Garden Alchemy

I got this book as I was intrigued by the title. Golly Im so glad I did. What a fantastic book. I read it in one sitting and will be going back to it time and again for information and hints and tips thoughout the gardening year.

Starting with the types of soil and how to identify yours ands the pH of your soil. I always wondeered how to work this out and now just using simple at home tools I can.

It follows on with lots of helpful and fantastic ideas for making your garden the best if can be using handmade elixirs and potions and so much more as well. Loved the natural pest deterents and will definately be using them in the summer!!

A book that will be looked at again and again.

Thanks to Netgalley and Quatro Publishing for the ARC. (My Review is my own opinion.)

I love the cover art first and foremost. The title is right up my aesthetic. The introduction has a cute little tale that I'd love to have been there for. It could be an amazing novel on its own. I read this book with my mom in a day and she forced us to do some of the tests explained in the book. We started out doing the soil composition test in the mason jar (wow we have a lot of clay) and seemed to do every one that followed. The flow charts and infographics were very easy to interpret and the recipes were very helpful. There were a few places I'd have liked more elaboration right when the topic is introduced (what is screened and sterilized compost and how do you do it?), but continuing on approximately 10-20 pages gave me the answers to what I was looking for. I feel like the Birds, Bees, and Bugs chapter in particular was my favorite. Most of my personal gardening is based on pollinator health and so this section was a wealth of information! I'd probably purchase this book and I think my mom definitely would. I received a digital arc for the purpose of this review!

A perfect book for all gardening lovers from soil to planting to fun projects.A beautiful book an informative book a book that kept me reading bin one sitting.This is a book I will keep going back to & will gift to friends who also love to garden.#netgalley#quartobooks

This book was exactly what I was looking for! I loved all the tips on making your own potting soil and organic pest deterrents. I am going to do the simple soil PH test this week. The photos are gorgeous too! This is one gardening reference I will refer to again and again!

I loved everything about this book. As an avid gardener and staunch environmentalist, I'm often conflicted by garden books that recommend non-sustainable materials like peat and harmful products like chemical-based pesticides and herbicides. I love that Rose offers all kinds of homemade garden solutions while also giving renewable alternatives to peat and gives fantastic garden recipes that don't sacrifice nature in the bargain. She gives all kinds of great recipes for everything from natural pest sprays to potting mixes, along with great info about all kinds of garden topics like composting, mulch, you name it.

But the part I really love is that there's so much science fun and crafty stuff in here. Now I get to involve my science-loving homeschool mom side! There are simple experiments to test the acidity of your soil, instructions for making your own seed tape and seed bombs (and lots more), and all kinds of cool science-based crafty things to do -- AND there are great color pictures of the whole deal.

Love it.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

Great, quick read! Chock full of interesting formulas to help your plants grow. Even though it is only December, I am looking forward to putting many of these ideas into practice this spring. No more buying pre-made seed starting mix, pre-made fertilizers, or pre-made plant disease treatments. Thanks to this book, I will be saving loads of money, plus have the enjoyment of doing it myself!

Garden Alchemy by Stephanie Rose is a book that should be in every gardeners hands. This book is full of valuable information to help any type of gardener produce better soil and harvest. This book teaches you how to make soil tests, potting soil, rooting hormone, seed tape, how to make growth enhancing sprays, tips for encouraging beneficial wildlife and so much more! As a beginner gardener I have learned so much from this book. This book is filled with beautiful pictures, recipes, ingredient lists, charts and diagrams. The author walks you through each topic step by step making it easy for a beginner. This book teaches you not only how but why! I was even able to use this book with my children to sneak in some math and science lessons. They especially loved the DIY vermicompost worm bin and the bee bath.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who gardens, or may be interested in gardening.

OMGoodness!!!! This book has so inspired me! From the moment I opened it, I was excited. Lots of colorful pictures. The promise of a beautiful bright garden! The joy of being in total control of my garden!! The subtitle of this book is "80 Recipes and Concoctions for Organic Fertilizers, Plant Elixirs, Potting Mixes, Pest Deterrents, and More." I cannot tell you how excited I was just after reading the the front and back covers of this book. And then, I opened it, and...WOW! I have been searching for this book for a long time...and thank goodness Stephanie Rose has finally written the ultimate Gardening book, with everything I ever wanted to know and with easy to understand ideas. I'm reading the ARC right now, but when this publishes, I will definitely be getting one for myself, and gifting it to several of my like-minded gardening friends. WOW.

