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Reader comments on Kourik's Books

From the Amazon gardening forum room about the gardener’s favorite gardening books.

"Designing And Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally," by Robert Kourik is my all time favorite gardening book. Even is you don't have an edible landscape it contains a wealth of information, for landscapes, orchards, and vegetable gardens. Instead of focusing on one particular gardening style, he covers many different schools of thought and practices. Check this one out, I am sure you will enjoy it.

Harvest McCampbell
March 23^rd 2009


About the New Drip Irrigation book:

“We read and followed the drip instructions in the book, laying out the drip in rows 6 inches apart for our new veggie garden bed. Based on our calculations and the desire to have the sub-surface soil reach that Holy Grail of a barely-damp-sponge all the time, we run our system 3 times a day at 5 minutes. Pulling up some the soil with a tool between plants revealed this perfectly barely damp soil. Within a week of planting, we have blossoms, no plant wilt and vigorous growth – not to mention no worries about dry or soggy, airless soil. Thank you!”

Betsy and Don, Santa Rosa, CA.

Media Comments on Kourik's Books

"... Drip irrigation provides precise amounts of moisture exactly where it is needed — in the root zone — and is a far more efficient way to water than with overhead sprinklers. Wind diverts fine droplets that sprinklers produce; excess moisture runs off and is wasted; and water on plant and soil surfaces evaporates before plants can use it.

For all of these reasons, Robert Kourik has just put out an expanded, up-to-date edition of his book, Drip Irrigation for Every Landscape and All Climates (Metamorphic Press, 2009). Anyone planning to install a new system or update an old one will find his book extremely useful...."

from "A new look at old irrigation ideas"

By ROSEMARY McCREARY
FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Friday, July 10, 2009 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, July 9, 2009 at 4:25 p.m.

Reviews of new Drip Irrigation book

Drip Irrigation Conserves Water, Increases Yields
Jul 16th, 2009 by Tom Christopher of the New York Botanical Garden

In past posts I’ve alluded to the need to use our most essential natural resource— water—in a more sustainable manner. All over the United States (and across the world) the demand for clean, fresh water is booming, while the potential sources of supply are, thanks to pollution and mismanagement, actually shrinking. This is one of our society’s greatest challenges: how to make the water supply stretch to suit all of our needs without draining rivers, streams, and aquifers.

Gardeners can have a big impact on this situation, especially if they adopt Robert Kourik’s book Drip Irrigation for Every Landscape and All Climates as their irrigation operator’s manual.

Read the whole article

Reviews of Roots Demystified

Great review from one of the best sources for librarians:

Midwest Book Review, (Oregon WI USA)

"A compendium of practical, comprehensive, and exceptionally well organized information, advice, tips, and observations, March 10, 2008"

Gardening expert Robert Kourik is the author of ten books addressing topics that have ranged from drip irrigation, environmentally-sound homes, edible landscaping, and lavender. Now he turns his attention to the necessity of health roots (and thereby healthy plants) for successful gardening and agriculture. Superbly written and thoroughly 'user friendly', "Roots Demystified" is profusely enhanced with twenty-five illustrative graphics showcasing extraordinary illustrations of excavated root systems in their entirety. A compendium of practical, comprehensive, and exceptionally well organized information, advice, tips, and observations that will benefit novice gardeners and seasoned professionals alike, "Roots Demystified" is an excellent and strongly recommended addition to personal, professional, academic, and community library Gardening/Agriculture/Horticulture reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

Other great reviews:

From Pacific Horticulture, April 2008
We all know that there are roots beneath a plant, and we have a vague mental image of how they must look. We also know that roots need air, water, and nutrients, and we try to provide them. Kourik’s book shows us that we are often imagining root systems incorrectly; what he tells us about how roots operate should help us grow a better garden... (click link above to read the entire article as PDF)

Roots demystified by Jean English - Originally published in The Citizen (Belfast, Maine) and Village Soup (Camden, Maine) on Jan. 23, 2008, and The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener, March-May 2008

Get to the Root of the Matter by Charlie Nardozzi, National Gardening Association

For this gardener, what's underground can't be ignored
By Pat Rubin - prubin@sacbee.com
Published Saturday, February 9, 2008 in the Sacramento Bee

Green Gardening: The root of thriving plants is in the soil
By ANN LOVEJOY of the Seattle Times

National Garden Clubs Newsletter, May 2008
As a guide to the function and importance of roots, the text of this book explains biological terminology in language that is easy to comprehend for even the most novice gardener...

Opinion Pieces

Let Me Give Thanks

Heal the Earth

Lettuce Consider the Organic Garden: Personal Opinions on Some of the Misguided Myths of Organic Gardening

Research

Compost Activators, Myth or Reality?

Fog Drip Reseach Study

List of Articles by Robert Kourik

"Look, no tap root!" A common misconception is that all plants have tap roots. In fact, most trees and shrubs do not.