Vox Popoli: The Green Thumb of Evil

You didn't see this one coming. WE certainly didn't see it coming. Apparently Castalia House isn't merely disrupting the entire book distribution system, we're throwing out pretty much all the rules for how a reasonable publishing house is supposed to operate. Which is the only rational way to explain our latest book, COMPOST EVERYTHING: The Good Guide to Extreme Composting by David the Good.

You know I will not lie to you. I do not know a single damn thing about gardening, composting, or pretty much any activity that involves getting my hands dirty with anything other than human blood or gunpowder. Nor do I have any interest in growing fruit, vegetables, or anything beyond green grass in the yard. That being said, COMPOST EVERYTHING is actually a surprisingly entertaining read, mostly due to the fact that the author, David the Good, is quite clearly insane. I mean, this man not only knows more about gardening than I do about games, he experiments with his garden in ways that would cause any reasonable wife to not only leave, but file a restraining order and move to the barren land of Mordor where nothing green ever grows.

After reading the book, one thing was very clear: this man's wife deserves a medal and an on-call therapist for life. The only reason I gave it the subtitle "The Good Guide to Extreme Composting" was because "The Good Guide to Certifiably Insane and Quite Possibly Prohibited in All 50 States Composting" didn't fit. Extreme doesn't even begin to describe it.

That being said, the man definitely knows his business, and any book that can actually hold my attention about freaking gardening is one that is well worth publishing. I have absolutely no idea if there is even a single reader here who is interested in growing orange trees in asphalt parking lots in the Arctic, but I am convinced that if you follow the directions given in this book, you can probably do it.

COMPOST EVERYTHING: The Good Guide to Extreme Composting by David the Good is 113 pages and is available for $2.99 on Amazon.

Labels: books, Castalia House

221 Comments:

Guitar Man May 12, 2015 12:03 PM: Viidad?
Michael Maier May 12, 2015 12:03 PM: Well that's the quickest I've EVER bought anything on the net...

1-Click on Amazong FTW.
CarpeOro May 12, 2015 12:04 PM: With the possible near future collapse of the economic system, this may be an important addition to the survival library.
subject by design May 12, 2015 12:06 PM: After a description like that, how could I NOT buy it?
Guitar Man May 12, 2015 12:07 PM: BTW, getting some 404 errors on some his pages from his FloridaFoodForests site. If you see this, David.
Anonymous May 12, 2015 12:08 PM: At first I thought this was a prank. I'm still not sure.
Tom May 12, 2015 12:15 PM: I like to read my gardening wife bedtime stories. I think this one will fit just perfectly.

Besides, having read other things Viidad has written, I have a feeling Vox is underselling it.
somercet May 12, 2015 12:15 PM: F--k you Vox, that Amazon teaser was a cliff hanger... /cries tears of pure social justice
VD May 12, 2015 12:16 PM: At first I thought this was a prank. I'm still not sure.

Neither am I, and I'm the editor. But apparently human bodies really are excellent sources of nitrogen.
Unknown May 12, 2015 12:17 PM: My interest in gardening could be classified as "only if I'm going to starve to death without knowing about it", but I bought the book the minute I heard it was available. David is just that entertaining.
Salt May 12, 2015 12:19 PM: Gardening on a boat. Well, I have grown peppers and some basil. Downloaded.
Viidad May 12, 2015 12:22 PM: "Viidad?"

;)
Huckleberry -- est. 1977 May 12, 2015 12:22 PM: Tactical Gardening, for the win.
Daniel May 12, 2015 12:22 PM: Was wondering where Redshirts went when they die. Haven't read Composting Everything, but I hereby nominate it for a 2016 Hugo Award.
Viidad May 12, 2015 12:23 PM: @Guitar Man

Thank you.
Unknown May 12, 2015 12:23 PM: Gardening on a boat

Teak is hard to compost.
Huckleberry -- est. 1977 May 12, 2015 12:24 PM: By the way, this ridiculous picture-driven Captcha system to prove I'm not a robot is utterly insane, because only half of the window displays with no way to scroll down.
I've had to keep refreshing for 15 minutes just to get the Captcha with the numbers to show up.
I take back every horrible thing I ever said about CoComment.
BigGaySteve May 12, 2015 12:25 PM: At the very least you should plant some fruit/nut trees if you have a yard in case the Jewish Bolsheviks decide to repeat the Holodomor.
Underwater Operative May 12, 2015 12:26 PM: Viidad, when I catch Blue Fish in the Gulf, I throw them back, unless I'm going to make a dip. Will your book show me a way to use them, instead of throwing them back?
Daniel May 12, 2015 12:26 PM: "Squeeze every ounce of fertility from your compost..." Code for number 8 and 9 on the way? We need more minions.
Nate May 12, 2015 12:26 PM: This is damn glorious.
Aeoli Pera May 12, 2015 12:26 PM: No hang on, I have an SF angle: Menelaus Montrose and Captain Planet engage in multi-epochal terraforming rap battle against the Iron Ghost of Ximen Del Azarchel and his army of petty litterbugs.

"He's divined the multidimensional mathechematical antiderivatives required to compost Coke cans? Curses, foiled again!"
BGS May 12, 2015 12:27 PM: Vox maybe you should email people what button to push to get the bottom of the picture captcha.
Stingray May 12, 2015 12:28 PM: This is simply awesome.
Nate May 12, 2015 12:29 PM: ". But apparently human bodies really are excellent sources of nitrogen."

Viidad... did you get a soil sample from a certain facility in knoxville, TN?
Viidad May 12, 2015 12:31 PM: Underwater Operative: "Will your book show me a way to use them, instead of throwing them back?"

Yes - multiple ways. Among them is a traditional Native American method (in honor of our host) that works well, or a somewhat more complicated but horribly entertaining method of creating liquid fish fertilizer.
WaterBoy May 12, 2015 12:32 PM: Huckleberry: " because only half of the window displays with no way to scroll down."

