Mel Bartholome

Square Foot Gardening

4 stars (An excellent source book) - An excellent source book for the gardener. Clear instructions and excellent advise on garden planting and continuing care. Makes good use of garden space. Container gardeners need to adapt to their individual situations. 3 stars (Pretty detailed information, ought to be good for expert or novice) - Lots of information here on all aspects of gardening, layout, types of plants to use, maybe everything for the novice. I found the diagrams to be of more value than the photograph selection, you've got some of both giving details on every aspect of gardening from soil perparation to putting up your harvest. You'll find charts and diagrams for planting, watering,plant support, just about anything. There are even recipes and other tips for some of the things you might find yourself growing. About the only thing I could really find to complain about is the lack of any sort of watermelon information, muskmelons/ cantalopes were mentioned- why not some variety of watermelon? 5 stars (Simply a Great Gardening Book) - 55 Reviewers pretty much say it all, but I just had to add to the applause. I have used this book as a reference for over 20 years, and have used Mel's methods in the sands of Florida, the gumbo of Texas, and now the 'barely there' soil of Northern Virginia. And what have I gotten... production and ease! Based in part on the French Intensive method of gardening, you pretty much can avoid the inherent soil problems of where you live and grow veggies and flowers with little weeding and grunting. Ideas in this book include: How to prepare the soil (fertilizers, conditioners) How to put together raised beds and other support structures if you want them A guide for popular vegetables -- how and when to plant them, including how to start seeds -- the what-fors of watering -- common pest and disease problems In my opinion this easy to read book is a gardening staple good for all levels of experience. ...
Rodale Books :: Vegetables :: Gardening & Techniques :: Vegetable gardening :: Techniques :: Square foot gardening :: Gardening&Plants :: Gardening & Horticulture :: Mel Bartholome :: Square Foot Gardening