Looking for a good book.

Maybe you guys already know the answer and can help me here. I am wanting a book that breaks down common vegetables and tells exactly what they need to thrive; at what soil temperature to plant, what companion plants are good, what companion plants are bad, what type mulch, compost, fertilizer, etc. that this particular plant needs? I have been looking here on TGN and found for example, lettuce and exactly the info I need to grow it. I would like to have a compilation of this information for many different vegetables in book form. Perhaps they even have one on here and I have not found it yet. Can anyone help me out?

Answers

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I will keep my eye out for such a book. In the meantime, there are some good ideas for planting food crops (no companion plant info) in The Victory Garden Cookbook by Marian Morash. For example, she gives references how to enrich the planting hole.

  • chimboodle04
    chimboodle04 Posts: 286 ✭✭✭

    I have really found Amy Stross' book The Suburban Micro-farm to be very helpful with many of the things you are looking for (plus much more!). It is not broken down for all of these things by vegetable, but has sections for each of your topics. For example, it has a section on companion plants and what to plant next to which vegetable, but this is different from the section on planting vegetables and which amendments would be best for each, which is separate from the section on various organic amendments and which nutrients they add to the soil etc... I have found it to be very easy to read and loaded with a lot of helpful and useful info for organic gardening.

  • VickiP
    VickiP Posts: 586 ✭✭✭✭

    An older (1966) book that I have used quite a bit and still have on my shelf is "Organic Plant Protection" edited by Roger B Yepsen. It is pretty comprehensive. I did a quick search on eBay and they have several copies for less than ten dollars including S/H Mind you there have been some advancements in methods and such but this is a good solid primer.

  • VickiP
    VickiP Posts: 586 ✭✭✭✭

    Also "Rodales Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening" It is encyclopedic in scope and I have found it to a great reference. It has been updated and reissued a number of times so the newer editions should cover newer methods and materials.