Fruits-and-Vegetables Books

I will begin my first garden next spring and I wanted to know everything right away. I'm thrilled with this book because it includes sections on soil, companion planting, garden design and more. Very good for me since it's the only gardening book I own.

This is a must-have book if you garden; it is easy to find information, very well organized, and the explanations and directions are clear. The second half of the book has detailed information on most vegetables including what plants are best to plant before and next to this plant as well as common problems, depth of soil etc ... This book is wonderful because it is helpful if you already have a garden or if you are starting a new one. I appreciate that he talks about beneficial insects and organic gardening techniques. I would recommend this book to everyone.
Other great books to use with this book:
Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)Crocketts Victory Garden

Excellent book - I checked it out at a local bookstore so I knew it was what I wanted. Next year will be our first year with a garden so we're excited to read this book over the winter to prepare. GREAT book for new gardeners.

Excellent book to read through and then keep as reference.
There are MANY nice color pictures (especially at the end there is a vegetable reference guide for planting/care/info).
This book gives you step-by-step instructions to designing and cultivating a high-yield WORD garden.
If you are clueless about gardening, get this book.
If you think you know everything, then get this book (even if you have memorized the companion planting reference matrix).
From small planter box gardens to acre sized garden plots..
If you want to learn how to grow vegetables, then this is the book!

Hoping to make the most of my new garden, I picked up this book and hoped some of the techniques would work. WOW doesn't even begin to describe how great this was. The techniques outlined in this book will take a relatively small garden and produce veggies like you've never imagined! I can hardly wait for next year when I'll have more time to build beds and plant even more! I really believe it'll be possible to feed my family with just the vegetables we can grow ourselves.

If you wnat to get the most out of your garden space, you need this book!

I love thumbing through this book. I buy most of my seeds from Seed Savers Exchange so it is especially fun because several of the varieties I was already growing, are featured in this book. Plus I have been inspired to try a few more. Well laid out. Beautiful book.

Wonderful book written by Dr Carolyn Male. If you don't own or have not read this book, then you really are found lacking in life!

Enjoyed the book enough to buy another to give to my tomato-growing son. Also hooked me to the point of buying three other tomato books from Amazon. The author posts regularly on various tomato websites. Great photographs. For the price that Amazon sells this book - you cannot go wrong.

I have a small greenhouse and sell organic heirloom tomato plants. This book is my tomato bible! I am growing many of the plants she lists. Some I already knew about, some will be new this year, based on the information in this book. In addition, this book contains the simplest and clearest instructions I have found for saving seeds.

Her pictures - well, they are REAL! What a concept! Instead of pictures of these pristine tomatoes that were probably airbrushed, the pictures of her cherry tomatoes show a little crack here and there, and she unabashedly shows scarring and other blemishes. She shows top views, bottom views, and each picture shows a cut tomato so one can see the flesh. For a tomato grower like me, this is great information.

Her descriptions are frank, and since I was already growing some of these tomatoes myself, I know they are honest. You ever notice how the descriptions of the tomatoes in the catalogs imply that EVERY tomato is the BEST tomato? Dr. Male tells it like it is! In fact, she describes some of them having some faults, but has listed them for other reasons. (We agree - Amish Paste? Ho-hum. But historically significant and in spite of its faults, a very popular tomato.)

If you are a tomato aficionado, then you must add this book to your library! I will have a copy at my booth at the farmers market - and I bet it will be dog-eared by the end of the tomato season! I may have to buy another!

I received this book as a gift, after my small 4-plant tomato plot fared disastrously last summer. 1 of the 4 plants produced decent tomatoes, while the rest died unceremoniously. This year, following the recommendations in this book, my 4 plants are all doing great, and I already have little tomatoes-to-be on 3 of the 4. For that reason alone I would recommend this book. I wish some of the planting and tending suggestions were a little clearer; you have to piece some of them together for yourself. Nevertheless, just two of the express recommendations on their own have made a world of difference for me.

The photographs and descriptions of the different heirloom varieties are fantastic, and will inspire you to pick out some different and unusual tomatoes for your garden. You don't have to be a tomato fanatic to enjoy and learn from this book.

You will not find a better guide on the subject. If you are lookin' to grow fungi -- get it.

i got this book for my boyfriend for his birthday. he was super excited and loves it! thanks!

Stamets clearly and concisely lays out how to cultivate many different types of mushrooms. He starts out with technique and cultivation types, and then goes into the different types of mushrooms. Stamets goes into detail about the vocabulary used to describe mushroom biology. I think he covers the different mushrooms extensively. The book is easy to follow along with. I highly recommend this book if you are interested in growing your own mushrooms.

