Amazon.com
Burpee has created a truly encyclopedic, but non-intimidating, guide to organic vegetable gardening that can be used and appreciated by anyone, whether or not they've ever stuck a seed in the ground. All the essential information is here--how to condition the soil, how and where to plant, sprouting schedules, what kind of yield to expect from each plant variety, and harvesting tips--in beautiful, bountiful, illustrated detail; the book's largest section, "Plant Portraits," contains explanations of the many cultivars of each vegetable and herb. If you're a novice vegetable gardener or new to organic gardening and can only afford one gardening guide, this may be your best value.
Book Description
A Backyard-Gardener's Guide to Growing a Bountiful, Great-Tasting Harvest
The Complete Vegetable & Herb Gardener features:
- A full-color encyclopedia of over 100 vegetables and herbs with detailed, expert advice on growing them successfully from planting to harvest
- Planting and growing techniques that keep maintenance to a minimum
- Entries on how to grow unusual edibles, such as refreshing mesclun for salads, colorful edible flowers, spicy mustards, and more
- Descriptions and photos of a host of succulent vegetables, both hybrids and heirlooms, from common to exotic
- Complete information on improving even the poorest garden soil using safe, organic techniques, plus practical advice on making compost
- Recommendations on garden tools you need-and those you don't
- Information on controlling pests and diseases organically, without resorting to poisonous sprays
- Spectacular full-color photographs of vegetables and herbs, food gardens, and edible landscapes, plus 30 black-and-white line drawings
Customer Reviews:
Great overview book.......2007-06-09
This book is great if you're a beginner gardener, and want just one book to sit down and read that covers all aspects of gardening. You'll want to go on an buy other books that go into more detail on specific topics, but this is a great place to start, and one to keep on the shelf.
It is presented as a gardening book should be - a large hardcover with lots of glossy colour photographs.
Chapters are:
1) Growing you own
2) Getting Started
3) Garden Tools & Equipment
4) Improving the soil
5) Laying out the Garden
6) Planting the Garden
7) Caring for the Garden
8) Coping with Garden Problems
Should be called the Coffee Table Encyclopedia of Gardening.......2007-03-10
I am so impressed with this big, beautiful book! The photos are inspiring, and the technical aspects are thoroughly covered. I love the historic background of each vegetable and herb.
I think there is literally everything I ever needed to know about vegetable gardening from seed germination, through care and feeding, to harvest. Detailed charts outline fertilizer, pests, water, soil conditions, and planting and harvest times.
I keep it on my coffee table and flip through it daily just to enjoy the photos and learn some new fact.
You will not be disappointed with this book!
Gardners Dictionary.......2006-10-31
I am a new gardener and this book has helped so much! I look everything up in it. RIght down to problems with plant to how much water each plant gets. It has a guide to all plants and great pictures. Also has tips for gardening.
Well Organized, Comprehensive, Excellent Layout.......2002-08-14
Burpee's "The Complete Vegetable and Herb Gardener: A Guide to Growing Your Garden Organically" is fantastic. In addition to what Burpee lists on the back cover of what is inside the book, there are also many easy-reading tables that contain excellent information such as the vitamin(s) that each vegetable contains, different cultivars, plant PH needs, watering needs per week, crop yields, etc. Many interesting tidbits.
The layout is so wonderful, one does not feel overwhelmed with all of the information that is in the book!
Vegatable Gardening Made Really Easy.......2001-11-02
Very similar in content and structure to Ortho's Complete Guide to Vegtables. The difference comes in the experience the writer has growing and maitaining the various plants. I find using both books gives different perspectives for growing and caretaking of plants but conatins the same basic information. For instance the Ortho book has better Garden Setup and maintenance data, and raw data on the various gardening aspects like fertilizer and pest eradiction. The Burpee book focuses on plant and cultivar details a little better. The book is filled with plenty high quality pictures of plants and their fruits using multiple pictures of various cultivars within plant families.
The book is geared for both beginners in gardening and the handy do it yourselfer types. Chapters progress you through the steps from site selection and plant selection to harvesting, crop rotating and soil conditioning over winter and indoor greenhouse seed starting. The book also contains references to various cultivars within vegtable species, so a beginner gardener could not only successfully select and grow well know vegtables, but could also grow and use the odd often hard to find fresh herbs.
