Editorial Review

Put your backyard to work! Enjoy fresher, organic, better-tasting food all the time. The solution is as close as your own backyard. Grow the vegetables and fruits your family loves; keep bees; raise chickens, goats, or even a cow. The Backyard Homestead shows you how it's done. And when the harvest is in, you'll learn how to cook, preserve, cure, brew, or pickle the fruits of your labor.

From a quarter of an acre, you can harvest 1,400 eggs, 50 pounds of wheat, 60 pounds of fruit, 2,000 pounds of vegetables, 280 pounds of pork, 75 pounds of nuts. ... Read more

Reviews

A great book with just one glaring ommision, October 12, 2009
A very well put together book with lots of useful information. However there is one area that it is glaringly lacking in information. The author states there isn't room for a dairy animal and suggests pigs instead, but they completely overlook the Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats. Two Nigerian Dwarf dairy does take up less space than the pigs, and even some urban areas area starting to allow them as "pets". A good Nigerian milk doe can give 1/2-3/4 of a gallon of very rich milk daily. Just be sure to buy from someone that breeds them for milking and not someone that just breeds them as pets.

Nigerians also get along well with chickens, and can share the same yard space as long as there is separate sleeping and feeding quarters for the chickens. And keeping 3-4 hens with your goats will keep the fly population down to nearly non-existent levels. So the back portion of your lot could be a single large pen, rather than two small ones, thus saving on the amount of fencing needed. A typical garden shed can be divided up to provide housing and feed storage for both goats and chickens, again saving on the cost (and space) of building separate structures.

Fresh eggs! Fresh bread! Fresh basil!, March 23, 2009
What else could you want? Do you need? Well, after reading Madigan's book, apparently I want to have and do alot more with my life and garden in the city. I've already been trying to turn my 1/16th (?) of an acre city garden over to chickens, veggies, and fruit, but, yikes!, this book has been an absolute dream find for me. It has made me realize that I've barely cracked the surface as far as creating a life that is in happy harmony with the plant and animal world, not to mention how my family's eating experience will become more fun, more fresh, and more delicious! I can't wait to start making my own mozzarella and planting those nut trees! That will be the easy part...getting my husband to agree to those four gorgeous blue Andulusian chickens I've been coveting might be slightly harder.

Even if you don't have a backyard!, March 10, 2009
This book was recently introduced to me by a friend who was tired of hearing me just *talk* about my preserving and canning aspirations - she thought, rightly, that having this book as my guide would spur action. What always sounded like a lovely annual ritual to me is now actually - I have been happy to discover, after reading "The Backyard Homestead" and its clearly, engagingly written advice - something I can and do do. But I have discovered so much more that is possible within - as it turns out, having only a balcony, and no actual backyard, is not a deterrent when looking to live more self-sufficiently, and Madigan addresses viable options for all kinds of living circumstances. There really is something for everyone within, and inspiration is inevitable.

Out-dated and innacurate, May 19, 2010
Like most of the people who buy this book, I'm interested in urban farming and the DIY ethos. So I found this book really exciting for the breadth of topics it covered. How to select a breed of beef cow? Goat? Chicken? Cool! But as I read through some of the sections covering topics I know about I was surprised how out-dated and incomplete they were, which makes me suspicious that the rest of this book is equally poorly researched.

I've been a homebrewer for 5 years, and I grow wine grapes at home. The home-brew beer recipies in this book are from 1989, and are based around buying pre-made beer kits from Coopers or Muntons. Some of the ingredients listed are archane: "Laaglander malt extract" good luck finding it, Laaglander went out of business nearly a decade ago, or "Russian Malt beverage concentrate" whatever that is, you don't need it to make good homebrew.

The wine grapes section is terribly out of date as well. The American hybrid grapes she recommends were the best varieties availible 20 years go (DeChanuc, Baco, Foch) leaving out newer varieties that are much better (Traminette, Marquette, Corot Noir). She refers to Baco, Foch, and Chardonel as European varieties which they aren't. (there's a great book on growing a back-yard vineyard if you search for that phrase)

It may seem like I'm nit-picking, but it leaves me to wonder what careless mistakes are in the sections I don't know anything about? How out-of date are the other varietal recommendations? I get the impression that she culled all of this info from old books and has little experience of her own.

I'm returning my copy.

It's OK, September 14, 2009
This book has some wonderful planning diagrams and some really good info. Having said that, and having read many books on the subject at the library, most of it is not original information and has been gleaned from other Storey books. And it's very obvious! However, it's a good place to start for a beginner.

I don't like it because it doesn't go into enough depth (fencing, pest/critter deterrents, buildings) on certain topics and spends WAY too much time on things that don't really need explanation (flavors of ice cream, flowers, certain charts). I don't really care for some of the gardening advice either, but that's more of a personal preference. I prefer Ruth Stout's How to Have a Green Thumb Without an Aching Back: A New Method of Mulch Gardening approach.

In general, I prefer The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It for an well explained, well thought out, season by season, no-nonsense treatment of the homesteading subject.

A Great All-In-One Reference, March 9, 2009
I love "The Backyard Homestead"! It is a user-friendly guide that not only shares the "how to" aspects of food self-sufficiency, but includes lots of wonderful recipes as well. Ms. Madigan's caring and respect for the environment shines throughout each chapter of this delightful book.

Not worth purchasing., April 6, 2010
I checked this out of the library before buying, and I'm so glad I did.

The premise of this book is exciting. I love the cover illustration, and first few pages have great illustrations of how much you can produce on different sized lots. However, the rest of the book is a simply a rehashed encyclopedia of information that is incredibly frustrating to read. There is no "story" here -- no personal anecdotes, no interviews with people who have done this, no journalistic writing. Since that's not the chosen direction of this book, I can accept that. But without an interesting story, I was hoping for really solid, detailed, concrete information about how to eventually accomplish the goal of turning one's yard into a homestead. I didn't get that either.

The information in this book is almost trivial -- there is a lot of it, and it's well organized, but nothing goes into enough detail to actually be useful. For example, the section on raising chickens provides a vague overview of what is required to keep chickens, then several pages on chicken breeds, but not quite enough information to actually *choose* a breed, then goes into a bunch of detail about how to determine the age of an egg, how to cook an egg, but no information on how to actually care for chickens. There is a section on butchering, which basically tells you to find someone who knows how to butcher a chicken. There is a rough diagram of a fancy chicken coop for 3 chickens, but no discussion of the pros and cons of different kinds of coops, or how to house more than 3 chickens.

Eventually, I realized I can get more information on any subject in this book by doing a Google search. The information in this book feels very rehashed, and I don't get the sense that the author has any personal experience with any of it (even though she might).

What this book is good for: Spend half an hour skimming through it for inspiration. Don't get bogged down on the unhelpful details. Write down any subjects that interest you, and go get a specialized book on that topic.

An Excellent Introduction, November 1, 2009
I'm already planning my 2010 garden, with the aim of getting back into gardening after a four year hiatus. Many of my neighbors are planting their first gardens and still others are incorporating small animals like chickens and goats into their yards. And no, I don't live in the country. I live in the suburbs.

So when I saw The Backyard Homestead by Carleen Madigan, I was excited. The premise of this book is that with a quarter of an acre - or less - you can provide your family with lots of great food.

You may wonder if growing your own food is worth the effort. Here's how I look at it: I recall with great fondness working in the vegetable garden with my father. I want my children to experience the same thrill of pulling fresh foods from the ground and eating them with the pride that they helped grow them. Besides, homegrown foods are fresher and therefore more nutritious. And you know exactly what chemicals were used on them, and whether the seed is heirloom or genetically modified. Not so with store-bought foods, even if they are marked organic. Although my family hasn't ventured into raising farm animals, we've considered it. I hate the idea of feeding my family meats pumped full of hormones, or even just salt water. And no store bought egg can ever compare to the taste of fresh eggs, just as store-bought tomatoes don't taste remotely like store-bought.

You'll probably be surprised by how much food you can produce in your suburbia yard. Madigan says with a quarter acre you can produce 1,400 eggs, 50 pounds of wheat, 60 pounds of fruit, 2,000 pounds of vegetables, 280 pounds of pork, and 75 pounds of nuts. (The film HomeGrown says that if you just stick to produce, you'll get 6,000 pounds.) The average lot in the suburbs isn't that big, but you can still produce a lot of food - and at significant savings. (According to the National Gardening Association, the average family with a veggie garden saves $600 a year.)

You might wonder how any one book can thoroughly cover the topics of raising your own vegetables, fruits, berries, nuts, grains, herbs, and a variety of farm animals. Well, it can't. But The Backyard Homestead does a great job of providing a basic overview of what's possible.

The section on gardening is the most thorough, and probably the only guide you really need to growing veggies, fruits, and berries. There's information on growing from seed, preparing a bed, growing in containers, choosing crops most appropriate for your space, succession planting (where, when one plant stops producing, you plant another crop), getting a general idea of how much your garden can produce, harvesting (with general info on freezing and canning), basic information on storing seeds for next year's garden, general growing info on popular vegetables, growing berries, growing nut and fruit trees (hint: they don't have to take up a lot of space), and growing and using herbs. There's a short chapter on incorporating edibles into your decorative landscape, too, and a number of recipes for using your home grown produce, including homemade wine, herbal teas, cider, and vinegars.

You may have never considered growing grains, but if you've ever grown corn, you've already dabbled in it. The author provides good basic info on growing corn for grain, as well as wheat, barley, and rye. She wisely advises new grain-growers to start small, and offers general info on how to grow and harvest, as well as use the grains you've grown. This section includes info on making homemade bread from your grains, as well as how to make your own beer.

The section of the book most lacking is the one on livestock. Here, basic information is offered on raising chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, goats, sheep, pigs, and even cows. The author gives some thoughts on why you'd want to raise these animals, how to increase egg or milk production, very general info on butchering, very basic (and sometimes vague) information on how to care for the animals, and similar topics. Oddly, she doesn't really discuss how to incorporate farm animals into a backyard. For example, I'd like to know if there are special concerns if you have children; are there ways to help prevent them from getting E. coli, for example? It also seems strange the author never mentions how to compost or use animal manure to feed your garden, although she does give information on pasteurizing milk and making cheese and yogurt.

The final sections offer super-brief information on harvesting wild plants; essentially, the author advises readers to find a field guide for their area. However, she does offer some information on using rose hips (from the wild or from your ornamental garden), dandelions (ditto!), as well as syrup from maple trees, plus some basics on beekeeping.

Overall, I think this is an excellent guide for the suburbanite or someone who lives in the country but has little or no experience growing their own food. It gave me many ideas I hope to implement next year, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in getting back to the basics by growing some food.

Kristina Seleshanko
Proverbs Thirty One Woman

Same Info As Storey's Basic Country Skills, June 7, 2009
I purchased this book but returned it because I already had "Storey's Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance" and it contains almost all of the same information. For the little bit of new information contained in this book, I didn't think it was worth purchasing this book in addition. I didn't realize this book would be so similar. If you don't have or never read "Storey's Basic Country Skills...," this book will be a great find for you. It's a smaller, easier to handle book than "Storey's Basic Country Skills..," but it has much less content, for those deciding between the two. However, the information it contains is valuable for backyard homesteaders.

Very helpful for a beginner, April 26, 2009
While I have not done anything with the animal sections, I have found this book very useful for starting our first garden. For example: its advise on planting beans from seeds contradicted the seed packet. Those I planted according to the "book" (as opposed to the packet) were the ones to produce. The book is clear, easy to follow, and intructive. It tells why, not just how. ... Read more

Editorial Review

The invaluable resource for home food gardeners!

Ed Smith's W-O-R-D system has helped countless gardeners grow an abundance of vegetables and herbs. And those tomatoes and zucchini and basil and cucumbers have nourished countless families, neighbors, and friends with delicious, fresh produce. The Vegetable Gardener's Bible is essential reading for locavores in every corner of North America!

EVERYTHING YOU LOVED about the first edition of The Vegetable Gardener's Bible is still here: friendly, accessible language; full-color photography; comprehensive vegetable specific information in the A-to-Z section; ahead-of-its-time commitment to organic methods; and much more.

Now, Ed Smith is back with a 10th Anniversary Edition for the next generation of vegetable gardeners. New to this edition is coverage of 15 additional vegetables, including an expanded section on salad greens and more European and Asian vegetables. Readers will also find growing information on more fruits and herbs, new cultivar photographs in many vegetable entries, and a much-requested section on extending the season into the winter months. No matter how cold the climate, growers can bring herbs indoors and keep hardy greens alive in cold frames or hoop houses.

The impulse to grow vegetables is even stronger in 2009 than it was in 2000, when Storey published The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible. The financial and environmental costs of fossil fuels raise urgent questions: How far should we be shipping food? What are the health costs of petroleum-based pesticides and herbicides? Do we have to rely on megafarms that use gasoline-powered machinery to grow and harvest crops? With every difficult question, more people think, "Maybe I should grow a few vegetables of my own." This book will continue to answer all their vegetable gardening questions.

