The Good Garden: How to Nurture Pollinators, Soil, Native Wildlife, and Healthy Food All in Your Own Backyard

McLaughlin, a gardener and author, outlines techniques that can be used to grow a garden that nurtures pollinators, soil, native wildlife, and healthy food through sustainable practices. She explains choosing and combining sustainable gardening styles like permaculture gardening, biodynamic gardening, and French intensive gardening; understanding the ecosystem, including growing zones and frost dates, plant principles, and watering; incorporating pollinators and wildlife by eliminating pesticides and herbicides; controlling weeds naturally; ecological approaches to garden pests; nourishing healthy soil; cultivating healthy food; incorporating domestic animals like chickens, rabbits, and bees; and building community through the garden. Annotation ©2022 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
What makes a garden good? For Chris McLaughlin, it’s about growing the healthiest, most scrumptious fruits and veggies possible, but it’s also about giving back. How can your little patch of Earth become a sanctuary for threatened wildlife, sequester carbon, and nurture native plants? McLaughlin gives you all the tricks and tips you need to grow the sustainable garden of your dreams. Drawing from established traditions, such as permaculture and French intensive gardening, and McLaughlin’s hard-earned experience, The Good Garden is a joyful guide for newbies and experienced gardeners alike. It will teach you the fundamentals, including how to choose the right plant varieties for your microclimate, and proven methods to fight pests without chemicals. You will also discover the nuances of developing a green thumb, from picking species to attract specific types of pollinators to composting techniques based on time available. Lovely four-color photography will show you good gardening in action. Most importantly, The Good Garden will help you foster a sense of meaning in your garden. Maybe the goal is to reduce food miles and plastic waste by growing delicious berries. Maybe it’s to meet neighbors who also care about the planet through a seed-swap.  Maybe it’s a quiet moment patting the bunny whose manure will replace toxic fertilizers in the soil. A good garden offers endless possibilities and The Good Garden offers a wealth of knowledge and inspiration.  
What makes a garden good? For Chris McLaughlin, it’s about growing healthy, scrumptious fruits and veggies, but it’s also about giving back. How can your little patch of Earth become a sanctuary for threatened wildlife, sequester carbon, and nurture native plants? In this joyful guide, McLaughlin gives you all the tricks and tips you need to grow the sustainable garden of your dreams. Gardeners will learn the fundamentals, including how to choose the right plant varieties for their microclimate, and proven methods to fight pests without chemicals. You’ll also discover the nuances of developing a green thumb, from picking species to attract specific types of pollinators to composting techniques based on time available. A good garden offers endless possibilities and The Good Garden offers a wealth of knowledge and inspiration.