I consistently flip between both this book and Ortho's book. I find using them in this manner makes the information extracted complimentary and thorough.
Customer Reviews:
good starter book.......2007-06-17
This book does give you a lot of basic information. However, "Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms" would probably be a better choice if you intend on trying to grow mushrooms.
Just What I Was Looking For !.......2007-05-19
Im very new to cultivating mushrooms at home. I tried many different approaches and information found on the web about the subject, but had many dissapointments. After I read this book I am now aware of the many bad turns you can take that will drive you mad. Now I am very happy, everything is going onroad, thanks to Paul Stamets and his knowledge. This book is a MUST buy for anyone interested in growing mushrooms in small or big scale.
"The Bible".......2007-03-12
Wow... I Am Very Impressed By The Content Of This Book... Very Comprehensive... Everything You Need To Know About Mushroom Cultivation Is There; Home Or Commercial... It's No Wonder Why They Call It "The Bible."
Mushroom Cultivator.......2007-01-12
I was very pleased with the prompt service and timely delivery. I received the book ahead of time to present as a gift. Thank you
A Classic for Mushroom Cultivation.......2006-07-31
If you were to buy only one book on mushroom cultivation, this would be the best choice. It can certainly stand-alone in that it provides all the info the reader needs to cultivate mushrooms. Although psilocybian mushrooms are included these are by no means the exclusive or main focus of this book. For the most part, the book is concerned with legal edible mushrooms that can be grown in the home or yard. Absolute beginners can certainly start with this book and no other book will be necessary to provide all that the reader needs to know from beginning to end of the mushroom growing process.
It must be mentioned that this book does not cover the popular "PF tek" (the "Psilocybe Fanaticus technique" also known as the "jar tek"), the simple technique utilizing canning jars full of substrate and inoculating them with syringes of spores suspended in water. Readers interested in this technique (which, after all seems the easiest and most practical) would find all they need to know on this technique at the Shroomery.org web site and others like it. This book was originally published in 1983, years before the "PF tek" was innovated.
Among the technique that this book does cover are the use of agar petri dish culture, culture slants, casing, grain spawn, composting, log-plugging and more. There is also a wealth of info on mushroom contaminants - how to spot them and how to deal with them. Therefore we can say that while this book does not cover the most simple of techniques, it certainly covers all other techniques suitable for absolute beginners and for those looking to expand their hobby beyond the beginners' methods.
The authors are obviously sincerely interested in mushrooms in general and in the cultivation of edible mushrooms. The info on these edible mushrooms is not included as an excuse to also include info on the cultivation of psylocybian mushrooms, nor are psilocybian mushrooms cryptically referred to. Rather, psilocybian mushrooms are merely presented as one of many types of mushrooms that can be grown with simple techniques at home. This is by no means a drug manufacturing guidebook disguised as a book on edible mushroom cultivation nor is it one that distances itself from the cultivation of psilocybian mushrooms.
If the reader is interested in the cultivation of mushrooms at home, this book gets a high recommendation. These two authors have also written Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms which is similar in scope but probably a better second choice rather than first choice for this topic. Paul Stamets has also authored Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World, Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World: An Identification Guide, MycoMedicinals: an Informational Treatise of Mushrooms, Psilocybe Mushrooms and Their Allies and also runs the company Fungi Perfecti which offers kits for growing mushrooms at home, a variety of mushroom related books, technical supplies and which also offers educational seminars.
If you want to grow mushrooms at home and the "PF - Tek" is good enough for you, this book would be unnecessary for you. If you have got the hang of the "PF - Tek" but you are interested in trying other techniques and approaches this book is highly recommended for you.
Book Description
For the home wine-maker ready to . . . begin turning out consistently professional-quality wines, this book contains about all the information one is likely to need.-- Ruralite Country Bookshelf.
Customer Reviews:
Complete resource.......2007-05-26
We wanted a resource for the wine process from growth to the glass.
Everything you need is in here.
Almost perfect.......2007-01-18
This book tells you everything about growing grapes and producing fine wine. It even deals with the choice of grape-varieties suited for your climate. It is almost perfect. I think many Europeans will read this book, and it would have been perfect if it included the Meditteranean countries in the tables of climate-zones and selection of suitable varieties. It is very difficult to find this (about Europe) on the internet. But a great and very useful book.