Praise for the First Edition:
"In every small town, there is a vegetable garden that people go out of the way to walk past. Smith is the guy who grew that garden." — Verlyn Klinkenborg, The New York Times Book Review

"An abundance of photographs . . . visually bolster the techniques described, while frequent subheads, sidebars, and information-packed photo captions make the layout user-friendly . . . [Smith's] book is thorough and infused with practical wisdom and a dry Vermont humor that should endear him to readers." — Publisher’s Weekly

"Smith . . . clearly explains everything novice and experienced gardeners need to know to grow vegetables and herbs. . . . " — Library Journal

"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

Reviews

Serious gardening......., April 18, 2004
Ed Smith is a serious gardener. His approach to vegetable growing is best suited to half acre gardens in the northern areas of the United States. Smith lives and gardens in Vermont and judging by the contents (great photos as well as text) of his book, THE VEGETABLE GARDENER'S BIBLE, I suggest his gardening effort constitutes year-round full-time employment for him. I am a dedicated urban gardener, but one with a less than one-eighth (<1/8) acre plot of land, much of which is covered by a house and driveway. I cannot begin to use most of the material in Smith's book, however, even for urban gardeners like me, Smith provides much useful information.

My experience has shown that vegetable growing in the city has one advantage over growing vegetables in the hinterland...most of the pests that plague the countryside have not moved to town...yet! When I grew green beans on a half acre plot in the country, I fought a daily war with bean beatles. I've yet to see a bean beatle in my urban back yard. On the other hand, the larvae of the Monarch Butterfly found my parsley last year. Smith's section on pests includes something I have not seen in other gardening books..a picture of Monarch Butterfly larvae or Parsley Caterpillers as Ed calls them, munching away.

Smith is an organic gardener so he advises pest control methods that deter unwanted visitors without damaging the larger envirnoment. He also advises moving the Parsely Caterpillar out of harms' way when you battle other insects. However, the birds living in my yard consider Parsley Caterpillars a delicacy, much to the horror of my granddaughters who watched the pretty little green and yellow striped caterpillars with interest last summer as they grew bigger and bigger until one day they were discovered to have been eaten by a feathered predator who left only a few body parts in his wake.

Smith includes much that will be of interest to anyone setting out to grow vegetables for the fifteenth or first time. Although most of us don't have a green house for winter gardening, most of us do have a sunny window sill that can be used to germinate seedlings for transplanting. Most of us can compost (check out WormWoman.com on the Internet if you live in an apartment).

Smith advocates growing vegetables in (W)ide rows, (O)rganically, in (R)aised beds with (D)eep soil. Even with my small yard, I can do that. We built raised beds with timbers, and filled them with compost made entirely of yard and kitchen waste and the result is fabulous. He provides a nifty section that shows you how to construct a raised bed on a patio or balcony. You may not have a half-acre spread, but you can use Smith's Bible if you want to grow vegetables.

Excellent Reference, May 31, 2005
This book is a reference manual for vegetable gardeners, particularly those gardening in northern climates. The book is organized into 3 main parts: From Seed to Harvest (covering planning, preparing beds, starting seeds, maintaining the garden, and harvesting), The Health Garden (covering soil, compost, and pests), and Vegetables & Herbs, A-Z (alphabetical guide to individual vegetables). The book is amply illustrated with color photographs and illustrations. End material includes zone maps, a list of suppliers, a list for further reading, and an index.

Smith sums up his approach to gardening in the acronym "WORD", which signifies Wide rows, Organic methods, Raised beds, and Deep soil. He's come to this approach after many years of trying many different methods, and found that this method seems to give him the best, most reliable harvest with the least effort. In this book, he explains the parts of the WORD method in detail. For example, he notes that he found rototilling actually to be counterproductive, since it tends to develop a hardpan of packed soil just under the surface. This hardpan limits root growth, which tends to stunt plants. Instead of rototilling, he advocates building deep raised beds, which provide for full root systems and better growth.

The articles in the alphabetical reference section are quite useful. Each includes a brief description of the vegetable, notes on when and where to plant, and notes on harvesting and storing. Instructions are also provided when needed about how to transplant. Each article comes with a quick reference chart that covers sowing (depth, temperature, days to germination, etc.) and growing (temperature, spacing, watering, companions, seed longevity, etc.) Overall, the book is very informative, the text is clear, and the pictures are quite helpful, making the book useful for experienced gardeners as well as beginners.

It's a * * WONDER* * book!, July 24, 2004
THANK YOU Mr. Smith for writing this book! I couldn't say enough about how helpful it's been to me. Wanting to be careful and do things right, since I'm a beginning gardener, this book tells in simple, everyday language with photos on how to start and keep up a vegetable garden. Here's a list of a few things it covers:

* designing your garden
* insect control
* soil care
* what veges to NOT plant with other veges
* diagrams
* lots of veges and all the info you could want about them
* herb section
* seed companies
* other recommended resources
* and MORE

Will Never Become Dogeared, July 3, 2008
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.

The best vegetable gardening book I've seen, May 2, 2005
I stumbled across this book at my local bookstore and even though I ended up paying the full retail price, it was well worth it. I knew nothing about gardening before I read the book but Ed Smith's detailed instructions and nuggets of wisdom gave me the know-how to grow vegetables that exceeded my expectations. I have an urban garden in CA (zone 9a) so I'm limited on space and have high clay content in my soil, but with three 4x6x12 raised beds I can grow fantastic organic vegetables. I've probably read the book cover to cover now several times over, but I still keep finding myself flipping to the back of the book where Ed has 1-2 pages dedicated to each of the most popular vegetables. Within these sections you can find useful information such as watering conditions, when to grow seedlings, seed longevity, most popular cultivars, and many tips for sowing, growing, and harvesting. The last part of the book alone is worth the price of the book.

Vegetable Gardener's Bible, March 7, 2001
The title says it all. This is my vegetable bible. Being a novice, I was looking for something as simple and informative as a "Dummies" book but without insulting my intelligence. Not only is all the information you need to start or continue a garden, the pictures fill in details that as a first time grower I might not quite understand in words. His explanations are simple, concise and extremely informative. Most of all, it's filled with little hints throughout the book so that you may have a successful garden. It was the best purchase I had made on a gardening book so far. Thank you Ed! Happy growing!

Simply The Best!, November 27, 2001
This book answers, with outstanding instruction, pictures and humor, any and all of your questions on vegetable gardening. Had Ed Smith published it earlier we would have saved a ton of dirt along with a ton of money! We keep it in our little greenhouse alll during the growing season as we refer to it daily. And we are now buying it for gifts for both novice and experienced gardening friends.

One Of The Best How-To Books On Any Subject, September 5, 2005
Calling any book a "bible" is a bit presumtuous, but not in this case! Author Smith and publisher Storey have gone above and beyond in creating the one and possibly only book every vegetable gardener should own. The content is comprehensive, accurate, and very well presented. The 300+ 8 1/2"x 11" pages are a beautifully laid out blend of text, photos, and illustrations. I've been scouring gardening books since the sixties, and this one sets a new standard. Thank you Ed and Storey!

Well organized, informative, and entertaining., June 23, 2001
The library wouldn't let me renew this book anymore, so I had to buy my own copy!

As a novice gardener, I found this book to be just the thing to see me through my first growing season. As a librarian, I love the organization, the completeness of the index, and the thorough way all subjects are handled. There is a great section on herbs, too.

As an avid reader, I enjoyed his occasional asides to the reader. For example, under ASPARGUS, STORING, the author tells us: "You must be kidding. You don't store asparagus, you eat it!" This is just what I wanted to be told, having eaten untold numbers of young asparagus spears with the mud still on 'em.

A worthy purchase.

This is a good book, one I refer to often., February 2, 2007
Wide Rows, Organic Methods, Raised Beds, and Deep Soil - these are the fundamental building blocks of Ed's gardening system. This is a good book, one I refer to often. I wish Ed was my neighbor so I could see his garden firsthand and talk directly to him, but this is almost as good. Lots of well done photos, taken in the author's garden throughout the growing season. There is so much information here - the basics of proper plant growth and soil preparation and preservation, garden planning, season extension, seed starting, growing food for self-sufficiency, pest and weed control, composting, harvesting and putting the garden "to sleep" for the winter - it's very comprehensive.

He finishes the book with a vegetable and herb directory that includes information on site selection, sowing the seed, suggested companion plants, specific instructions for during the growing season, harvesting, storage, winter care (when applicable) and best varieties (his personal favorites). There is also a USDA Pant Hardiness Zone Map, an American Horticultural Society Plant Heat Zone Map, a suppliers list and suggestions for further reading. Unfortunately, some of the suppliers listed were no longer in business. Those that are still in business are some of my favorites, and this where I first found out about Fedco seeds, which has become my primary seed source.

... Read more

Editorial Review

Author Barbara Kingsolver and her family abandoned the industrial-food pipeline to live a rural life—vowing that, for one year, they’d only buy food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it. Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is an enthralling narrative that will open your eyes in a hundred new ways to an old truth: You are what you eat.

Reviews

Back to the garden!
Three hundred and sixty-eight pages, no pretty pictures, and it's about food? Yes it is, and it's fascinating. Written by best-selling novelist Barbara Kingsolver, her scientist hubby and teenage daughter, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" chronicles the true story of the family's adventures as they move to a farm in rural Virginia and vow to eat locally for one year. They grow their own vegetables, raise their own poultry and buy the rest of their food directly from farmers markets and other local sources. There are touching human stories here (the family's 9-year-old learns a secret to raising chickens for food: don't name them!) but the book's purpose is serious food for thought: it argues the economic, social and health benefits of putting local foods at the center of a family diet. As Kingsolver details the family's experience month-by-month, husband Steven adds sidebars on the problems of industrial agriculture and daughter Camille tosses in some first-person essays ("Growing Up in the Kitchen") and recipes ("Holiday Corn Pudding a Nine-Year-Old Can Make").

And it is all so well written! Kingsolver can veer way off topic -- wandering off into subjects like rural politics, even turkey sex -- and still, somehow, stay right on point. Her husband can say more in two pages than some professors I know can say in 200, and the daughter's writings... well I often couldn't tell who was writing what without checking for the byline.

The book looks and feels great, too. The dust jacket has been pressed into the nubby texture of burlap. The pages have ragged edges, which makes them soft on your fingers.

Reading this book, drinking my Phosphoric Acid Diet Coke and snacking on some Partially Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil Walt Disney World Hungry Heroes Yogurt Pretzels, I suddenly felt like I was a kid again, sitting in my bedroom in 1969 listening to that Joni Mitchell "Woodstock" lyric: "Time to get back to the land, and set my soul free." Now that song is stuck back in my head! Maybe it should have never left.

This is a fascinating informative book about food
It is possible to live off the land. The Kingsolver family are proof of that. They grew their own food for a year on a farm in Virginia's Applachian mountains. It only cost 50 cents a meal to feed the Kingsolver family of four for a year, and I found that to be amazing. It is much healthier to eat organic foods which are foods produced without chemicals. This is one of the main ideas of this insightful book. I love Camille's Kingsolver's contributions in this book. She is the college age daughter of the primary author. Camille's reflections about food are thoughtful, and her recipes sound delicious. I loved her essay about how she learned to love asparagus. I learned that asparagus is an excellent source of vitamin C, which I did not know before. There is a recipe in here for an asparagus mushroom bread pudding. I never thought of putting these ingredients together. Another interesting recipe in the book is one for zucchini chocolate chip cookies. The recipe sounds so unusual, I am tempted to try it. The recipe for pumpkin soup and sweet potato quesadillas sound yummy too. Everyone in the Kingsolver family contributed in this local food project. Barbara raised and bred turkeys, while her nine year old daughter raised her own chickens and provided the family with eggs for a year. They even made their own cheese.

I also enjoyed the contributions of Steven L. Hopp in this book. He is a professor who teaches environmental science at Emory and Henry College. His short contributions in the every chapter are very insightful. He really compliments the main text written by Kingsolver. I enjoyed reading his thoughts about the popularity of agricultural education in public schools. This is a fascinating and informative book about food.

More exposure of an American epidemic
Look what happened when the nation turned its attention to the tobacco industry. If only that would happen with the fast food/processed food industry. One can only dream.....

Thank you so much, Barbara Kingsolver, for grabbing that attention and making it the focus of your new book. I loved it. It was so well written.

I hope this subject really catches the attention of more and more people. For our familys conversion to organic and local, mindful eating it started with the movie, "Supersize Me," and went on to "Fast Food Nation, etc."
Ms. Kingsolver points out in her book it is a slow process to weed yourself off that junk food.

Ms. Kingsolver opens up the doors to her farm and family life to share how we can save our lives (literally) and the world by eating local, fresh and home grown. Put down that twinkie and pop! Pick up a hoe and educate yourself on the dangers of fast food and processed food!

Blue jello? Come on! What part of that is natural, real food? But I dare you to eat a Christmas colored bean, like the one on the book cover.

Ms. Kingsolver also shares about how rare it is to see/find true animal breeding in the modern world. She states in the book it was impossible to find modern resources and had to look to the past to find the answers.
Nature has been bred out of the animals we eat. And she writes about it so eloquently!

Sorry this review is all over the place! I was so excited to see Ms. Kingsolvers new book out; and it is on a subject that is near and dear to my heart. The narrative is incredibly well written. It is very inspiring.

Great, Now I Want Chickens
Wonderful, insightful book about the importance of eating locally, and even more importantly, eating thoughtfully. Barbara Kingsolver details the year in which she and her family strive to live off of foods grown locally, but the book is much more than an interesting personal memoir; she, her husband and their daughter explain in great detail WHY they feel the need to do this.

There is no vague talk or philosophy here, rather very thorough forays into biology, politics, history, education, and every other genre of study that explains how we, as Americans, eat-- which is generally pretty badly. The scientific background of both Ms. Kingsolver and her husband (who has essays scattered throughout the book) really shines through. The decision to eat locally (in this case, from their own garden or farms within the same county) is presented not as a throw-back to a better, earlier time but as the way forward, the beginning of a new and improved chapter. Instead of presenting this painstakingly-researched information in one overwhelming block, Ms. Kingsolver carefully intersperses it with the personal story in easily-digested bites. This keeps both the science and the garden-family-diary part in balance and makes the book very readable.

