The Vegetable Gardener's Bible: Discover Ed's High-Yield W-O-R-D System for All North American Gardening Regions

This book was listed by someone who began a hobby farm as the best book she bought on the garden in general and for self sustaining wannabees...so I took a risk and I found it to be great! I live in an area with a short growing season (Pacific NW) and found many great ideas that are very applicable to me. This guy makes a lot of sense and makes it very easy, in fact you can decide how "deep" you want to take his ideas. So if you want to employ some of his methods, you can do that with ease, or if you want to go all out, and have a huge garden like he does. Anyway, I thought this was great for me, a beginner home gardener. This book got me very excited about a whole bunch of new things I never thought about, including things you do in the fall/winter & early spring that contribute to the health of your garden. Anyway, I highly recommend this book and thought it was worth it for sure.

The content of this well written book has been covered in other reviews and I agree it is a solid, introductory text at a decent price. However, I find it a little too "coffee table" for my tastes with big type and lots of pretty photos, rather than a lot of breath or depth. If you haven't been introduced to bed gardening and creating a "living" fertile soil, it would be a nice intro, but easy to outgrow (no pun intended).

Notably lacking is content on more than a couple herbs, most salad and Asian greens, as well as some of the less common crops and pest/disease situations that you might encounter. Also, while a prescriptive "how-to" guide, it doesn't educate as to the "why" of things as well as other texts I have read, which let you transfer the techniques to your own specific situations.


I'd recommend picking up a good seed catalog that is at least partially aimed at commercial growers (e.g. Territorial and/or Johnny's) both for cultural and growing suggestions, as well as knowing what cultivars are available (since most of the books are 10-20 years out of date on that), and considering instead:

Golden Gate Gardening: Year-Round Food Gardening in the San Francisco Bay Area and Coastal California -- Although written for one geography, both the general information on gardening, as well as the extensive sections on vegetables, herbs, fruit, and flowers make it a "go to" for me.

Grow Your Own Vegetables -- Great general information on gardening as well as tons of specific information on a very wide range of vegetables. A well-respected British author, so you have to get used to some difference in language, like "marrow" and "beetroot". Also be aware that "organic" is different in the UK, so some US practices, like insecticidal soaps, aren't covered.

Oriental Vegetables: The Complete Guide for the Gardening Cook -- If you are interested in "salad greens" or "baby greens" then this covers well a lot of the "fancy" leaves you'll find in mixes or at the market. (I don't recommend Larkcom's "Organic Salad Garden" as it is not much more than an extract from "Grow Your Own Vegetables" on high-end paper with lots of glossy pictures.)

How to Grow More Vegetables and Fruits: (And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops) (How to Grow More Vegetables: (And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains,) -- Covers "intensive" bed gardening and has a lot of good reference information on crop timing and yields. Sometimes a little "earthy" or "preachy" in style and content, and perhaps not as well researched and supported as the above (or The New Organic Grower: A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener (A Gardener's Supply Book), for another "second" book) but worth adding to a collection (as I prefer the previous as broader, more balanced texts). Revised and reprinted regularly, so make sure this links to the most recent.

I've just retired from Corporate America and decided to take up gardening. This book has been the best purchase I've made in years. It's well organized, easy to find and follow the instructions. As a novice gardener, I've appreciated the thorough coverage of all topics. I know I will have and use this book for many years. Thank you for a wonderful gardening tool. VTD

I borrowed this book from our library a couple times this winter as I was making plans for this summer's garden. Then Spring hit and I needed it again, so I purchased it as I know it is a book that I will refer to again and again. And I have used it extensively already. It lays out all you need to know to garden using raised beds including bed preparation, soil amending, composting, watering, using trellis to have things grow up. The last part of the book gives specific information for individual vegetables and herbs, including when and how to plant, care for and harvest. It has been an invaluable resource and my garden is coming along nicely already.

I live in the northeast, so I was looking for something for my area. Excellent book. Down to earth, easy, good ideas for the average gardener. We moved our garden and I am going to try his ways. I always had a garden, but did the "old" single row ways. He shares lots of little hints that will help anyone. Good pictures. Not bogged down with extreme details. Highly recommend the book. It was just what I was looking for. I based my decision on the reviews this book got, and they are right.