The Climate-Wise Gardener

Ecological Approaches to Growing Abundant Food, Medicine, and Habitat

Book cover: The Climate-Wise Gardener by Jennie Cramer, with a collage of a woman in a garden, a basket of produce, and a gardener's booted foot.
Pages:288 pages
Book Art:50 to 75 color photos 15 to 20 color illustrations
Size: 7 x 10 inch
Publisher:Chelsea Green Publishing
Pub. Date: December 15, 2026
ISBN: 9781645024422

The Climate-Wise Gardener

Ecological Approaches to Growing Abundant Food, Medicine, and Habitat

Availability: Preorder

Paperback

$34.95



In The Climate-Wise Gardener, Jennie Cramer is your personal garden mentor—laying out a comprehensive guide to creating a climate-friendly, resilient, and abundant ecological garden.

For beginners and seasoned gardeners alike, The Climate-Wise Gardener offers a set of principles and practices for creating and maintaining a bountiful garden. It walks gardeners step by step through the most important techniques in ecological gardening, giving the reader the tools and knowledge to build a biodiverse landscape that is both resilient to a changing climate while also helping to slow the change itself. This practical book follows the rhythms of a garden year with comprehensive month-by-month guides on when to prune, divide, seed, plant, build soil, weed, and so on, and gives them the tools and techniques to do it in the most up-to-date, climate-wise methods.

Jennie brings her 30 years as an ecologist combined with two decades of horticultural experience to create an accessible framework and techniques to mimicking ecological patterns in the garden—designing a garden to work in accordance with nature, not against it. The Climate-Wise Gardener is as beautiful as it is educational: covering infrastructure and soil to herbs and vegetables, no-till gardening, cover crops, ornamental and edible perennials, cultivating natural areas for wildlife habitat and much more, all alongside gorgeous photography sure to inspire every reader.

The Climate-Wise Gardener is a must-have resource for anyone looking to create an abundant home garden as resilient as it is beautiful.

 

Reviews & Praise

“The Climate-Wise Gardener is exactly what every gardener needs right now. The book is timely and inspiring, covering practical guidance for shifting to ecological practices.”—Jessi Bloom, founder, NW Bloom EcoLogical Services; author of Creating Sanctuary and Practical Permaculture

“Gardening is changing—and our gardens need to change with it. Cramer offers a refreshing way of thinking about the garden as a living ecosystem rather than simply a collection of plants. Through an ecological framework grounded in practical and actionable advice, this book shows gardeners of all skill levels how to design and manage home gardens that are more resilient, regenerative, and alive.”—Summer Rayne Oakes, producer, Plant One On Me and HouseplantMasterclass.com

“This book thoughtfully challenges many of the assumptions we’ve inherited about gardening. Rather than relying on tilling, fertilizers, and frequent intervention, Jennie’s framework offers practical ecological strategies for working with nature—building healthy soil, supporting the web of life, and deepening your relationship with the landscape. Whether you’re tending a few vegetable beds or stewarding a food forest, you’ll find the foundational ideas needed to create a thriving, ecologically minded landscape. I was especially delighted by the seasonal gardening section, which serves as a trusted bedside companion to return to throughout the year. An essential roadmap for every gardener seeking a deeper connection with our beloved Mother Earth.”—Matt Lebon, host, The Foodscaper Podcast

“Whether you are a beginner gardener looking for a trusted guide or a professional landscape manager wanting to integrate the latest research and ecological approaches into your practice, this book is for you. It is well organized, including useful tables and charts, and beautifully designed with photos and illustrations. Each chapter covers unique topics and step-by-step guidelines for building a productive and beautiful landscape that requires minimal effort once established and is resilient to a changing climate. The importance of biological diversity both above- and belowground is emphasized throughout, alongside other ecological principles. While readers can refer to specific chapters as needed, the engaging and personal style of author Jennie Cramer makes the book a joy to read from cover to cover.”—David W. Wolfe, professor emeritus, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University

“Jennie’s wisdom, generosity, and joy combines skill and soul to surround us all with abundance. Bringing Jennie into the garden is bringing a friend into the garden! Hope is a verb, so roll up your sleeves and dig into a feast of knowledge to feed us all.”—Petra Page-Mann, cofounder, Fruition Seeds

“This is a comprehensive and beautifully written overview for the aspiring and experienced ecological gardener alike. It’s not often that I find a gardening book that addresses the contemporary challenges of a changing climate, including erratic temperature fluctuations and novel pests. I’ve known Jennie for nearly twenty years, and I walk past her old permaculture homestead daily; it’s still thriving and bursting with edible abundance long after she left. It’s such a blessing to see her accumulated wisdom spelled out in such a warm and intelligent narrative. The Climate-Wise Gardener will set you firmly on the good path of ecological gardening.”—Andrew Millison, founder and educator, Oregon State University’s permaculture design program
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About Jennie Cramer

Jennie Cramer has worked in the field of botanical and horticultural education for over 20 years. With a BS in Natural Resources from Cornell University and an MS from the University of Vermont’s famous Field Naturalist Program, Jennie shares her passion for all things botanical with students from ages 3 to 93. After a first career in ecological restoration and endangered species plant conservation biology with non-profit organizations including Ecology Project International, the Nature Conservancy, and the Oregon State University Small Farms Program, she was the first Director of Ecological Education at the Institute for Applied Ecology.   Jennie has worked on organic and biodynamic farms in both the Northeast and Northwest. She has become known as a leader in ecological gardening techniques through her work as Horticulture Program Manager for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County and an educator at Cornell Garden-Based Learning, where she taught gardening to thousands of students and trained Master Gardener Volunteers.  There are 2,000 Master Gardener volunteers in New York State, and Jennie knows most of them.  She launched her ecological gardening education program Garden Rhythms (www.gardenrhythms.com) in April 2023. She has received excellent press in interviews as an expert in climate-wise gardening for articles on Martha Stewart’s website and Better Homes and Gardens.

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