Book Review: Organic Gardening for Everyone

Organic Gardening for Everyone by CaliKim (Cool Springs Press, 2020, 160 pp., $22.99)

I love it when a gardening book comes along with a mission of getting everyone to grow their own food and to do so without the use of insecticides or synthetic fertilizers. So I was intrigued when I learned about the brand-new release of Organic Gardening for Everyone by CaliKim.

If you’re puzzled by the author’s name, you’re not alone because I was, too. As it turns out, she and her husband have produced a lot of videos for their YouTube channel and website (calikimgardenandhome.com), and CaliKim29 is her handle.

The author has a friendly, can-do writing style. She details how she began gardening as a young, stay-at-home mom and wants readers to know that gardening isn’t complicated.

As she writes, “You might feel overwhelmed and think growing vegetables is too hard, takes too much time and is too pricey. Here’s what I’d like to say to you: Every time you put fresh, organic vegetables on the table, it is worth the effort. The flavor is out of this world and you know exactly what they are grown with. You’ll feel a one-of-a-kind satisfaction.”

CaliKim’s motto is “Start simple and expand later.” This is so important because sometimes a new gardener’s enthusiasm overtakes the practicality of caring for that garden. What happens? They get discouraged and give up.

Here’s a brief rundown of what she covers in this book:

• Cool vs. warm-season crops and tips for growing them.
• Starting seeds indoors, which is more economical than purchasing plants, plus one has access to more varieties than garden centers offer. CaliKim gives step-by-step instructions, explains different types of grow lights and includes DIY projects for making your own grow light set-up.
• How to transplant seedlings and harden them off.
• Choosing a garden location and how to prepare it. The author highlights different types of gardens — such as in-ground, raised beds, and containers – and discusses the pros and cons of each.
• Watering: the best time of day, how much to water, using mulch, drip irrigation and watering timers.
• The specifics of how and when to plant some of the most commonly-grown vegetables (i.e., tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and lettuce) into the garden.
• Dealing with challenges: this includes insect problems, plant diseases and weather issues. The author includes organic tips for many challenges, such as monitoring the garden frequently, keeping the soil and plants healthy, using barriers for insect control, and keeping up with the weeding.
• Harvesting your vegetables: when and how to pick some of the commonly-growing veggies, methods for storing them, and her favorite cultivars of those crops.
• In the final chapter, CaliKim underscores the importance of sharing what you’ve learned in your garden with others along with sharing excess produce.

The book is rounded out with a guide to growing common warm and cool-season crops (how to start them, when, the days to germination and average days to maturity), a glossary of basic gardening terms and resources relating to her recommendations in the chapters. Throughout the book, she refers readers to her videos on related topics, which provide demonstrations on the topics she has written about.

Organic Gardening for Everyone is an easy-to-understand, basic vegetable gardening book that does a great job of reassuring new gardeners that yes, they can grow their own healthy produce!