Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #626494 in Books
• Published on: 1999-10-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 704 pages

Review
"Gardens are places to renew yourself in mind and body, to reawaken to the truth and beauty of the natural world, and to feel the life force inside and around you. And the organic way to garden is safer, cheaper, and more satisfying. Organic gardeners have shown that it's possible to have pleasant and productive gardens in every part of this country without using toxic chemicals. They make their home grounds an island of purity."--Robert Rodale

Synopsis
Features over four hundred entries covering all aspects of organic gardening and includes step-by-step gardening techniques.

Customer Reviews

Excellent value for gardening library
An excellent overview of soil, plants, and pest and disease control. Some entries (such as peppers or mushrooms) are terse or absent, but a more definative guide would be ten volumes this size and unaffordable. Other entries [such as cane/bramble fruits and asparagus] are so well illustrated that I intend to jump into them next season, possibly without even seeking further texts. I purchased my copy straight from Rodale - without the discount from Amazon - so your copy will hold even greater value. :} It does seem geared more towards cooler climates, but since I get the benifit of a longer growing season, I can give the Zone 4 folk the textual bias!

One of my favorite year-round gardening reference guides.
"The organization of this book reflects the way you garden," says this encyclopedia's introduction, under the sub-heading "How to Use This Book". "We've grouped information into useful, complete entries that will provide all you need to know about a particular topic, rather than spreading out facts in thousands of short entries." A simple statement, it is not fully appreciated until you go searching for something in this book and find what you're looking for in a matter of seconds. Since topics are arranged alphabetically, if you can spell it, you can find it. Want to know how and when (among other things) to plant your corn? You'll find it between Coreopsis and Cornus. Need help with organic pest management? Look for it after Organic Matter.

The editors feel that 26 of the entries form the core of this extensive resource and can be divided into four categories: Gardening Technique, Organic Garden Management, Food Crops and Ornamental Plants. For a beginner such as myself, I found these fundamentals extremely helpful in outlining the basics of gardening. I was easily able to apply the knowledge gained in these fundamentals to particular entries, such as roses or radishes.

Sidebars offered with many of the entries spark ideas that the average gardener may not already be taking advantage of. For example, when I was reading the Bean topic, I found an interesting inset on growing fresh sprouts right in your kitchen. And under Herbs are several helpful side entries including herbs commonly used as home health remedies.

Illustrated for clarity in all the right places, this book is sure to become one of my favorite year-round reference guides.

Inferior to the Classic
This is a good book for the small gardener. It does have a lot of information but at the same time it is lacking. The old classic of mine is worn with years of consulting. I was excited to get the new one but was really disappointed. I live far South and the new book seems to be written almost exclusivly for cooler climes. There is no information on the exotics fruits as was previously included. Many seemingly essential topics are also missing. The old had loads of practical pointers and had the ring of experience. The new reads like a vague tech manual. A good book for the beginner still, but try and find a copy of the old one first.