Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Not quite what I expected - sounded like it was pitched to the layman gardener, but a lot of the projects & recipes need materials and ingredients you'd only have, or order, if you were more specialised. Interesting info on compost, etc, but not many recipes or projects I will actually try.

I started an organic garden to benefit us with healthier and fresher food. It has also been an activity that I have been able to incorporate into my son's homeschooling, so that he is aware of his interconnection and feels grateful to the natural world.
This book has fabulous recipes, literally therapeutic for the garden. It's great to be more independent from branded products and to be able to DIY your own fertilizer, pest control, growth-enhancing, rooting hormone, etc. It was very helpful to develop our empirical observation to understand some reasons why our plants were thriving and correcting problems to help those that were not.

I appreciate the focus of this book -- that instead of covering a host of gardening topics, it zeroes in on these concoctions that help the soil and/or deter the pests that harm plants. The author keeps it simple, with plenty of pictures and charts to help get the info across in accessible ways. And it seems like the majority of her suggestions are easy to find items and ingredients. Definitely a good source for those who want to take their gardening to the next level.

For budding gardeners like me who want to improve their knowledge on how to make the most of their back garden, this book is a must. Admittedly, I have only tried to make garden food from grass clippings but now that summer is arriving there are few things I have already decided to attempt. Using natural resources and everyday household objects, how to test for soil types, and making your worm bin, this book has it all.
Garden Alchemy is well written with multiple examples and exercises, all well photographed, and making them easy to follow. A brilliant book for anyone who wants to improve their garden or have just always wanted to own a worm bin.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend to anyone interested in gardening. It's a very helpful reference book!

Garden Alchemy is a useful book of recipes and tricks to jump-start your organic and native flowering plant garden. Offering ways to assess your soil composition, pH, and hydration, along with offering methods for seed germination and dispersal, composting options and other vital methods for gardeners old and new, Rose has created an excellent resource for gardeners to bring out the best in their gardens.

I received a Digital Review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a brilliant book! This is a very engaging and useful book of ideas for improving your gardening, your garden and being more environmentally friendly. The book is divided into five chapters: Soils and Mulches; Propagation; Compost; Fertilisers and Garden Teas; and Birds, Bees and Bugs. It is extremely informative, explaining ways to test your soil, make seed bombs, fertiliser recipes and ways to encourage beneficial wildlife into your garden, but most of all makes it all sound lots of fun. I can imagine this would be very helpful to keen and amateur gardeners alike. Thank you to Stephanie Rose, Net Galley, and the publisher, Cool Springs Press (Quarto Group) for and ARC.

FTC disclosure: I would like to thank Quart Publishing Group- Cool Springs Press for providing me with an advance reader copy via access to the galley for free through the NetGalley program.

I gleaned so much gardening knowledge from this book! I'd highly recommend it for any gardener's library from novice to expert and anyone just looking for a leisurely book about starting and maintaining a garden.

I am more of a beginner to intermediate gardener myself and I'm always wanting to gain more insight into the how to of assessing and amending soil, growing a plant, and maintaining it for the long haul.

This was the perfect and most timely book for me. The information I've read online has been somewhat conflicting to me and this book does an excellent job at dispelling myths as well as reviewing personal and environmental safety concerns by employing homemade alternatives that are actually tried and true.

I loved the enthusiasm brought forth in the book along with the colorful displays, schematics, and step-by-step recipes that are easy to follow and complete, even if you begin with nothing or are in an area where resources are limited.

I will look forward to adding this one to my own gardening library and see myself referring to it time and time again, especially for the fun project ideas!

An excellent and useful reference book. I loved it and I strongly recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I am a convert to no-till, organic vegetable gardening but I have to admit that I started reading Garden Alchemy with some reservation, expecting a collection of myth-based ideas, rather than genuinely useful information.

But my reservations were proved unfounded. I found much that I will apply to my gardening and even though I am unlikely to make some of the projects, for example, seed bombs or my own seed tapes, I found it interesting to read about them. On the other hand I had never heard of willow branches as a rooting hormone tea and would be interested to try it.

The chapters cover soils and mulches, propagation, compost, fertilizers and garden teas, birds bees and bugs

Some (but not all!) of my recommendations from the book include:
- Useful table of natural (organic) mulches with columns on “good for” and "avoid”
- Seed starting pots
- Concise and clear information on compost. Interesting information on compost accelerator plants
- Excellent section on soil amendments like lime, biochoar, blood meal, manure with uses, advantages and disadvantages
- Great table on plants used for making weed tea, and the nutrients they supply.

The book was very well laid out and easy to read. I would recommend it to all gardeners!

This is a great easy-to-read reference guide for home gardeners who want to take garden chemistry into their own hands. Super informative: recipes and instructions on crafting everything from compost tea to specific soil mixes; info about what the various minerals, mulches, and fertilizers do; ideas on how to handle pests; and more.

