Great information for vegan gardeners on how to grow veggies and handle issues like pests, fertilizer, etc. without harming animals. Gorgeous photos and tons of information. This is a great resource.

The Super Organic Gardener by Michael Appleby takes the garden beyond organic to vegan. While I do not share the author's beliefs, I was open to reading this book. I can understand his point about not using any animal products or by-products. My concern is that he recommends using pressure treated lumber which I would never want in my garden. He also takes a strong stance against feeding or helping birds. It gets hot - super hot - where I live. The birds appreciate a container of fresh water for drinking. Much of the book is devoted to the nutrition of vegetables rather than growing practices.

I was really hoping that this book would be full of useful information on how to garden organically. I hadn't realised there was such as thing as vegan gardening before, but felt it was still worth a shot, after-all compost is compost. However, I very nearly stopped reading at the forward due to the highly politicised nature of the pro-vegan stance.

Another point against this book was that the kindle edition has very poor formatting, making reading difficult as it splits lines or even words.

I found some sections in the book useful, for example the list of brown and green items in compost so that you get a good mix, and how to make your own fertilisers. Overall though I would say the book contains limited information on organic gardening, a significant portion of the book is made up of various crops with their nutritional values and suggested recipes. So while this may be useful for a vegan making a start in organic gardening there are much better books out there.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Super Organic Gardener by Matthew Appleby is a new gardening tutorial guide aimed at making home gardening a more gentle pursuit by avoiding animal based amendments and products in the organic garden. The author makes a passionate argument for working ethically in tandem with the biome to produce food and not exploiting animals or supporting animal farming.

It's clear from reading recent headlines that food safety is impacted and we're at risk of pathogen infections from improperly sterilized compost during growing. E. coli, salmonella, clostridium, listeria and others are potentially borne on garden produce. The methods outlined in this book won't eliminate all risks of foodborne pathogen transmission, but they do go a ways toward reducing the risks (as long as we produce our own food or source it from reliable providers who also refrain from using animal based soil amendments).

The book progresses from an argument for moving away from animal based fertilizers, through soil building with alternate products. There are sections covering container and raised bed gardening. A large proportion of the page content is devoted to a discussion of soil and how to build it up. There is a nice chapter on plant selection which is pertinent even to growers who don't have philosophical reasons for avoiding manure, blood and bone in their gardens. There is also a nice list of suppliers and sources, slanted toward UK readers.

If I had to choose one word to describe this book/philosophy it would be 'holistic'. We can't expect to knock one part of our biome out of whack without having (possibly profound) effects on other parts. We kill bad bugs, we're also killing good bugs, with the possible follow on effect of starving the species which predate on the bugs, which means the species which need the birds to survive move on (or die).

We desperately need to learn to live in harmony with our environment or we're all going to harvest untold misery.

Gardeners are some of the most practical people I've met. I feared this book would be, frankly, full of 'woo'. It's not. The author makes a compelling argument for both plant based diets and for moving away from the use of animal based products. I will be implementing some practical methods from the book in my own garden.

Four stars. He makes a lot of good points.

I have enjoyed dipping into this self-help book over the winter as I plan my next years' vegetable garden. The guides and tips for creating a bounteous harvest without the use of old style fertilizers or more modern chemical additives were excellent and I'm all fired up to get out there and till - just as soon as it warms up! For years my main additive has been cotton-seed mulch - I live in a highly alkaline area - and that will not change, because I need the acidic component to counteract the gypsum natural to my area, but I will make more compost as instructed here, and rotate my rows more than I have in the past. Thank you!

I received a free electronic copy of this self-help book from Netgalley, Matthew Appleby, and White Owl Publishers in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

The Super Organic Gardener was a very interesting book and I definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in gardening. Last year was the first time I attempted a garden and it didn't go very well. This book actually answered a lot of the questions I had regarding fertilizing and mulching. It also provided additional information that I am sure is going to help me this year. I found the section on composting to be really interesting as I have heard from friends and family that they compost to help their gardens, but really didn't know where to start. I try to keep things as natural as possible so I really enjoyed the fact that this book has an emphasis on natural and organic, as well as being environmentally friendly.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an ARC of this book.

Gah! I was curious about the book when I saw "vegan" on the cover. Vegan? Aren't all vegetables vegan? I had to read it. I haven't used cow manure in decades, just veggie scraps, in my own garden. No particular reason why, just haven't of late. After reading the chapter on animal waste in the garden, I am plenty sure I won;t be putting any into my tiny suburban plot! Yuck! Who knew??? Must read for gardeners.

How better to know exactly what you're eating than by growing it yourself? This book covers what you need to know to garden in a more gentle way. In addition to information n the fruits and vegetables you can grow, the author discusses how to encourage the wildlife in your area. Lots of great tips for gardening without using animal products like bone meal. Perfect for anyone wanting to grow their own food without supporting factory farming.

Thank you to Pen & Sword/White Owl and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this informative book in exchange for my honest review.

Interesting book which is using the concept of vegan for gardening. The book gives great insights about nutrition facts of the various vegetables and fruits you can get from your garden.