Burpee : The Complete Vegetable & Herb Gardener : A Guide to Growing Your Garden Organically

I am a fresh rookie at trying out a garden. So while figuring out how to prevent and control pests and insects were somewhat of a challange. Some of the prevention options did not offer clear instructions. So I had to guess and the amount and where I needed to spray specificlly. The pest ID in the book didnt seem to cover all of what I saw in my garden so I had to look online and go from there. Besides my ranting, I do love how the book tells you how you should prepare and plan everying on paper and ahead of time. Majority of cutivars are covered in this book. Some of the cultivars I bought just at a walmart before I bought the book so not all of my selection was in the book. The one thing I didn't like was there were no glossary. Other than that, it sure does a great job to helping you get started. But like I said I have no clue what I'm doing so doing all the research you can is a must. This book gives you that. :)

I've had this book for years, but only recently actually have the time and space to plant a proper garden. I'm a total beginner, so I started with this book and haven't read any others yet to compare it to. I find this book to be very well written, especially in a way that a beginner can understand, and it offers so much great advice! The author even explains garden tools and what to look for, and then how to properly care for them. After reading it, and learning so much, I feel fairly confident that my first official go at home gardening should be somewhat successful. I also really like the fact that even thought it is a Burpee book, they aren't trying to sell the reader on just Burpee seeds, but recommends that you order seed catalogs and shop around, paying close attention to the package details. I'm sure I will refer back to this book many, many times!

I decided to get into gardening as a hobby a few years ago so I got on Amazon and bought a number of books for different aspects of gardening and this book is the one I return to over and over for just about everything. The color photos are lovely and helpful, the advice is extremely handy, and the section which details each vegetable/fruit/herb is fantastic; I like how each plant gets a little history followed by tons of advice, organized logically, including quick reference pictures beneath each name (a little pot for plants which grow well in containers, a little snowflake for cold-hardy plants, etc). I also like how if you flipped to a certain section instead of using the index, each plant description ends with the section you need if you picked the wrong one (for example, if you wanted to know about Chinese cabbage, so you looked under "cabbage" ... well, at the end of the cabbage section there's a note: "Cabbage, Chinese. See Chinese Cabbage." It actually gets its own section, and now you know that and what it's called). Also, as an organic gardener, getting all this advice with an organic approach in mind is great.

This is a very informative, well-written book. The first half of the book details how to prepare and maintain a garden, and the second half is an encyclopedia of different plants, telling the history, use, planting tips, and harvesting tips for each.Living in California, I found myself having to read between the lines in this book; it was written for all the states other than the Southwest. For instance, there is plenty of information about how to create enough drainage and heat for plants--covering rows, raised beds, planter boxes, hills, south-facing, all in detail--and then it says in one sentence that if you live in a dry hot area, use sunken planters and filter the sun. Another example: it says not to water cantaloupe once the fruit are the size of a fist. I found that very alarming until I remembered that this book is written for states where there is actually occasional rain in the summer. Surely the author doesn't intend us to never water a cantaloupe in 100-degree weather with zero inches of rain!

Very similar in content and structure to Ortho's Complete Guide to Vegtables. The difference comes in the experience the writer has growing and maitaining the various plants. I find using both books gives different perspectives for growing and caretaking of plants but conatins the same basic information. For instance the Ortho book has better Garden Setup and maintenance data, and raw data on the various gardening aspects like fertilizer and pest eradiction. The Burpee book focuses on plant and cultivar details a little better. The book is filled with plenty high quality pictures of plants and their fruits using multiple pictures of various cultivars within plant families.The book is geared for both beginners in gardening and the handy do it yourselfer types. Chapters progress you through the steps from site selection and plant selection to harvesting, crop rotating and soil conditioning over winter and indoor greenhouse seed starting. The book also contains references to various cultivars within vegtable species, so a beginner gardener could not only successfully select and grow well know vegtables, but could also grow and use the odd often hard to find fresh herbs.I consistently flip between both this book and Ortho's book. I find using them in this manner makes the information extracted complimentary and thorough.

A very informative book with great photos. It came from the seller very quickly and in good condition!