The Gardener's A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food

Sometimes, it's nice to have that one book that can do it all. That is incredibly rare, so instead you're delighted to have a book that can almost do it all. This book is definitely one that fits the "almost" category for most everyone, and it actually "is" for others. This book contains a wealth of information on organic gardening, but that exists in so many other places that it may already rest on your bookshelf. But what sets this work above all others is the extensive listing of vegetables, fruits, and herbs that can be grown. The information isn't just the basics of when to plant, but also how many to plant. All in all, this is a must for any organic gardner, and is probably a must for any non-organic gardner as well!

Very useful. Goes over many aspects of gardening including which plants complement each other and which should be kept separate. Very helpful for planning the layout of my garden.

I have owned my copy of Rodale's classic, Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening, for well over 30 years. It has been my garden bible. But times change. Denckla has created a much handier growers' resource. In this book, she catalogues 765 varieties of vegetables, herbs, fruits and nuts and offers controls for 201 pests and diseases, but better than the numbers is the way she presents the information. For each species there is a clear, concise directory for every aspect of planting, culture and storage. It is really easy to use. The single best feature may be the planting charts for annuals that make it simple to calculate when to start the first and last seeds of the season, based on last and first frost dates. Rodale's classic will never be far away, but from now on I will pick up Denckla's first. As an organic grower for nearly four decades and a garden columnist, I'm a pretty good judge of this genre (my own collection of garden writings came out in 2008, Garden My Heart: Organic strategies for backyard sustainability). The only place I take serious exception to Denckla's advice concerns moles, which she treats as a garden pest. Moles are garden allies, consuming vast quantities of beetle larvae and other members of the enemy camp.

I practically read the book cover to cover when I got it home. While my gardening capacity is fairly limited at the moment, I still got a good deal of planning done. Each food item has an large amount of information. It's great to have one resource for everything this book contains.

This book is a marvel. I have given it to all of my gardening friends and regularly consult it for specifics on many vegetables. I highly recommend it!