Home gardening provides food that is in many cases free from some of the problems with store bought foods, such as genetic modification, preservatives, hormones, insecticides, and so on. Also, food fresh from the garden is often tastier and more nutritious than store bought food. Furthermore, in times of economic uncertainty or national disaster, it can be helpful or even necessary to be able to grow one’s own food. Finally, there is something amazing and wonderful about seeing plants grow and develop in a garden. Growing flowers and landscape plants is also a source of satisfaction for the home gardener.
However, it can be difficult for a gardener to understand what is going on in the soil and why various recommendations are given for fertilizer, organic matter, watering, and so on. If you want to know how much fertilizer to use for gardening, you will find information about cations, organic and inorganic forms of nutrients, and much other information that is of little use to the typical gardener except in interpreting soil testing results. Even getting soil tested really does not help the gardener to understand how the soil came to be in the condition it is, or why certain recommendations are given. The subject of soil quality, health, and fertility is very complex, but the book "Soil Basics for Gardeners" should help the gardener to have a general grasp of such topics as are necessary for a deeper understanding of good gardening practices. Material that is easy to understand and that can be obtained from many other sources, such as how much fertilizer to apply for various plants, is largely omitted from this book.
The book "Soil Basics for Gardeners" can be ordered here.