Scout Somerville just released the autumn edition of its magazine, featuring Green City Growers' how-to book, The Urban Bounty: Growing Your Own Fresh Organic Produce, Anywhere, in its selection of best holiday gifts for locavores.
Whether you're looking to grow your own, or want to give a gift of learning to someone else, you can't go wrong with The Urban Bounty.
More than than 20 years of education and experience has lent Green City Growers a plethora of practical knowledge about growing fresh food in the city. Former Horticultural Director and urban farmer, Allison Houghton, has compiled that wealth of information in The Urban Bounty.
The start to finish “how-to” guide for growing food in urban spaces and unconventional places is designed to help readers learn how to create and maintain bountiful gardens that thrive in the city. The book breaks down the gardening process step-by-step, from establishing a viable location with enough light, obtaining soil that is free of contaminants, deciding on the right type of garden, and perhaps the most fun part: creating a crop map, planting the seeds, and harvesting delicious, hyperlocal vegetables.
As Allison explains in the book, growing food in the city is a unique experience that also comes with its own challenges: clever city squirrels, contaminated soil, low light conditions, and pesky insects, just to name a few. Fortunately, growers are not to be discouraged: for example, Green City Growers grew over 700 pounds of collards and tomatoes for B.good in downtown, and with the right techniques, a single, backyard 4x8 garden can produce over 100 pounds of produce in a year.
The Urban Bounty offers all the help any urban grower could need, breaking down Green City Garden's gardening expertise into a format that can engage even the most inexperienced farmers. Written in lay-person’s terms with eye-catching photos and detailed illustrations, the book packs in an abundance of important information, without reading like an academic textbook or dry gardening manual. Thanks to the book's easy-to-read format and engaging illustrations, the information is accessible to even those who lack a "green thumb."
In addition to a ton of gardening tips, the book also includes the staff’s favorite season recipes, from CEO Jessie’s Banzahl's Butternut Squash and Kale Mac’n’Cheese, to Allison’s Chocolate Zucchini Cake. The book also provides a comprehensive list of trusted suppliers of plants and horticultural materials in the New England area, to ensure that that urban farmers of all skill levels can make the smooth transition from planting seeds, harvesting produce, and enjoying delicious hyperlocal meals.
The Urban Bounty: Growing Your Own Fresh Organic Produce, Anywhere is available for purchase on Green City Growers' website, for $36, plus tax and shipping. Click here to get your own copy today!
