Raised Bed Gardening System: A book on soil, irrigation, designs, ideas and for growing vegetables

I had this as a 2 start review. Then, I followed one of the author's provided links from Chapter 10, and realized that she put into her own words text taken from the other source's website. Now, I'm giving it 1 Star - pretty sure taking someone's else's written work and passing it off as one's own, without properly citing it, is illegal in most places. It takes a lot for me to write a negative review.I am a novice gardener, interested in raised bed gardening, and this book was so frustratingly a waste of money. Actually, I tore 3 pages out of it and threw the rest of it away.Chapter 1: What is Raised Bed gardening? I could find this online in 2 seconds by doing a search. Chapter 2: Benefits of raised gardening. Again, do an online search for free. Chapter 3: Different bed frame ideas. Look online for free. Chapter 4: The best raised bed for your purposes? Asks the reader a lot of one line questions about what they are looking for in a raised bed. Again, this is all answerable by doing a free online search. Chapter 5: Positioning your garden beds. I ripped this chapter out and will keep it for my files. It talks about planting like plants together. Chapter 6: Site Preparation. Again, do a free online search. This chapter talks basically about sunlight and watering. Chapter 7: Raised bed construction. Obvious with a free online search. Chapter 8: Soil Mix. Talks about Compost, and proper garden soil composition. Do a free online search. Chapter 9: Growing your Vegetables. Basics of growing. Chapter 10: Vegetable Rotation. I ripped this out too. Talks about moving crops each season so the soil remains healthy. Chapter 11: Planting. Is 2 paragraphs in length. Chapter 12: Flower Beds. Is 3 paragraphs in length. Chapter 13: Pest Control. Is 5 short paragraphs with links to other resources pasted in.Overall this book, is more like an informational booklet totaling 40 pages, which only about 32 pages is devoted to gardening. It isn't worth the time or the money to buy. Again, I am a novice gardener who will be started her first veggie garden this coming summer (2015) and this book is just too basic for even a beginner. All this info I can find online for free.The 3 pages I did tear out, are not worth the $10 I paid for this book.

I can't garden or grow anything to save my life! Even the easiest to grow plants seem to not do very well for me.I have tried everything without any luck but I thing with the information in this book, I am going to be successful at it this summer. After reading about how to container garden and learning some of the "tricks of the trade", I have seen many of the mistakes I have been making. This book is going to change the way I look at gardening and give me a lot more enjoyment out of it. The author shows us how to build instead of buy, the containers we need and even goes so far as to teaching us some useful beginner tips that will come in handy.Even though I am a beginner, I think this book can help anyone who is looking into container gardening. There is a lot of information that will get the new gardener started and the veteran gardener producing more vegetables. I used to dread gardening season but this year I am looking forward to it and already planning some recipes for my harvest. I give this book 5 stars and then some! It is one of the best gardening resources I have ever seen!

Great for beginners along with design ideas for raised beds. This type of gardening is excellent for limited space and/or mobility (trouble stooping and bending) and make weeding a breeze.

Gives great information, detailed on all aspects including placement of beds, watering, fertilizing and so much more, I would recommend this book

Very little information. Actually seems a bit like a school report.

Very instructive, informative and useful !!!

I come from a long line of successful gardeners and I have been very successful myself. With our recent move, I lost a lot of my gardening space and had to turn to raised bed, or container, gardening. It was a challenge, even for a pro like myself, so I had to find some helpful advice that could get me started with the irrigation and design of my new garden. I found this book on Amazon, read the glowing reviews and decided to buy it. It has been a really useful reference tool and I have used it more than I originally thought I would. It has taught me some new things I didn't know and refreshed some of the old things I knew but have let go of.The two authors really know what they are talking about and their writing is very concise and informative. They offer step-by-step instructions that are easy to understand and will work in all gardens in all climates. You can't help but be successful with this book; your raised bed garden will grow more healthy and more lush and even beat out some of the old gardening techniques you have learned in your life.

A little disappointed in the actual size and content of this book bought as a xmas present for my daughters grandma. Grandma still showed great enthusiasm and delight on receiving the book but we would not recommend as a present to someone

I love the practical advice that you can follow and the excellent ideas. Well worth to get this book.

Very plain and simple text and illustrations regards raised bed gardening.