The personal side of the story is excellent. Growing vegatables; raising poultry; making cheese at home(!!!); baking bread every day (the husband's responsibility in this case); canning, freezing, braiding, and otherwise storing the garden's bounty; each of these and more are a part of the grand experiment. "Deprivation" never sounded so fun or so fufilling. If you've ever dreamed of canning your own tomatoes or keeping chickens, this book will make your yearnings worse.

Ms. Kingsolver and co. are refreshingly non-vegetarian, blithely describing Turkey-Harvest Day (what it sounds like, yes) and explaining both why "vegetarian" crops like corn kill more animals via thresher and pesticide than meaty "crops" like chicken, and why the idea that the world would be better off with more vegetarians is deeply flawed. Vegetarians may be perturbed by their findings, but I think it would still be worth reading with an open mind.

The glimpses into her family life, too, are fascinating-- kids who are more interested in chickens and tomatoes than Playstation and cable? Huh. The book includes several essays by Kingsolver's elder daughter, Camille, who provides an interesting perspective: as both an interested member in this "new" lifestyle and a college freshman, she is a bridge between these cultures.

Like any garden/farm narrative, I suppose, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is very regional and it really captures the flavor of its paticular locale--Virginia. I am a recent transplant to Virginia myself (this is my first spring/summer here) and the book answered some of my questions about this new place, like "Why does my front yard smell like onions? Are those chives growing wild all around the neighborhood?" Apparently they are "ramps". Who knew? Not this Texan. That sudden retreat to freezing last month is a "dogwood winter". I realize that to most readers of this review it's not important, but I felt a sudden thrill of recognition to realize that this farm and author are probably within a hundred miles from here-- to realize that she is describing my newly adopted environment.

My only bone to pick is a very small one. Near the end of the book, Ms Kingsolver expresses surprise that her pet topic of eating locally has suddenly mushroomed from a secret underground movement, to the mainstream. As far as I can tell, this isn't true. Yes, the Times (or whatever it was) has a cover story on eating locally. But I was learning about it back in college (2001-ish) at the University of Vermont. My environmental classes covered the costs of shipping tomatoes and included a trip to the local CSA. That CSA, as well as the one I've joined here in VA, have been around for a while-- at least 5-10 years I think. Ms Kingsolver mentions several upscale restaurants (and one diner) that serve only local foods, and cookbooks. So clearly, this trend/idea/philosophy has been gaining steam for at least a decade, and didn't just pop out of the ground as the book was going to the publisher. But, as I said, small quibble. The book is fantastic, I'd reccommend it to anyone interested in changing the way they eat, gardening, farming, chickens... ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

This is a one-book country library., June 29, 1999
Carla Emery was a national treasure and this book ensures her legacy. This is simply the most informative book ever written on country living, the next best thing to having a live-in grandmother who knows everything there is to getting homegrown food from dreams to dinner plates plus nearly anything else you need to know. Begun as a 12-page table of contents for a recipe book in 1969, the present ninth edition has 858 pages of far more than recipes. Veggies, vines, trees, grains, poultry, goats, cows, bees, rabbits, sheep, pigs. Planning, nurturing, harvesting, preserving, preparing. Flipping pages at random finds starting transplants, breads leavened with eggs and beating, speeding up tomato sauce-making, harvesting herbs, making cider, managing an existing stand of trees, root cellar storage, soap making, brooding chicks, secrets to safe cattle handling, cultured buttermilk, cooking on a wood stove, jams and jellies, making a wool quilt. I use my "Carla book" constantly. If your budget or bookshelf has room for only one book, this is the book to buy. Yes, even before you buy mine.

The most complete and thorough book ever!, August 11, 1998
When I purchased an 8-acre ranch in 1985 I had a six-month old baby one on the way and had never been off of concrete in my life. Now I had 8-acres, goats, chickens, rabbits, ducks, geese, pigs, 60 fruit and nut trees and an acre garden. I had no clue how or what to do! I learned everything from reading that book. How to harvest, can and cook up your garden & orchard harvest, feed and butcher animals, all kinds of doctoring for kids and animals, crafts, and even how to cut hair. That book is so dog-eared with tape from all of my years of use. I owe my sanity to that book. It has every scenario imaginable. I recommend it to anyone living in the country or on a farm or thinking of it. What I learned from Carla Emery's book will stay with me forever! The knowledge is priceless.

A Dissenting Opinion, June 27, 2003
This book appears to have a devoted following so I'm sure I'll arouse some ill will with this, but here goes.

There are several things potential readers need to know about this book. The first is that, as the other reviewers suggest, the author comes across as very friendly and sincere. Another is that it has been around in some form or another for a long time, long before many "hobby farm"-type books were available, and for that reason has many devoted fans, at least some of whom appear to be unaware of more modern reference books that have superceded this one in many respects. The next is that if you have a lot of free time, and you like nine hundred page books whose author is in no rush to get to any of its thousands of points, you'll love it.

The most important, though, is that if you would like the best, easiest to understand advice available on raising sheep, keeping chickens, growing a garden, and all the other fun but challenging aspects of hobby farming, you will be far better served by other books out there. I have a hobby farm on seven acres with fruit trees, vegetable garden, livestock, etc., and own many of the hobby farm books available. We have had the opportunity to consult them as we have learned from direct experience, and have found that there is a wide variety in usefulness.

While The Encyclopedia of Country Living contains good advice, this book has features that I believe the average modern, would-be hobby farmers will be put off by. One is its overwhelming, unnecessary, and frustrating length. It wouldn't be so bad if each paragraph was a sparkling, concise gem of practical wisdom, i.e, if it really were written like an actual encyclopedia, but core information is often clouded with anecdotes, nostalgia, sermonizing, etc. If you are the kind of person who likes reading books about country life, but who doesn't actually live in the country and doesn't plan to, this may be something you enjoy, but it made this book difficult to use for me.

Moreover, the author regularly feels obliged to list the many and disparate views on a particular topic held by her friends, or by people who have written her letters over the years. A number of these printed comments are either pointless or really daft, and are liable to confuse more than enlighten the would-be hobby farmer, especially since the author often does not make clear which ideas have most merit, scientifically or from her own personal experience.

I believe the average person who plans on "country living" or hobby farming will find other books far more useful. The updated and revised "Backyard Livestock", by Steven Thomas, is absolutely brilliant for beginning hobby farmers serious about keeping animals for food, eggs, milk, etc. It is concise while still telling you everything you need to know. For those wishing more detailed information on livestock, the various Storey's guides to raising farm animals are also excellent. If you are interested in fruit or berry cultivation, you will find the Stella Otto books far more valuable than this one. For vegetable gardening, "The Vegetable Gardener's Bible" by Edward C. Smith is the best. I could go on, but my personal experience is this: if you would like to hobby farm, be successful at it, and have fun doing it, you'll need the best information you can get. For most of us, this means a few A-list, reliable, practical, concise, understandable reference books. Despite its length and sometimes charming autobiographical features, there's no reason why you should buy "The Encyclopedia of Country Living" when so many other books on country living now are superior to it.

Please understand the purpose of this book., November 28, 2004
I have the first, home-printed edition of this book, as well as the latest edition.When I read the various comments, I see some misunderstanding of the nature of this book.Carla's book is not just a reference (there are better ones in specific areas)but an autobiography as well. We learn about a lifestyle many of us will never know, but find facinating. We learn of the struggles and successes of one family. And along the way, we learn a great deal about small subsistance farms (not hobby farms). Use Carla's book for reference, but also entertainment and education. It's a fun read, and need not be done in one sitting or in any order. Just enjoy!

ignore the negative criticism, April 13, 2005
This is a charming and useful book. I am a newcomer to Carla Emery's work and indeed have read many of the other more concise, straightforward and professional books out there about farming and country living. Not only is there a TON of useful information in this book, people who enjoy the meandering, prolific style are not at fault for liking the book. Carla Emery, who has been living this way and writing long before other resources appeared, is still a respected source of wisdom. There are tidbits and tips that you might never see in a "professional" book, and the "Oddments" section alone was worth buying this book. The list of resources from native skills to homesteading to renewable energy sources to emergency preparedness is amazing. If you want to live closer to the land and be radically more self-sufficient doing so, you probably will not find more information on a wide range of topics in one place. In Carla's book, you get detailed information PLUS recommendations about other sources of information, classes, organizations, magazines, and more. I didn't know so much was out there!

Together with a stock of standard, concise, and more professional books on raising livestock, organic gardening, energy, or whatever else you choose to incorporate into your lifestyle, this book is invaluable and passionate -- because passionate is what we SHOULD be about the agrarian movement.

[To add to this review...] The scope and detail of this book is amazing. It has TONS of recipes, stories, and ideas for back-to-basics traditional living that come from years and years of collected wisdom and experience that you probably couldn't get anywhere else. What if you lived in a rural area for, say, a month, and couldn't go to a grocery store and wanted to know how to survive? It is truly an encyclopedia of folk knowledge and so much more. Want to know how to use garlic and onion for medicinal purposes? Want to learn about different types of diets? Want to use up scraps and throw away very little, or eat more vegetables, or be entertained by tidbits and tales from the country? Here is a compendium of information, in all its glory.

One of the best, September 2, 2003
"The Encyclopedia of Country Living" is an expansive volume of collected wisdom, techniques, recipes, and other information for living in the country. To a great extent it is a volume on self-sufficiency without harming the environment in any substantial way. The only assumption that seems to be made is that the land you purchase will have a house on it or you will have one built. Everything else, from buying the land, to what plants to plant, when to plant them, where to get them, how to grow them, and how to harvest them to what animals to raise, how to raise them, how to use them for food and dairy to how to deal with child birthing in the wilderness (where you may be alone when it happens), dealing with pollution, enriching your soil, and even worm farming. This is an exhaustive study in country living with very detailed and thorough sections on farming. In addition the author includes page after page of other sources of information, where to purchase things, catalogue sources, websites, and just about every other conceivable way to get the items mentioned in the text. If there was a way to take all the old-timers in the country, get them all together, draw out all the skills they have learned over the years and distill it into a book this is the book that you would create. "The Encyclopedia of Country Living, 9th Edition" is a very highly recommended read not only for those looking to move to the country after a lifetime in the city, but also for those who, like me, have that backyard garden and could use the extensive information presented here to make it even more successful and fun.

How this book began..., October 16, 2005
What the previous reviewer seems not to realize, is that this book began more like a subscription recipe newsletter than a book. My grandmother subscribed to it in the 70s and she got it a few pages at a time, as Carla wrote it... oft times her subscribers wrote her their ideas/experiences/etc and she included these notes in her "newsletters"... the book kind of grew from this, and that's why it's a huge book where the author seems to take a long time getting to the many points made in the book... there are a lot of points, because she sent out a lot of separate "newsletters" on different topics! And that's also why there are lots of comments from her friends (subscribers) through-out.

This book is a wonderful treasure for any homesteader, and I'm happy to have inherited my grandmother's copy (in a *huge* three ring notebook) as well as a newer bound edition.

Sadly the world lost Carla Emery this week, but I'm sure heaven is enjoying her presence! She was an amazing, fascinating person.

I LIVED IT!, October 23, 1998
Unlike the previous reviewers, I lived this book. I was raised in a big city in Florida and moved to a small country town (pop. 181) in the Arkansas mountains. I was in my late 20's and imagined myself as part of the back-to-the-earth movement. A friendly librarian pointed me to this book, which I bought after checking it out so often.

Since we moved to a small community where "everyone was related" except us, we did not get much neighborly help at first. The first week there we bought baby goats (which rode home in the front seat with me), 2 pigs (which didn't), and planted our garden. Using Carla's book we mail-ordered baby chicks who lived in our bathtub until the weather got warmer. We bought a wood stove and learned to can and dry vegetables. I tried most everything, using Carla's book as a reference.

When it came time to butcher our hogs, we could not get anyone to help us, even for $$. The closest we had been to a hog before moving to Oden was in the grocery store. So we checked out Carla's book and I sat on the cab of the truck reading the instructions aloud while DH took aim and shot the pig. We were both very nervous, so we went inside (it was very cold) and had a cup of coffee. Unfortunately, when we went back outside, the pig was up and boy, was he mad! I won't go into any further details except to say we had funny looking meat that winter, but it was tasty. By the way, the townsfolk treated us differently from then on.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that you can really do what she says and make it happen. Carla gives you practical backyard-to-table "hands-on" advice, and I've recommended it to may people.

Wow! Wow!! Wow!!!, August 29, 2001
This is it folks. This gem is unbelievable. In my life I must have purchased over 3,000 cookbooks - probably 500 from amazon alone. Although this is NOT a cookbook (it does have many recipies), this is "THE" book! Read the previous reviews. I'll echo them. Be warned though, it is going to take you months to get through it all. It is THAT detailed. There are no pretty, color, glossy pictures - rather a weatlh of information I think would take you and I years to find. Carla Emery pulled this one off for us! It took her 24 years to produce (read about it in her bio in the back of the book).
Want to learn how to churn butter? ...turn to page 759. Need info on raising chickens? ...turn to page 619. How about topics like this: practical advice on milking a goat, canning peaches, cooking on a wood stove, how to catch a pig, buying land, drying your herbs, making sourdough spiced apple cookies, secrets of quick pickles, homemade spiced orange tea, preserving meat. Also learn how to: travel with animals, what to do if you see a downed animal, how to make good gelatin, freezing fish, raising chickens, feeding geese, vetting and grooming a goat, butchering a cow, making home made cheese - I mean this gem is loaded.
I also thought what a great gift this would make for someone bedridden - say in traction in the hospital? This will certainly keep ones interest since it covers THOUSANDS of topics - hence the name; The ENCYCLOPEDIA of Country Living. (Move over Martha Stewart!) Give this book to some of your city slicker friends - they might learn a thing or two about life outside of a 10 x 10' garden. Hey - get one for yourself, a dozen or so for Christmas gifts, a gross for the Annual Church Bizaar. Enjoy! (DISCLAIMER: I am in no way receiving compensation for this review - heck, I just loved the book!)