Depending on the browser, you can use the Tab key to advance the window down to the bottom where the verify button is. This will get most of the pictures to display, and you can shift-Tab back up to see the sample picture if you need to.
Nate May 12, 2015 12:32 PM: or you could just sign in with gmail. dear God how hard is it to make a gmail account?
Viidad May 12, 2015 12:33 PM: @ Aeoli Pera

I'm using a Witch method to counter ecological divarication.
Huckleberry -- est. 1977 May 12, 2015 12:33 PM: Vox maybe you should email people what button to push to get the bottom of the picture captcha.

Or just eliminate the wretched Devil's Trap entirely.
Page Down and the Space Bar did nothing.
Stephen Ward May 12, 2015 12:34 PM: Castilia has got to stop releasing book w/ "don't have to think about it" pricing. How am I supposed to prioritize my reading?
Nate May 12, 2015 12:34 PM: "somewhat more complicated but horribly entertaining method of creating liquid fish fertilizer."

bet that smells lovely
Tank May 12, 2015 12:34 PM: Can the book be as entertaining as this Blog Post?
Huckleberry -- est. 1977 May 12, 2015 12:34 PM: or you could just sign in with gmail. dear God how hard is it to make a gmail account?

Oh, sure, it's all fun and games until they come to put you in the camps, based on a Google Docs spreadsheet.
Nate May 12, 2015 12:35 PM: "Oh, sure, it's all fun and games until they come to put you in the camps, based on a Google Docs spreadsheet."

you realize you don't have to actually use the gmail account right?
David The Good May 12, 2015 12:36 PM: @Vox

Your post is probably the best promotional blurb I've ever read. My wife is going to crack up when she sees it.
Huckleberry -- est. 1977 May 12, 2015 12:37 PM: Depending on the browser, you can use the Tab key to advance the window down to the bottom where the verify button is. This will get most of the pictures to display, and you can shift-Tab back up to see the sample picture if you need to.

Or we can stop pretending this is MI6-meets-Reading Rainbow and stop having people pick out three kinds of sushi.
Or not.
David The Good May 12, 2015 12:37 PM: BTW, I'm having a heck of a time with the captcha/image thing today as well. Sometimes it will let me through, sometimes not. I'm just going to stick with this account for now. It's going to get me in trouble at some point, I'm sure, but whatever. I'm already being published by The Most Evil Publishing House Ever.
RedJack #22 May 12, 2015 12:38 PM: Ok, I am buying it.

We are cheap, and I love homemade red sauce. This should be a good read.
Huckleberry -- est. 1977 May 12, 2015 12:40 PM: you realize you don't have to actually use the gmail account right?

I realize that.
Now.
WaterBoy May 12, 2015 12:41 PM: "1-Click on Amazon FTW"

Seconded. And downloaded in seconds.

Now if it only turns out to be half as entertaining as his old FC stuff, it will be money well spent. Any dancing bees in it?
Unknown May 12, 2015 12:45 PM: "somewhat more complicated but horribly entertaining method of creating liquid fish fertilizer."

bet that smells lovely

The Vietnamese call it "nuoc mam"... and they put it on everything...
hausfrau May 12, 2015 12:46 PM: ". But apparently human bodies really are excellent sources of nitrogen."

trespassers beware.
Alexander May 12, 2015 12:46 PM: Bought, a fifth of the way into it, enjoying. Probably get a copy for my dad too.
WaterBoy May 12, 2015 12:47 PM: Huckleberry: "Or we can stop pretending this is MI6-meets-Reading Rainbow and stop having people pick out three kinds of sushi."

Everything has a price, and this is a small one to pay to minimize bots. IMO.

Using a gmail account provides a means to track every comment posted with it across the blogosphere. Just sayin'.
LysanderSpooner May 12, 2015 12:48 PM: Buy, Buy, Buy !!!
The investment will surely grow !!!

Been gardening since age 8, my family was nothing but attorneys and edumacators, never got their hands dirty a day in their lives. I am a surgeon now, get my hands bloody dirty everyday. My Italian farm girl wife and I grow everything we can. Asparagus is in season now, and there is nothing to compare to fresh, home grown. Home grown Tomatoes too, store bought are just not the same quality.....there is an old saying where I come from: 'There are only two things in the world that money can't buy, True Love and Home Grown Tomatoes".

Thanks for the recommendation Vox, enjoy your blog daily, not much time to leave alot of posts, but enjoy it and the bantering ilk too.
sysadmn May 12, 2015 12:50 PM: And now we know what to do with the bodies...
David The Good May 12, 2015 12:52 PM: @ Waterboy: "Any dancing bees in it?"

Not this time. Though there is a part where a worm I accidentally killed haunts my soul.
ODG May 12, 2015 12:57 PM: "somewhat more complicated but horribly entertaining method of creating liquid fish fertilizer."

Bass-o-matic!!

And I'm with Stephen Ward: I just signed up for the next Voxiversity and now this one comes out!
WaterBoy May 12, 2015 1:02 PM: They called him Wormkiller, Destroyer of Soil Tenders, Bane of Earthworms and Nightstalker of Nightcrawlers.

You annelidophobe.
Emperor of Icecream May 12, 2015 1:02 PM: That was an irresistible sales pitch. bought.
David The Good May 12, 2015 1:05 PM: "Soil Tenders" sounds like something you'd eat at McDonald's.
Lulabelle (68) May 12, 2015 1:07 PM: " Huckleberry -- est. 1977 May 12, 2015 12:24 PM

By the way, this ridiculous picture-driven Captcha system to prove I'm not a robot is utterly insane, because only half of the window displays with no way to scroll down.
I've had to keep refreshing for 15 minutes just to get the Captcha with the numbers to show up.
I take back every horrible thing I ever said about CoComment."

This. A thousand times this. Was CoComment the one with a numbering system? Cause numbered comments is on my wish list.
JaimeInTexas May 12, 2015 1:07 PM: Just purchased the book. I do not think my wife will be happy once I start the composting. Ha ha ha.
Anonymous May 12, 2015 1:09 PM: Fourth Generation Gardening?
JaimeInTexas May 12, 2015 1:09 PM: VD now needs to get himself a pitchfork ... for gardening ... what did you think I was talking about?
rycamor May 12, 2015 1:11 PM: Stilicho #0066 May 12, 2015 12:45 PM

"somewhat more complicated but horribly entertaining method of creating liquid fish fertilizer."

bet that smells lovely

The Vietnamese call it "nuoc mam"... and they put it on everything...