The title says it all. This is regarded as an invaluable resource for anyone with an interest in raising mushrooms (on any scale), and I can only agree. This book is meant on some level to complement The Mushroom Cultivator, which is referenced occasionally. For example when discussing pests and contaminants, only the vectors and generalities are discussed; the reader is directed to The Mushroom Cultivator for in depth coverage. That's my next purchase after a trial run with growing some enokitakes.

This book is definitely not a beginners book, but The Mushroom Cultivator is. This book would be step two in your mycological life goal because it focuses more on the advanced techniques and an industrial approach growing mushrooms. I would recommend this book and every other book by Paul Stamets no questions asked.

I was lucky enough to have stumbled onto this book years ago.It must have been devine intervention because from I went from an interest in growing a vegetable garden to finding this book to growing a killer garden in just a few weeks.This book spells it all out in an easy to understand plan to growing your own food.Lots of pictures(my favorite kind of book),lots of information,not a lot of money.

Still the very best book to starting and maintaining an organic garden
that ever was published.

Product came in very good condition. Worth the money. Great book in terms of gardening - you will learn a lot. My husband and I have to share it as we both enjoy the many things that can be done to harvest a good garden.

I picked up Dick Raymond's Joy Of Gardening at a yard sale a few years ago. I can't imagine why any body who is remotely interested in gardening would sell this book. And for a dollar at that. This book is a must read for gardeners or any body who even is considering starting a garden. I have a very small yard and even smaller garden but thanks to Dick Raymond's method of close plant gardening I have been able to increase my yield ten fold. So far this year I have picked 30 pounds of tomatoes and it's only the first week of August. I grow pumpkins, onions, eggplant, cucumber, yellow squash, zucchini, and bell peppers. All of this on a triangular shaped garden with a 15 foot base and 22 foot sides. Not bad for a city boy and it's because of what I have learned from Joy Of Gardening. I highly recommend this book to any one considering starting a garden.

This is the best resource I have found for small gardeners. I would highly recommend it.

This was my kids favorite bed time story for a long time. And I must admit one of my favorites too. Although watch out for the whisper/shout page at the end of the book, it is very easy to get the kids all riled up just before bed time. Great book, we often give it as a gift.

I got this book for my nephew's birthday (he was turning 3) and he really loved it. It's really something fun and different for kids and all the parents were even entertained by it! I have had a hard time finding these books in bookstores, so I'm glad I've been able to purchase them on Amazon. I would definitely recommend this book for the little ones.

I had a couple of the Saxton Freymann books hanging around the house from my teaching days (Dog Food and How Are You Peeling). My 4 year old twins found them one day and loved them. I ordered them Food for Thought for Christmas last year and it is still a highly requested bedtime book. I love looking at the pictures as much as they do! It is amazing how they accomplish this using only food items.

Another picture book from the creative minds of Elffers and Freymann. This one illustrates concepts (shapes and colors, numbers and letters, opposites) with big, bold, and colorful photos of fruits and vegetables carved and combined into expressive faces and adorable animals and scenes. Each page is a new puzzle: H for Hair is easily identified as a leek (you might have to explain 'leek' to a child), root end up, but what are the 'insects'? (blueberries with onionskin wings). The humor may occasionally go over a child's head (look at X for X-ray) but that doesn't matter, he will still love identifying the fruits and vegetables the characters are made of. This is a wonderful book for group reading, children are captivated by the colors and illustrations and the large format makes it easy to see even for the children toward the back of the group. If you've liked others in this series you won't want to miss this one.

It's got a little bit of everything--fruits & vegetables, colors, shapes, letters, animals, opposites. Even adults will say "how imaginative!"

This book was written in the early 90's yet the message -- grow and eat REAL food from your own area is finally, albeit slowly, getting through to the masses. This was one of the most helpful farming books I've borrowed from the library in a long time. I came to Amazon to buy my own copy because there is so much in it which will make it a good reference for us. We have a small farm, summer farm stand and take part in local farmers markets. For me, the end of the book where the reasons for eating local, healthy food were presented seems esp helpful, as I plan to pass the info onto my customers. For my husband (the real farmer in this family) the nitty gritty of growing good food will be helpful. I've read a couple of Mr. Lee's other later books on chicken farming and they were good (albeit not as in depth and that first chicken tractor one, well I thought the format was a bit silly) but I feel this is MUCH better and a more useful tool for the small vegetable farmer. If you are not organic, you may tend to move closer to the organic idea after reading this book! Good marketing advice whether you are large or small, part time, full time or just dreaming of a farm.

We are just beginning to create an organic produce garden. The information in this book is a great help. The personal stories of how others managed this kind of project - give me hope that we too can create such a business.