A must own for the serious homesteader beginner, June 12, 2006
This is a huge book 11x9 and shy 900 pages. The cover says over 600,000 copies have been sold but I bet its millions by now. When I first ordered the book I assumed it would be good, but its better than good. As a real homesteader I recommend this book for a variety of reason.

The chapters are long and thorough. Choosing to Buy Land and the chapters on Resources for Back to the Basics, Living Simply, Health Matters and Living Simply are excellent. Because in the buying land section which is long she covers everything from can you get a job near by if you need to still work, can you do with your land what you want, how do you know if the land is fertile, and the wheel and deal aspects involved. Knowing if the land is fertile is a must for anyone who wants to be fully self sufficient since growing food is a top priority.

Being able to do what you wish with your land is also important, because there are places where if you want to use a stream that runs thru your property to harness water generated power, or you want to cull trees, you have to get permits. Same with wanting to add an addition onto your abode. Some places demand you get a permit while others will let you build with the understanding that when you sell, the place is sold 'as is'.

Her food section is humongous and covers everything from seeds to growing the garden to preserving what you grow either in a cellar, or by canning, freezing or drying. She has information galore on predators, insects and snakes. Barns and fences, which is important because I know first hand what a poor fence job or poor animal shelter will do when it comes to animals getting in or out.

She has a huge section on poultry as well as goats cows, home dairying, bees, rabbits and pigs. And what is involved with birth to butchering. Speaking as someone who has had chickens for decades, and have consumed my fair share of home grown milk and meat, knowing what is involved in growing quality animals will save you lots of money in the end. Not to mention the home grown item tastes so much better than commercially grown animals. And knowing what is involved, what tools you will need when it comes time to cull or slaughter an animal is a must if the job is to be done humanely, safely and well.

She also has an important section on caring for your own dead. Don't wince! This is very important and is a natural life process. And knowing how to deal with the local authorities as far as burying a loved one on ones own property is very important. I speak of this as a widow. Caring for ones own dead isn't as hard or creepy as one thinks. Same with knowing how to handle a birth at home. On page 35 as an example she also writes about how to bath under primitive conditions, which is what we have to do here in the Sierras when the power goes out due to snow. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Breaks down key information on cultivating bonsai into 101 easy-to-grasp tips and gives quick answers to all your questions.

Harry Tomlinson is one of Europe's leading bonsai artists and instructors. He has exhibited and judged bonsai all over the world. He is also the author of several books including DK's The Complete Book of Bonsai. ... Read more

Reviews

Probably the only book you really need, September 28, 2000
Before I picked up this simple little Tome, I knew absolutely nothing about bonsai. I was studying eastern cultures and thought to myself, "Hey, I'm bored. I'll bet that this could be an interesting side diversion." I did a quick search on Amazon, and decided this book looked the most concise. It is very reasonably priced, who can't spare a meager $5 to decide if a new activity interests you? The book is very clear and has many helpful full color pictures. I believe that all topics essential to Bonsai are covered: potting, trimming, shaping, wiring, feeding, watering. It even explains the basics of more advanced bonsai techniques: growing the roots onto rock, intricate hanging patterns. A complete list of equipment if provided for the `real' bonsai gardener, but I made due with tools that I had lying around the house. After 15 minutes with the book, you've probably absorbed the majority of the information, and you can get started. I think the total cost to get me started was something like: $5 Book, $4 Juniper, $3 Pot. So I'm out $12.00 and a few hours of time before I decide if I enjoy this hobby or not. My cheap little bonsai is six months old now, and it looks just as nice as any picture I can find in the book. So unless you are planning on making bonsai your life's work, 101 Essential Tips is probably the only book you will ever need.

a beginners point of view, September 9, 2000
I am just starting out in this hobby. I went to the bookstore and looked at many books before picking this one out. Most were priced at twenty dollars or more and I just didn't want to spend that much for something I was just getting into. I checked out several books from the library and read them, including another larger book by the same author. After reading them, I looked through this one and felt that most of the really important info in the larger books was in this one as well with less words and pictures. I am really happy with this book. The photos are clear and informative, and the information is just what I need to get started. Sometimes when starting out, it is better not to get too bogged down in details or you will never dive in. I think this book is just the thing to get a beginner started without making the whole bonsai thing seem out of reach and demanding. Eventually, I can see I will want a guide with more info on individual plants and their care, but this will get me started, and at a great price.

Lots of info, but not lots of pages! Must have!, February 7, 2001
If you like Bonsai, or received one as a gift, this is the book to get. Filled with 101 (literally) facts and tips, it is concise, streamlined and offers excellent pictures.

All critical areas are covered in the book: potting, trimming, shaping, wiring, feeding, watering (the most important perhaps!). If you want to take a crack at an advanced level of Bonsai care, it even guides and discusses growing the roots onto rock, and hanging patterns. There's also a few great tips that clears up the confusion about what sort of tools you *really* need.

This is a MUST to add to your Bonsai book collection.

Know what you are getting, February 18, 2000
I think this is a good summary of a great deal of info on bonsai, but not enough for someone really learning, more of a pocket guide (perhaps a good gift for someone who MIGHT like bonsai). It is a condensed version (very condensed) of Tomlinson's excellent book "Complete book of Bonsai". I suggest you buy a more complete book first, then get this if you need one for a backpack (say on expedition to collect trees for your bonsai). This small version will help you remember what you have already read in detail. Also, before you buy anything, don't miss Amy Liang's "The Living Art of Bonsai: Principles & Techniques of Cultivation & Propagation" which has the most beautiful full color full page photos, and perhaps the most in depth knowledge I have seen yet on Bonsai. Truly a gorgeous book, worth having for the artistic side alone, for a coffee table. Happy pruning X% :)

Bonsai cultivation how-to in a nutshell., June 15, 2004
This very affordable, essential reference for beginners covers all the basics of bonsai cultivation in a broad range of topics, without ever turning too technical for the reader. The well-organized, thoroughly indexed and concise information is presented in handy tips, easy-to-remember answers to frequently asked questions, and step-by-step expert advice with detailed explanations that include topics like:
*Starting a bonsai
*Design principles
*Bonsai styles and displays according to the seasons
*Useful tools
*How to create a bonsai step-by-step
*Caring for and propagating bonsai
*Bonsai species and arrangements
The key information and direct-to-the-point explanations contained in this handbook are accompanied with more than 250 full-color photos and illustrations, which perfectly depict the points being made and make this volume visually enjoyable. And with a binding perfectly suited for constant browsing and repeated check-ups, you are sure to come back to it again and again.
The one thing missing from this volume is a glossary for common terms, but overall, the nuggets of helpful information presented here are a great value for their price. This is a must-buy for beginners and would-be bonsai hobbyists who want a simple and easy to follow guide with instructions that can be instantly absorbed.
--Reviewed by M. E. Volmar

Bonsai care at its best., December 14, 2001
This book is paramount for anyone who is thinking of getting started, or just keeping up a bonsai tree. Beautifully illustrated with step-by-step pictures in full color on every page, and small enough to put in your pocket, it couldn't be better.

The information is presented in an easy forthright manner making it comfortable for the user to jump right in. I picked up this book after the demise of my first Bonsai tree and I am happy to report that my second tree is thriving. Kelsana 12/14/01

Good for cultivating interest..., February 4, 2001
For someone who is just starting out or just beginning to cultivate an interest in Bonsai this book may be helpful. Fairly simple with excellent pictures this is not the book for delving into the hobby and doesn't offer expert technical fixes for bonsai enthusiasts.

What it does offer is a fairly broad, superficial glance at an addicting art form. For the price, you should buy this, especially if you are just starting out. Reading about the subject before starting out, especially for bonsai, is essential. For this reason alone "101 Essential Tips: Bonsai" is a good addition to your bonsai knowledge base.

If you have passed the beginners stage of bonsai this will, most likely, not augment your bonsai know-how. More experienced people would benefit from other books written by Harry Tomilson. Experienced with the traditions of bonsai, some of his other books may be what you are looking for.

A great book for the first timer., March 13, 1999
This is a good source of information for those who are new to the world of Bonsai. It is compact, yet full of very useful information on everything from starting a Bonsai to displaying them. It covers tools, wiring, shaping, and very important tips.

A supurb book. At least for a beginner like me., April 10, 2002
I got that book because people recommended it and it wasn't that expensive. I think that the book is great. It has many colorful pictures that show exactly what you have to do and every single one of 101 tips that are in that book, come in handy. The size of the book is really small which makes like a reference or a guide. I recommend this book to any beginner.

It's a tip-book, December 17, 2006
This book provides most of the basic knowledge that you'll need to know. Sometimes you'll ask yourself a question that's a little more in-depth than this book spans, so just remember it's a tip-book and not a full fledged encyclopedia. For the price this is a very good book, the pictures are great and the tips are well thought out and span much of the bonsai hobby. Near the end of the book there are even suggested species for different types of bonsai styles. The tips are easy to remember and categorized well. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Choosing locally grown organic food is a sustainable living trend that’s taken hold throughout North America. Celebrated farming expert Eliot Coleman helped start this movement with The New Organic Grower published 20 years ago. He continues to lead the way, pushing the limits of the harvest season while working his world-renowned organic farm in Harborside, Maine.

Reviews

Build Yourself A Winter Wonderfarm, April 27, 2009
Got a little land? Love a lot of vegetables? Then build yourself a Winter Wonderfarm. You may not be able to enjoy fresh garden tomatoes in the dead of winter, but there are more than 30 green and root vegetables that you can enjoy. From carrots to onions, celery to kohlrabi, and almost every vegetable in between, your Winter Wonderfarm will become the envy of your neighborhood. Perhaps that's where the expression "green with envy" came from . . . a better, greener farm.

The three components to a successful winter harvest, according to Mr. Coleman are:

1) Cold-hardy vegetables
2) Succession planting
3) Protected cultivation

As it turns out, if we can protect our vegetables from the winter winds, we can grow many vegetables successfully, even in the snow. Some vegetables, such as spinach, lettuce and matte, are actually even sweeter and more tender in cooler temperatures. Think you surely have to provide supplementary lighting? Nope . . . not needed when grown in one of Mr. Coleman's "cold houses". He uses these cold houses even in the Maine winters of Zone 5.

You'll also learn about vertical production of tomatoes and how to create your own cold frame with quick hoops made of electrical conduit and 10-foot-wide spun-bonded row cover held down by sandbags. These hoops can cover the same area as a 22 by 48 foot greenhouse at 5% of the cost. Speaking of cost, a recent article in the AARP Magazine indicated that we can save $1,000.00 a year growing our own vegetables in a small garden. Now add your winter crop savings, and imagine what you'd save. Your Winter Wonderfarm will yield delicious, organic vegetables, improving your diet and fattening your wallet. Forget putting out the Christmas lights . . . just grow vegetables.

Lynette Fleming, Coauthor of Lunch Buddies: Buddy Up for a Better Diet

Winter Harvest Handbook, May 9, 2009
Once again Elliot Coleman has provided us with a wealth of knowledge when it comes to both home and commercial gardening. In these times of change, it is reassuring to know that there are those who are more than willing to share what they have learned. We have been using some of his techniques here in New Brunswick, Canada with great success. We are currently eating spinach in April and May that we planted last fall in our cold frame. If a crop can survive one of our winters, they should survive elsewhere. If you want to put in a garden, this is a must book to own.

fresh from your garden in the winter, May 25, 2009
I have his first one, which I really enjoyed. This one is better-with color photos that will really excite any gardener. There are lists of specific seeds he has found will grow under winter conditions in the greenhouse, and how to help them best make it through the freeze. He list helpful items and where to get them. An easy read,for the person who wants to grow for their family or to sell. A helpful fun book. Elliot is a good teacher.

The Rest of the Pieces to the Puzzle, August 3, 2009
In 2006 I planted my first fall garden. The first week of September I sowed one of my grow beds in Indian Summer Spinach and a few other recommendations from an article I read about fall gardens. I was amazed at the productivety from this late planting. The quality and quantity was wonderful, and the absense of pests and weeds was noteworthy. To my astonishment I kept harvesting and enjoying spinach first to Thanksgiving, and then into December. When the first snow fall blanketed the foothills where I live the day before Christmas I thought it was all over. New Years was a clear sunny winter day and so I slipping on my snow boots and wondered out to the garden. There I noticed a little dark green peeking out from the edge of the grow bed in I which I had planted the fall spinach. Gently I lifted away the crusty layer of snow and was astounded to find the spinach still florishing. Reaching down I sampled the crunchiest, sweetest spinach I had ever tasted, before returning to the house for a large bowl. The salad that day from our own garden was devine. I picked almost daily until, with a little melancoly, I harvested the last of it on January 20, 2007. That expience led me to wonder what else might be grown in the fall and winter months, and how it could best be accomplished. If you have ever put together a jigsaw puzzle only to find a piece or two missing just as you were completing it,that's how I felt in reverse. I had the missing piece or two, but didn't know where the rest of the puzzle was until just last month when I discovered Eliot Coleman's extraordinary book The Winter Harvest Handbook. Now I have the whole puzzle. But in his humble way I can almost hear Eliot say, "There are still lots of things we need to learn about the winter garden." If you are passionate about growing quality vegetables for your own table or for the market, and want to extend your efforts into the wonderful world of the Winter Harvest I hardily recommend this gift from the master of that season. My only comments for the 3rd edition would be to add more information about watering/irrigation in winter and specific information about seed varieties and their sources. I was so impressed with this book that I am now "plowing" through Coleman's The New Organic Grower.

