Book Review #2

I picked up Grow Organic, Cook Organic before I went out of town, and liked the layout and information it contained.

It was very well sectioned with areas of interest including:

The Organic Garden
Soil and Soil Management
Basic Techniques
Plant Health
The Ornamental Garden
The Wildlife Garden
The Kitchen Garden
Directory of Vegetables
Directory of Herbs
Directory of Fruit
Calendar of Care
The Organic Kitchen
Seasonal Recipes

The book was written by English writers, so some of the info is very new to me and opened my eyes to the way things are done in the UK. For example, fruit trees are almost always espaliered, or trained to a fence or wires in a vertical fashion. Over time, judicious pruning makes the fruit trees an easily manageable size, yet beautiful and bountiful as well. I had always wanted to do this after seeing it in this years Farmer's Almanac but this book went into depth about each type of tree and how to prune. very informative.

Chris liked the food and recipe info. Much of it looks very good! Thankfully, the writers and their editors have included Fahrenheit, inches, and feet measurements throughout the book, so even us Americans can understand what they mean.

The glossy color pictures in the book are fantastic, as are the step-by-step instructions on topics such as sowing seeds, plant division, and especially double digging.

Overall, a good use of my time and an excellent reference for my ever-growing library. A-