Growing Food in the Southwest Mountains - Table of Contents

Preface, by Dr. Gary Paul Nabhan
Introduction
This book is written primarily for gardeners who live in the Ponderosa pine transition zone around 7,000 feet in altitude. However, most of the information is also applicable to lower elevation Pinyon-Juniper woodlands and higher elevation Spruce-Fir forests. Ecological farming and gardening techniques suited to the Colorado Plateau and other high-altitude locations in the Southwest include ways to conserve water and heat, and shelter crops from sun, wind and local pest animals.
Chapter 1: The Future of Food in the Southwest Mountains
Chapter 2: Our Changing Southwestern Climate
Chapter 3: Permaculture Design for High Altitude Gardens
Chapter 4: Food Crops for the High Altitude Southwest
Permaculturalists are naturalists
What is a guild?
How to create a guild
Wild animals in permaculture gardens
Pollinators of the Arizona-New Mexico highlands
Sample guilds for the high-altitude Southwest
Domesticated livestock in the permaculture garden
Make your garden hospitable to insect-eating wild birds
Chapter 6: Creating Healthy Soil
Soil, society & the Southwest
Our local soils & the ideal garden loam
Soil pH in the high altitude Southwest
Macronutrients & micronutrients
Soil salinity
The soil microbiome
Creating good garden soil
Making good compost
Improving soil with fungi & growing edible mushrooms
Protecting soil
The importance of garden mulch in the Southwest
Organic fertilizers & crop rotation
Chapter 7: Water is Life
The overpopulation of the West
Water catchment & storage
Greywater reuse
Low-water-use & drought-tolerant crops
Efficient distribution of water in the garden
Prevent evapotranspiration
Chapter 8: Sheltering Your Garden from the Weather
Cold climate gardening in the Southwest
Sunlight, shade & summer heat
Protecting plants from wind
Fireproofing your permaculture garden
Hail & heavy rain
Chapter 9: “Pests” in the Permaculture Garden
Insects & other small invertebrates
Bacterial, fungal & viral diseases
Mammal & bird pests
“Weeds” in permaculture gardens
Chapter 10: The High Altitude Gardener’s Year
Winter
Growing annual vegetables & herbs in the winter
The seed & plant biodiversity crisis
Choosing hardy seeds for high altitude gardening
Spring
Indoor seed germination
Raising seedlings indoors
Outdoor planting timetables
Transplanting seedlings outdoors
Summer
Fall
Seed saving
A Southwest mountains harvest seasons calendar
Chapter 11: A Brief History of Southwestern Food Traditions
Native tribes of the Rocky Mountains
The Ancestral Puebloans & the Great Drought
The Hopi Tribe
European-American farming in the Flagstaff area
The Mormon experience in the Little Colorado River watershed
Hispanic farming in northern New Mexico & southern Colorado
Other culinary traditions from cold & semi-arid regions
Natural foods cuisine
Appendix A: Glossary of Food Crops
Appendix B: Glossary of Ingredient Substitutions
Appendix C: Resources
End notes
Acknowledgements & About the author
Index