From Vines to Wines, a very accurate title........2006-11-03
This is a very informative book, I can not wait to start my own wine grape vine.
Easy reading.......2006-11-03
I purchased this book for my 12 yr.old grandson. We have found the illustrations and explainations to be very clear and easy to follow. The book also has extensive useful information to help the beginner as he grows in knowledge,
Great Book. Quick Shipment. Greaat seller........2006-08-30
The book was delivered in a timely manner, well packaged. Would buy from this seller again.
Book Description
The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.
Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. Gardening When It Counts helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.
Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies - working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.
Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series
Customer Reviews:
Gardening When it Counts.......2007-09-24
This book is an exciting addition to books on vegetable growing- so much so, that many
others become unnecessary. The author covers in detail everything about the art- from seed buying,
his own complete organic fertilizer recipe, preparing the soil, simple tools, planting and watering etc
His long experience and total integrity and commitment shine through and make it a must for those
wanting to seriously feed themselves.
Mostly good - with attitude.......2007-09-14
This book was highly recommended to me and I bought it hoping to learn some techniques to help in growing food plants and vegetables for our home use. Since the author lives in a very distinct growing area, if I lived in a maritime New Zealand area it would probably be a perfect book. Many of his techniques would only work in his specific climate and for a full time gardener, which I am not. Sigh. The section on growing and storing each individual type of food is excellent if you can adapt it to your own climate. I was not too happy with the preachy, arrogant, "Everyone else is an idiot and only I know how to do it right" attitude which extends the lenght of the book by quite a bit. Overlooking that, there are a few helpful tidbits but there are other books that I think are more helpful.
best garden guide i've found.......2007-08-15
after looking through a lot of gardening books, i can confidently say that this book provides the best basis of knowledge for starting a garden. My garden is in only its first year, but with the info in this book, I'm already making money selling organic produce through two different coops.
Great for first time gardeners.......2007-05-10
I will be starting my first garden this summer and this was the first book on gardening I read. It makes for a great introduction. Solomon goes into detail about how plants grow and what they need from the gardener. He has a good formula for Organic Fertilizer. He has a good list of what tools you need and what to look for when buying them. He has a great section is the back of the book that goes vegetable by vegetable and explains how to grow and harvest them. He also has a great bibliography in the back that points you to a lot of additional reading.[...]
Great hands-on resource.......2007-03-25
I have a whole shelf of vegetable gardening books, but I turn to this one again and again. Solomon gives clear information on tools, making garden beds, mixing up your own fertilizer (this alone is worth the price of the book), selecting seeds, storing them (another great section), and growing individual crops.
I especially appreciate his perspective as an ex-seedsman, as well as his discussion on different types of brassicas (cabbage, kale, broccoli, and the like) and onions. I had no idea what the difference between long-day and short-day onions were until I read this book. While I garden intensively, I find his discussion on the differences between the intensive method (John Jeavons, Square Foot Gardening, and the like), and the row method.
This book is worth reading and rereading.
Book Description
For every gardener desiring to add apples, pears, cherries, and other tree fruit to their landscape here are hints and solid information from a professional horticulturist and experienced fruit grower. The Backyard Orchardist includes help on selecting the best fruit trees and information about each stage of growth and development, along with tips on harvest and storage of the fruit. Those with limited space will learn about growing dwarf fruit trees in containers.
Appendices include a fruit-growers monthly calendar, a trouble-shooting guide for reviving ailing trees, and a resource list of nurseries selling fruit trees.
Customer Reviews:
Everything I need to know.......2007-08-23
After killing a peach tree and three cherry trees, I decided I better try to find out what I did wrong.
This book is pointing the error of my ways. It has all I need to know.
The Backyard Orchardist: A Complete guide to Growing Fruit Trees in the Home Garden.......2007-05-12
Great! This book contains essential common sense information for growing fruit trees in a easy to read format.
Growing fruit trees.......2007-04-05
This book exceeded our expectations. We highly recommend it for anyone who wants to grow fruit for their own consumption. Other books we've tried to read were much too technical and always intended for commercial growers. Stella Otto's book is clear, concise, and chock-full of information. We loved it and feel confident we will now be able to better tend our 10 fruit trees.
Read it, but a word of caution........2007-01-01
This book is a great place to get started, and to finish if you live in USDA climate zones 8, 7, 6, ..., 1. But those of us who live in "low chill" winters, and low-heat summers: southern california, mid-to-southern florida, coastal climates with marine layers -- you need to digest this book and read further about what works in your area.