Excellent reference book for new and experienced gardeners.
It's easy to follow with beautiful pictures and diagrams to assist with the delivery of the information. A must for anyone wanting to be a bit more self sufficient and gain the most from their garden.
Reading this in December makes me look forward to spring and being able to put into practice all the knowledge and advise which I shall be sharing with others. Fingers crossed for a bountiful harvest and a few family members may be getting a copy next year for birthdays.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher's for a free digital copy in return for an honest review.

I have been a follower of Staphanie Rose's Garden Therapy for some time and was excited to learn that she was writing a book. "Garden Alchemy" provides the same fun and beautiful content that Garden Therapy has been sharing with us but on a deeper level. I, personally, am excited to try out some of the ideas I found in this enchanting book.

Garden Alchemy is a most beautiful book with magnificent pictures and a marvellous cover. It is perfect in size (only 130 pages). This book is so useful to me as I have a second home with lots of land.
The contents are easy to understand. It is highly practical and comprehensive (soils, propagation, fertilizers, birds, bees and bugs, as well as additional resources). It is a must-have if you are interested in organic gardening and nature.
I particularly enjoyed the chapters about birds, bees and bugs and checked out the author’s website (garden therapy) where she actually offers a Free Natural Skincare Mini Course.
In short, I highly recommend this book!

GARDEN ALCHEMY by Stephanie Rose is a well-written guide for amateur gardeners who want to improve their results using natural recipes and herbal solutions. The book starts with information on understanding your garden soil as well as information on mulches. The chapter that I was most interested in was chapter two. This chapter deals with propagation. Other chapters cover composting, fertilizers, encouraging beneficial insects and deterring pests.

The book includes easy to follow recipes and instructions for a variety of do it yourself solutions. It also includes a resource section and a great index. While I was familiar with much of the information, this would make a great reference for new and inexperienced gardeners and maybe an idea or two for more experienced gardeners. I plan to try one of the recipes for treating damping off (a fungal disease) that can occur with seedlings.

Overall, the book makes a great reference to have on hand. It has some wonderful photographs and easy-to-follow recipes. This could also be used as a guide for a variety of science and gardening craft projects for children.

Thanks to Quarto Publishing Group – Cool Springs Press and Stephanie Rose for a digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.

This is one of my favorite gardening books to date! The pictures and format are beautifully done and have a whimsical quality. The recipes will please gardeners of all skill levels, and the information is presented in an easy-to-follow format. I appreciate how accessible the recipes are-- no expensive equipment or training needed. The charts are helpful and concise. Readers will learn more about their soil and plenty of ways to improve it. I bookmarked most of the garden teas, and can't wait to try the seed bombs and seed tape with my kids. I was especially thankful for the section on how to deal with fungus gnats and the environmentally-conscious approach throughout the entire book. Spring can't come soon enough; I can't wait to get started.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A brilliant book as a gift for any green fingered friends or family. Some great tips including how to make your own mulch, how to test soil and making seed bomb! I really liked the high contrast photos which made all the greenery and flowers pop.

If you don't have a gardening group, or friends or family with a green thumb and need some help in that area, then this book might help. It focuses on natural cures for garden problems without chemical intervention, how to correctly use fertilizer and compost, and how to make recipes for garden related things like bird seed. It does have a kind of secret alchemy charm in the way it presents information, and any complex scientific explanations are broken down in easy to understand terms. I like that it also included things like seed bombs, or reusing plastic bottles as vessels to put cuttings in. A lot of wisdom is included in the book that beginners might not learn without someone to tell them, like making natural rooting hormone with willow, or getting rid of fungus gnats with sand. I highly recommend this to the beginner gardener, or to someone looking for more natural approaches to gardening.

This is a fantastic collection of tips, homemade mixes and other suggestions for gardeners. In particular, it has the best explanation of the environmental impact of using peat moss that I've ever seen (and I'm a retired horticulture professor, so I have seen a lot!) In fact, there is a strong emphasis on repurposing common household items for gardening, adding to the sustainability emphasis. You can find all sorts of things in this book: deer repellant spray, slug traps, homemade rooting hormone, and more! This is a great resource for anyone who gardens!