Markku could probably give us some pointers on that too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqBbcC-a3bw
CarpeOro May 12, 2015 1:13 PM: ""somewhat more complicated but horribly entertaining method of creating liquid fish fertilizer."

bet that smells lovely

The Vietnamese call it "nuoc mam"... and they put it on everything..."

Beat me to it Stilcho. Smells horrible but has a decent flavor.
CarpeOro May 12, 2015 1:14 PM: "Soil Tenders" sounds like something you'd eat at McDonald's."

If you eat at McDonalds, you have. They just have a different name for it.
Harsh May 12, 2015 1:15 PM: dear God how hard is it to make a gmail account?

Easy enough for those of you with the cranial capacity and opposable digits.
rycamor May 12, 2015 1:15 PM: JaimeInTexas May 12, 2015 1:07 PM

Just purchased the book. I do not think my wife will be happy once I start the composting. Ha ha ha.

I've done a lot of the crazy stuff David recommends. Most of it really doesn't smell bad if you cover your compost right. Haven't tried the fish emulsion thing yet, though. But I have put whole chicken carcasses in the middle of the compost, and as long as there was a foot of compost and leave on top, didn't smell at all. And the carcasses were gone in a couple weeks, except for maybe the thigh bones.
Milo May 12, 2015 1:18 PM: This is exactly the kind of book I want to showcase on my coffee table. Any word on when we might be able to purchase it Dead Tree Style?
David The Good May 12, 2015 1:20 PM: "The Vietnamese call it "nuoc mam"... and they put it on everything..."

Beat me to it Stilcho. Smells horrible but has a decent flavor."

I recommend "Squid Brand." Love that stuff.
David The Good May 12, 2015 1:22 PM: @Milo

Because of the prepper/survivalist application of a book like this, VD and I do plan to release physical copies as well; however, there are some other things in the CH queue ahead of it.
Emperor of Icecream May 12, 2015 1:28 PM: Somewhither, is is yet? My latest Wright, has it come?
Aquila Aquilonis May 12, 2015 1:30 PM: I bought the book. Thank you Viidad.
Blume May 12, 2015 1:30 PM: First we get told about a master class on strategy and then we are told about a book on how to fertilize your crops with the bodies of your enemies. I guess vox wants to multi class his minions.
RedJack #22 May 12, 2015 1:35 PM: rycamor,

I do that with a lot of the bones and such of chickens. I do not compost meat because of the local regulations, but I did on the farm.

Makes the tomatoes grow!
rycamor May 12, 2015 1:35 PM: Believe me, guys. Viidad is just getting warmed up on the extreme gardening front. Better Homes and Gardens this is not. I think by the time he is done, there will be a place for his ideas in blue sci-fi.
jay c May 12, 2015 1:36 PM: I've been an on-and-off subscriber to Backwoods Home Magazine for almost 20 years. The only time I haven't had a garden and an accompanying compost pile was when I lived in the barracks in the AF or in an apartment. I even gardened on someone else's land for a couple years. I've never dared to put animal products (except manure, egg shells, and a little butter) into my compost pile. I'm curious how you'd keep the stink in and the animals out.

I've thought about old books and newspapers too, but I don't know what goes into the glue and inks, and I don't trust the printers to know or tell the truth either. I don't want excess mercury and lead in my garden soil.

Despite my skepticism, I just bought the book.
rycamor May 12, 2015 1:40 PM: @jay c,

Believe it or not, as long as I kept the pile high enough, and covered over with leaves and grass, I had zero trouble with scavengers looking for carcasses. And I'm out in the open, with farms and woods in every direction.
jaericho May 12, 2015 1:49 PM: This is fantastic. This is my first year with a new yard and I want to learn about all this stuff. I'm envious of people with a talent for gardening.

1-Click'd.
John Williams May 12, 2015 1:49 PM: This is the same madman who'll go out in the dark of night and ninja splice fruit bearing branches on the trees of people down the road. Not only is he crazy, he's playing the long game.

There is a reason the villain on Ultraman was "the Botanist"
Wojciech Majda May 12, 2015 1:49 PM: An even more sustainable and useful way to use nitrogen and protein from bodies of your enemies. And minions can grow stronger with every SJW they defeat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xUynRdzzsM
MycroftJones May 12, 2015 1:50 PM: Will Castalia House offer print versions of its titles sometime soon? I was just about to go on a Castalia buying binge this morning, but I'd rather hold a book in my hands than stare at a screen.
VD May 12, 2015 1:51 PM: Will Castalia House offer print versions of its titles sometime soon?

Some, but it's going to be a while for most of them. The near term schedule is:

A HISTORY OF STRATEGY
THERE WILL BE WAR VOLS I and II
COMPOST EVERYTHING

If it's not on that list, get the ebook.
John Williams May 12, 2015 1:52 PM: First we get told about a master class on strategy and then we are told about a book on how to fertilize your crops with the bodies of your enemies.
Cut out the middleman, the Ilk BBQ!
mina smith May 12, 2015 1:53 PM: I am a gardening freak plus we have a hen house so we put very very little in the garbage. Most everything ends up in the compost pile or in the gullets of the hens.
mina smith May 12, 2015 1:55 PM: ... thoughtfully decided to add ... however we never considered putting any of the horses who died here on the compost pile. so we're probably not as extreme as the folks who wrote the book. however we do put dead raccoons and other varmints on it.
Aquila Aquilonis May 12, 2015 1:55 PM: I bought the book. Thank you Viidad.
Daniel May 12, 2015 1:57 PM: I bet you CH releases the print version in laser cut titanium from a press drawing off nuclear power...just so it won't compost.
Milo May 12, 2015 1:57 PM: @David the Good & VD

