From: Solar Greenhouses to the experienced gardener who will probably worry (and justly so) over light intensity and duration, carbon dioxide depletion in these well sealed structures, and disease and pest contn)l in this "best of all possible worlds" for slugs, white flies and mites. Novices will value the sections on soil, nutrients, propagation and the growing seasons under glass. I was pleased to see the solid section on growing fruit in the greenhouse. Fruit growing "out of season" was one of the major goals of eighteenth century innovators who dreamed up greenhouses-then called "Orangeries" or "Limehouses" or "Pineries" (for pineapRles). Few contemporary greenhouse books even ~ention fruit production; so Wolfe fills a need there. I was also pleased to see her stress recordkeeping. If you think of solar greenhouses as systems that need tuning, adjustments and general maintenance, you'll find monitoring your experiences a definite advantage. You'll be less likely to repeat errors if you've kept track. I've seen several introductions ~o solar greehhouse gardening but few as comprehensive as this one. Between January and November are covered most everything you'll need to know to get producing, and December offers a practical bibliography to guide you further. -CC · "Gardening in Fertile Waters, by Carl M. Baum, New Alchemy Quarterly, No. 5 (Summer 1981), $2.00 from: New Alchemy Quarterly 237 Hatchville Road East Falmouth, MA 02536 , I.had pretty much dismissed hydroponics several years ago; 'the heavy energy subsidies required to maintain ideal growing conditions plus the predominant use of inorganic, chemical fertilizers didn't s.eern to make for an "appropriate" technology. Furthermore, given how little is known about the makeup of soil, the very idea of trying to chemically imitate it appeared somewhat preposterous. According to the New Alchemists, however, there's another side to the story. By combining hydroponic plant culture with fish culture, not only can hydroponics be practiced organically a,nd effi- · ciently, but "fertile waters deserve perhaps as much attention as the compost bucket when it comes to reusing waste nutrients." Hydroponic gardening has some distinct advantages over conventional, soil-based agriculture. Hydroponics conserve water and· fertilizer nutrients; circumvent the problems of nutrient fixation, leaching and runoff in soils.; are less prone to soil-related diseases November 1981 RAIN Page 7 and weeds (reducing the need for pest control meaures) ; can be considerably cheaper and less labor-intensive than soil culture; and (the greatest advantage), can prod~ce s'uperior crop yields. Hydroponics is an attractive option where space, water, nutrients and capital are limited, such as in arid regions or urban areas. "The basic technology is relatively simple and highly amendable to small-scale, amateur use, whether in a window garden or a bioshelter. It appears particularly attractive from an ecological point of view if significant quantities of food crops can be grown with the nutrients contained.in domestic garbage (composed and worked by earthworms) and waste waters or, in the case of a bioshelter, fertile fish pond water that might otherwise be discarded to the environment. Hydroponics is also quite compatible with passive solar heating strategies in its use of water, an ex- .cellent thermal storage medium. A sunwarmed nutrient solution gives a definite 1 growth advantage to hydroponic plants over those in cooler soil beds." I I l The Solar Sa'/ad Bar - a hydroponic planter fed with the fertile water from a window side solar-algae pond containing fish. In tests at the New Alchemy farm, celery, tomatoes, lettuce and basil all produced yields that compared favorably to soil-based yields. While the.taste of one winter celery crop was thought to be "strong," it did not, fortunately, taste fishy. Included in the paper is a bibliography for further reading. The article leads off the first issue of the former New Alchemy Newsletter, now the expanded New Alchemy Quarterly. The new publication promises to be wonderful! -MR
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