Garden Alchemy is a tutorial and reference for testing/building/supporting a healthy garden and soil. Due out 18th Feb 2020 from Quarto on their Cool Springs Press imprint, it's 128 pages and will be available in paperback format.

This is a book with an upbeat and whimsical vibe which is also firmly rooted in fact based horticultural practice, The author has an inviting and conversational writing style and I found the reading both engaging and entertaining. The layout is graphically appealing and colorful and the chapters are arranged logically and thematically: recipes and tutorials for soil, propagation, compost, fertilizers and garden teas, and garden interactions with birds bees and bugs. There's a good links list for further reading and a cross referenced index.

Everything about the book is exuberant and appealing. I really enjoyed reading it and I am sure I'll consult it as a reference. The author's tutorial for making, stocking, and using a vermicomposting system is one of the better and more practical ones I've seen.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend to anyone interested in gardening. It's a very helpful reference book!

Garden Alchemy is a useful book of recipes and tricks to jump-start your organic and native flowering plant garden. Offering ways to assess your soil composition, pH, and hydration, along with offering methods for seed germination and dispersal, composting options and other vital methods for gardeners old and new, Rose has created an excellent resource for gardeners to bring out the best in their gardens.

I received a Digital Review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a brilliant book! This is a very engaging and useful book of ideas for improving your gardening, your garden and being more environmentally friendly. The book is divided into five chapters: Soils and Mulches; Propagation; Compost; Fertilisers and Garden Teas; and Birds, Bees and Bugs. It is extremely informative, explaining ways to test your soil, make seed bombs, fertiliser recipes and ways to encourage beneficial wildlife into your garden, but most of all makes it all sound lots of fun. I can imagine this would be very helpful to keen and amateur gardeners alike. Thank you to Stephanie Rose, Net Galley, and the publisher, Cool Springs Press (Quarto Group) for and ARC.

FTC disclosure: I would like to thank Quart Publishing Group- Cool Springs Press for providing me with an advance reader copy via access to the galley for free through the NetGalley program.

I gleaned so much gardening knowledge from this book! I'd highly recommend it for any gardener's library from novice to expert and anyone just looking for a leisurely book about starting and maintaining a garden.

I am more of a beginner to intermediate gardener myself and I'm always wanting to gain more insight into the how to of assessing and amending soil, growing a plant, and maintaining it for the long haul.

This was the perfect and most timely book for me. The information I've read online has been somewhat conflicting to me and this book does an excellent job at dispelling myths as well as reviewing personal and environmental safety concerns by employing homemade alternatives that are actually tried and true.

I loved the enthusiasm brought forth in the book along with the colorful displays, schematics, and step-by-step recipes that are easy to follow and complete, even if you begin with nothing or are in an area where resources are limited.

I will look forward to adding this one to my own gardening library and see myself referring to it time and time again, especially for the fun project ideas!

An excellent and useful reference book. I loved it and I strongly recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I am a convert to no-till, organic vegetable gardening but I have to admit that I started reading Garden Alchemy with some reservation, expecting a collection of myth-based ideas, rather than genuinely useful information.

But my reservations were proved unfounded. I found much that I will apply to my gardening and even though I am unlikely to make some of the projects, for example, seed bombs or my own seed tapes, I found it interesting to read about them. On the other hand I had never heard of willow branches as a rooting hormone tea and would be interested to try it.

The chapters cover soils and mulches, propagation, compost, fertilizers and garden teas, birds bees and bugs

Some (but not all!) of my recommendations from the book include:
- Useful table of natural (organic) mulches with columns on “good for” and "avoid”
- Seed starting pots
- Concise and clear information on compost. Interesting information on compost accelerator plants
- Excellent section on soil amendments like lime, biochoar, blood meal, manure with uses, advantages and disadvantages
- Great table on plants used for making weed tea, and the nutrients they supply.

The book was very well laid out and easy to read. I would recommend it to all gardeners!

This is a great easy-to-read reference guide for home gardeners who want to take garden chemistry into their own hands. Super informative: recipes and instructions on crafting everything from compost tea to specific soil mixes; info about what the various minerals, mulches, and fertilizers do; ideas on how to handle pests; and more.