How I'm going to write this book (and how I'm not).

It is very likely, there will be few pictures or illustrations in these posts/articles. The reasons are

• I am no artist, I can barely draw a recognizable stick figure, and so I will spare you my toddlers level artwork, especially since I can't find my favorite crayons.

• Since I cannot draw, I would need to use other people's artwork, and getting permission takes time.. did I mention yet that I'm lazy?

• A primary goal of this book, and every post/article in it, is to encourage you the reader to think, to doubt, to be skeptical, and to prove my assertions correct, or incorrect. That means, you will feel the urge to do research, either online or in the dirt. If every post does not result in you using a search engine one or more times, I have failed in a fundamental goal. For those who may not be innately adept at research, where normally there may be an image or chart, I may very well, suggest some search terms to use on YouTube or a search engine. Not only is the practice refining searches, but as articles or videos sometimes disappear, or new and better once are published, you have the opportunity of a wider spectrum of information.

Science based:

I am a firm believer in Science. However, it is my believe and contention that Science, is a verb, not a noun. To "trust the science", actually means to trust the methodology of science, not any one (or collection) of findings.

Science is first and foremost grounded in, and built upon, skepticism... doubt. To publish "scientific findings" does not mean, question answered, case closed.. but those findings are an invitation and even a challenge for others to attempt to replicate, over and over and over, the experiment(s), as published and with alternate variables, techniques and with ever advancing tools, to re-prove the assertions, until at least one time, it doesn't work. Scientific fact really only means, the best information we have at present, with the knowledge and tools available, with the door always unlocked and cracked open for reexamination. After all, it was once "scientific fact", that all swans were white... until one was found, which was black. It was once "scientific fact", that there were not living things, smaller than the naked eye could see, until Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, (a Dutch cloth merchant, not an academic) saw what we now call bacteria and other microscopic life with an early microscope. It was years before academia (aka "science") caught up. One need not have letters after their name, to do science. I believe, and participate in "citizen science". All it requires is curiosity. You can as well, and actually, I bet you already do. If you have ever thought "I wonder...." and tried 2 or more versions of something, be it a recipe, tool, travel route.. you have essentially "done science". You had an assumption, and tested it. So, to get back to gardening, I or many other experienced gardeners may suggest a series of tools, techniques and steps to achieve a goal, and if we are any good, the result should be the intended outcome. However, I do hope that you will not simply follow the recipe and leave it at that. My sincere hope is, after a couple of attempts, be they successful, failures or a mix, you will allow the inevitable question of "I wonder why", or "I wonder if", to be fostered into actually trying a couple of variations to see what if any differences in outcomes there are, even if it is for simple curiosity. That.. is the most fun science of all. So, this book (and posts), are interactive. They really hope to inspire audience participation, in the soil, at a keyboard, and even for some, behind a microscope or other instrument.