Thanks for the info re: print versions. For what it's worth, I've already added my 2.99 plus tax to the Amazon/CH coffers. As Larry C. says "Write and GET PAID."
hank.jim May 12, 2015 1:59 PM: I have a nice yard. I landscape my own yard, but I never composted for these reasons. (1) Attracts ants and bugs. (2) Smelly. (3) Too long of wait. I need dirt now. (4) Buying compost at Home Depot is cheaper and easier. (5) Trash company takes away pre-sorted greenery weekly so I'm already helping the environment. (6) My yard is filled to the brim with plants. No space for a composting stack. (7) My bi-weekly lawn mower company takes away grass clippings. You need that for composting. (8) Even with my medium sized yard, I can't possibly compost all that stuff quickly enough.
MycroftJones May 12, 2015 2:12 PM: VD, thank you. I was hoping to by the Lind and Creveld books in print, as well as todays release. So your choice of books to print is most welcome.

David the Good: I enjoyed the Humanure Handbook years ago. Does your book cover material that Joseph Jenkins didn't? He raised the point that composting encourages bacteria species that can literally clean up nuclear pollution. Does your book go into that? I've been thinking there is an opportunity there for someone with $100k in capitalization.
MycroftJones May 12, 2015 2:15 PM: rycamor: I've never read the material you refer to, but Joseph Jenkins "Humanure Handbook" was already treading into blue sci-fi territory, except more like science fact: bacteria that transmute radioactive materials into harmless ones; bacteria that lock up toxic metals and "cleanse" the soil making it safe for growing good food, etc.
MycroftJones May 12, 2015 2:19 PM: Speaking of sci-fi, I've been getting contracts to grow "living fences". Not hedges, but actual chain link fence made out of growing living hardwood trees that are fused together. Easier than you'd think, if you have the patience to wait 3 years. Contracted a plastics factory to make special raised beds for the project. Lot of fun. Photos soon if anyone is interested. Not sci-fi exactly, but, Lothlorien and the Ewok village aren't too far from what can realistically and practically be done. Imagine an oak fence that lasts 1000 years. Not fantasy. Reality in my backyard.
Monsignor Scott Rassbach May 12, 2015 2:25 PM: This is very cool. We just bought property in the PNW, and I'm enthused by the idea of a 'fruit circle'. I've always hated compost piles with the turning and etc, too much work. The fruit circle sounds awesome: Dig a pit, drop in organic matter, plant fruit trees around it.
MendoScot May 12, 2015 2:29 PM: I am disappoint. A whole $2.99 and nothing on composting cats.
Redd May 12, 2015 2:30 PM: My wife and I live on an ancient sand dune. On said sand dune she grows asparagus, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, lemons, "all spices and herbs," broccoli, and plenty else. I must buy this book for my wife.
ZT May 12, 2015 2:30 PM: 1 and Done but I would actually like a hard bound copy. When it comes to food and anything that could be remotely useful after a technological fall I tend to like hard copy
ODG May 12, 2015 2:30 PM: The information on the persistent herbicides in manure was worth the $3.
Porky May 12, 2015 2:35 PM: Just purchased. Well done, David!

Your passion for poop is palpable.
MycroftJones May 12, 2015 2:41 PM: If you enjoy David's book, you may also enjoy "Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times" by Steve Solomon.
jack May 12, 2015 2:44 PM: I will get this one. I've enjoyed David's comments over time and have viewed one of the you tubes he did. Well worth the money; even before I read it!

Since Castalia is publishing this it spurs me to go ahead and press what may be the best herbalist around. Certainly in these parts. His name is Darryl Patton and he understudied the legendary Tommy Bass. Mr. Bass was a well know herbalist in the Appalachian region of the South and his formulations are as legendary as himself.
Darryl's primary book, Mountain Medicine, is out of print and he holds all the rights.

I will check with Darryl and see if this idea has come of age. I have mentioned it to him before. He lives near Gadsden, AL. I keep a number of his herbal formulations on hand, including the almost miraculous Tommy's Salve.

Of course, it remains to be seen if Vox/Castalia would be interested.
Peter Pan May 12, 2015 2:45 PM: I'll buy the hard copy once it comes out.
jack May 12, 2015 2:48 PM: Oh, yes. I think the Amason page for Mountain Medicine is still up with hugely large prices being asked for the book. You can get an idea from that.
BGS May 12, 2015 2:51 PM: MycroftJones to grow "living fences". Not hedges, but actual chain link fence made out of growing living hardwood trees that are fused together

Is that some form of espalier pruning?
rubberducky May 12, 2015 2:55 PM: I like where Castalia House is going here. If it's good, get it out there. The topic or genre is really secondary, and whatever it is if it's fresh and informative, all the better. What better way can there be to grow a brand, other than to just put good reads out there. I'm going to go snag this title tonight.
JRL May 12, 2015 3:07 PM: Man are the stars aligning or what. First the mad brainstorming club...then voxiversity...now Castalia is publishing a gardening book...I am crying tears of joy

I will buy this.
VD May 12, 2015 3:08 PM: Of course, it remains to be seen if Vox/Castalia would be interested.

Oh, why not. In for a penny....
Dwight House May 12, 2015 3:11 PM: This is a nice change of pace for your posts, Vox. Reporting on bad news or defending one's self from external attack is necessary, but it's nice to get a reprieve from such serious topics from time to time. Thank you.
An Israeli May 12, 2015 3:14 PM: Is it possible to upload this and other Castalia House books to Scribd.com?

Thanks.
damaged justice May 12, 2015 3:19 PM: Scribd? Only an evil, ignorant person would mention that foul name. Locking things up and pretending to liberate them. They need to get the hell off the web.
David The Good May 12, 2015 3:27 PM: @mina smith

One of my chapters covers composting with chickens. Definitely a good way to keep fertility from being lost. Horses are compostable though I'm not sure I'd waste all that good meat by feeding it to the soil first.
pdwalker May 12, 2015 3:28 PM: That's one hell of a pitch. I'm tempted to buy even though I live in an apartment.
David The Good May 12, 2015 3:29 PM: Mycroft Jones: "David the Good: I enjoyed the Humanure Handbook years ago. Does your book cover material that Joseph Jenkins didn't? He raised the point that composting encourages bacteria species that can literally clean up nuclear pollution. Does your book go into that? I've been thinking there is an opportunity there for someone with $100k in capitalization."

