Your favourite veggie gardening books

[MareE]

G'day! Not being much of a web-surfer, was thinking of the new veggieheads here, and listed my top three reference books that are pretty dog-earred by much thumbing thru.

What books would other "oldtimers" recommend? Like, if you were planning to be stranded on a Canadian island that wasn't totally made of rock with lots of seed packets in your rucksack and you didn't have wireless for your laptop or blackberry? haha

1) "Reader's Digest Illustrated Guide to Gardening in Canada"
2) Mark Cullen's "The All Seasons Gardener"
3) "Taylor's Guide to Vegetables"

Curious about what other gardeners use as "bibles".

MareE;o}

[Laura]

I have your # 1 and use it a lot .... but I must say if I am curios or have a question I usually come here and then read more if I need to ....

[kelly_m]

Mark Cullen here too...only it's "A Greener Thumb"

well used, cover has fallen off (but still used to house the book.) Have had a pic ripped out for a school project, butt all in all still in great shape!!LOL

Great for quick reference, and descriptions

[MareE]

My copy of #1 was published in 1979, yet the info seems current enuff 3 decades later, Laura. Comforting thought. I come here, too, to ask questions for other views and methods—not to mention story swapping and goofing off. LAFF

K, my Mark Cullen's lower part got caught in a shallow basement flood so the pages stick a little and book smells mouldy. Good thing it wasn't a library copy!

In this edition is my "dream garden". Only mine be a tad neater. Still dreamin'! LOL
Photography by either David Michael Allen or Greg Holman

MareE;o}

[kelly_m]

I guess one can dream.....I'd take it as it is...lookee all the green stuffs.....

Kwith little bitties of green in hers.....

[Tara]

I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver last year and it really inspired me to want to plant more veggies this year. Even though it's more biographical in nature, you can learn so much.

I also have been reading Ecological Gardening by Marjorie Harris on the subway (I'm trying to garden "greener" and it also has a helpful section on companion planting) and Guide to Canadian Vegetable Gardening by Douglas Green, which just came out this spring. I like this one because each vegetable gets its own page.

[MareE]

Like the sound of the Douglas GREEN book, Tara! LOL I'll check the library stacks for a copy. TY!

I want those fields and woodlanks in background tossed in. K, will you be considering straw for your aisles and veggie foot protection this year?

MareE;o} the straw pusher

[kelly_m]

Nope.

My aisles are a mere foot length in size.....Besides....the straw would look better than my veggies right now!!

[MareE]

Pshaw. You're being uncharacteristically modest, K whilst the biggest bestest tastiest tomato ever is blossoming as we speak. laffs You're using the "by the square foot" method then?

Mare;o}

[Leash]

As a vegetable gardening beginner, I used Lois Hole's "Vegetable Favorites" book like the gardening bible. It was simple and easy to read and I went back to it again and again for reference.
Now I'm reading two organic gardening books by Eliot Coleman. "Four-Season Harvest" and "The New Organic Grower" because I have converted to organic methods and am interested in extending the growing season for market sales here.