Grow Vegetables In The Winter! I'm Doing It. Great Book!, January 17, 2010
Readers will learn from this book at their own level of understanding. I'm a novice, so I'll be going back for more as I mature as a vegetable gardener, even though I've got a GREENHOUSE FULL OF VEGETABLES AND THIS IS JANUARY!

I had (still have) so much to learn, but I knew I wanted to grow vegetables when they weren't traditionally supposed to be growing. The Winter Harvest Handbook taught me how the shortened days of winter affect growing (everyone else probably already knew that but I had to read it to understand it) and ways I can use artificial lighting to provide more "daylight" hours. I learned about the option of heating the soil. That method is too advanced for me, but others were just what I needed. I am heating the soil for the seeds I'm sowing.

I had asked my expert-gardener neighbors, "Do the plants really know what season it is?" They assured me that they didn't. I made it my goal to convince the seeds/seedlings I plant that it is growing season. I accomplished that with the help of this handbook among others.

I can see that a more experienced gardener or those with more land to plant will be more interested in topics related to their projects. I stuck with the topics I could use in my new greenhouse and my new cold frame, which I haven't used yet. I only have so much courage and can only try so many new things at a time. EDITED to say that I did try to use mine. I had given my neighbor one and he used his to produce a good crop of radishes. I tried to use mine, but the wind moved the soil around so much that the carrot seeds I sowed never sprouted. This may not be the location for a cold frame, but it's a good idea for tamer regions.

I've been enjoying my new greenhouse, formerly a screened-in porch, now enclosed with plexiglass and full of growing vegetables--in January! Right now I have spinach, Romaine lettuce, radishes (although I timidly didn't plant enough of those), tomatoes (which I'm learning to pollinate without the assistance of bees since they aren't available), squash, and lots of onions and garlic. A couple of days ago I discovered a cucumber plant which looks like it needs pollination. [EDITED to come back weeks later and say that I successfully pollinated it and it is now a tiny little cucumber and there are more on the way.]

Back to reading to find out exactly how it works with cucumbers when there are no bees around. My greenhouse may not be warm enough to bring that little cucumber to harvest, [EDITED to say that it worked!!!] but {shrug} the other vegetables are, with the exception of the tomatoes that are going that direction and have blossomed, I've hand-pollinated them, and I'm still waiting to see tomatoes, but it's looking good for them too! Romaine lettuce and LOTS of spinach are the stars out there! They are growing with little effort on my part. [EDITED to say that I have dozens of little green cherry tomatoes on my tomato bush now. This is awesome! I had no idea gardening could be so much fun. Where have I been? Oh yes, working, and no time for much of anything but work. This is better.]

The handbook taught me which vegetables tolerate colder conditions and those that can make it in cooler (not cold) conditions. I'll soon be ready to try out the cold-frame and Not not as timid as I was when I started. It's really tough forcing myself to harvest my vegetables though. I love to watch them growing and thriving in my garden, EVEN THROUGH THE OKLAHOMA BLIZZARD OF Christmas Day, 2009.

Excellent guide for those selling vegetables, May 4, 2009
Although there is a great deal of information that can be applied to the small garden, this book is geared for the gardener wanting to sell produce all winter out of greenhouses. It is well written with many resources and tons of technical information. I'm a small gardener, though, and it is beyond what I plan on doing, at least at this point. Still, it is a very good book.

Execellent How To Guide!, May 2, 2009
Got this book while deployed and was very difficult to put it down when I had to go to work. Even though I put in about 18 hours a day here in Afghanistan I could not sleep until I learned just a little more about four season growing and harvesting!

The kick I needed to build my own greenhouse!, November 29, 2009
I bought Eliot Coleman's New Organic Grower years ago and always wanted to get fresh vegetables in the winter. This is way more than just an update to that book! It gives more details and advice to get you going. Now we have a greenhouse (really a high plastic tunnel 11'x17'x7' tall) full of his preferred winter hardy items and we are eating good. I should add we live in Colorado and we had the coldest and snowiest fall that I can remember. We had 3 or 4 snows before Halloween but everything survived and thrived in the unheated greenhouse as he describes. Plus this is in a regular neighborhood and building the greenhouse as Eliot suggests, it meets code without a building permit as it is movable! A must buy.

Packed with good info, November 27, 2009
Wow, I can't remember the last book I read that tought me more valueable info. Eliot's book is filled with practical advice on how to extend the harvest through the winter. While written from the commercial grower's perspective, as a home gardener I found so much that I could use. Great info on the use of "cold" vs "cool" greenhouses, how to schedule plantings and harvesting, plant selection for winter production, as well as the best use of greenhouses and row covers in summer and winter. Also some great chapters for any vegi gardener on soil preparation, pests, weeds, and plant spacing. Strongly recommend.

A book worth reading, July 5, 2009
This book is a great follow up to his first book the "New Organic Grower".
I highly recommend for anyone serious about the food he "wants" to eat and who wants to grow it.
... Read more

Editorial Review

With 512 full color pages and 1120 full color photographs and illustrations, Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower's Bible is the most complete cultivation book available.The Fifth Edition of the former Indoor Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor Bible was originally published in 1983, when it immediately became a best seller.More than 500,000 copies of the Indoor Bible are in print in Dutch, English, French, German and Spanish.New greenhouse and outdoor growing chapters make this a book both indoor and outdoor growers will keep under thumb.The other 15 chapters (17 total) are all updated with the most current information, completely rewritten andsignificantly expanded.For example, Dr. John McPartland contributed an all new medical section - The books credits list more than 300 contributors and reads like a who's who in the world of cannabis cultivation. ... Read more

Reviews

The Best Reference Guide on Marijuana Ever Created, June 3, 2009
That headline may sound like I'm trying to sell the book, but it really is a comprehensive, exhaustive and highly detailed reference manual that covers every aspect of marijuana horticulture from A to Z.

Over 500 pages (all in full color) and arranged in color-coded sections to help you navigate the abundance of information. I may be wrong, but there does not seem to be a particular order for these sections, but this book isn't meant to be a guide for novices that holds your hand in explaining how the plant grows all the way through to the harvest and cure. Don't get me wrong, all of that information and more is in the book, but it's not put together in a natural flow from equipment to seed to harvest. It's more of an encyclopedia that includes everything - you just have to find it.

Tons of color photographs and lots of great illustrations sometimes do a better job of explaining things than the text itself, but if you're a visual person like me, you're greatly appreciate that approach.

I dock it one star for two reasons. It has more than a few ads interspersed throughout the guide selling certain products. I've never seen that done and it seems like a biased approach. It's a $30 book, so the ads seem unnecessary. More importantly, I sometimes found it difficult to sift through 500 pages to find the information I was looking for. The info is in there, but given the sheer amount of information, you can spend a lot of time trying to find what you want.

I'm constantly referring to this book, so if you're serious about growing, you must buy this book. You don't need to read it cover to cover, but you'll need it far more than you think you will.

As I mentioned, this isn't a 1-2-3 "learn how to grow book" and that's a good thing. If you're just starting out or just considering building your own grow op, I highly recommend Grow Great Marijuana: An Uncomplicated Guide to Growing the World's Finest Cannabis, which is a no-nonsense guide to learning how the plant grows, what equipment you need and how to work through your first grow. You really need both books, especially if you're just starting out.

Danny Danko, Cultivation Editor, High Times Magazine, March 29, 2006
There is no greater written resource for someone interested in growing their own marijuana. From seeds to clones, indoors and out, hydro and soil mix, Jorge has the all the goods to get you through to harvest. The photos are excellent and the print quality of this book is the best I've seen. Of special note, check out the nutrient deficiency section; It's been a life-saver for many people. The detailed photos will help identify specific deficiencies, underfeeding and overfeeding as well as pH problems and pest diagnosis and control.

Jorge is a mentor to all those interested in cannabis cultivation (including myself). His writing is clear and succinct. His photos are amazing. There isn't a grow book on the market that comes close and that's why everyone in the business calls Indoor Marijuana Horticulture, "The Grower's Bible." The new edition is absolutely comprehensive.

Don't forget to check out his new grow DVD as well. It makes a great companion to this excellent book.

The Best Cannibus Book available!!!, February 24, 2007
Im a medical Mj user, and have owned over 30 Mj books, this book is filled with everything you would ever need out over all the other books. The only two other books i would recomend are the "the big book of budd 1 and 2" these are catalog type books with a dream list of different types of Mj. But for the best book on growing Jorge's book is it!

Easily the best grow book ever!, April 18, 2006
Jorge's new book is easily the best grow book ever. I have a large collection of cannabis books and am also the author of The Cannabible series. There is no other grow book ever made that even compares to this masterpiece. A must have in every growers collection! Every question you could possibly have will be answered clearly in this book, whether you are an indoor or outdoor grower. The book is laid out beautifully with TONS of photos. This is the ONLY grow book I recommend to people!

Encyclopedia of Cannabis Growing and More!, March 22, 2006
This book was a privilege, and a joy to work on. I spent a full year working with Jorge Cervantes designing this book to be the best cannabis growing book on the market today.
The book starts off with a very well-written introduction that details how important cannabis is to medical users, from Dr. John McPartland. There are also chapters on breeding, harvesting and how to make hashish from your product.
The multitude of quality photographs are what makes this book unique (with 4 or more images on most pages), no other grow book on the market has such clear photography that details the exact points and principles that a grower needs to concern themselves with. This book is for serious growers, and is an incredible bargain for the price.
I personally recommed this book "highly" for all serious and/or beginning growers.

The textbook for our culture!, March 15, 2006
By far, the most comprehensive guide to cannabis horticulture on the market. Jorge's "bible" for everything the novice to the professional grower will need in order to produce world class flowers. Once again Jorge has delivered the textbook for our culture.

A truly SERIOUS Growguide, March 12, 2006
Cervantes' latest print of the 'Marijuana Horticulture' is a very complete source of information for the novice and expert grower alike. Not only has the text been completely revised and updated, but the book is now also totally illustrated with beautiful clear pictures and drawings.
Jorge's approach to show everything he explains in the book in coloured pictures as well is a very useful one. For people who do not like reading very much it is now also clear to them what he means by just checking the pictures.
A truly SERIOUS grow Bible that I recommend to all of our customers.

This book is a WINNER!, March 11, 2006
I recommend this book to not only your first time grower but to the seasoned grower also. This book is full of valuable information. I am pleased to add this book to my library. I would have to say that it would take 1 hell of a book to get my attention and this book did that end then some!

Take Care and Peace

Marco Renda
Founder of Treating Yourself.com
Publisher & Editor of Treating Yourself Magazine

AMAZING!, February 21, 2006

Rarely have I seen the "same" book being re-printed and offering so much more in its new edition. Top quality pictures, a really global coverage of all different growing styles, logic separation of topics with easy to use color schemes, direct-to-the-point texts and charts!
Fascinating to say the least: Jorge really has shown that you can make things easy and clear when writing a grow guide but has kept his 'investigative journalist' skills full on while editing the book and has packed it with tasty secrets that are not at everyone's fingertips!
Really a positive surprise, get your hands on this book now!

Most Detailed and Advanced book on the Market, May 18, 2006
I am a big collector of Marijuana associated books and once again the King of Marijuana grow books Jorge Cervantes has proved he can stay ontop of the new cutting edge grow scene, both indoor and outdoor and as well as greenhouse growing, as well as the most up to date hash techniques. No Book can compare to this one.
First this book will just blow you away from the touch. It must weigh a full KILO!!! The color photographs are the best I have ever seen. The color coded sections are great and are a must for fast referencing. It can take the beginner grower from deciding what to grow, where to grow and how to grow all in one book. For the oldtimers and the super advanced growers this book will teach you a lot of new money saving ideas, also help you to improve your yields, and keep you upto date on the new ever changing grow technology.
For all the people who think that they can learn no more, this book is for you. I guarantee that everybody can learn something new. There is no other book on the market that can compare. All the other book's are very outdated and are just like smoking 70's weed, old and past there time. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Start a mini farm on a quarter acre or less and provide 85 percent of thefood for a family of four—and earn an income.Mini Farming describes a holistic approach to small-area farmingthat will show you how to produce 85 percent of an average family’s food on just a quarter acre—and earn $10,000 in cash annuallywhile spending less than half the time that an ordinary job wouldrequire. Even if you have never been a farmer or a gardener, this book covers everything you need to know to get started: buying and savingseeds, starting seedlings, establishing raised beds, soil fertilitypractices, composting, dealing with pest and disease problems,crop rotation, farm planning, and much more. Because self-sufficiency is the objective, subjects such as raising backyard chickensand home canning are also covered along with numerous methodsfor keeping costs down and production high. Materials, tools, andtechniques are detailed with photographs, tables, diagrams, andillustrations. 100 color illustrations and photographs ... Read more

Reviews

A beautifully printed book with great recipes, August 5, 2008
This is my favorite of Jamie's cookbooks. For one thing, the photography is gorgeous: full page, full color images of jamie's garden and the sumptuous feasts it produces. Secondly, the book itself is beautifully printed on unusually grainy paper, giving it a high-quality, handmade feel. And finally, the recipes are great. You must try the roasted carrot and avocado salad! The book is organized by season, with various fruits and vegetables getting there own little chapters, including growing tips! Wonderful.

