It's that time again --- when I beg for contributions to round out a new book! As I complete the first draft of The Ultimate Guide to Soil, a few gaps in my own experience have become clear. So if you have photos and tips to share on any of the following topics, your name may show up in print. (And if I use your experiences, you'll also get to select from the second round of bookshelf discards mentioned at the end of this post!)

What do I want to hear about? Anything innovative and soil-related has a shot of making the cut, but I'd specifically like to see firsthand experiences with:

• Seed meals as garden fertilizer
• Pit gardens for moisture preservation in dry climates
  
• Worm towers for in-garden composting
• Biodynamic preparation 500 (or another biodynamic preparation you feel has real merit)
  
• Your remineralization experiences (before and after photos, plus what you applied to improve your ground)
  
• Any tricks you use to garden in sandy or cold soils
• Your favorite plants for chop 'n drop
  

Photos need to be print-quality --- most shots taken with a camera will suffice. Email your contribution to anna@kitenet.net and be sure to send only one photo per email so they don't bounce. Please mention your state and growing zone (and whether it's okay to use your last name).

Once the contributions stop trickling in, probably next Monday, I'll start doling out prizes. Here are the books you'll be able to choose between:

• The Gardener's Guide to Better Soil --- This is out of print and low on pictures, but is actually the best layman's soil book I read during my research
• Communities that Abide --- This is best for the serious philosophizer. I'll admit I found it interesting but didn't make it all the way through
  
• RFD --- In the fun, memoir category
• Meanwhile, Next Door to the Good Life --- Written by the Nearings' neighbors
• Bokashi Composting --- The best book I've found on the topic
• Growing Tomorrow --- A beautiful farm-to-table hardback
• The Vegetable Gardener's Container Bible --- Very pretty and easy to read
  

I'm looking forward to seeing what you've cooked up in your garden. Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences!

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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.



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