The Vegetable Gardener's Bible: Discover Ed's High-Yield W-O-R-D System for All North American Gardening Regions
by Edward C. Smith
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Book Summary Information
Author: Edward C. SmithEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-02-15
ISBN: 1580172121
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC
Book Reviews of The Vegetable Gardener's Bible: Discover Ed's High-Yield W-O-R-D System for All North American Gardening Regions
Book Review: Excellent reference guide!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is excellent! I found it at the bookstore while browsing for some travelling material. Needless to say, from the minute I arrived at the airport and began reading, I could hardly contain myself. Instead of going to Florida (I'm from Wisconsin) I wanted to turn the plane around and prepare my vegetable beds for winter.
I've been gardening for several years, and have had good success. I've entered many of my vegetables in the County Fair over the last 7 years and have always walked away with at least 2 blue ribbons. I've had some great harvests over the years and canned many quarts of salsa, spaghetti sauce, etc. My point is that even those that have some experience, and have been successful in the past, can definately benefit from this book.
The book is taking my gardening to the next level. Most people begin gardening like I did, till the soil and stick the plants in. You purchase seeds from Kmart or Gurnsey and hope for the best. About 1 1/2 yrs ago, we moved to the country and have been trying to become somewhat self-sufficient. I have the land to garden and I needed to know more than most of the generic flower/vege gardening books give.
The book offers excellent reference on the most popular types of vegetables from starting the seeds to harvesting. It leaves nothing to the imagination. There's several pages dedicated strickly to tomatoes, the varieties and how to grow them. My favorite part of the vegetable rference is that Mr. Smith offers his favorite most productive varieties of each vegetables with pros/cons of each. The information is very well organized and easy to quickly find once your on the the vegetable of your choice.
The book is quite detailed concerning row covers, seed starting, composting, green manures and caring for your beds. It really takes you from the casual gardener to the serious vegetable gardener. Theres a real difference between the gardener that plants 5 tomatoe plants and the gardener that plants 40 plants. The more you grow, the more you really need to know, not only for good crops, but to save yourself precious time and money, as even starting seeds can be expensive by the time you buy the seeds, soil and containers to grow them in. The idea of raised beds, with or without support boards, and permenant walkways is great. Who wants to spend all Spring tilling up your path from last year or weeding in the walkways? It's a little more work "now" but I can see it will be much LESS work in the future. And when you have a large garden like I do, with at least 4 hours of weeding, etc. per week, every little bit helps.
I bought this book looking for ways to make my time in the garden better spent, learn more about the varieties of vegetables, which varieties to try, composting, seeding starting in detail, and of course my curiosity for raised beds - this book answered all my questions.
Buy this book, you will not be disappointed!!!
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Summary of The Vegetable Gardener's Bible: Discover Ed's High-Yield W-O-R-D System for All North American Gardening Regions
Discover the last W.O.R.D. in vegetable gardening with Ed Smith's amazing gardening system. By integrating four principles -- Wide beds, Organic methods, Raised beds, and Deep beds -- Smith reinvents vegetable gardening, making it possible for everyone to have the best, most successful garden ever. By following this complete system you cultivate deep, powerful soil that nourishes plants and discourages pests and disease. The result is fewer weeds, healthier plants, and lots of great-tasting vegetables. Plus, you'll enjoy gardening as you never have before. The Vegetable Gardener's Bible -- the last W.O.R.D. in vegetable gardening.
Praise for the book:
"this book will answer all your questions as well as put you on the path to an abundant harvest. As a bonus, anecdotes and stories make this informative book fun to read." - New York Newsday
Wouldn't it be lovely to have a patch of corn, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, and beans just steps from your kitchen door? Would you like to learn how to control your zucchini plant? Ed Smith, an experienced vegetable gardener from Vermont, has put together this amazingly comprehensive and commonsensical manual, The Vegetable Gardener's Bible. Basically, Ed and his family have been growing a wide variety of vegetables for years and he's figured out what works. This book, filled with step-by-step info and color photos, breaks it all down for you.
Ed's system is based on W-O-R-D: Wide rows, Organic methods, Raised beds, Deep soil. With deep, raised beds, vegetable roots have more room to grow and expand. In traditional narrow-row beds, over half the soil is compacted into walkways while a garden with wide, deep, raised beds, plants get to use most of the soil. In Ed's plan, growing space gets about three-quarters of the garden plot and only about a quarter is used for the walkway. Ed teaches you how to create raised beds both in a larger garden or in separate planked beds. One of the most important--and most often overlooked--aspects of successful vegetable gardening is crop rotation. Leaving a crop in the same place for years can deplete nutrients in that area and makes the crop more likely to be attacked by insects. Rotate at least every two years and your vegetables will be healthier and bug-free. There's also a good section on insect and blight control.
Before choosing what to grow, go through the last third of the book, where Ed takes a look at the individual growing, harvesting, and best varieties of a large number of both common and more exotic vegetables and herbs. Whether you are a putterer or a serious gardener, The Vegetable Gardener's Bible is an excellent resource to have handy. --Dana Van Nest
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