Very Informative.......2006-08-20
I found this book very informative and comprehensive in answering my questions and concerns with my trees and how to care for and protect them. I highly recommend reading this book to others who have equal concerns and interest in the care of fruit trees.
Book Description
Here--in full color--is the new standard for vegetable gardening in the twenty-first century.
Chris Bird does all his vegetable gardening in thickly planted raised beds, framed in 2 X 12 lumber and filled with custom-blended soil. The results are both eye- and mouth-opening. Moreover, his method requires so little work that you'll feel guilty when you try it. Cubed Foot Gardening shows how to build these simple, inexpensive beds and how to grow the most popular vegetables in them, using innovative tricks and techniques that would not be possible to employ in a conventional garden. It explains the author's revolutionary methods for growing sweet corn as well as white asparagus, and tells how cubed foot gardening has helped him to win giant tomato contests every year.
Most of us still garden the way our grandparents did, a habit that goes back to our farm heritage. But if vegetable gardening were being discovered today for the first time, the rules would be quite different. We would all be cubed-foot gardeners.
Customer Reviews:
Cubed Foot Gardening.......2007-09-06
This item was perfect, exactly what I was looking for to assist me with a new style of gardening. The book arrived looking brand new, not a scratch on it and with 5 days. Thank you this has been a rewarding experence.
A Good Gardening Book..........2007-05-28
If you're into vegetable gardening then "Cubed Foot Gardening" is a good book to invest in. Bird gives good, practical advice on getting started, climate needs, where to put your garden, etc. He doe not tell anyone not to use organic, stating that it is the gardener's choice. On pg. 174 he states that the gardener should, "Try organic methods of insecticide first...", then "Spray chemical insecticides if necessary, on a limited basis..." This seems to contradict other posters who have been emphatic that he is "anti-organic". Maybe they didn't read the whole book. The vegetable guide on pg. 44-45 is very good. Overall this is an easy to read, very manageable to apply work.
A great place to start..........2007-04-19
If you're considering raised bed gardening, this book is a good place to begin planning. The info on building your containers and creating the proper soil are very informative.
Highly Practical.......2007-01-05
I purchased this book to replace a copy that I purchased earlier and "loaned" to someone. The author's method is highly practical and straightforward. I would have liked the author to consider and explain other options and let me make some choices. He seems to be a strong advocate mainly for his chosen techniques.
worst gardening book I ever read.......2006-07-06
There is nothing new in this 'method'. If you have read Square Foot Gardening you have read everything worth reading in this book.
The only thing 'unique' is that the method uses 2x12 lumber. That's it.
That makes the book worthless, but what puts it into negative value territory is the bad information and rudely stated personal biases.
The author clearly despises organic methods as he briefly discusses how ineffective organic methods are every few pages.
He frequently makes odd sounding claims and prefaces them with something like 'While I have no scientific evidence to support this...' and then apparently thinks his claims will be accepted based upon his having written a book.
His stated preference is for 2x12 lumber in bed construction, which is fine, but then he spends time explaining why arsenic treated wood is the best choice. He comes over like those who wish to stay away from unnecessary exposure to strongly toxic substances in their veggy garden are sissies. His statement was that he is the kind of guy who still 'eats his beef medium rare'. Neat?
He refers to anyone who disagrees with his apparent love affair with toxins as an 'organic purist' (these are BAD people).
He suggested, but didn't harp on, adopting the practice of spraying everything with a broad spectrum insecticide (needed or not) *every 2 weeks* and then went on to tell how extensively he has researched and the chemicals are perfectly safe to eat.
I honestly don't think I have ever read a gardening book this bad. I have read plenty that really didn't convey anything that I hadn't read in someone else's book, but this book not only doesn't cover anything new or unique, but it spends a lot of time praising chemicals and insulting organic gardeners. It even insults gardeners who don't consider themselves organic, but like to stay away from *icides in the veggy garden as much as possible.
To sum up the differences between Cubed Foot Gardening and most any other raised bed, intensive gardening book:
1. Pesticides are good. Use them regularly.
2. 2x12 lumber is better than anything else to make beds with. Untreated is cheap, but pressure treated is better better and 'scientists are unanimous that it is perfectly safe' (yeah, right) and cedar costs $250 for a small bed kit from Gardeners Supply (yes, he bases his 'too expensive' statement on what a kit made of cedar costs from Gardener's Supply Co).