The previous reviewer who complained that there weren't enough vegetarian recipes must have had the wrong book. In fact, while there are plenty of recipes with meat and fish, there are many, many recipes which focus on fresh fruit and veg. I don't think you'll regret purchasing this book.

Brilliant !!!!!, June 2, 2008
Fantastic book From Jamie Oliver!!!! I have been putting his organic farming lessons to good use and am proud to say that I have my first real garden! I love the way he is sooo passionate about his garden and even gives you the dirt on the secret love affair he is having with it behind his wife's back! haha :)

I see that another reviewer didn't like the dead rabbit picture or other game pictures in the book which is interesting because it shows just how far removed we are from the food that we eat. Jamie is trying to change this by getting you closer to what you are putting into your body by using the freshest of ingredients in a seasonal way (that includes fresh meat). The book itself is set up in seasons and has a wonderful variety of offerings for each. (However; if you did happed to catch the Jamie at Home show on the Food Network you will already have seen the majority of these recipes).
They are fantastic recipes though, and I do use them very often. Some cookbooks I buy and they quickly become dust collectors. This one however; is permanently open!

I do highly suggest this book to anyone who cares about good cooking in a fun way and wants to learn a trick or two about organic gardening. It really has helped me reconnect with food in a way that eludes most Americans today. And please...get over the rabbit pics, let me just clue you in to the fact that your fish and chicken don't actually hatch with little Styrofoam containers around them perfectly filleted and ready to cook! Buon Appetito

Typical Jamie...., March 23, 2008
I just happened upon this book at the local grocery store but didn't hesitate to purchase it as I've always enjoyed Jamie Oliver's cookbooks. His writing has always been down to earth and he seems to 'relish' (pun intended!) any opportunity to educate the public about making healthy, delicious eating practical and realistic. He's forever 'encouraging' us to eat responsibly...with a healthy dose of common sense and absolute sincere appreciation for where our food comes from and in which form it takes on our plates. His humour and generous spirit shine through, as always.
As a gardener I especially appreciated the way he's chosen to write a very simple book that includes information on growing your own food, making ethical (without being too preachy!) food choices and most of all...simply and truly enjoying quality, delicious REAL food.
Good job, Jamie!

Not sure I could live without this cookbook now..., November 28, 2009
First: I never write product reviews. However, after eating delicious meal after delicious meal thanks to this cookbook, I just had to offer my accolades to the list. My husband and I love to cook. We love to try new recipes at least a couple of times each week. EVERY meal that we have tried from this book has been great. Mushroom risotto? Yum. Italian bread and cabbage soup? Amazing. Essex fried rabbit? Delicious. Indian carrot salad, steak and Guinness pie, rhubarb fool...aaahhh. These are just the recipes that I'm thinking of off of the top of my head -- I know I'm forgetting many other stellar ones that we've tried. This might be the best Christmas gift I've ever received. Also, the gorgeous photography and interesting discussions on gardening and sustainability make it an interesting read as well. I highly recommend this book.

Jamie gets back to the basics with great rustic cooking, November 30, 2008
This is Jamie's best cookbook yet. This is the companian to his newest Food Network series by the same name. This great chef has a knack for combining unusual elements together and presents them in a wonderfully rustic and simple manner. For the home gardener, Jamie reveals his techniques to growing vegetables and fruits, putting the reader on a personal level with the chef. It reminds me of Irish super chef Denis Cotter, who also sees the importance of understanding the growing process.

Anyone can reproduce these recipes using Jamie's basic techniques. Its his ability to meld unique combinations together that makes him a genius. This is really a must-have for any serious foodie interested in gaining insight into the creative process behind some truly great-tasting dishes. Thanks, Jamie.

Great companion to the show, December 12, 2008
In Jamie At Home, Jamie Oliver has collected a wonderful selection of fun, tasty, easy-to-make recipes. If you get a chance to watch his Food Network show of the same name he usually bangs together two or three of the recipes per show, giving a good overview of his techniques. I've learned some simple time-saving shortcuts from him that make my experience in the kitchen even more enjoyable.

My least favorite of his cookbooks, but great for "large garden" farmers, July 6, 2010
I should start by saying I consider the author to be an excellent chef with fresh and natural food...I am a fan.

I also am grateful that he went deeper than simply listing recipes. He mentioned the best eggs to buy (organic) and what happens to both the eggs and chickens in factory situations and why the health of the chicken matters to taste. He adopted hens who were crippled from having to stand on a wire their whole lives without moving in a factory farm.

I love that he focuses on fresh ingredients from the garden.

Okay, so that said...

First, this is for someone with a massive garden. We have a huge one but each recipe calls for quite a list of fresh ingredients including all the spices. Either decide what you should leave out, figure in your head how much dried herbs to use, or hope that you grow tons of veggies and herbs or it will be costly in many cases.

Second, I simply found the dishes to be pretty unusual in many cases...

I'll get to that in a minute though. I have to say first that it was REALLY odd to have a baby lamb with a number spray painted on him being sold for slaughter at a market on the front of the lamb recipes. What?? I would like it if I thought that was delivering some kind of message, but I knew it wasn't since it was followed with the best ways to cook him. That was a bit unappetizing...even if I could find lamb in the grocery store, that picture would stop me in my tracks.

I'll overlook that and say the rest of the pictures are just gorgeous and he has an amazing garden...but back to the unusual tastes...

Here are some examples of recipes in the book:

Incredible smashed peas and fava beans on toast
Really very delicious simple lamb tartare (Oh, God, raw lamb...oh it looked horrid)
Curried Cauliflower Fritters
Indian Carrot Salad
Smoked beets with grilled steak and cottage cheese dressing
Grilled butterflied monkfish with a sweet runner bean stew
Crispy Zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta and mint

While not all dishes were unusual, many others were simply recipes for plain grilled fish or grilled meat, a pizza, etc...

Too, there were so many photos and divider pages that this large cookbook actually held very few recipes in comparison to the size of the book.

I love all things veggie but I guess my garden is more limited than I thought prior to purchase.

That said, this is a GREAT chef. Although I wasn't a big fan of this cookbook and wound up just tearing out 4 recipes and giving the rest of the book away, I have most of his other books and I do like them.

Bottom line, decide if you feel adventurous, have a true farm garden or even don't mind a trip to a specialty market for some of the ingredients...if so, it's a good one and he inspires. If not, try some of his other works or flip through this one at a store for a good length of time prior to purchase.

Still, kudos on the chicken chapter. Most are uneducated on the inhumanity of regular farm raised hens and I applaud that education.

Making food fresh, local, simple and delicious, October 30, 2008
I loved the series and the cookbook is a great companion in the kitchen. Jamie Oliver has convinced me that we can make small differences to our habits when cooking that make big changes not only for our palettes but for our communities. I now will go the extra step to try to buy local when possible. I will search out available farmer's markets. I will speak with the grocer as to why there is not local produce. And then we have the actual taste of the recipes! So far, my particular favorites are the English Onion Soup with sage and Cheddar. This is a very basic recipe with the emphasis on the bountiful array of different onion species. This is the essence of Jamie's recipes, simple ingredients but perfectly put together making a memorable meal.

For those that enjoy his series on the Food Network, October 13, 2008
I have made several of the dishes in this cookbook and they have turned out very well. If you enjoy cooking with seasonal, fresh ingredients you will find it a valuable addition to your collection.

Another gem from Jamie!, March 3, 2010
When I first came across Jamie Oliver's program on TV years ago, I was a bit put off by what I considered his overly enthusiastic manner. I continued to watch, however, and soon became a huge fan. This guy is one of the treasures of the cooking world.

I have all his books and use them all the time. This latest has lots of gardening tips, etc. in it that I don't need. The recipes are great and you can skip the parts about how to grow turnips. The recipe for baked fish with leeks and bacon alone is worth the price of the book, as is the spicy pork and chilli-pepper goulash and the potato and chorizo omelette with a kinda parsley salad. I've only tried one of the desserts - the rhubarb and sticky ginger crumble which is homey and delicious. His desserts are usually a high point for me in any of his books and this looks to be the same

I would recommend that you get all of his books. Immediately! Right this second!

As Jacques Pepin would say "Appy Coooking" with Jamie Oliver. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Every schoolchild learns about the mutually beneficial dance of honeybees and flowers: The bee collects nectar and pollen to make honey and, in the process, spreads the flowers’ genes far and wide. In The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan ingeniously demonstrates how people and domesticated plants have formed a
similarly reciprocal relationship. He masterfully links four fundamental human desires—sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control—with the plants that satisfy them: the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato. In telling the stories of four familiar species, Pollan illustrates how the plants have evolved to satisfy humankind’s most basic yearnings. And just as we’ve benefited from these plants, we have also done well by them. So who is really domesticating whom? ... Read more

Reviews

Some of the Most interesting Botany You'll Ever Read., June 13, 2001
Two different people sent me copies last week of Michael Pollan's book, The Botany of Desire. I'm a writer (Allergy-Free Gardening, from Ten Speed Press) myself and a lifetime horticulturist and I guess they figured I'd appreciate this book. They were right too. I found this book extremely hard to put down. Pollan is a writer first and a botanist second but he is remarkably observant about horticultural matters. He is also unusually talented at explaining complex ideas and he does so in a way that is fresh, fun, often funny, and suprisingly profound. Pollan's section on Johnny Appleseed alone is worth the price of the book. Here Johnny is a multi-dimensional character, one not just eccentric, but a shrewd fellow with great vision and considerable human frailty. The Botany of Desire is chiefly the history of the tulip, apples in America, cannabis, and the potato. This may not sound like the recipe for a really satisfying read, but in Michael Pollan's more than able hands, it certainly is. If you enjoy gardening, history, or just plain old very decent writing, I expect you too would appreciate this excellent book.

Plants and Humans Influence Each Other for Mutual Benefit!, May 22, 2001
"What existential difference is there between the human being's role in this (or any) garden and the bumblebees?" "Did I choose to plant these potatoes, or did the potato make me do it? With profound questions like these, Michael Pollan pollinates your mind with a new world view of our relationships with plants, one in which humans are not at the center. The book focuses on four primary examples of how plants provide benefits to humans that lead humans to benefit the plants (apples for sweetness, tulips for beauty, marijuana for intoxication, and the potato for control over nature's food supply). You will learn many new facts in the process that will fascinate you. The book's main value is that you will learn that we need to be more thoughtful in how we assist in the evolution of plant species.

The book builds on Darwin's original observations about how artificial evolution occurs (evolution directed by human efforts). So-called domesticated species thrive while the wild ones we admire often do not. Compare dogs to wolves as an example. Mr. Pollan challenges the mental separation we make between wild and domesticated species successfully in the book.

The apple section was my favorite. You will learn that John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) was a rather odd fellow who was actually in the business of raising and selling apple trees. He planted a few seeds at the homes where he stayed overnight on his travels. Mr. Chapman had apple tree nurseries all over Ohio and Indiana, which he started 2-3 years before he expected an influx of settlers. Homesteading laws required these settlers to plant 50 apple or pears trees in order to take title to the land. And these apples were for making hard apple cider, not eating apples. He was the "American Dionysus" in Mr. Pollan's view. Apple trees need to be grafted to make good eating apples. Chapman's trees produced many genetic variations, which are good for the species. Apple trees became more narrow in their genes after other sources for alcohol and sweetness became available (from cane sugar). Now, the ancient genes of apple trees are being kept in living form from Kazakhstan, before they are lost due to economic development.

Tulips were the source of the famous Tulipmania in Holland. Rare colors occurred due to viruses. Those became extremely valuable during the tulip boom market in the 17th century. Now, growers try to keep the viruses out and we have much more dull, consistent species. We have probably lost much beauty in favor of order in the process.

The intoxicants in marijuana are probably caused by toxins that the plants make to kill off insects. Because the plant is a weed, it grows very rapidly. There is a hilarious story about the author's experiences in growing two plants that you will love. As the antidrug war progressed, marijuana became a hothouse plant and was bred and developed to grow much more rapidly under humid, high-light conditions indoors. You will read about modern commercial farms in Holland.

The potato story is the most complex. The Irish potato famine related to monoculture. The Incas had always planted a variety of potatoes to avoid the risk of disease. Now, biotechnology has added an insecticide to the leaves of potato plants, taking monoculture one step further. Interestingly, the insects are already becoming resistant to the insecticide. Are we building a new risk to famine with this approach? How will genetically altered potatoes affect humans? Is having consistent french fries at fast food places enough of an incentive to take this risk? These are the kinds of questions raised by this chapter.

Mr. Pollan has described a "dance of human and plant desire that left neither the plants nor the people . . . unchanged."

His key point is that we should be sure to include strong biodiversity in our approaches. Nature can create more variation faster than fledgling biotechnology industry can. Time has proven that biodiversity has many advantages for humans while monoculture has usually proven to have at least one major drawback. In reality, we can probably have both.

If you are like me, you will find Mr. Pollan's personal experiences with the plants and his investigations of the historical figures to be fascinating. He is a good story teller, and a fine writer.

