Allison Houghton
With our Kickstarter fundraiser up and running for "The Urban Bounty: Growing Your Own Fresh Produce, Anywhere" I thought it would be important to sit down with the author and let everyone know a little more about her.
Q. What inspired you to work in the horticultural field?
A. I found that producing food and producing food well solved so many types of problems that it was an effective way of making a big difference in the world. I always loved plants and bugs growing up, so this has been a fun way to do some good in the world and work with things I love to do. Really rewarding "good tasty food" love to cook
Q. Most rewarding part of the job?
A. Working with people who are very excited about growing and learning about "good food” especially with regard to kids. When kid’s grow and eat their own vegetables, and learn how fun and tasty it is to eat healthy.
Q. What were some of the challenges of writing the book?
A. Finding a way to organize information, and how to convey precise, clear, and easily understood information. As it turned out, the book was written in a similar way that GCG goes about doing its business with residential clients. Basically, it starts off with a consultation, goes onto installation, seeding, growing, maintaining etc. Found out through writing it there’s so much information that was even left out, and there can easily be more added such as a teachers edition..
Q. What makes this book unique to other gardening books?
A. Urban gardening has a lot of challenges that you wouldn’t see other places. For example, urban gardens don’t get many pollinators, and hand pollinating is very important. People typically wouldn’t know this, and be frustrated to see some of their vegetables such as squash not being able to grow doesn’t get many pollinators. Identifying of bug issues is also a super important aspect of this book. Critters tend to be smarter in the city and more aggressively attacking plants. The book addresses unique urban challenges, while also being able to apply to suburban issues as well.
Q. Any other comments you would like to say about the book?
A. "The Urban Bounty: Growing Your Own Fresh Produce, Anywhere", has A little bit of something for everybody. Different people grow for different reasons, some to grow funky vegetables, some to enjoy gardening, and some to be a part of the local food movement. This book truly has a Little bit of everything for people from first time gardeners to experts