3. Organics is bad. Skip to the good stuff.
4. Soil mix is 1 part sand, 2 parts topsoil (no definition of what topsoil means to him) and 1 part humus.
5. Spacing is different. He allows more space for many plants than Sq Ft Gardening.
That is the full extent of this book's 'contribution' to gardening.
Book Description
Produced in association with the Royal Horticultural Society, the titles in this series have become standard works of practical gardening reference. Each book is illustrated with easy-to-follow, step-by-step illustrations that clearly guide the reader through all the essential techniques of successful gardening. This manual supplies information on growing conventional and more exotic fruits, from soft, tree, and warm temperate fruits to nuts and currants.
Customer Reviews:
On time and good book.......2007-04-10
This is an informative book without being boring. Lots of diagrams. The book is laid out well and it's easy to find the information.
Detailed and lucid.......2006-08-03
I have an extensive home orchard with 56 trees (18 varietals) of fruit and nut trees. This little volume covered everything I needed in a short, erudite and amazingly well-detailed volume. I live in the Southeastern US and this book was spot on everything from blueberries to stone fruits and pears and apples, (not to mention Walnuts and Filberts). It covers everything from soil preparation, pruning, fertilization, pests and diseases, propagation, healing-in, ad infinitum. I have nearly every book available on fruit and nut production for the home orchard. This is the best one I own by leaps and bounds.
Book Description
Seed to Seed is a complete seed-saving guide that describes specific techniques for saving the seeds of 160 different vegetables. This book contains detailed information about each vegetable, including its botanical classification, flower structure and means of pollination, required population size, isolation distance, techniques for caging or hand-pollination, and also the proper methods for harvesting, drying, cleaning, and storing the seeds. Seed to Seed is widely acknowledged as the best guide available for home gardeners to learn effective ways to produce and store seeds on a small scale. The author has grown seed crops of every vegetable featured in the book, and has thoroughly researched and tested all of the techniques she recommends for the home garden. This newly updated and greatly expanded Second Edition includes additional information about how to start each vegetable from seed, which has turned the book into a complete growing guide. Local knowledge about seed starting techniques for each vegetable has been shared by expert gardeners from seven regions of the United States-Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast/Gulf Coast, Midwest, Southwest, Central West Coast, and Northwest.
Customer Reviews:
Complex Reference Tool.......2007-09-04
I found this book to be very interesting, I found myself wishing that I could talk to the auther about her experiences in growing. I think an in depth description of each growing stage would be helpful but would make the book way too long....But isn't that what a reference tool should be?
A good guide for the job.......2007-08-16
I think Ashworth has made a splendid job with this book, especially as there are none like it on the market. There`s a lot of good solid info, and everything you need to save seeds from a vegetable variety is easily found. All in all pretty much as good of a reference book as you can wish for.
A minor thing that irritates me, is that when after every vegetable some regional experts give their advice on growing the vegetable at hand, I get the feeling that even if they have not even tried some plants, they give the advice "They can`t be grown in this climate". I myself am from Finland, and I still grow some of the vegetables they mention every season here!
Great for seed saving and unusual vegetable reference.......2007-08-10
It's wonderfully complete for seed saving. I've saved my own carrot seeds now! And the squash from last years saved seeds looks just like it should. This book covers all the techniques, issues and risks although I think it's very much geared towards multi-generation saving of entirely pure seed - you don't need to be quite so careful on the isolation if you just want to grow one generation of kale for your own use (mine came out okay in spite of only minor control of nearby brassicas), and saving seed with only two chard plants, not enough genetic diversity to preserve a variety for long, can by themselves produce enough seed so you'll eat chard every day for 5 years.
It's also a great reference for unusual vegetables, it's amazingly complete; you can find out about 4-sided bean or other tropical type vegetables. And it sorts out the different squash and pepper species very well.
The gardening information in each section hasn't impressed me much as useful or accurate; but we are in-between the zones they provide.
Worth having for the details........2007-05-12
If I remember correctly this was a bit pricey for the amount of information it contains, but then again it goes to a good cause I believe...I hope seed savers. Anyway, it gives some real particulars like varieties and growing region that I found very helpful. Even a tip about saving tomato seeds I never knew after 38 years of gardening. It explained my low germination rate! If you are going to save seed from year to year it is a must have.
