Acknowledgments
Introduction
Propagation and Planting
* A bit of deception helps me get some seeds to sprout that under natural conditions would wisely stay asleep
* Burial in tundra might be ideal for seed storage but I choose more practical storage for my vegetable and flower seeds
* Electricity temporarily suffices when access to sunlight is lacking
* In which the pre-plant toughening up of seedlings is shown to be necessary, but with a gentle touch
* Plants exhibit all sorts of changes, some sought after, some not, as they go through puberty
* A recommendation to plant citrus from seed even if fruit is improbable or not worth eating
* Containing some of the ways in which I use a few or many plant cells to conjure up whole new plants
* I revisit totipotence, using stems again, this time joining them to existing roots
* Neither monstrous nor scary, but often beautiful - yes, real chimeras may be in our midst
* Knowing that a bulb is, essentially, a stem lets me multiply them with the same pinch that makes stems branch
Soil
* In which we watch the progress of water traveling through soil, with methods to, at the same time, speed it up and slow it down
* A common sense recommendation that turns out not to make sense
* Contains a description and an opinion of hydroponics
* In which I pay homage to humus, even though it may be a misnomer
* Wherein I check my ground's acidity and then tweak it, as needed
* On my ostensibly occult practice which turns out to be good gardening
* How I manage to tame nitrogen's comings and goings for my plants
* Even without squealing like hungry pigs, my plants can tell me if they're hungry, and for what
Flowering and Fruiting
* Sex is introduced and its sometime importance is emphasized
* In which I make right the products of plants' sexual excesses
* Describing the importance of night for coaxing blossoms, and a gardener's trickery
* In which a small gas molecule has a big effect on flavor
* Contains a question and an answer: is hybrid always high-bred?
Stems and Leaves
* In which my thumbnails, pruning shears, and branch bending coax plants into bushiness, lankiness, or anything betwixt
* Wherein I make designs with the traceries of my fruit plants' branches
* Questioning the advice to put the brakes on tree growth with summer pruning
* On the genesis, reason for, and propagation of weeping trees * A comfortable seat in a sunny spot gets trees and shrubs ready for winter...
* In which it is demonstrated that buds are not boring
* How buds become burls and witches' brooms
* On entreating and helping trees to stay asleep
* About a quick and easy way to hasten spring
* Sunlight is important but sometimes shade offers improvement
Organizations
* Wherein families migrate together around my garden, and for good reason
* How plant families got put in order
* On Latin being a foreign tongue but providing a useful understanding of plant relationships
* Making up a new category name, fortunately, does not ruin flavor or appearance
* Relating a true story about how my plants broke the law
Stress
* On steps, human and otherwise, to avoid the havoc of icy cells during frigid temperatures
* In which hot days bring on a tug of war between hunger and thirst, in plants
* No water, no matter - because I take these steps for drought
* A very local search for congenial weather
* Seedlings' transition to the garden is helped along with tough love, timely and not in excess
* Unwanted plants - that is, weeds - are best understood before they are outwitted
* A sometime threat that straddles the fence between living and nonliving
* In which is clarified a name as a sign, rather than a symptom, of disease
* Fire blight, first noted not far from my home over 200 years ago, has the honor of being the first plant disease to be caused by bacteria
Senses
* In which I elucidate, abet, and alter the color of leaves, vegetables, and flowers
* An Italian who tied together plant growth, art, and other things too innumerable to mention
* Here I make sense of scents, equally so for insects and humans
* The touch here is that felt by the plants
* And finally, the efforts I take to grow the best tasting fruits and vegetables
Epilogue: The Scientific Method
Index
About the Author
About New Society Publishers