Not only is this book a great guide to gardening using organic methods, it goes to great lengths to show you how to market you extra production or even to start a full time endeavor. Very good coverage of modern methods in irrigation, crop rotation, pest controls, and marketing. I highly reccomend this to your library!

I really enjoyed this book. My only complaint, is that I wish the author had gone into the growing aspect a bit more. The book turned out to be more of a marketing book. Great book for a niche that needed to be addressed in a bit more detail, but not the book I thought I was getting. My two favorite books thus far on the subject of mini farming have been Mini Farming for Self Sufficiency and The New Organic Grower: A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener (A Gardener's Supply Book).

This is a good book to have if you decided to get back to nature, downsize your life, get with it or just make ends meet when food prices are going up, up, up. Just know that it takes a lot of work, especially if you are into organic. That said, this is a good start on making money with gardening when you don't have a acres of land. My lot is 1/3 of an acre and it is quite productive. This book helps you make the best of what you have. I recommend it. I didn't give it five stars because it doesn't have all that much that's new to me, but then again I read a lot.

With kids toys being so much about brands and high tech capability - this whimsical and imaginative book is such a delight. I can't wait for my son to see it on Christmas day. Adults I have shown it to have enjoyed it too.

This book is wonderful! I bought several copies for my dog-loving friends because the price was very reasonable- they all thought it was delightful. The illustrations are fantastic, and the broccoli/cauliflower poodles are especially cute!

This book is adorable! It's so fun and the creativity is amazing. My 14 month old loves dogs and this book has become one of his favorites!

I cataloged this donated book into the academic library's collection where I work. I selected it from the books that had been donated for our annual book sale because I knew parents with little children would enjoy having something to occupy the attention of their kids while they were studying/researching. What a remarkable imagination this book testifies to! I photocopied the "Working like a Dog" page to testify to my meager efforts, it adorns my cubical. Everyone with children will want a copy of this book.

My daughter, age 20 months, just loves this cute little book. She asks to read it again and again.

Although this book was written in 2000, when I saw it at a book boutique I bought it immediately...a fabulous book on a unique culinary culture for those who love to delve into french cooking recipes. I highly recommend it! The photos transport you back there and it has made me so homesick to return to Paris again even though I return there every year when I can to visit family there and have always made it a pilgrimmage to go to the Marches a few times a week, especially to the 'Richard Lenoir Marche at Place de La Bastille in the 11th arrondisement...you can spend the entire morning (they close at 1PM) there perusing from table to table and end your day walking home in the streets of Paris with a tote-ful of delicacies to prepare the sumptious evening 'repas'
The varieties of each food are endless and fabulous and fresh, the colors of the fruits and vegetables are brilliant, the energy at the marches are exhuberant, and venders are so proud of their products...This book really does take you back to feeling like you are there in the midst of a culinary feast; the recipes are easy and with US measurements, and the descriptions of each arrondisement gives you such a personal tour that you feel akin to each personality they present you with. This is really the true colloquial joie de vivre experience in Paris-a way to commune with nature's bounty. I highly recommend this book; 5 stars!! a true feast for the eyes!!

Nicolle Aimee Meyer and Amanda Pilar Smith have created a book that is part travel guide, part cookbook, part biography -- and all wonderful! The photographs are terrific. The text brings the markets and their people to life. And I can't wait to try some of the recipes, which are for many classic French favorites. Altogether a complete success! Bravo!!

Beautiful photography and lively writing make this a perfect gift this holiday season (or any time) for anyone who likes to eat and loves Paris. Even for a longtime resident of the City of Lights like myself, this book brings another Paris to life, one you will want to explore again and again, in these pages and of course like the authors did themselves, bicycling through every arrodisement, leaving no quartier unvisited, no fromage untasted, no croissant unfinished! A magnificent and original hommage sure to earn its place among the classics of cuisine and travel.

A must for anyone seeking out the real Paris, off the beaten track of tourist traps. Even if you can't visit more than two or three markets per visit to this wonderful city, this book will continue to be a major reference for seeking out these fascinating places of food, drink and 'objets'. Happy exploring!

I love this book! The cover roped me right in and before I knew it I was buying it. I am so glad I did. The book is organized by arrondissement; each chapter is devoted to one of them. They tend to focus on the biggest or best market in each arrondissement but they devote paragraphs to the others. The text itself is gracefully written and yet very convivial. For each of the main markets, the authors start you out on a typical Parisian morning and gently suggest the path you might want to follow as you navigate that particular market; it is almost as though they are walking along with you. They tell you what's available at each market and what are each market's strengths and weaknesses. You will be introduced to a lot of people - the butcher at the Marché d'Aligre, the poissonier at the Richard Lenoir, the organic farmer at the Batignolles market, the interesting old fellow who hawks bath salts as he soaks his feet in green water... I feel as though I'd be able to walk up to them and say hi. There's some history mixed in there, too, so you'll get to see some nice old photos and learn about everday Parisians of the past. And of course there are the recipes. Most of them appear delicious and a few rather exotic. Many of them come from the very people that you "met" in the chapter preceding, so you know they're authentic and the human element makes you want to try the recipe all the more.

