City People's Book of Raising Food - Paperback

by William Olkowski Ph. D. (Author), Helga Olkowski (Author)

A least toxic approach to raising food in urban gardens based on the authors' experiences in Berkeley, CA. Authors are both entomologists noted for organic least toxic pest control who specialized in gardening in small spaces with deep mulches made by composting and transplanting and methods for extending the season. Written with beginners in mind who have little time for gardening with many personal anecdotes. Illustrated with line drawings by Kathy Green. We cover the basics: soil structure and soil improvement, odorless composting, insect control, selecting vegetable varieties for small areas, pest free food scrap storage for composting, intensive interplanting, beekeeping, rooftop meat and greens, setting up community gardens, raising rabbits and chickens in congested places. Written almost 40 years ago the methods are still current and useful. Its a classic in the gardening literature by people who developed the methods.

Author Biography

Helga and I wrote the book together, but she did most of the work and has since died. I want the book back in print because it is written so well, has good practical methods, and is still currently important. Dr. William Olkowski is a specialist in Integrated Pest Management and Biological Control of Insects and an active Environmentalist, gardener, teacher and perpetual student. His books include "Common Sense Pest Control" and "The Gardeners Guide to Least Toxic Pest Control" and the Integral Urban House, among others. His publications include other books, scientific papers, government reports, book reviews, technical pest control manuals, and more extensively, articles in the "IPM Practitioner" and "Common Sense Pest Control Quarterly for over 25 years." His blog covers book reviews on health, ecology, parasitology, medical entomology, among others, essays, movie reviews, personal poems and rants. A website includes many of his published scientific papers, paintings and project reports. He has consulted with the EPA, NPS, AID, NIH, private businesses and city, county and state agencies about least toxic pest control. He is familiar with various ecological social organizations from starting non-profit organizations, and is proud of helping to start the first recycling centers in the US, the first ecology center (in Berkeley), and the Farallones Institute, Antioch College West, and a small farm based school for educating disadvantaged young women. Based in Santa Barbara, CA, at "William Olkowski" wo1615@gmail.com.