Save those non-hybrid seeds.......2007-01-08
This is an advanced gardening book for the gardener who want to save seeds from non-hybrid plants. The book covers well over a hundred types of plants. However, some plants are not included for some reason. Overall, it is an excellent resource for gardeners.
Book Description
What will keep believers growing in fruitfulness in their walk with God? Elizabeth George, author of A Woman After God’s Own Heart, beautifully and practically leads readers to a deeper understanding of what it means to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in their lives.
With a fresh look at “those gracious habits which the Holy Spirit produces in the Christian,” Liz helps readers discover—
- the attitudes of love, joy, and peace
- the actions of patience, kindness, and goodness
- the disciplines of faithfulness, gentleness, and self–control
The author’s warm, personal style easily lends itself to small group study. A 13–week study guide is included. This book was formerly titled God’s Garden of Grace.
Customer Reviews:
A Woman's Walk with God.......2005-09-26
I love Elizabeth George as an author. She is very practical and easy to read and understand. She sticks to Scripture in her book and she encourages her readers to do the same. I would highly recommend this book and any of her other books to use in women's groups or just for personal pleasure.
Growing in the Fruit of the Spirit Book review.......2005-09-07
This has been a very insightful book not only telling us what the Fruit of the Spirit is but how to apply it to everyday living. Elizabeth George is a treasure!!
Cultivates growth in your relationship with God!.......2002-11-19
This book is an exact copy of her book entitled "God's Garden of Grace" (which is now out of print) only with a new title and cover! This book focuses on the fruits of the Spirit and how to live them out in our daily lives. The study guide in the back helps you dig deeper into the study! Very helpful!
Inspiring!!.......2001-07-16
This is the first Elizabeth George book I have read and I can't wait to read her other works! Beautifully written and inspiring. A great study guide for help in living out the fruits of the spirit on a daily basis. Guide to becoming a kinder, more gentle, loving woman while accually recognizing the strength in these virtues rather than the weakness our society leads us to believe a serving attitude shows. I loved this book!!
Best Ever.......2001-03-05
All of Elizabeth George's books are a "must read" but this is her best yet! This book is changing my life on a minute to minute basis as I choose to let the fruits of the spirit answer for me as oppossed to my flesh.
Book Description
Did you know that if you can't smell a strawberry, it won't have any taste? That lemon thyme is as effective a mosquito repellent as DEET? That corn with kernels in the straightest lines will taste the best? Do you know which vegetables should never go in the refrigerator? And which freeze beautifully? All of these questions-and many more-are answered in this indispensable guide to vegetables and fruits, whether you shop for them in a farmers' market, buy them in a supermarket, or grow them in your own kitchen garden.
Organized alphabetically from artichoke to zucchini, the main section of the book provides detailed information on how to grow, harvest, select, and store each type of produce, accompanied by magnificent full-page photographs made especially for this book. Also featured are sections on kitchen garden basics, hardware, and the cycle of life (which covers such topics as starting seeds, nurturing, and harvesting). A wonderful combination of beauty and practical advice, this glorious book is essential for anyone who buys produce or owns a kitchen garden. AUTHOR BIO: Mike McGrath, former editor-in-chief of Organic Gardening magazine, has his own program, "You Bet Your Garden," on National Public Radio. He lives in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Gordon Smith's photographs can be found in museums and private collections throughout the world.
Customer Reviews:
My new favorite veggie picture book.......2005-08-30
There is a place in my home for a coffee table book about gardening. It's on the coffee table, where it can be admired and browsed by family and visitors, or maybe just by me when I am in the mood to look at gorgeous pictures of garden produce and dream about next year's crop.
This book is obviously geared to the rank novice gardener (And where, I ask you, does it claim otherwise?). I am unlikely to use Kitchen Garden A to Z as a reference because I am an intermediate level home gardener who has managed to grow every category of vegetable and herb mentioned in this book. If I were a beginner, however, I would find this book to be indispensable for my starting information and pure inspiration to get going. It would be easy to find whatever I was looking for with the oversized page titles laid out A to Z, on the side edge, graphic-stylish. I would also be awed at the lovely diversity of tomatoes, melons, squash, etc. which I almost never see in my grocery store. The pictures are impeccable and artistically shot, and they feature several varieties and stages of growth for each crop being examined on the spread. The information is short and useful, but doesn't go into much detail; for instance, in the Pumpkin spread under "harvest" it simply says to leave the handle on, cut when the fruit is mature and let cure in the sun for a week. Nothing about thumbnail testing the shell first or whether it should cure on the ground or somewhere else, and if it can be left on the vine for awhile or not. Oh well, most people will do okay with this so I suppose one shouldn't get too picky about short text.
