Managing your personal food supply

The biggest value of this book to me was the gardening sections. In this section, there are various tables explaining what grows next to what best, what not to plant next to each other, and possibly most importantly, what to plant together to keep pests away without resorting to a chemical poison - naturally. We used the methods described in our garden this year, and while the garden looks "busier" than most (lots of flowers throughout the fruits and veggies), no chemical killer herbicide or pesticides have been used, and the garden is producing wonderfully. Now, if there was some kind of natural way to keep the deer from eating everything...

This is a great book which I would recommend every gardener, farmer, or citizen interested in their ability to produce their own food read. It is well laid out, with lots of great pictures and illustrations of useful tools and tricks for gardening. Mr. Wolf does a great job of addressing the holistic nature that our food supply should represent, from seed to the table, and back again. It also includes a useful section on companion planting and plant compatability, something I find many garden books lacking. It also does a good job of showing why being able to know the contents of our food is important, and what we are missing becasue of this. Even discussion with the problems of bleached whole-wheat flour is well written. Whether you are a first time gardener just trying your thumb out, or a seasoned planter, this is a book I would have on hand. I also enjoy the slightly earlier gardening perspective, as there is more of an awareness of the whole biosystem of food production, not just the simple how to's. There's also some nice gems of more obscure info that is lost in many of today's books, but I guess you'll have to read this book to find out. Get this book if nothing else (Complete Book of Composting is also good!) Long live gardens.