XP: Organic Gardening Book Recs

Kaiene

Last night was the community garden meeting I posted about here.

It seems pretty low key.  We agreed that it would be organic, and everyone would get a plot of land (or two if you wanted) to garden as you please.  There would be a few plots that would be communal for growing cantaloupes, melons, and other larger items.

You would come and take care of your own plot.  No specific amount of hours required.

Everyone is going to help get the land ready for planting.  So far, people seem pretty agreeable and easy to work with.

Oh, and I am in charge of setting up a yahoo group to keep everyone updated.

Now to the point of my post - H and I are gardening newbs, especially organic gardening.  Any good organic gardening books for beginners out there?

WendyGR

maybe square foot gardening? Mother Earth News has a lot of articles online, too.

michelcreek

I'm a newbie too, so I can't give advice on books, but I would reccomend getting an experienced gardner to be on your team!  I just received a community plot, and was shocked to hear how much work this is.  Even just getting the soil ready requires composted material, and for us, gopher proofing which requires hardware cloth to be lined 2-3 feet deep around our plot.  I'm excited for it since we have an experienced gardner advising us, but otherwise, I'd be overwhelmed.

SuperGreen

::raises hand::  Oh OH over here! I have what you need!   The Vegetable Gardener's Bible.  Best.gardening.book.EVER. 

From Amazon:

Wouldn't it be lovely to have a patch of corn, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, and beans just steps from your kitchen door? Would you like to learn how to control your zucchini plant? Ed Smith, an experienced vegetable gardener from Vermont, has put together this amazingly comprehensive and commonsensical manual, The Vegetable Gardener's Bible. Basically, Ed and his family have been growing a wide variety of vegetables for years and he's figured out what works. This book, filled with step-by-step info and color photos, breaks it all down for you.

Ed's system is based on W-O-R-D: Wide rows, Organic methods, Raised beds, Deep soil. With deep, raised beds, vegetable roots have more room to grow and expand. In traditional narrow-row beds, over half the soil is compacted into walkways while a garden with wide, deep, raised beds, plants get to use most of the soil. In Ed's plan, growing space gets about three-quarters of the garden plot and only about a quarter is used for the walkway. Ed teaches you how to create raised beds both in a larger garden or in separate planked beds. One of the most important--and most often overlooked--aspects of successful vegetable gardening is crop rotation. Leaving a crop in the same place for years can deplete nutrients in that area and makes the crop more likely to be attacked by insects. Rotate at least every two years and your vegetables will be healthier and bug-free. There's also a good section on insect and blight control.

Before choosing what to grow, go through the last third of the book, where Ed takes a look at the individual growing, harvesting, and best varieties of a large number of both common and more exotic vegetables and herbs. Whether you are a putterer or a serious gardener, The Vegetable Gardener's Bible is an excellent resource to have handy. --Dana Van Nest