The Vegetable Gardener's Container Bible: How to Grow a Bounty of Food in Pots, Tubs, and Other Containers

The Vegetable Gardener's Container Bible: How to Grow a Bounty of Food in Pots, Tubs, and Other Containers

Author: Visit Amazon's Edward C. Smith Page | Language: English | ISBN: 160342976X | Format: EPUB

The Vegetable Gardener's Container Bible: How to Grow a Bounty of Food in Pots, Tubs, and Other Containers Description

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Anyone can grow, harvest, and enjoy homegrown veggies, even without a yard, bestselling garden guru Smith persuasively argues as he presents his step-by-step approach to container gardening. A garden of containers�pots, buckets, found objects�can stand alone or complement an earth garden, with some advantages, including ease of tending, portability, and fewer insect and disease problems. From soil formulas and layouts for three-container gardens on small balconies and porches to transforming five-gallon plastic buckets into self-watering containers, developing artful arrangements, and pruning, Smith�s �bible� will encourage many new vegetable growers. Useful tips for hanging containers to maximize use of vertical space on patios, grouping plants of similar mature sizes and growth rates, and using organic controls are presented as attractive endeavors, beautifully documented in numerous full-color, full-page photos. With an index, suggested reading list, average last-frost dates and hardiness zone maps, and listings of suppliers, Smith�s practical, assuring, timely, and handsomely produced how-to will see brisk traffic. --Whitney Scott

Review

"With detailed, illustrated advice on selecting and retrofitting containers, cultivation, efficient maintenance, and design plans to pull it all together, Smith's latest guide provides everything needed to grow a bounty of home-grown vegetables."
(Publisher's Weekly)

"Anyone can grow, harvest, and enjoy homegrown veggies, even without a yard, best-selling garden guru Smith persuasively argues as he presents his step-by-step approach to container gardening...Smith's practical, assuring, timely, and handsomely produced how-to will see brisk traffic." (Booklist)

"With detailed, illustrated advice on selecting and retrofitting containers, cultivation, efficient maintenance, and design plans to pull it all together, Smith's latest guide provides everything needed to grow a bounty of home-grown vegetables." (Publisher's Weekly)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details
Table of Contents
Reviews

Hardcover: 264 pages
Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC (March 2, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9781603429764
ISBN-13: 978-1603429764
ASIN: 160342976X
Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.7 x 0.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

I have been gardening seriously for the past couple of years and really got interested in containers last year. I have been asking myself a lot of questions about container gardening, mainly about the nature of the soil to use for pots and I have always wondered if I could reuse potting soil. I have made my share of mistakes (buying lousy pptting soil, for one, or not fertilizing enough) but I have really been craving a seasoned gardener's advice. I already owned the The Vegetable Gardener's Bible (10th Anniversary Edition) from the same author and McGee & Stuckey's Bountiful Container: Create Container Gardens of Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, and Edible Flowers. Both were great but the former was really focused on raised beds (which is fine) and the latter lacked pictures and specific guidance. I appreciated that the authors of the Bountiful Container leave it to me to decide whether I want to grow organic or not but sometimes you just need somebody to tell you what works!

I liked the Vegetable Gardener's Container Bible the moment I put my hands on the book. It is abundantly illustrated (a huge help for a novice gardener like me!!), from pictures of containers with mature plants, to pictures of good quality soil (so you know what to look for) and how to make your own potting mix (loved the advice to mix it all in a rain barrow!).

This is my first year with vegetable gardening, and I live in an apartment that has a landlord-maintained backyard. So anything I planted had to be in containers. I'd read Smith's previous book on vegetable gardening and was very impressed with his detailed, practical and comprehensive knowledge. This book is a bit more narrow in focus - less discussion of compost and root structure, which I think would be as helpful here as it was in his previous book, and some unnecessary repetition of factoids, like how much water a tomato needs in the summer. But I think it's still the best container gardening book I've read, and I've referenced it almost daily as I've planned and built my first garden.

He does strongly recommend self-watering containers for pretty much all vegetables, almost sadly admitting that some herbs do better in traditional pots. I would call this bias, but I think he offers convincing arguments for them. To get another perspective, I bought Bountiful Containers as well, which only briefly mentions self-watering containers. But I found its information to be a lot more vague and broad, with no mention of how much water and sunlight some plants will need. Much more of a "plant it and see" approach. Where Bountiful Container is good for inspiring someone to garden, with a light amount of information for a broad variety of plants, Bible is geared to making that garden successful, with deep, detailed information about fewer, more common plants.

I definitely appreciate his section on how to build your own containers, because commercially available ones are mostly too small. However, it does assume a certain level of handyman skills, tools and materials. Some apartment dwellers may have a drill, but how many have a hacksaw, caulking gun, and lengths of PVC tubing?

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