Other Gardening Books!

My other Favorite book other than Mel's "ALL NEW SQUARE FOOT GARDENING " which is the book I refer to more than any other... would be Crockett's Victory Garden, by James Underwood Crockett. His TV show on PBS was the first of the Victory Garden series and was a real education back in the day since my family didn't do much in the way of gardening. I watched that show quite a bit, and he wasn't impressed with all of the hoopla surrounding gardening and how difficult people tended to make it. He even admitted to his mistakes - like when he ended up with a bunch of root maggots in his radishes was his fault.

I have to say though, I keep referring back to Mel's book more often than any of the others... if you read it carefully, you can answer almost any question (except for pest questions) right in the book. It so packed with information it is sometimes easy forget how complete of a tome it is. Really... just re-read the book, you'll probably be amazed at what nuggets you missed.

Mark

Mark, I completely agree. SFG, organic pest control and trying to figure out companion gardening. That's all I need. Oh yeah, and CATALOGS!!!

(See Catalog Season thread for explanation!)

I'm with Mark on the Crockett's. Fabulous resource.
My current favorite, though, is Eliot Coleman's "Four Season Harvest." I can't believe it's been around for 20 years. There's so much information packed in that book, I want to try it all. Being a true Yankee myself, ("Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.") I look at lots of things about to be discarded as "recycling opportunities" rather than landfill. We just never had such a fancy name for it until Earth Day. (the first one)
My very best tomato crop ever came from one of those. I found a wooden play pen, took the bottom out of it, plopped it down in my garden, and made it my 'close' compost bin. Them I planted 7 tomato plants around the perimeter, leaving one side free for access. The heat from the compost pile got those babies off to a good start, and kept them going all summer long. Mom still thinks they were the biggest tomatoes and plants she's ever seen.

I stand corrected! I love Eliot Coleman's book!

Bump

I bought one today, called Decoding Garden Advice.

It looks at common gardening advice, gives the authors' opinions as to whether the advice is good, bad or neutral, and why. It is easy to read, not filled with high-falutin' scientific jargon, and, although it is assuming traditional gardening, so far the conclusions support SFGing. F'rinstance, instead of tilling, they recommend just adding compost!

The reasons I bought it are questions I haven't reached yet in the book - does deadheading promote blooming, etc, etc.

I've got several of the books mentioned and love to thumb thru them now and again but one not mentioned is Bob Thomson's 'The New Victory Garden Book' which is updated from the Crocket version and has lots of good advice for the New England gardener. I found it very helpful.

Since we are moving I will not be having a garden this year but you guys have given me something else to do instead: READ!!! I am so excited that you all have complied this list for everyone. Thanks!!!

This is an absolute GEM, from Alaska Master Gardener manual.
http://www.uaf.edu/ces/districts/tanana/mg/manual/chapters/8-Vegetable-Gardening.pdf

Bump

camprn wrote:Bump

Thanks camprn great topic!

Have you guys heard of Mike the Gardener? He runs a seed-of-the-month club, where you sign up and he sends you random seeds every month (he makes sure to only send you seeds that will grow in your region). Anyway, he also has a cool page where he lists free gardening books that you can read on your kindle or the kindle app. The list is always changing. I've checked out a few of them. It's usually a mixed bag of what you get, but some of them are very good.

https://averagepersongardening.com/freekindlebooks/

I also wanted to say that I got some pretty cool gardening books last winter because I needed something to keep myself busy. I got:

The Vegetable Gardener's Bible: I like it because it has a section that tells you everything you'd want to know about every vegetable and fruit.

The Truth About Garden Remedies: This one is cool. The author goes through the science behind those homemade garden remedies and tells you if they work or not.

The Truth About Organic Gardening: This one is written by the same guys as above, and has a similar concept. He tells you about what works with organic gardening, and tells you when it's not actually organic (or when it's downright dangerous).

The Complete Compost Gardening Guide: OMG, this is the best composting book I've ever read. It's so helpful, really. It put my fears to ease about composting and got me out there doing it.

Good Bug Bad Bug: This is a cute little book with thick coated pages that you can take out to your garden with you to help you identify bugs and see if they're good or bad.

The Organic Gardere's Handbook of Natural Pest and Disease Control: I haven't actually read this one, lol, but I wanted something on hand to help me when I have a problem.

Rodale's Vegetable Garden Problem Solver: Same as above!

Yes, that's a lot of books! But when I do something, I really really do it, lol.

Bump, I'm posting again for all the first time gardeners, after the ANSFG book, my favorite is this one.

http://www.amazon.com/KidsGardening-Guide-Messing-Around-Other/dp/0932592252/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1368851074&sr=8-4&keywords=klutz+gardening#_

great for the kids

I bought this, and have been very happy with it. Introduces you to the wonderful world of heirlooms!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1604691883/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

drixnot wrote:http://www.amazon.com/KidsGardening-Guide-Messing-Around-Other/dp/0932592252/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1368851074&sr=8-4&keywords=klutz+gardening#_

great for the kids

I really like this one for kids!!!

This book is really helping me understand growing, harvesting, and storing.  The pictures are amazing.  Right now, there are many really cheap (under $2.00) on Amazon.  Even with $4 for shipping, this is a great investment for the gardening shelf.

Just want to share another new awesome organic gardening book that my local Italian master gardener,Nick Mancini has just published:  ORGANIC GARDENING SIMPLIFIED
http://www.organicgardeningsimplified.com/2012/books.htm

So strange that the one single most important topic has been sidelined here.
Composting..
Here are 2 books I read constantly, especially the Rodale book of composting.
It is a mildly technical reading that teaches much...


The 2nd book is a fun but informative reading filled with great tips and loads of images.

My absolute favorite gardening book this year. I'm never ready to stop gardening and this book has taught me so much about being able to harvest all winter long. It's written simply and full of information on the best varieties to grow in the cold, how to build inexpensive cold frames and lots of fun information.

http://www.amazon.com/Backyard-Winter-Gardening-Vegetables-Electricity/dp/1462110940/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383187777&sr=1-1&keywords=backyard+winter+gardening

I bought The Complete Compost Gardening book off Amazon.

This looks really good. 
Thank you,

To the many new gardeners recently arrived on the SFG Forum I say   .

There are a lot of things to learn on the adventure of becoming a good gardener and raising food successfully. Mel Bartholomew has given us all a gift with the SFG, but there is a lot more to know. In this thread, if you read it from the beginning you will see some terrific books that will expand your knowledge and give you a lot more confidence as you move ahead into the world of gardening. Some of these are available free on the web, some are in electronic book form. Many can be found at libraries. I tend to find a good garden book, buy a printed copy and eventually write notes in the margins of the pages.

If you have arrived here with many questions, the members can offer some simple information and advice. However, not all advice is good advice.   It is worth doing your own research, listening to other gardeners but follow up any advice with doing your own reading. Use the SFG Forum search feature and check out some books from the library. Learning to garden well is a process, not an event.
 

The current and free March issue of Gardens Alive catalog has about 14 pages of color photographs of insect pests plus common diseases, and their advice of organic controls.  Lots of other neat products in this catalog too. 
GardensAlive.com   if you are interested.

LM, I saw those pages in GardenAlive. Thanks for posting.

Camprn, +1