The Autopilot Garden: MIGardener's Guide to Hands-off Gardening Kindle Edition

i absolutely love Luke Marion and his Youtube channel, and I've purchased seeds from him as well. I was incredibly excited about this book, but I'm sad to report that while the format and the photography is absolutely beautiful, I was left wanting on information in this book. I could see this being a great reference to those who have no garden experience at all (and I applaud him for making this accessible to everyone), but for anyone that has any gardening experience there is no specific instructions that are helpful or unique, especially if you've watched his channel for long. I feel like i get more helpful information in his videos than this book. I love the autopilot method that he teaches in his videos, but the book i find to be too general to be worth purchasing if you have any experience at all or follow his channel.

Last spring (2018), my wife threw a bunch of seed packets at me and said, "Here, now grow me some veggies!" Though my grandfather was a farmer, and my parents had kept a backyard garden for years, I was nevertheless a complete novice. Fortunately, we live in the information age and I promptly consulted the all knowing oracle (Google/YouTube) for advice. Almost immediately, I happened upon the MIgardener YouTube channel with Luke Marion. I literally watched (nigh unhealthy) hours upon hours of his videos. People in my neighborhood who had been gardening for years were astonished at my newfound knowledge. However, my first Utah mountain garden (5,000 feet above sea level) largely failed. I started most everything too late in the season. I planted my corn in partially composted wood chips > FAIL. The tomatoes were doing well, till the deer ate them all. Add to this my "moon dust" mountain soil, which is solid clay, alkaline, entirely devoid of nutrients, and bakes to cement in the sun.The problem with watching random videos on the MIgardener channel is the lack of key fundamental information at the beginning, and timing is everything. Enter "The Autopilot Garden...". I bought this Kindle book yesterday, and I've already read the whole thing. It was full of all those key fundamentals that had riddled my knowledge with gaps. It is solid gardening matter, devoid of useless fluff. It addresses all of my previous failures in 5 condensed chapters, and overcomes all of my nearly insurmountable geographical challenges. It also added some important information that I was completely unaware of (re-mineralization). Luke has studied various general gardening methods and explains that core gardening takes the best features of each method. He provides all the detail necessary to build your own core garden, and how to maintain it for as long as you care to. Add some quick tips scattered throughout, and that's the book.This is a general guide to start a garden and the reasons why these methods are superior, and contains little more. It doesn't teach you all of the nuances of growing this or that fruit, vegetable, or tree. It doesn't add ANYTHING beyond the primary purpose. If you want more information about a particular plant, there's an excellent chance that Luke has already recorded a fully loaded video about it on YouTube. If he hasn't, then ask him to, and he just might do it! He has done this for several people in the past.In summary, Luke Marion is passionate about gardening, his knowledge is vast, and this book is a dense guide to get you on the right path. He has proved the validity of his methods over many years of implementation. I dare say that even experienced gardeners would greatly benefit from this little gem. Last summer I fenced off a 25' x 50' space for raised beds. I brought in a truckload of fertile topsoil, one of woody mulch, and one of horse manure that a neighbor gladly gave me. I filled 20 large garbage bags with my brother-in-law's leaves (since I presently have precious few) last fall. All that remains is to build those raised beds themselves and fill them with a combination of everything, according to Luke's instructions, and plant my first successful garden this spring! I fully anticipate becoming the envy of the neighborhood at the harvest, and teaching my neighbors everything that Luke has taught me, as they will no doubt ask. I will post updates as I put these written concepts into practice. Finally, YES, you should buy this book!

The book is definitely pretty, but I’ve watched a lot of MIGardener YouTube videos, and I was kinda disappointed. I would have liked more info. Maybe some garden plans, for example. Maybe lists of vegetables with planting instructions. Anyway, if you’re a beginner, this is somewhat useful. If you’ve watched the YouTube videos, don’t waste your money. Order their seeds instead!

I am a follower of MI Gardener on YouTube and was excited to hear that there was a book in the works. When it came out I was one of the first to order mine. My review is that it's an easy read - it took just a coupleof hours. It's a good basic book but, having long since passed 'basic' in my gardening experience, I felt the book was not oriented toward me as the intended audience. Still it is a good basic book. Highly recommend it.

I love the MIGardener! Luke is great! Love his YouTube channel and this book is going in my collection of gardening books. Great pictures and easy to read. Nice to read over a cup of coffee on my balcony.

My book came today and I just finished it- I intended to do some quick bedtime reading but I couldn’t put it down! Great Job, Luke, I’m so excited for the spring!!’

Informative, easy to read and understand, step by step instructions and a great help for those who are beginners like myself.It is probably the only gardening book that I will read from cover to cover. I love Luke's you tube channel and his passion and love for gardening. It is contagious.I would recommend this book.

This book was very well thought out. Luke explains how to grow vegetables in a way that is easy to understand and easy to do. I like how he's laid out the pages, with some wonderful pictures thrown in. I've been a gardener for over 40 years. I didn't really think I'd learn anything new by buying this book, but I have watched Luke's YouTube channel (MIGardener) and enjoy his passion for gardening. Well, I was wrong. I have learned some very beneficial things that I cannot wait to put into practice. Overall, this book has great information that will work for everyone. no matter what your experience level in gardening is.

Love this book. Following on YouTube and the book is a nice summary to the videos. It is nice to learn more about Luke as well.