I am grateful that in the first section (which takes up nearly half the book) there is more explanation about how to garden generally and an emphasis on how to do it organically. A first-timer would have been thoroughly primed on how to lay out their garden depending on available sun and how much they could realistically handle. It also shows superb examples of beautiful and clever vegetable gardens above and beyond typical row-style. Beginners will be able to start out right after reading this book and they will have every chance of productive and satisfying crops.
But I still like it mainly for the pictures:).
-Andrea, aka Merribelle
A mouth-watering sight for any Veggie.......2004-11-28
This book gets the end spot in my kitchen cookbook shelf, just to show off the great cover photograph. For a veggie like me, it's a taste of heaven. I love the photographs, not just because the vegetables are all so wonderfully ripe and luscious looking, but because Smith has shot them in such an inventive way. I wish I could visit his produce market! The text is a bit lite, but that's not what I bought the book for. This is a coffee table book that will hold its own with any collection of dazzling images.
Kitchen Garden A to Z.......2004-11-15
As a home gardener and artist, I am delighted and inspired by Kitchen Garden A to Z, which is filled with easy to access "how-to" information and beautiful illustrations. Having heard Mike McGrath on public radio, I find his down-to-earth enthusiasm and knowledge about organic gardening as welcoming as ever. He's written a great reference book that's clear, practical and to-the-point. He doesn't read like an encyclopedia or a scientific journal, but rather, he sounds like the gardener next door who's been there, done that, and wants you to succeed. The wisdom of his experience shows. Of course, the vegetables in the beautiful photographs are a feast for the eyes - something to see now, and (hopefully) grow later.
I think there is certainly something in the book for gardeners of every age and skill level. My sister, who has a lot of vegetable-loving animals in her yard, found an answer to her prayers in the section on container gardening. The information on how to prevent "damping off" and leggy seedlings has given me the courage to start planting from seed again. And when I showed the book to my 87-year old mother, who knows her way around the kitchen, she wanted a copy of the "Storage Basics at a Glance" summery page for her very own.
The book has been wonderful gift. You may discover, as I have, that Kitchen Garden A to Z works beautifully both on the coffee table and the back porch.
Maybe a nice photo book for a beginning gardner.......2004-11-14
An oversized volume that is well organized and has beautiful pictures; unfortunately, what it has for visual impact it sorely lacks in useful detail. The primary purpose for my purchasing the book were harvesting and storage options of vegatables. However for each plant covered, at best a sentence or two is offered. Best example of where it failed me - for carrots it offers 2 choices; refrigeration or long term storage buried in sand. No comment on canning, freezing, drying, etc -- and who in suburbia is going to have a box o' sand?
Other topics, garden design, tools, mulching are all treated on the same "high level" aspect. Its like reading a collection of highlights to chapters that somehow never made it to the printers.
While it might be useful for someone whose never worked in a garden before, or perhaps a child who is interested in learning about gardening, on the whole its little more than a well organized collection of interesting tidbits of knowledge. Its not worth the $45.00 cover charge in either case.
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- Entomology and Pest Management (5th Edition)
- Entomology and Pest Management (5th Edition)
- Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach
- Fan Handbook: Selection, Application, and Design
Books Index
Books Home
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General
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control: A Complete Problem-Solving Guide to Keeping Your Garden and Yard Healthy Without Chemicals
The Vegetable Gardener's Bible: Discover Ed's High-Yield W-O-R-D System for All North American Gardening Regions
Vegetable Gardening: From Planting to Picking - The Complete Guide to Creating a Bountiful Garden
Great Garden Companions: A Companion-Planting System for a Beautiful, Chemical-Free Vegetable Garden
Your Backyard Herb Garden: A Gardener's Guide to Growing Over 50 Herbs Plus How to Use Them in Cooking, Crafts, Companion Planting and More