Jenkins' material was one of my most valuable sources. Though on the scientific side I'm not worthy to tie his shoelace, I do cover methods of dealing with sewage that are simpler than his and still get the good stuff to the plants safely.
David The Good May 12, 2015 3:32 PM: hank.jim: "I have a nice yard. I landscape my own yard, but I never composted for these reasons. (1) Attracts ants and bugs. (2) Smelly. (3) Too long of wait. I need dirt now. (4) Buying compost at Home Depot is cheaper and easier. (5) Trash company takes away pre-sorted greenery weekly so I'm already helping the environment. (6) My yard is filled to the brim with plants. No space for a composting stack. (7) My bi-weekly lawn mower company takes away grass clippings. You need that for composting. (8) Even with my medium sized yard, I can't possibly compost all that stuff quickly enough."

You'll find some of my methods useful. I eschew the common pile methods for the most part, instead aiming towards maximum reuse of materials with minimal work.

Don't let the mowers take the clippings - you're exporting valuable minerals and fertility.

"Chop and drop" methods of composting work really well in high-density plant systems. Use one plant to feed the other.
David The Good May 12, 2015 3:34 PM: Scott Rassbach: "This is very cool. We just bought property in the PNW, and I'm enthused by the idea of a 'fruit circle'. I've always hated compost piles with the turning and etc, too much work. The fruit circle sounds awesome: Dig a pit, drop in organic matter, plant fruit trees around it."

It definitely works.

VFM 188: "My wife and I live on an ancient sand dune. On said sand dune she grows asparagus, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, lemons, "all spices and herbs," broccoli, and plenty else. I must buy this book for my wife."

Sounds like my kind of gal. Sand doesn't have to be a problem if you know what you're doing and can work with it. Better than hardpan or gravel.
David The Good May 12, 2015 3:36 PM: ODG: "The information on the persistent herbicides in manure was worth the $3."

If I had had this book five years ago I would have saved myself a lot of money and time. Sometimes living through a nasty event happens for a purpose. I have been shocked by the many conversations I've had with gardeners who unknowingly undid years of work or killed thousands of dollars worth of plants with one application of manure. The manure accident on our part was a launching part for my first gardening column... which in turn led to this book and a a lot of saved gardens.
David The Good May 12, 2015 3:38 PM: MendoScot: "I am disappoint. A whole $2.99 and nothing on composting cats."

What? That's the unwritten subtext beneath this entire book.

It's literally all about composting cats from the intro to the notes. Open your mind, Neo.
David The Good May 12, 2015 3:39 PM: @ Porky

Thank you, I think. BTW, I'm glad you've stuck around here.
Cinco May 12, 2015 3:39 PM: This is awesome, exactly what I need to get rid of a few annoying SJW's!
David The Good May 12, 2015 3:40 PM: MycroftJones: "If you enjoy David's book, you may also enjoy "Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times" by Steve Solomon."

Yes. One of my top five - I draw on his research as well. Also, his free book "Gardening Without Irrigation" is another must-have for the survival-minded.
tweell May 12, 2015 3:41 PM: Could this be offered through Castalia House as well as Amazon? My uncle bequeathed me a rather nice Nook, and I'd like to make more use of it.
David The Good May 12, 2015 3:41 PM: pdwalker: "That's one hell of a pitch. I'm tempted to buy even though I live in an apartment."

I had someone ask me about composting in an apartment a couple of weeks ago. Tricky but it can be done.
David The Good May 12, 2015 3:43 PM: tweell: "Could this be offered through Castalia House as well as Amazon? My uncle bequeathed me a rather nice Nook, and I'd like to make more use of it."

Not at the moment due to our agreement with Amazon; however, you should be able to convert to Nook format with Calibre. It's a free download. Someone else will know better than I if there would be any trouble doing so.
rycamor May 12, 2015 3:43 PM: VD May 12, 2015 3:08 PM

Of course, it remains to be seen if Vox/Castalia would be interested.

Oh, why not. In for a penny....

Careful, Vox. Once these extreme gardening freaks get their mental teeth into your neck, it's nigh impossible to rise unscathed.
WaterBoy May 12, 2015 3:47 PM: Vox: "Oh, why not. In for a penny...."

Certainly fits within the Education section of CH.

Up next: Home Gardening for the Home Schooler.
Sean May 12, 2015 3:51 PM: Just bought. I had no idea about Viidad's background which is very cool. Glad to support a former Friday Challenge member.
David The Good May 12, 2015 3:51 PM: @WaterBoy

Home Gardening for the Home Schooler is a great idea.

This current book is #1 in a series of Good Guides. I'm also considering "Hot and Humid Horticulture: The Good Guide for Gardening in the Sunny Southeast" and "Whack That Rabbit: The Good Guide To Small and Tasty Livestock."
David The Good May 12, 2015 3:52 PM: @ Sean

Thank you. I really miss the Friday Challenge. Bruce was a major influence upon my decision to start writing seriously.
slarrow May 12, 2015 4:03 PM: I bought the book based on the blurb. I'll buy the hard copy because it's Viidad.
WaterBoy May 12, 2015 4:04 PM: "Home Gardening for the Home Schooler is a great idea."

Do it, man. You're just the guy for it.

"This current book is #1 in a series of Good Guides. I'm also considering "Hot and Humid Horticulture: The Good Guide for Gardening in the Sunny Southeast" and "Whack That Rabbit: The Good Guide To Small and Tasty Livestock.""

