BOOKs on growing herbs.

I'm looking for some good books on growing herbs, I've read a few, however there is always a little more info in another book.
I picked 1 up recently at a Barnes & Noble.  Did not even look at the pages till I got home, then found the type was so small I couldn't read it...( bad me ).
I am dedicating a 5 X 5 bed this year to nothing but herbs so I really would like to study about them before starting some seeds.
I am going to see what Amazon's got to offer, just thought maybe some one here has some info on a good technical read.
I just love going to bed with a gardening book of some kind...
[b]OOOhhh my how the years have changed me.....

I picked up this book yesterday, need some more

jimmy cee wrote:
I am dedicating a 5 X 5 bed this year to nothing but herbs so I really would like to study about them before starting some seeds.

5' x 5' ???  Totally jealous!!!

I don't have any specific book suggestions but am a veteran herb grower.  Have you grown herbs before?  I will toss out some suggestions for you.  Anything in the mint family (mints, lemon balm), oregano and dill spread widely and freely to the point of being almost impossible to contain.  I would put them in dedicated planters or beds with deep dividers.  Chives, garlic chives, savories, basils, and thyme are pretty compact; basils will get tall and thymes will spread but are easy to contain.  Sage should be put in the ground; in a happy place it will grow into a substantial bush.  Rosemary can be a perennial or annual depending on where you live.  In my zone 5a I treat it as an annual.  Parsley is another that will not spread. 
Basils and parsley are definitely annuals unless you live in a place where it does not get near freezing; the others are all perennials.  Hope this helps you get started.  Growing herbs is addictive and fun.

Jimmy, you may find something useful in this thread.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t1306-other-gardening-books

I am reading a book right now by Sal Gilbertie and Larry Sheehan, Herb Gardening at its Best. The book was written in 1978 and got mine from Thrift Books which can be an inexpensive way to pick up gardening books but I think he may have written another on herbs more recently but this is the best book on herbs I have read and Sal Gilbertie walks you through growing 15 different basic herbs, 5 groups of similar growing habits so as to be able to grow most others as the book covers many more. 

I didn't know it at the time but I got to sit in on a presentation given by Sal Gilbertie at last year's Ct. Small Fruit and vegetable Growers Conference and now feel very lucky that I did, what a wealth of hands on, I am doing it knowledge, experience and know how this gentleman possesses. I highly recommend this book and Herb Gardening from the Ground Up which is the 2012 revised edition for anyone that wants a better understanding of growing herbs. He does have a mix very similar to Mel's for outdoor beds which I thought was interesting and also explains why he prefers perlite over vermiculite which I also thought worth making note of. I have been very lucky as to whom I have learned from and those that I got to meet, a very lucky gardener am I indeed.

I am so enthused as I read Herb Gardening at its Best that I will be beginning gardening with herbs in February and am also looking forward to starting a couple of 4'x4' herb gardening beds this year. This book was written for USDA Zone 6 and from experience of growing herbs in my state that I don't have to do a conversion of a couple of weeks either way from the calendar in the book. I don't know if other here know how rare that is but it is my first time, a very lucky gardener am I indeed.

"Herb Gardening at Its Best" and "Herb Gardening from the Ground Up."

Thank you for the titles. As you stated, the first one is for your zone. But, folks could adjust from their Zones.

Urban Farmer has a handy online Herb Growing Guide - Herb Growing Guide

Ohio Gardener, Thanks for the link. I don't mean to put you on the spot and so am asking everyone the difference between rich and fertile soil as the chart at the Urban Farmer uses both terms in describing the soil needed. I wonder now if there is a definitive gardener's dictionary and if there is, it better not be in Latin.

In my 60+ years farming/gardening, I haven't seen such a dictionary. And, to complicate it, terms/definitions differ from one part of the country to another. Having done organic farming/gardening in Alaska, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, and Ohio, I can attest to the differences in terms to refer to the same function or activity.

That said, I think the best description of rich vs fertile was something I heard in a presentation one time. Don't remember the presenter, but it may have been Jeff Lowenfels while discussing microbes. The statement describing the relationship of rich and fertile was this: "Soils that are rich in important plant nutrients will be fertile, as long as those nutrients are soluble or can become soluble."

OhioGardener wrote:Having done organic farming/gardening in Alaska, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, and Ohio,

YIKES! Did you have to start from scratch every time?

countrynaturals wrote:

OhioGardener wrote:Having done organic farming/gardening in Alaska, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, and Ohio,

YIKES! Did you have to start from scratch every time?

Yep, I did.  The worst ground I ever dealt with was in central Georgia - hard red clay that was gummy when it was wet, and stuck to everything, and hard as a brick when it was dry. I dumped tons of organic material in the new garden space before I could even begin working the dirt into soil. By the third year, our garden was the envy of the neighborhood - neighbors couldn't believe that soil could actually produce great vegetables, and loved the sweet tasting free vegetables they got from us.

The best soil I ever dealt with was our small farm in southern Illinois.  In a previous life it had been a hog farm, and the soil was full of years worth of decomposed hog manure. I could plant a dead stick in that soil and it would grow! LOL  The beef cattle I raised loved the lush pasture, too!

Fairbanks, Alaska, was the most fun. Grew cabbage that was a foot in diameter. Root crops, though, were all tops with no root. Only spent 3 gardening seasons there, though, so didn't get to do too much.

OhioGardener wrote:

countrynaturals wrote:

OhioGardener wrote:Having done organic farming/gardening in Alaska, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, and Ohio,

YIKES! Did you have to start from scratch every time?

Yep, I did.  The worst ground I ever dealt with was in central Georgia - hard red clay that was gummy when it was wet, and stuck to everything, and hard as a brick when it was dry. I dumped tons of organic material in the new garden space before I could even begin working the dirt into soil. By the third year, our garden was the envy of the neighborhood - neighbors couldn't believe that soil could actually produce great vegetables, and loved the sweet tasting free vegetables they got from us.

The best soil I ever dealt with was our small farm in southern Illinois.  In a previous life it had been a hog farm, and the soil was full of years worth of decomposed hog manure. I could plant a dead stick in that soil and it would grow! LOL  The beef cattle I raised loved the lush pasture, too!

Fairbanks, Alaska, was the most fun. Grew cabbage that was a foot in diameter. Root crops, though, were all tops with no root. Only spent 3 gardening seasons there, though, so didn't get to do too much.

All I can say is . . . No wonder you know so much about so much.

countrynaturals wrote:No wonder you know so much about so much.

Comes from living so long....but, knowing it and remembering it are two different things!

OhioGardener wrote:

countrynaturals wrote:

OhioGardener wrote:Having done organic farming/gardening in Alaska, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, and Ohio,

YIKES! Did you have to start from scratch every time?

Yep, I did.  The worst ground I ever dealt with was in central Georgia - hard red clay that was gummy when it was wet, and stuck to everything, and hard as a brick when it was dry. I dumped tons of organic material in the new garden space before I could even begin working the dirt into soil. By the third year, our garden was the envy of the neighborhood - neighbors couldn't believe that soil could actually produce great vegetables, and loved the sweet tasting free vegetables they got from us.

Yep, here in Georgia it is terrible.  At my old home I eventually had half decent soil.  When I moved to our new house, I did old style row gardening.  The red clay was so bad my son in law (big strong tuff guy) gave up on my garden after about a month.  I said forget it and started using raised beds.  That is the only thing that kept me gardening.