Blue Ribbon Vegetable Gardening

Win the blue ribbon every time! Master Gardener Jodi Torpey offers all the information you need to grow champion vegetables — beans, beets, cabbages, cucumbers, eggplants, onions, peppers, pumpkins, squash, and tomatoes — covering everything from choosing the right varieties and scheduling planting dates to harvesting, preparing, and transporting your produce. She also walks you through every aspect of competitive showing, with useful tips for thinking like a judge. This book will delight you with lively photos of mammoth pumpkins, truly gigantic onions, perfectly pear-shaped eggplants, and the farmers and gardeners who grow them. Filled with the excitement of a county fair, it’s a fun read as well as a solid guide to growing the biggest, tastiest, best-looking vegetables for miles around.

"The Old-Time, Blue-Ribbon Gardener's Handbook: Tips, Techniques, and Projects" brings back the days of the big backyard and the home-oriented pleasure of days gone by. Full of visually appealing vintage art that exudes old-fashioned warmth and a wealth of classic, time-tested gardening know-how, this stunning volume is a classic that will delight beginning and experienced gardeners of all ages as well as those interested in popular culture and graphic design. This is the first gardening book of its kind to offer basic gardening information and projects illustrated with authentic vintage art, which ranges from charming seed packets and colorful gardening catalogs and advertisements to photographs and step-by-step line drawings from gardening magazines and rarely seen books. Chapters cover all the timeless basics: planning; equipment; soil; lawns; trees and shrubs; annuals and perennials; roses; bulbs, tubers, and corms; vegetable gardening; berries and fruit trees; weeds, pests, and diseases; and special projects. Tip boxes and anecdotal sidebars provide helpful information and a witty, historical perspective throughout. Beautifully designed and printed on heavy paper stock that authentically replicates the artwork, this volume is an indispensable reference of tried-and-true gardening tips and techniques that is as useful as it is collectible.

As more people become concerned with food safety as well as the environment, vegetable gardening offers an opportunity to grow produce at home. Not everyone has the time, money, or energy to take on the challenge of starting a vegetable garden, however. In Circle Gardening, Kenneth E. Spaeth Jr., a soil and ecosystem specialist, provides a fresh approach and thorough guide to vegetable gardening for all gardeners, experienced and beginner alike. Through years of experimentation, Spaeth has found circle gardening, an ancient method “as old as agriculture,” to be not only an efficient but also an aesthetically pleasing way to grow plants. By arranging them in a concentrated circle rather than in rows, gardeners are able to conserve compost, fertilizer, and water. Depending on the number of vegetables planted, this design can save time and be less physically demanding. The rationale for planting your veggies in a circle is scientific, too—many plants clump together in nature and thrive in groups, and so planting in circles actually mimics natural plant distribution. There are other questions that befuddle expert and beginner gardeners, too: What is the difference between organic and conventional gardening? Are there significant pros and cons to each? What makes up the soil in a garden? Spaeth provides clear answers to these complex questions. The book also includes quick vegetable guides in the back along with information on composting, calculating fertilizer rates, and gauging soil health.

A family plants a vegetable garden and helps it grow to a rich harvest.

Harvest tomatoes on a patio, produce a pumpkin in a planter, and grow broccoli on a balcony! Best-selling author Ed Smith shows you everything you need to know to successfully create and care for an edible container garden, from choosing the right plants and selecting appropriate containers through controlling pests without chemicals and harvesting fresh vegetables. You’ll discover that container gardening is an easy and fun way to enjoy summer’s bounty in even the smallest of growing spaces.

Spend less time in the garden—and get more results! Low Maintenance Vegetable Gardening is an indispensible guide for anyone with limited time who still wants to achieve high yields from their vegetable plot.