Not so sure the first would translate well into the language up here, but I'd definitely purchase the second.
David The Good May 12, 2015 4:07 PM: @ slarrow

Thank you - that is kind.
Snickers May 12, 2015 4:14 PM: "And even a human placenta. Crazy? No. I did it for science"

Who experiments on human placinta? Needed a good nitrogen source for your wood chip nitrogen sink?
David The Good May 12, 2015 4:17 PM: @Snickers

I'm growing a chestnut tree on it. One day I'll feed the chestnuts to folks, then tell them they were fertilized with human flesh.
SirHamster May 12, 2015 4:18 PM: Of course, it remains to be seen if Vox/Castalia would be interested.
---------------------
Oh, why not. In for a penny....

5 years from now: Castalia House, the premiere source of Sci-Fi and Gardening books.
Sean May 12, 2015 4:22 PM: @ Viidad The Friday Challenge was awesome. It was the last time I felt compelled to write for fun. It's good to see you took that inspiration and ran with it. I wish you much success.
The Aardvark May 12, 2015 4:31 PM: Got it!!
Mrs. Viidad May 12, 2015 4:34 PM: Vox, I'm honored to be nominated for the medal!
The Overgrown Hobbit May 12, 2015 4:37 PM: 'Soil Tenders' sounds like something you'd get at McDonalds

It's an Entish treat...
David The Good May 12, 2015 4:37 PM: Hey - it's my wife!

Can we get her a Hugo?
maniacprovost May 12, 2015 4:38 PM: "Sci-Fi Gardening" sounds like a good sequel.
patrick kelly May 12, 2015 4:38 PM: "I hereby nominate it for a 2016 Hugo Award."

Oh please, may next year's litter of puppies find a reason to do just that.

The size of this comment thread nominates "Viidad Gardening" for the list of never OT.

Shared the Amazon link on my meager social media, will purchase it later....
VD May 12, 2015 4:51 PM: Could this be offered through Castalia House as well as Amazon? My uncle bequeathed me a rather nice Nook, and I'd like to make more use of it.

No, because we're making this one available through Kindle Unlimited. We figure there are considerably more gardeners there than among the CH community.
MycroftJones May 12, 2015 4:51 PM: @BGS yes, the "living hardwood fence" concept is very similar to espalier. But on steroids. If you want to get into the field yourself, google "arborsculpture". So far everyone has been doing it artistically; I believe it has much more practical uses.

The way I design these fences, every couple years you can harvest an oak tree without harming the fence itself, and sell the lumber for a nice bit of cash. Oak being so valuable. Typical suburban house with yard can be cash generating, and have a fence that would stop a pickup truck ramming it at full speed. And keep the dogs and children in.
David The Good May 12, 2015 4:53 PM: @ MycroftJones

Would you consider documenting some of your work and posting it on my gardening blog as a guest post?

I've fiddled with high-density planting and tree pollarding but haven't tried the fence angle yet. Would truly love to see what you're doing.
MycroftJones May 12, 2015 4:53 PM: @David the Good, been reading your blog since this morning. Nice stuff. Bought your book; hope you write many more.
MycroftJones May 12, 2015 4:54 PM: My reality is much wierder than any sci-fi I've come across.
RobertT May 12, 2015 5:14 PM: I spent three sundays at the largest church in our area where one of our clients was on the pastoral staff and coincidentally spoke all three sundays. In all those three sundays there was no mention of God or Christ. And nobody thought anything about it. I wouldn't go back if they hogtied me and drug me in there.
Monsignor Scott Rassbach May 12, 2015 5:22 PM: Just finished reading it. I reviewed it, gave it 5 stars. Awesome stuff, like I say it gives me ideas for our new property.

The property is mostly hillside forest with a number of trees, and a number of livestock. I am worried now about having to import hay for the livestock because of the persistant herbicide issue. @David, do you have any advice for raising horse/goat fodder in a shady area?
David The Good May 12, 2015 5:31 PM: Goat forage in shade is easier than horse fodder due to their incredible foraging ability... and it also depends on what kind of brush/grasses grow in your area. You might open up some areas to light and rotate livestock through multiple areas via a paddock system.
jack May 12, 2015 5:32 PM: Got the book and am going through the 32 reason to compost. I compost already but its nothing to write home about. Maybe David can jumpstart my composting and make the tomatoes and corn taste even better.
David The Good May 12, 2015 5:32 PM: And - thank you for the review.
Nate May 12, 2015 5:39 PM: In the top 10 in two categories on Amazon. its a best seller!
Monsignor Scott Rassbach May 12, 2015 5:40 PM: Thanks David. That's my idea re: open up areas and rotate livestock. We'll see. Might also do some sprouted fodder. The ground is hilly, much better for goats than horses. Might just move the horses offsite.
Daniel May 12, 2015 5:49 PM: How in the name of Pete did the Vile Faceless Minions get 150 posts in without a single...

"I don't compost."
David The Good May 12, 2015 5:49 PM: @Nate

Up to 50,000 pageviews a day!
Daniel May 12, 2015 5:55 PM: It is #1 on the Top 100 page for Vegetables. Above the new Square Foot Gardening. For those who don't know, Square Foot Gardening is a massively popular general gardening book. I bet nearly every suburban gardener has a copy.

This was the hardlink at the time:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/digital-text/156874011/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_kstore_1_5_last
Daniel May 12, 2015 5:57 PM: #1 in Techniques page, too. The book's rank listing is lagging behind. Push that mother up.
Daniel May 12, 2015 6:09 PM: Scott, do you have run-off that hits your place? Reeds in the run-off ravines suck up the pesticide and herbicide like a sponge and neutralize it. That won't knock out the cropdusting and spray, but reversing water-borne 'cides from the neighbors can do wonders for your own dirt.
Daniel May 12, 2015 6:10 PM: Means you have to dam the ravines with scrub, but that'll keep them from going erosively deep, anyhow. Give nature a few advantages, and it will kick chemistry's teeth in.
tweell May 12, 2015 6:16 PM: Fair enough, VD. And Calibre works fine converting my Kindle files to epubs, so you have another customer, ViiDad.
Daniel May 12, 2015 6:42 PM: Amazon Certified #1 in Vegetable Gardening. Certified #1 in Gardening Techniques.

