and step by step photos. The author makes you feel confident that you too can plant, grow and harvest a successful garden in any climate. The sections are well laid out and it takes you from planning, planting, watering and harvesting. Questions we all have are answered within the pages of the book. When can you plant tomatoes? Where should you plant your tomatoes? How do you fertilize them and many more. A complete guide to becoming an organic gardener right in your own backyard.
I loved this book. I have gardened my whole life, and found so many tips and tricks to help me be a better gardener. I enjoyed the step by step photos especially on drip irrigation which I have never attempted. After reading the book, I’m ready to give it a try. This book really builds your confidence. Thank you so much to CaliKim, Cool Springs Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book to read and review.

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I have great ambitions for my home garden, and this book is helping me get excited for spring. The book not only includes helpful information to get you started, but great photographs to keep you interested and motivated. I can't wait to put some of these tips to use in a few months after the ground thaws.

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A not-scary, easy to understand, not-intimidating guide to growing vegetables, even if it's for the first time! It's thorough enough to give a lot of information without being overloading. Very impressed with this great guide for the beginning vegetable gardener!

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I am in the planning stage for my garden this Spring. And this book is a winner. With great pictures and inspiration I know my garden will be bountiful this year as well as all organic. Cant wait for warmer weather so that I cam get my hands dirty and use what I have learned.

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Great book on organic gardening. I found it helpful and the pictures are great. I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

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