The Climate Change-Resilient Vegetable Garden

Whether it’s water-usage restrictions, extended heat waves, disastrous flooding, “super weeds,” or prolonged pest lifecycles, the coming years will be filled with daunting challenges for food growers around the world. What’s a gardener to do? Author Kim Stoddart outlines a clear path toward building resilience in your vegetable plants, your soil, and yourself. With actionable tasks that reduce resource use, stabilize the garden’s ecosystem, and offer regenerative solutions to the most challenging issues faced by gardeners, Kim comes to the rescue with advice to help you weather these storms with ease. 

Learn to:
 

• Foster adaptation by selectively breeding your favorite veggie varieties for local growing conditions
• Nurture biologically active soils that are better able to support your plants 
• Create bioswales, berms, and rain gardens to improve your garden’s flood tolerance 
• Plant windbreaks, erect cold frames, and make mini hoop tunnels to protect plants from wind, snow, and surprise frosts 
• Enhance biodiversity in your garden to increase pest predation and keep “bad” insects in check
• Discover intensive planting techniques to improve yields while protecting your soil and reducing water usage
• Select the most adaptable fruit and vegetable crops to grow and tend them in a climate change-savvy way
• Recycle rainwater, repurpose household items, and live lightly on the land for a more resourceful gardening life

Even long-time vegetable gardeners will face unexpected challenges in the years to come. Take the time to build resilience in yourself and your garden by shifting your thinking today, and you’ll be prepared for the unpredictable future ahead.