Garden Alchemy is a tutorial and reference for testing/building/supporting a healthy garden and soil. Due out 18th Feb 2020 from Quarto on their Cool Springs Press imprint, it's 128 pages and will be available in paperback format.

This is a book with an upbeat and whimsical vibe which is also firmly rooted in fact based horticultural practice, The author has an inviting and conversational writing style and I found the reading both engaging and entertaining. The layout is graphically appealing and colorful and the chapters are arranged logically and thematically: recipes and tutorials for soil, propagation, compost, fertilizers and garden teas, and garden interactions with birds bees and bugs. There's a good links list for further reading and a cross referenced index.

Everything about the book is exuberant and appealing. I really enjoyed reading it and I am sure I'll consult it as a reference. The author's tutorial for making, stocking, and using a vermicomposting system is one of the better and more practical ones I've seen.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This is a fantastic collection of tips, homemade mixes and other suggestions for gardeners. In particular, it has the best explanation of the environmental impact of using peat moss that I've ever seen (and I'm a retired horticulture professor, so I have seen a lot!) In fact, there is a strong emphasis on repurposing common household items for gardening, adding to the sustainability emphasis. You can find all sorts of things in this book: deer repellant spray, slug traps, homemade rooting hormone, and more! This is a great resource for anyone who gardens!

A brilliant book as a gift for any green fingered friends or family. Some great tips including how to make your own mulch, how to test soil and making seed bomb! I really liked the high contrast photos which made all the greenery and flowers pop.

This is one of my favorite gardening books to date! The pictures and format are beautifully done and have a whimsical quality. The recipes will please gardeners of all skill levels, and the information is presented in an easy-to-follow format. I appreciate how accessible the recipes are-- no expensive equipment or training needed. The charts are helpful and concise. Readers will learn more about their soil and plenty of ways to improve it. I bookmarked most of the garden teas, and can't wait to try the seed bombs and seed tape with my kids. I was especially thankful for the section on how to deal with fungus gnats and the environmentally-conscious approach throughout the entire book. Spring can't come soon enough; I can't wait to get started.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you don't have a gardening group, or friends or family with a green thumb and need some help in that area, then this book might help. It focuses on natural cures for garden problems without chemical intervention, how to correctly use fertilizer and compost, and how to make recipes for garden related things like bird seed. It does have a kind of secret alchemy charm in the way it presents information, and any complex scientific explanations are broken down in easy to understand terms. I like that it also included things like seed bombs, or reusing plastic bottles as vessels to put cuttings in. A lot of wisdom is included in the book that beginners might not learn without someone to tell them, like making natural rooting hormone with willow, or getting rid of fungus gnats with sand. I highly recommend this to the beginner gardener, or to someone looking for more natural approaches to gardening.

GARDEN ALCHEMY by Stephanie Rose is a well-written guide for amateur gardeners who want to improve their results using natural recipes and herbal solutions. The book starts with information on understanding your garden soil as well as information on mulches. The chapter that I was most interested in was chapter two. This chapter deals with propagation. Other chapters cover composting, fertilizers, encouraging beneficial insects and deterring pests.

The book includes easy to follow recipes and instructions for a variety of do it yourself solutions. It also includes a resource section and a great index. While I was familiar with much of the information, this would make a great reference for new and inexperienced gardeners and maybe an idea or two for more experienced gardeners. I plan to try one of the recipes for treating damping off (a fungal disease) that can occur with seedlings.

Overall, the book makes a great reference to have on hand. It has some wonderful photographs and easy-to-follow recipes. This could also be used as a guide for a variety of science and gardening craft projects for children.

Thanks to Quarto Publishing Group – Cool Springs Press and Stephanie Rose for a digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.

Garden Alchemy is a most beautiful book with magnificent pictures and a marvellous cover. It is perfect in size (only 130 pages). This book is so useful to me as I have a second home with lots of land.
The contents are easy to understand. It is highly practical and comprehensive (soils, propagation, fertilizers, birds, bees and bugs, as well as additional resources). It is a must-have if you are interested in organic gardening and nature.
I particularly enjoyed the chapters about birds, bees and bugs and checked out the author’s website (garden therapy) where she actually offers a Free Natural Skincare Mini Course.
In short, I highly recommend this book!

OMGoodness!!!! This book has so inspired me! From the moment I opened it, I was excited. Lots of colorful pictures. The promise of a beautiful bright garden! The joy of being in total control of my garden!! The subtitle of this book is "80 Recipes and Concoctions for Organic Fertilizers, Plant Elixirs, Potting Mixes, Pest Deterrents, and More." I cannot tell you how excited I was just after reading the the front and back covers of this book. And then, I opened it, and...WOW! I have been searching for this book for a long time...and thank goodness Stephanie Rose has finally written the ultimate Gardening book, with everything I ever wanted to know and with easy to understand ideas. I'm reading the ARC right now, but when this publishes, I will definitely be getting one for myself, and gifting it to several of my like-minded gardening friends. WOW.