Acknowledgments
Introduction
Propagation and Planting
• A bit of deception helps me get some seeds to sprout that under natural conditions would wisely stay asleep
• Burial in tundra might be ideal for seed storage but I choose more practical storage for my vegetable and flower seeds
• Electricity temporarily suffices when access to sunlight is lacking
• In which the pre-plant toughening up of seedlings is shown to be necessary, but with a gentle touch
• Plants exhibit all sorts of changes, some sought after, some not, as they go through puberty
• A recommendation to plant citrus from seed even if fruit is improbable or not worth eating
• Containing some of the ways in which I use a few or many plant cells to conjure up whole new plants
• I revisit totipotence, using stems again, this time joining them to existing roots
• Neither monstrous nor scary, but often beautiful - yes, real chimeras may be in our midst
• Knowing that a bulb is, essentially, a stem lets me multiply them with the same "pinch" that makes stems branch
Soil
• In which we watch the progress of water traveling through soil, with methods to, at the same time, speed it up and slow it down
• A common sense recommendation that turns out not to make sense
• Contains a description and an opinion of hydroponics
• In which I pay homage to humus, even though it may be a misnomer
• Wherein I check my ground's acidity and then tweak it, as needed
• On my ostensibly occult practice which turns out to be good gardening
• How I manage to tame nitrogen's comings and goings for my plants
• Even without squealing like hungry pigs, my plants can tell me if they're hungry, and for what
Flowering and Fruiting
• Sex is introduced and its sometime importance is emphasized
• In which I make right the products of plants' sexual excesses
• Describing the importance of night for coaxing blossoms, and a gardener's trickery
• In which a small gas molecule has a big effect on flavor
• Contains a question and an answer: is hybrid always high-bred?
Stems and Leaves
• In which my thumbnails, pruning shears, and branch bending coax plants into bushiness, lankiness, or anything betwixt
• Wherein I make designs with the traceries of my fruit plants' branches
• Questioning the advice to put the brakes on tree growth with summer pruning
• On the genesis, reason for, and propagation of weeping trees • A comfortable seat in a sunny spot gets trees and shrubs ready for winter...
• In which it is demonstrated that buds are not boring
• How buds become burls and witches' brooms
• On entreating and helping trees to stay asleep
• About a quick and easy way to hasten spring
• Sunlight is important but sometimes shade offers improvement
Organizations
• Wherein families migrate together around my garden, and for good reason
• How plant families got put in order
• On Latin being a foreign tongue but providing a useful understanding of plant relationships
• Making up a new category name, fortunately, does not ruin flavor or appearance
• Relating a true story about how my plants broke the law
Stress
• On steps, human and otherwise, to avoid the havoc of icy cells during frigid temperatures
• In which hot days bring on a tug of war between hunger and thirst, in plants
• No water, no matter - because I take these steps for drought
• A very local search for congenial weather
• Seedlings' transition to the garden is helped along with tough love, timely and not in excess
• Unwanted plants - that is, weeds - are best understood before they are outwitted
• A sometime threat that straddles the fence between living and nonliving
• In which is clarified a name as a sign, rather than a symptom, of disease
• Fire blight, first noted not far from my home over 200 years ago, has the honor of being the first plant disease to be caused by bacteria
Senses
• In which I elucidate, abet, and alter the color of leaves, vegetables, and flowers
• An Italian who tied together plant growth, art, and other things too innumerable to mention
• Here I make sense of scents, equally so for insects and humans
• The touch here is that felt by the plants
• And finally, the efforts I take to grow the best tasting fruits and vegetables
Epilogue: The Scientific Method
Index
About the Author
About New Society Publishers