After you read this book, take a walk through a park or a garden and think about Mr. Pollan's argument. Then consider how these principles can be applied to help ideas change, improve, and grow in more valuable ways.

Look at life from many different perspectives . . . and live more intelligently and beneficially!

Fabulous...., November 6, 2002
Read this book and you may never eat a conventionally grown potato again. I know I won't. If I hadn't been a dedicated organic gardener for over 40 years, I would become one after reading THE BOTANY OF DESIRE. I find it incredibly puzzling that more people haven't bitten the organic bullet. I truly believe a diet of conventionally grown food can shorten your life and bring on all sorts of aches, pains, and illnesses you might not otherwise suffer. Organic gardening works and the stuff you grow is better for you. If you can't grow it, for goodness sakes, hustle on down to your closest Whole Foods store and buy it. Organic food may be more expensive than conventional foods, but in the long run you will save on medical bills.

Michael Pollen's book is simply the best set of gardening essays I've read in a long while, maybe ever. And that's saying a lot because I am a big fan of gardening books (I've reviewed over 100 of them for Amazon). I haven't read something so enjoyable since Henry Mitchell's columns and books. It's not often a book of garden essays can make you laugh (misadventures with Mary Jane), make you cry (one million Irish dead of starvation), make you angry (one million Irish dead), and make you smile (is there any tulip so lovely as `The Queen of the Night?'

Pollan covers four plants, Apples, Tulips, Marijuana, and Potatoes. His first chapter on apples, disabused me of all my notions about Johnny Appleseed. I had read Anna Pavord's book THE TULIP, so the tulip section of Pollan's book was the least interesting for me, although he added some interesting anecdotal information.

The best section of this book as far as I am concerned is the chapter on Marijuana. My husband is a substance abuse counselor and I recommended the chapter to him. It could have been titled, "Everything you ever wanted to know about Marijuana that they didn't tell you in medical school or criminology class." If you haven't yet decided the U.S. government officials who devised the war on drugs are nuts, read this chapter and you will become convinced. Drug war indeed!!! Didn't we learn anything with Al Capone??

The section on the potato plant is downright scary. Pollan's adventures with Monsanto are illuminating. Once again, the feds come out as the dumb bunnies. Or, maybe it's the elected officials and their appointees who won't let the EPA and USDA do it's job. The material on evolution in this section nicely complements Steve Jones' DARWIN'S GHOST. Monsanto is in the process of obtaining patents on natural substances and evolutionary processes that will affect the whole food chain-and the CEO says "trust me". Yeah, right.

Do yourself a favor, during the cold weather ahead. Curl up in an easy chair with a cup of tea and read this book. Whether you garden or not, you will love it.

Excellent book, January 15, 2002
This is an amazing book.
Author Pollan takes us on a journey through history, botany, and the human psyche through examination of four plants - the apple, tulip, marijuana, and potato.
Recurring themes through the book are how plants benefit from encouraging human attention, and the dangers of monoculture, especially how modern man has taken the diversity available in nature and severely limited that diversity, limiting the plants' ability to respond to environmental challenges.
Throughout the book he sprinkles tidbits of information on the plant described, and on the surrounding human culture. He reveals, for instance, that the apple was not only one of the only sources of sweetness in early America, but that the main use of apples in early America was cider. Because we have so limited the original diversity of the apple into just a few strains, apples require large amounts of artificially-applied pesticide to fight the continually-adapting apple pests.
He explains not only how the tulip mania in Holland rose and fell, but why the prized feathered or "broken" tulips were less hardy.
In the discussion on marijuana, Pollan diverges into interesting discussions of the chemistry of human consciousness, how psychoactive plants interact with our consciousness, society's reaction to the use of marijuana, and how strengthened prohibitions against marijuana have ironically led to more potent marijuana.
Talking about the potato, Pollard discusses the dangers of genetically engineered plants - bringing in a pesticide gene from a bacteria to the potato, which results in not only biological dangers, but the danger of putting big business in tight control of agriculture. Pollard also discusses not only how the Irish potato blight came to be, but why it particularly impacted the Irish.
Woven through all these discussions is the theme of the split human attitude toward nature - admiring its wildness, while attempting to exert maximum control over it.

You'll enjoy this book - as you will a similar book (though less esoteric) - _An Empire of Plants: People and Plants that Changed the World_ by Toby and Will Musgrave, which explores the worlds of tobacco, sugar cane, cotton, tea, poppies, quinine and rubber.

Soft-spoken, but packs a punch, September 22, 2001
Pollan makes the rather striking point in the Introduction that we and our domesticated plants are involved in a coevolutionary relationship. We use them and they in turn use us. The bumblebee thinks that he is the "subject in the garden and the bloom he's plundering for its drop of nectar" is the object. "But we know that this is just a failure of his imagination. The truth of the matter is that the flower has cleverly manipulated the bee into hauling its pollen from blossom to blossom." (p. xiv)

And so it is with us. There is no subject and no object. The grammar is all wrong. We plant and disperse the apple, thinking we act from our volition, yet from the apple's point of view, it has enticed us through its bribe of sweetness to further its propagation. It has played upon our desire. The same can be said of every other plant "domesticated" by humans. As Pollan points out, from a larger point of view our farms and gardens are just another part of the "wild" environment. And we, too, are part of that environment--increasingly a most significant part. The plants, and of course the cows, the ants, the roaches, the dogs and the cats, adjust to the environment, or they don't. The ones that do will flourish. Those that don't, the mighty oak, perhaps, the hard wood trees of equatorial jungles, the tigers and the condor, that cannot, will go the way of the dodo.

This idea is not original with Pollan, of course, but nowhere have I seen it presented so convincingly. In a sense we are not the doer, we are the done. Pollan illustrates his thesis in four chapters on the apple, the tulip, cannabis, and the potato.

In the chapter on tulips and the tulip mania we learn that we are probably hard-wired to love flowers. Why? Because "the presence of flowers...is a reliable predictor of future food." (p. 68) We love what is good for us. We find beauty in that which nourishes. Pollan adds that "recognizing and recalling flowers helps a forager get to the fruit [that is to come] first." (p. 68) I might add that our love for little animals is both in their resemblance to our children and (hidden from our consciousness) their potential nutritional value in a time of famine. One might watch on PBS's Nature series to see how lovingly the big cat doth lick its prey.

In the chapter on marijuana Pollan admits to growing the noxious weed in his garden among the potatoes andthe tulips, but incurs paranoia since such horticulture is against the law. He points with restraint to the absurdity of the anti-marijuana laws, to the unconstitutional seizure of property by the marijuana police, etc., but one senses that he's pulling his punches. Or perhaps he feels that something is gained by using a quiet voice. He goes to Amsterdam and finds out just how potent the new marijuana has become. He views an indoor marijuana grow room and sees how sinsemilla is produced while noting that cannabis has become America's number one cash crop. (p. 130). He also notes that "the rapid emergence of a domestic marijuana industry represents a triumph of protectionism" (p. 131). Yes, Virginia, the drug war is artificially supporting the high price of marijuana and protecting domestic "farmers" from foreign competition.

The chapter on the apple concentrates on the life and career of John Chapman, AKA Johnny Appleseed, in which Pollan transforms the Disney-ish Christianized American folk hero into "the American Dionysus." The reason? The apple seeds that Chapman dispersed grew not into Red Delicious apples or Macintoshes but into scrawny little things, mostly too bitter to eat that were made into hard cider, which contained about three percent alcohol, the drink of default for the pioneers. They loved him for it, and occasionally there did indeed grow out of the cider orchards a tree or two that brought forth fruit that could be eaten with pleasure, and made into pies and butter....

The final chapter on the potato has Pollan planting Monsanto's genetically engineered NewLeaf potato, a potato that produces its own insecticide as part of the potato itself by using a gene borrowed from a common bacterium found in the soil. Pollan weighs the significance of this while recalling the history of the potato from its origins in the Andes through its economic effect on Europe, and especially Ireland, to its status today. He comes out strongly against monoculture and in favor of biodiversity. He reports on Monsanto's infamous "Terminator" technology, genetic alteration of plants so that their seeds are sterile, requiring the farmer to become dependent upon Monsanto for seed, a technology that Monsanto "has forsworn" following "an international barrage of criticism." (p. 233)

This a very pretty book written in an understated style about how we deceive ourselves, how we fail to see the world as it really is; how we see the world from a singular and restricted point of view, we as subject and actor, the rest of the environment as acted upon, when in truth, we are just part of the larger ecology, part of the process. We are creatures that kid ourselves to make more palpable our morally ambiguous behavior.

My favorite insight of many in the book comes from page 247 where Pollan, in recalling the brilliant time-lapse photography from David Attenborough's PBS series, "The Private Life of Plants," observes, "...our sense of plants as passive objects is a failure of imagination, rooted in the fact that plants occupy what amounts to a different dimension."

Through a Potato's Eyes, July 21, 2002
Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire is a collection of four essays on four different plants, each representing a desire that humans have: apples (sweetness), tulips (beauty), marijuana (intoxication), and potatoes (control). Pollan's writing is clear and purposeful, full of the kind of rampant speculation that would get a real scientist in trouble (or labeled as a "pop scientist" as Carl Sagan was), but perfect for the gardener-turned-investigator that Pollan is. In high school, we learn that plots boil down to basic structures, one of them being human vs. nature. Pollan attempts to flip that and write a book that is nature vs. humans by focusing on how the plants benefit from the years of selection by humans. Although the book is obstensibly about the plants, Pollan introduces you to a number of people who provide both the assistance and the foils for his natural protagonists, like: Johnny Appleseed (a real figure) and Bill Jones (who is more interested in a St. Appleseed); Monsanto, their captive customers, and the off-the-grid organic farmer Mike Heath; Bryan R., a breeder and grower of marijuana in Amsterdam, who is both frightened and proud of his patch of [marijuana]; and Dr. Pauw, who owned all but one of the most desired tulips during the mania that hit Holland.

The style of the book resembles that of John McPhee, partly because of its four-essay structure, but also in the short, broken sections that flit back-and-forth in time, place and thought. Pollan, unlike McPhee, has a conclusion to draw from his subject, though, and that is the need to support biodiversity and his fear of monoculture--be it a natural one like the reliance on the "lumper" potato in Ireland that led to the Great Potato Famine or the artificial one of human culture, where people show a range of interest on many things, not just the tulip (or dot.com) of the moment. Reading between the lines, one can celebrate not only the wonder of nature but also fear the danger of hubris in thinking that we are separate from that nature, that we are not as changed by it as we change it. In these days of global warming and other environmental pressures, it's a lesson we would all do well to heed.

Conversational prose, brimming with allusions, March 30, 2002
I just finished this lovely little book,and would highly reccommend it. If nothing else, this book prepares one for many interesting conversations. I am now knowledgable about the true Johnny Appleseed, the tulip craze of Holland, the highly specialized marijuana culture, and new developments in the genetic engineering of potatoes. (To name a few!)
The fact that Pollan is not a scientist, but an avid gardener and researcher, among other things, should be considered an asset to the reader. He avoids esoteric scientific terminology, but the text remains sophisticated because his allusions prove huge amounts of research. Each part of the book, each "desire", has its own special charm. I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite. This book truly opens one's eyes to "a plant's-eye view of the world". Though by no means the be-all-end-all on this topic, it is a beautiful natural history.

Impossible to set down!, May 17, 2001
Michael Pollan has written a hugely entertaining and wonderfully informative book. He takes us on a wild ride through the garden, changing our perspective forever, alternating between historical tale, vivid description of life in the garden and witty aside. It's a breathtaking book, a sure classic.

I'm not lending my copy to anyone or I'll never get it back!!

A good, but questionable, effort, July 22, 2001
Pollan's The Botany of Desire is certainly a fascinating book, and I would say that it is also a valuable read, but not for its scientific accuracy or integrity. Firstly, the author is not a scientist but a journalist, and we all know that journalists tend to glorify and exaggerate. His argument itself is attractive in some ways but consistently equivocal and vague. Though skeptical throughout, I did enjoy this book for the author's fluid writing, good sense of humor, and solid attempts and evolutionary insight.

Pollan claims that that the plants we domesticate have evolved to please our senses and thus encourage us to grow them in vast amounts, in effect, helping them to propagate. At first, this is a very attractive idea, but with further thought it does not hold up. Are people and the plants they grow commercially really in an obligate mutualistic relationship? Well, yes, they are. Human society, particularly in industrially developed countries, has become dependent on domesticated crops. But I would argue that we have moulded these crops to our own ends; the influence of natural selection upon these crops' ancestors is not as significant as the artificial selection we exerted upon them. Yes, apple trees did first have to get our attention before we would start growing them voluntarily, but we have artificially selected the apples that you and I eat today. Those huge Granny Smiths and Red and Golden Delicious you see at the grocery are not wild type species in the least bit. They are as much a designed piece of technology as is a finely tuned engine, and the orchard in which they grow is not really different from a factory. These domesticated species would never have flourished in a primitive environment, and they are totally defenseless to pests and other threats without the aid of their inventors, us. What difference does this make? We are still producing large numbers of them; isn't that all that counts? Well, you could always say that we are propagating the apples, potatoes, cannabis, whatever, but we produce them on our terms, not theirs. We artificially select the characters we want, and then we clone them by vegetative methods. The plants were not and are not evolving to please us; they are being manipulated to please us. Think about all the seedless fruits we have developed and sustained (grapes, bananas, watermelon, pinneapple, just to name a few). This process is the equivalent of evolutionary castration, reducing these plants to nothing more than a toolbox of malleable biotic mechanisms. They are no longer independently evolving; we sustain them solely for our own benefit, and the genetic lines of the plants themselves are frozen in time.

