From a distance, those tantalizing glimpses of backyard vegetable gardens make growing tomatoes, squash, and other crops seem like a simple and straightforward hobby. It’s easy to imagine that the plants take care of themselves from the day they’re planted until the day the gardener shows up with harvest basket in hand. After all, the crops are arranged in neat rows further organized by an orderly collection of stakes and trellises, with everything blanketed by a thick cover of mulch. Take more than a brief glance at that garden, though, and you’ll discover a hub of activity, with overlapping tasks that ebb and flow as crops are planted, tended, harvested, and replaced.
The devil is in the details for all this gardening activity, and that’s where lots of questions arise. This book is designed to help everyone, from beginner on up, understand all the activity that’s at the root of a successful organic food garden. Whether you want to plant a veggie garden for the first time or find new ideas and tips to help you grow vegetables more successfully, this book offers helpful, uncomplicated answers to all sorts of questions about what you need to do when and why. There are questions and answers on planning and planting your garden, improving soil, and caring for crops, as well as safe ways to control pests and diseases. In addition, beginning on page 168, you’ll find detailed answers to all the cultural quandaries that arise for the most popular vegetable crops, from starting seeds and scheduling transplanting dates right through to knowing when and how to harvest. Throughout, you’ll find plenty of regional advice, too, since what works for a garden in Maine, Minnesota, or Montana won’t always work for one in Alabama, Texas, or California.
Don’t try to read this book from cover to cover. Instead, think of it as a knowledgeable gardening friend you can turn to whenever you need help with a particular crop or gardening technique. One of the great things about gardening is that there are always new things to learn, new techniques to try, new crops to grow, and new questions to be answered. As you gain experience, you’ll learn what works for you in your garden. You’ll also discover, if you don’t know it already, that there isn’t just one way to approach any gardening chore or grow any crop. So experiment, and have fun! Along the way, you’ll discover how to appreciate and easily manage the hub of activity that results in a beautiful and bountiful organic vegetable garden.