You guys really have your - uh - compost together.
SirHamster May 12, 2015 6:42 PM: In the top 10 in two categories on Amazon. its a best seller!

Who knew so many people have a body disposal problem?
grendel May 12, 2015 6:50 PM: The perfect book for a change of pace after rereading AToB.
maniacprovost May 12, 2015 6:53 PM: By this time next year, CH will be full of... Compost.
Nathan May 12, 2015 7:29 PM: Bought this and Create Your Own Florida Food Forest. Between the two, I was seeing ideas for terraforming (and things I want to try in real life when I get a house)...
JRL May 12, 2015 7:45 PM: Good job on the cover JartStar.
David The Good May 12, 2015 7:53 PM: Wow. #1. Impressive - thank you all.

And yes - JartStar nailed it.
MycroftJones May 12, 2015 7:56 PM: @David the Good, thank you for your offer. I'm interested, but also extremely busy. I've done a lot of stuff, and not had time to document it. The wheelchair friendly raised beds for instance, is a sub-project that needs documenting in its own right. And the mineral water that helps arthritis sufferers... and just happens to taste like Coca Cola. Etc. How about I email you my phone #, and we connect up for a voice call, and see what the best way forward is. I'm a bit tired of having done lots of cool stuff but not documenting it. And often when I do document it, people just don't believe me. It is too far from consensus reality.
Patrikbc May 12, 2015 9:01 PM: Also @ David the good,
Fish emulsion for the win! But, I have two words for you that I hope to read in your book...wait for it, wait for it, still waiting, almost there...
"Chicken tractor"
David The Good May 12, 2015 9:07 PM: @ Patrikbc #0344

Chapter 13 FTW
Patrikbc May 12, 2015 10:06 PM: Good man! Since I moved out of Jacksonville...I had to adapt my practices to get Datil peppers to grow here in Lancaster,Pa
pseudotsuga May 12, 2015 10:18 PM: We are growing tomatoes this year...mmm...tomatoes...
Cee May 12, 2015 10:23 PM: Bought. In the far-off day I've got a home, husband, and family it will surely come in handy.

@MycroftJones, I hope you can work something out with Viidad because I surely want to hear about this stuff you're doing myself.
David The Good May 12, 2015 10:23 PM: There are nothing like homegrown tomatoes. Except homegrown peaches/nectarines. And pineapples. And tobacco. And corn meal.

Heck, even potatoes taste amazing when grown in mineral-rich soil.
Daniel May 12, 2015 10:24 PM: Top 2000 overall. Betcha break 1000.
Daniel May 12, 2015 10:26 PM: We don't bother to book bomb. we book torture, poison, dismember, incinerate, and compost. Circle of death, baby. Circle of death.
David The Good May 12, 2015 10:37 PM: @Daniel

It's quite interesting, this being a topic way outside the normal parameters of this blog. There seems to be quite a lot of interest in gardening/homesteading despite it never coming up here (except when Vox posted my food forest video some time back... or that day when he was out in the woods torturing people and we thought he might be dead so I hijacked a thread and talked about gardening with the Ilk).

Of course, the interest level perhaps shouldn't surprise. I read VP every day and rarely if ever play videogames or watch sports, yet still see them as areas worthy of consideration in the full picture of taking dominion and roasting rabbits.
Patrikbc May 12, 2015 10:47 PM: I'm downloaded the book off Amazon, it's great...Vox is right, your batshit crazy, or crazy about bat shit...either way that's my brand of crazy. We have Angora goats, miniature horses,alpacas (also cold manure), a shit ton of rabbits and a flock of New Jersey Giants
( biggest friggin chicken in the world) all rotational grazed and crapping all over 6 acres, and it's all so I can make my own hot sauce. By the way road killed deer compost nice too lol
Markku May 12, 2015 11:25 PM: I live in a flat, but I share a greenhouse with my parents. Last year, the habaneros (our first attempt) succeeded absolutely, mind-bogglingly well. There was huge harvest of them, and they were hot as hell. When they finally ran out, I tried buying some from a store, but they were nothing like the homegrown ones. I put three store-bought habaneros to the food where I would put one of my own, and it still was only marginally hot.

Hopefully it wasn't a fluke, and we succeed again.
Markku May 12, 2015 11:39 PM: Just the smell in the kitchen when you'd cut into one of the homegrown ones... I had not known that things can SMELL hot.
Patrikbc May 12, 2015 11:47 PM: Markku's, well drained soil, bonemeal, fish fertilizer and a spray bottle with Epsom salts, also wait for the soil to dry out in between waterings, and you'll get a good harvest of Habaneros.
Since you like Habs check his out
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datil_pepper
The datil pepper is the best hot pepper, it's not just hot, it's has great flavor. Read up on them, if you want to try them in box me and I'll mail you some seeds.
Markku May 12, 2015 11:53 PM: I don't know, I live in Finland. Short summer. Might be already too late to grow from seeds. Last year, I bought a young, pre-grown habanero plant. The harvest was so late in the autumn that even a bit later, and it would have been freezing temperatures at night.
Patrikbc May 12, 2015 11:58 PM: Oh yeah datils need 90 days of 80 degrees or more
Markku May 13, 2015 12:01 AM: As I said, it's a greenhouse so timed correctly, the summer would JUUUUST be long enough, had the seeds been grown into a young shrub by now. But it's probably too late to start it now from seeds. Hence the stores that do it for you.
rycamor May 13, 2015 12:04 AM: Markku May 12, 2015 11:39 PM

Just the smell in the kitchen when you'd cut into one of the homegrown ones... I had not known that things can SMELL hot.

