Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com:
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

Book Description:
Discover the last W.O.R.D. in vegetable gardening with Ed Smith’s amazing gardening system. By integrating four principles — Wide beds, Organic methods, Raised beds, and Deep beds — Smith reinvents vegetable gardening, making it possible for everyone to have the best, most successful garden ever. By following this complete system you cultivate deep, powerful soil that nourishes plants and discourages pests and disease. The result is fewer weeds, healthier plants, and lots of great-tasting vegetables. Plus, you’ll enjoy gardening as you never have before. The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible — the last W.O.R.D. in vegetable gardening.

Customer Reviews

All in one reference by single mom
This was a Christmas present and I spent most of the next few days reading and daydreaming. Now that Spring is around the corner, I’m planning and getting ready to plant.

This book has everything!

Now I understand why things didn’t work previously - I hadn’t used the right fertilizer, planted in the right sun/shade mix, or, most often, I’d planted veggies that didn’t get along well right next to each other. But I approach this growing season with more optimism because this book has given me the knowledge I didn’t have before.

Very informative! by Z’s Mom
Awesome book in a well written style! Lots of great information on starting, composting, what plants are benificial to others, what bugs/disease to watch for… Wonderful for a beginner but probably informative for a pro too.

Thorough gardening overview by Giverneylily
Comprehensive and easy to read, the Vegetable Gardener’s Bible is a good overview of basic gardening techniques. I particularly enjoy the chart on companion planting, the US planting zone index , the diagrams of garden plans, the information on how to sharpen garden tools, the root cellar section and the growing tips for individual vegetables, such as how to force artichokes to produce buds in the first year. This is not a glossy, coffee table gardening book with gorgeous photography, but a practical overview packed full of information. I often go to the library for gardening books, but this is one I will buy as it makes a fine reference volume.

Vegetables Gardener’s Bible by Philippe G. Moisa
Outstanding book. Well detailled, good tips and techniques for amateur gardeners. Covers small size crops. Terrific book.

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