Now that I have griped, I must say that this book is not without its benefits. I had not really thought about plants the way Pollan presents here, and I must thank him for opening my eyes in this respect. Although I don't agree with him, I derived great value in following his thought process about domesticated plants. For this reason, I would recommend this book to those who would like to debate an interesting evolutionary topic that is a nice twist on traditional perspective.

Plants Modify Humans, August 8, 2001
Michael Pollan likes bees, and mentions them frequently in _The Botany of Desire: A Plant's Eye View of the World_ (Random House). "A bumblebee would probably... regard himself as a subject in the garden and the bloom he's plundering for its drop of nectar as an object. But we know that this is just a failure of his imagination. The truth of the matter is that the flower has cleverly manipulated the bee into hauling its pollen from blossom to blossom." His thesis in his book is that plants have not manipulated just bees, but humans as well in the ten thousand years since agriculture started. If we have a success with a plant, it is just as true to say that the plant is having a success with us. We may have learned plenty, but the plants have learned as well: make a flashier flower, a tastier tuber and those humans will do just what you want. Pollan examines apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes and finds that we are serving them well.

Apples we grow for sweetness, and sweetness surrounds our image of Johnny Appleseed, but Pollan shows that this strange character was not delivering apple orchards to the pioneers as much as he was delivering the alcoholic beverage cider, and incidentally he was making preserves of wild apple trees. Tulips we grow for beauty, and it is a beauty that has driven people wild. Pollan reviews the story of the Tulipomania of seventeenth century Holland, and shows that by what Darwin called "artificial selection," humans chose tulips that looked fancier, and tulips got fancier in order to be chosen. Marijuana we grow for intoxication, and Pollan admires what has happened with it: "_This_ was what the best gardeners of my generation had been doing all these years: they had been underground, perfecting cannabis." The government has boosted the potency of marijuana by forcing growing inside, where even carbon dioxide can be forced into the plants. The strangest and most troubling of the four stories is the potato, which we grow as a staple crop. Pollan got hold of the New Leaf potato from Monsanto, genetically engineered to have a toxin throughout the plant that kills beetles. The problem is that the toxin is behaving differently from natural toxins. Bees take it in pollen to other plants, and we know that monarch butterflies die when they eat milkweed dusted with pollen with the toxin in it; will this happen in the field? Pollan's potatoes grow into fine specimens, needing less worry and care than his other potatoes, but they fail as a harvest; he can't make himself eat them.

Pollan is an avid gardener and writes about these plants, all of which he has himself raised at one time or other, with an enjoyable wit and clarity. There is plenty of science packed into his chapters, as well as amusing personal stories and cautionary tales. Most important, his lesson of how plants are not just objects for our manipulation but are linked in pushing us along as we push them provides a vital evolutionary lesson. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Do you know what the best feature is in All New Square Foot Gardening?

Sure, there are ten new features in this all-new, updated book. Sure, it's even simpler than it was before. Of course, you don't have to worry about fertilizer or poor soil ever again because you'll be growing above the ground.

But, the best feature is that "anyone," "anywhere" can enjoy a Square Foot garden. Children, adults with limited mobility, even complete novices can achieve spectacular results.

But, let's get back to the ten improvements. You're going to love them.

1) New Location - Move your garden closer to your house by eliminating single-row gardening. Square Foot Garden needs just "twenty percent" of the space of a traditional garden.

2) New Direction - Locate your garden "on top" of existing soil. Forget about pH soil tests, double-digging (who enjoys that?), or the never-ending soil improvements.

3) New Soil - The new "Mel's Mix" is the perfect growing mix. Why, we even give you the recipe. Best of all, you can even "buy" the different types of compost needed.

4) New Depth - You only need to prepare a SFG box to a depth of 6 inches! It's true--the majority of plants develop just fine when grown at this depth.

5) No Fertilizer - The all new SFG does not need any fertilizer-ever! If you start with the perfect soil mix, then you don't need to add fertilizer.

6) New Boxes - The new method uses bottomless boxes placed aboveground. We show you how to build your own (with step-by-step photos).

7) New Aisles - The ideal gardening aisle width is about three to four feet. That makes it even easier to kneel, work, and harvest.

8)New Grids - Prominent and permanent grids added to your SFG box help you visualize the planting squares and know how to space for maximum harvest.

9)New Seed Saving Idea - The old-fashioned way advocates planting many seeds and then thinning the extras (that means pulling them up). The new method means planting a pinch- literally two or three seeds--per planting hole.

10) Tabletop Gardens - The new boxes are so much smaller and lighter (only 6 inches of soil, remember?), you can add a plywood bottom to make them portable.

Editorial Review

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. ... Read more

Reviews

Anyone who loves gardening will love this calendar, December 12, 2010
It has nice seasonal pictures of animals, flowers and garden products. Its an interesting calendar with household tips on cooking and cleaning and it has the phases of the moon. I bought it once and now I get it every year. ... Read more

Editorial Review

CREATIVE, PRODUCTIVE GARDENING FOR GOOD TIMES AND BAD.

• Grow food in an era of wild weather and climate change
• Garden with little to no irrigation or "store-bought" inputs
• Garden efficiently and comfortably (even with a bad back)
• Customize your garden to deal with special dietary needs or a need for weight control
• Make breads and cakes from home-grown corn using original gluten-free recipes (with no other grains, artificial binders, or dairy products)
• Keep a laying flock of ducks or chickens, integrate them with your gardening, and grow most of their feed

Editorial Review

Editorial Review

In 1975, Let it Rot! helped start the composting movement and taught gardeners everywhere how to recycle waste to create soil-nourishing compost. Contains advice for starting and maintaining a composting system, building bins, and using compost.Third Edition. 267,000 copies in print. ... Read more

Editorial Review

A tree that sheds poison daggers; a glistening red seed that stops the heart; a shrub that causes paralysis; a vine that strangles; and a leaf that triggered a war. In Wicked Plants, Stewart takes on over two hundred of Mother Nature’s most appalling creations. It’s an A to Z of plants that kill, maim, intoxicate, and otherwise offend. You’ll learn which plants to avoid (like exploding shrubs), which plants make themselves exceedingly unwelcome (like the vine that ate the South), and which ones have been killing for centuries (like the weed that killed Abraham Lincoln's mother).

Menacing botanical illustrations and splendidly ghastly drawings create a fascinating portrait of the evildoers that may be lurking in your own backyard. Drawing on history, medicine, science, and legend, this compendium of bloodcurdling botany will entertain, alarm, and enlighten even the most intrepid gardeners and nature lovers.
... Read more

Editorial Review

If you love the joys of eating home-garden vegetables but always thought those joys had to stop at the end of summer, this book is for you. Eliot Coleman introduces the surprising fact that most of the United States has more winter sunshine than the south of France. He shows how North American gardeners can successfully use that sun to raise a wide variety of traditional winter vegetables in backyard cold frames and plastic covered tunnel greenhouses without supplementary heat. Coleman expands upon his own experiences with new ideas learned on a winter-vegetable pilgrimage across the ocean to the acknowledged kingdom of vegetable cuisine, the southern part of France, which lies on the 44th parallel, the same latitude as his farm in Maine.
This story of sunshine, weather patterns, old limitations and expectations, and new realities is delightfully innovative in the best gardening tradition. Four-Season Harvest will have you feasting on fresh produce from your garden all through the winter. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Jimmy Williams learned all about vegetable gardening at the knee of his grandmother, a South Carolina native from a traditional Gullah community whose members were descendents of Caribbean slaves. He pays homage to his family history in this inspiring step-by-step guide to designing and planting a backyard vegetable garden and growing one's own food. With this essential garden manual, home gardeners can learn how easy it is to plan a garden, design and construct growing beds, tend the crop without using harmful chemicals, harvest gorgeous vegetables, and cook a delicious feast using Jimmy's favorite family recipes. ... Read more

Reviews

Thank you, Amazon, November 15, 2010
I saw this book listed as one of Amazon's Best Books and took a flier. Wow! It is exactly the kind of book our family (semi urban with a small back yard) have been looking for! Comprehensive, well written, brilliantly illustrated and laid out so that even a monkey can follow it. It lays out the entire process whereby the at home gardener can become if not entirely self sufficient then virtually supermarket produce-free within a single growing season. This book is an instant classic -- and revolutionary. Remember The Whole Earth Catalogue or Our Bodies, Ourselves, or even Doctor Spock's Baby Book? It is as revolutionary, as readable and as essential as those.

Uniquely useful, beautifully written, November 26, 2010
I've been only organi-curious to date, but I have two sisters who garden, Christmas is looming, and I knew they couldn't already have this just-released book. So after a little research I ordered one "test" copy. (As of now, there's not a lot of info on the Amazon page, but googling the book title turned up a publisher's site with sample PDFs and a worthwhile youtube video.)

The book is written 1st-person from Jimmy Williams' point of view, and he's a one-off. His stories bring to life his really unique background, with his both Native American and African/Gullah near ancestry. But each unusual story is there to illustrate concrete tips and techniques - e.g., how his grandmother used her rolling-pin as a time-saving gardening tool - he still uses one the same way. The style is vivid and brisk, engaging and inspiring, especially in the more anecdotal early chapters. The whole book is accessible and confidence-building for a garden-inexperienced reader like me, and doesn't assume any knowledge, though the very detailed discussions of techniques and special adaptations for urban growing in the later chapters build on the basic skills colorfully introduced early on.

The middle chapters comprise a businesslike, highly practical, and comprehensive guide for getting started simply, growing from seeds (or seedlings), with, for example, alternative illustrated plans for creating beds in urban gardens; and moving on to wider subjects - how to prepare, water, and maintain the soil and garden through the seasons, and to expand it over time to include more variety, recommended plant pairings and rotation, etc. Williams shares a wealth of his own soil amendment recipes and cultivation techniques he developed himself or inherited, and provides book references and links to his favorite suppliers. I strongly suspect that the originality of his approaches and insights will be of interest to experienced gardeners, not only to beginners like me. Reading the book is like having a generous, enthusiastic, and highly experienced friend who is "opening the bag" to you on how he succeeds at what he loves.

The next-to-last chapter covers his "edible A-list" of vegetables to grow and eat, with a page or two on each, including his tutorial on getting the best results, and listing his favorite varieties. The final chapter will likely be many readers' favorite - an excellent mini-cookbook of twenty traditional southern recipes from Williams' multi-sided background, updated for the modern kitchen and garden.

Williams' very strong and agreeable personality carries throughout the book - his unique voice is strong even in the businesslike, practical sections - and the whole book comes across as personal. At the same time, the writing is elegantly fresh, economical, and readable - Heeger, the co-author, doesn't "speak," but in the strong flow and imagery of the prose, "From Seed to Skillet" is a wonderful literary collaboration. In his blurb on the cover, Michael Pollan picked exactly the right phrase in describing Williams and Heeger as a "fine coaching team."

Finally, the book itself is beautiful - large and very handsomely printed, and filled with photography that is well-chosen, illustrates key processes, and is inspiring and plain luscious to look through. After reading it, I ordered a copy for each sister for Christmas (problem solved), and kept the test copy for myself. Enthusiastically recommended!

Video Review, December 7, 2010
This is a very extensive book with a great story and purpose. If you are interested in lowering your food bill and becoming less dependent on others, then this is your book!

XOXO

The Most Informative and Simplest Guide to Growing Vegetables (Small or Large Plots) for Your Family Table, December 17, 2010
A fiend of mine who's a hardcore gardener gave me this book because
I had been talking about wanting to grow some of my own food but am a
totally inexperienced gardener. My friend, on the other hand, has been
gardening for years, so I thought that if she liked this book it would be
completely over my head.
When it came, I started flipping through it because of the pictures, then
I was pulled in by Jimmy Williams's story and finally, his approach to
gardening was so clear and unintimidating that I started to get excited.
I've only had the book a week but already, I know where I'm going to
put my new vegetable garden and what I'm going to plant.

A gardener's best friend, December 20, 2010
I have been working a small garden on the side of my house for almost two years now with very little knowledge and with less than perfect success. From Seed to Skillet has become my go to resource and already I am finding myself in a little Eden of my own. Written in a style that is completely accessible yet inspiring- If I had to use one word to describe Seed to Skillet it would be empowering. I have not seen a book so well laid out in a long time - It is beautiful, clear, easy to learn from and has a great sense of story to boot. All of my friends from full time farmers to those with a row of potted plants at their doorstep are getting a copy for their birthday this year. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Sooner or later, every older gardener faces a similar challenge. At some point, we all find ourselves asking “If I can’t get out there and dig, plant, and prune as I used to, what am I going to do?”

The garden has been an everyday part of Sydney Eddison’s life for over forty years. It has witnessed the changing of seasons, her greatest joys, and her deepest sorrows. The garden and the gardener have aged and changed together. Gardening for a Lifetime is a touching memoir about having to scale back after widowhood and painful joints made it impossible to keep up with a large country garden.

Intermixing personal experience with practical gardening tips, Eddison has written an encouraging roadmap for accepting and embracing a new and simpler way of gardening. Elegant black and white illustrations evoke Eddison’s everyday joy, sorrow, and contentment in the garden. Gentle, personable, and practical, Gardening for a Lifetime helps transform gardening from a list of daunting chores into the rewarding, joy-filled activity it was meant to be.


... Read more