I need beginner books

kidharris55 · Thu May 28, 2015 4:19 pm

Hello everyone! I am new to gardening and I am looking for some help by joining this forum. I never grew plants in my life and would like to start but I have no idea where to start. Can someone point me to a great book or a great online reference on the basics of growing plants?

GardeningCook · Thu May 28, 2015 8:51 pm

What types of plants are you interested in growing, and where are you located? That information would be a first step

Also, do you have a local library? Because that might be an easy second step for information.

kidharris55 · Thu May 28, 2015 11:19 pm

I live in pennsylvania and I am interested in learning to grow Herbs and Veggies.

webmaster · Thu May 28, 2015 11:48 pm

Vegetable & herb gardening articles written by a former Master Gardener instructor, an expert with three decades of experience. And of course our own vegetable gardening forum. There's lots to read there and more importantly you can ask questions.

But if it's a book you want to hold in your hand, Square Foot Gardening is popular and with good reason.

GardeningCook · Fri May 29, 2015 8:42 am

I collect gardening books - particularly those having to do with vegetables & herbs (my favorites to grow as well). Collect vintage as well as interesting new ones that I come across. Frankly, I've yet to come across one that didn't teach me something, & except for keeping in mind that many of the earlier tomes were sometimes a little too free with the chemicals than most folks are today, you really can't go wrong with anything you select.

Yes - any of the "Square Foot Gardening" books are good (there are several). The method is based on an old European kitchen garden system called "French Intensive Gardening".

A golden oldie that I still find invaluable today is one by Dick Raymond - "The Joy of Gardening".
https://www.amazon.com/Garden-Ways-Garde ... bc?ie=UTF8

Also the old original "Crockett's Victory Garden" -
https://www.amazon.com/Crocketts-Victory ... ory+Garden

As for herb-specific books, you really can't go wrong with any of them. Again - before buying anything, I'd try to thumb through a few at your local library or bookstore first (if you have a bricks-&-mortar bookstore around - they're becoming rarer every day).