Ask Viidad about my habanero sauce. I had a pot of habaneros that just wouldn't stop growing. Was giving them away as fast as I could. One day I was smoking a couple chickens and I figured I would throw some habaneros under the chickens to get roasted and basted with the runoff. I threw some garlic in there too. Then I threw them in the blender, spun it up, opened the top, and almost stopped breathing. Never had anything hit me like that. Then I remembered that when you cook hot peppers, they get even hotter because the seeds are the hottest part.
MycroftJones May 13, 2015 12:48 AM: @Cee a) If you're in Canada, that day doesn't have to be far off. Lot of men, including myself, want those things too. b) Just had a good conversation with Viidad. Before writing up my inventions and discoveries, I need to talk further with him and possibly Vox on how to go about it in a suitably politic way and secure way. There are Reasons I haven't documented my stuff (yet). I used to have an internet presence that put even Scalzi's claimed traffic stats, to shame.
hausfrau May 13, 2015 12:50 AM: Just purchased it. I have heavy clay soil in the PNW. Looking forward to experimenting with this book.
Laramie Hirsch May 13, 2015 12:54 AM: I'm into gardening, and I dabble with urban farming here and there. It's now on my list.

-Hirsch
# 270
rho May 13, 2015 1:29 AM: DtheG/sevendad, would you be interested in doing a radio interview? I need to read your book first to see if it will give radio listeners the vapors, but if the book isn't actually about composting dead hookers I have a contact that hits a pretty good chunk of the Southeast on public radio.

Composting is fun as hell. There's nothing better than turning a pile and seeing the Paul Atreides-scale worms dig back in. The world needs an insane composting book.

(How weirdly satisfying would it be if Castalia House's big earner turned out to be gardening?)
rho May 13, 2015 1:31 AM: I should clarify, my contact is on public radio and he does a gardening show, so you fit right in.

There's a non-zero chance you've heard of him, too.
Revelation Means Hope May 13, 2015 1:56 AM: It broke the top 1,000. It was 950 when I bought it. #1 in 3 other categories.

I've been composting for a couple years, with my chicken manure/feathers, mixed with various plant sources.

Man, that compost that I dug up after 2 years, some of the best growing soil I've seen. I took the lazy way and basically just let it sit in the bin while I gradually added more and more to it. No turning or anything. It just takes more time that way.
JaimeInTexas May 13, 2015 2:03 AM: re. cats

Thanks for clarifying. Phew. I though you might be going wobbly, after your goat head experience.

I guess we all have our moments.

My kids, when they were younger, would tell their friends "my dad eats fish heads." Their friends doubted every time. And, everytime they had to show whatever assortment of fish heads I had in the freezer. I make fish head soup.
rho May 13, 2015 2:16 AM: I did an editor's scan of your book, sevendad, and it's pretty good. You've got a touch of Lewis Grizzard in you.

I'll read it for comprehension and post a review later, but you're already well ahead of the $3 admission fee.

I provisionally object to VD's leading description of sevendad's book as controversial in any way--get back to me when I read about human manure.
rho May 13, 2015 2:20 AM: My kids, when they were younger, would tell their friends "my dad eats fish heads." Their friends doubted every time. And, everytime they had to show whatever assortment of fish heads I had in the freezer. I make fish head soup.

It's called bouillabaisse. Or maybe gumbo. And it's delicious. Shame them.
Daniel May 13, 2015 2:34 AM: #977 Viidad. Toldya.

And I remember very vividly those two mythic posts. Especially the one where Vox put NGO workers through the John Scalzi simulator in the woods, and we ended up with 400 comments about irrigation or whatever. Epic in so many ways.
MycroftJones May 13, 2015 2:38 AM: @rho surely you've read the Humanure Handbook by Joseph Jenkins? Viidad and myself are both fans, apparently. Jenkins cites sources to the effect that the human gut contains microbes which, if composted, can clean up nuclear waste. God works in mysterious ways...
rho May 13, 2015 3:08 AM: Jenkins cites sources to the effect that the human gut contains microbes which, if composted, can clean up nuclear waste. God works in mysterious ways...

Show me the logic and the lab equipment that prove it, and I'm interested.
MycroftJones May 13, 2015 3:13 AM: @rho and here I thought I had you at "human manure".
rho May 13, 2015 3:28 AM: You had me at God working His will through human poop.

I'm interested in how you arrived at that.
VD May 13, 2015 4:32 AM: Before writing up my inventions and discoveries, I need to talk further with him and possibly Vox on how to go about it in a suitably politic way and secure way.

Shoot me an email with your number and we'll discuss it.
JaimeInTexas May 13, 2015 8:20 AM: rho. Shame them? Oh, no. It was a lot of fun. Always a laugh.

And, yes. I would also use the stock for gumbo, asopao (puertortican rice bog). Add other seafood, sausage, chicken, etc.
David The Good May 13, 2015 8:52 AM: @ rho

Yes, I'd do a radio interview. You can contact me off the link at my blog.

@Markku

Habeneros and other hot peppers can live for years under warm conditions. I'll bet you could set up some grow lights indoors and get them year-round. Soil and stress conditions will change the "heat" levels of the peppers, though - if they're really taken care of with lots of water, they usually don't taste as spicy.
Porky May 13, 2015 10:07 AM: Soil and stress conditions will change the "heat" levels of the peppers, though - if they're really taken care of with lots of water, they usually don't taste as spicy.

I've been wondering about this.

I've been growing rocotos which are normally smokin' hot, but mine tend to be on the milder side. Could it really be a case of taking too much care of them?
David The Good May 13, 2015 10:10 AM: @ Porky

Yes. The heat levels are apparently a physiological response of the plant. Plants under intermittent watering, harsher sun, drought etc. will often increase their production of antioxidants and oils as a defense. In the case of peppers, capsaicin levels.
Markku May 13, 2015 10:13 AM: I thought everyone knew that dry soil = hot peppers.
Markku May 13, 2015 10:24 AM: Remember, the pepper is not trying to please you by producing capsaicin. It's trying to PREVENT mammals from eating it. The worse conditions, the better the plant needs to protect each individual bean.
Porky May 13, 2015 10:55 AM: It's the first time I've tried peppers. I was watering heavy because the leaves were looking parched. Maybe it's better to water before they blossom but cut off the supply when they start to bear fruit?

Also mine seem to come out undersized compared to the ones that I got the seeds from.

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Tuesday, May 12, 2015

The Green Thumb of Evil

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