Book recommendation?

[dixiedazzle]

On some forum I saw a post about Carla Emery's book. Someone posted that there was another book they felt was better, more organized & easier to find info in. I didn't bookmark it, wondered if anyone had opinion on Carla Emery's book.

[webmaster]

Which book?

The Encyclopedia of Country Living

Canning and Preserving Your Own Harvest: An Encyclopedia of Country Living Guide

or

Growing Your Own Vegetables: An Encyclopedia of Country Living Guide

[cynthia_h]

I'm not familiar with Carla Emery; sorry. Depending on how much area you have (25 sq ft? 100 sq ft? 1000 sq ft?), one of these two writers might be helpful:

Square Foot Gardening (2005 revision), Mel Bartholomew. Essential idea: 4'x4' raised beds; plant veggies in succession and at close spacing for best return on available area. I implemented most of his suggestions but have one *critical* change to recommend and a couple of "sorta" recommendations.

How to Grow More Vegetables (in less space than you ever imagined) (7th ed.), John Jeavons. Essential idea: 5'x20' GrowBiointensive(tm) method, self-contained gardening system, by the 3rd year gardener is seeing very exciting results. Detailed layouts and planting plans available in book, but you can use your own, too.

I've looked through but haven't read thoroughly Eliot Coleman's Four-Season Harvest. Coleman gardens in Maine and uses cold frames and other means to harvest even in the dead of winter. He looked at the latitude of Maine and saw that the latitude of south France was very nearly the same, and his mind wandered over the possibilities....

These books may be available at your local library--where there are DVDs awaiting your viewing pleasure as well! There should also be gardening books and other materials more suited to the Southeast; perhaps Ms. Emery's book falls into that category?

Happy gardening!

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[dixiedazzle]

Emery's Encyclopedia of gardening. Sorry I wasn't clear on book title.

I have 10 acres, about half in trees. My 30 year old son is finally interested in the land & I wanted some basic information for him. My garden is quite large. I didn't think of the public library. Thanks for the suggestion.