The Vegetable Gardener's Bible: Discover Ed's High-Yield W-O-R-D System for All North American Gardening Regions

Yep, this is a staple. I am so glad I purchased as it stands the test of time. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to garden veggies. Looking forward to spring and my planting.

This book is a reference manual for vegetable gardeners, particularly those gardening in northern climates. The book is organized into 3 main parts: From Seed to Harvest (covering planning, preparing beds, starting seeds, maintaining the garden, and harvesting), The Health Garden (covering soil, compost, and pests), and Vegetables & Herbs, A-Z (alphabetical guide to individual vegetables). The book is amply illustrated with color photographs and illustrations. End material includes zone maps, a list of suppliers, a list for further reading, and an index. Smith sums up his approach to gardening in the acronym "WORD", which signifies Wide rows, Organic methods, Raised beds, and Deep soil. He's come to this approach after many years of trying many different methods, and found that this method seems to give him the best, most reliable harvest with the least effort. In this book, he explains the parts of the WORD method in detail. For example, he notes that he found rototilling actually to be counterproductive, since it tends to develop a hardpan of packed soil just under the surface. This hardpan limits root growth, which tends to stunt plants. Instead of rototilling, he advocates building deep raised beds, which provide for full root systems and better growth. The articles in the alphabetical reference section are quite useful. Each includes a brief description of the vegetable, notes on when and where to plant, and notes on harvesting and storing. Instructions are also provided when needed about how to transplant. Each article comes with a quick reference chart that covers sowing (depth, temperature, days to germination, etc.) and growing (temperature, spacing, watering, companions, seed longevity, etc.) Overall, the book is very informative, the text is clear, and the pictures are quite helpful, making the book useful for experienced gardeners as well as beginners.

I stumbled across this book at my local bookstore and even though I ended up paying the full retail price, it was well worth it. I knew nothing about gardening before I read the book but Ed Smith's detailed instructions and nuggets of wisdom gave me the know-how to grow vegetables that exceeded my expectations. I have an urban garden in CA (zone 9a) so I'm limited on space and have high clay content in my soil, but with three 4x6x12 raised beds I can grow fantastic organic vegetables. I've probably read the book cover to cover now several times over, but I still keep finding myself flipping to the back of the book where Ed has 1-2 pages dedicated to each of the most popular vegetables. Within these sections you can find useful information such as watering conditions, when to grow seedlings, seed longevity, most popular cultivars, and many tips for sowing, growing, and harvesting. The last part of the book alone is worth the price of the book.

This book answers, with outstanding instruction, pictures and humor, any and all of your questions on vegetable gardening. Had Ed Smith published it earlier we would have saved a ton of dirt along with a ton of money! We keep it in our little greenhouse alll during the growing season as we refer to it daily. And we are now buying it for gifts for both novice and experienced gardening friends.

The title says it all. This is my vegetable bible. Being a novice, I was looking for something as simple and informative as a "Dummies" book but without insulting my intelligence. Not only is all the information you need to start or continue a garden, the pictures fill in details that as a first time grower I might not quite understand in words. His explanations are simple, concise and extremely informative. Most of all, it's filled with little hints throughout the book so that you may have a successful garden. It was the best purchase I had made on a gardening book so far. Thank you Ed! Happy growing!