There are many gardening books available that can quickly overwhelm a beginning gardener. Start with the basics and get a broad picture of what's to come with Steve Mercer and Sally Roth's 3-Step Vegetable Gardening, an easy guide to growing fruits, vegetables and herbs.
Three Step Vegetable Gardening
The three steps referred to in this book are: sow, grow and harvest. Sounds pretty easy, and with all the photos and simple instructions, it soon will be. But there really are more than three steps, including planning and soil preparation, which are also well covered here.
Preparing the Garden
There are tips for gardening in small spaces (hint: mix vegetables in flower beds), instructions on building a raised bed, growing container vegetables, starting a garden compost and checking soil quality.
Gardening Seeds
The basics of how to plant are explained, including:
- Pros and cons of starting from gardening seeds
- When to buy plants instead of seed
- How to avoid introducing disease to the garden
Garden Maintenance
Once a garden is begun, learning how to properly maintain it will ensure a good yield. Learn about watering, feeding, weed control, pest management and staking plants.
Know When to Harvest the Crop
Pick too early and the best flavor is compromised. Too late and an over-abundance of produce can rot before a busy gardener's eyes. A bit of reading will help avoid both problems.
Growing Vegetables
Learn about growing individual vegetables from chapters divided into family types, such as:
- Salad greens
- Beans, peas and sweet corn
- The onion family
- The cabbage family
- Root vegetables
- Heat-loving vegetables
- Vine crops
Two final chapters, herbs & perennial vegetables and garden fruit, round out the growing options nicely, with something to offer every gardener.
Gardening Tools & Glossary
There is a useful garden glossary in the back of this book that will bring a new gardener up to speed. Some of the quick easy definitions are lessons in themselves. For example, a "Cover Crop" is not grown to eat, but simply to cover bare soil and keep it in good condition. Many gardening tools are also explained in this glossary.
Summary
3-Step Vegetable Gardening is a good choice for the beginning gardener. Experienced gardeners will appreciate the quick and easy reference style when help with a specific fruit or vegetable is needed. Lots of photographs, large typeface and a simple one-two-three style of instruction for most fruits and vegetables make this book a useful garden tool.
Title: 3-Step Vegetable Gardening
Author: Steve Mercer & Sally Roth
Publisher: Creative Homeowner, 223 pgs., $19.95
ISBN: 978-1-58011-407-3
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