I love Paris. This book really gives you a sense of what it is like to be there - colorful, vibrant, stately, modern, classic, young, old... Paris is all of these things and more at once. I went there seven years ago and I don't think I hit a single market. This book makes me feel incredibly well-equipped; I think that without it I would feel a bit intimidated. I plan to go back and I'm gonna bring this book with me!

Awesome! I had no idea that tomatoes were so interesting. I originally read about this book in the Washington Post and ordered it for my mom-- I didn't expect to become so fascinated with it myself! Not only does this book describe approximately one million different kinds of tomatoes, but it also has a guide for where to purchase seeds, so you can grow the ones that seem most interesting to you. Recipes are included along with a detailed description of the tomato.

Finally, the pictures are AMAZING. The photography is just beautiful, and that's what really sold me on the book. Each frame is a work of art, truly. If you're on the fence about it, go ahead and get it-- it was money well spent.

I haven't read this book - it's a Christmas gift for a tomato lover! But the photography is AMAZING! It also seems fairly informative. I just might have to buy a copy for myself!

Books are some of the greatest treasures we have in this life. Few, if any, other objects have the universal ability to make us laugh, to make us cry, to entertain us, to inspire us and to teach us. Fictional literature, the art of storytelling, entertains, inspires and sometimes teaches us by making us laugh, cry, think and appreciate. Non-fiction literature serves a different purpose. Its focus is to teach or inform us. Exceptional non-fiction literature teaches and informs us in an entertaining way which inspires us and causes us to think and to be appreciative.

Amy Goldman's books are some of the best non-fiction literature created in the fledgling 21st century, and with her newest book, The Heirloom Tomato, she has demonstrated that her skills as a writer, researcher and gardener are only becoming more refined. In my opinion, The Heirloom Tomato is the best book ever written on the tomato.

For more than 6 years now Ms. Goldman has collaborated with Victor Schrager, an accomplished photographer with exceptional talent. During the process of creating three extraordinary books on three of America's most beloved fruits and vegetables, these two have forged a partnership which allows them to communicate to their readers with a singleness of purpose that I have never encountered in any other literary partnership. Undoubtedly inspired by Amy's passion, her years of meticulous research and the abundance from her extensive trial gardens, Victor has created photographs which communicate to the reader the beauty, delicacy, even sensuality of these fruits and vegetables and, in some cases, the images are so exceptional you can almost recall the fragrance and the flavor.

The Heirloom Tomato is first and foremost a comprehensive resource on the tomato, beginning with a well written primer on growing, harvesting and saving the seed of tomatoes followed by a detailed archive, describing for approximately 200 different tomatoes, the size, weight, shape, skin color, flesh color, sweetness, flavor, texture, uses, plant habit, leaf type, yield, maturity, origins, synonyms, seed sources and history. As is true with all of her books, the facts contained in this resource material are well researched and reliable. The book is also a compendium of tomato recipes some of which are quite unique like the dessert recipe, Galette of White Peaches and Tomatoes, and the drink recipe, Tomato Water.

The Heirloom Tomato is also a gentle book, and it is this aspect of its character that moves it from the realm of good non-fiction literature to exceptional non-fiction literature. This book, like Goldman's other two books, Melons for the Passionate Grower and The Compleat Squash, are not `one-time reads'. The Heirloom Tomato is the kind of book you will look to for inspiration on a cold winter day in front of a warm fire. You will return year after year to page 15 to stare at those black tipped fingers ever so gently cradling that magnificent red tomato or to page 248 to view, yet again, the absolutely perfect still life entitled, Thai Pink Bouquet. It is the resource you will seek out and come to depend upon, when, after strolling through someone's vegetable garden, you spy a tomato you have never seen before. This is a book for learned gardeners, novice gardeners, chefs, cooks and even people who do not like to garden or cook, but just love the tomato. This book will teach and inform you, it will inspire you and cause you to pause and think, but most of all, after the first read and the many, many reads that will follow, it will endow you with an even greater appreciation for the tomato.

I bought this book for my husband Dennis for our anniversary. He planted over 50 tomato plants this year and we have been enjoying some and others we made salsa and sauce from. We have been buying Heirlooms at our local farmer's market but wanted to grow some or our own. So if you are a home gardener and into growing the very best Heirloom tomatoes on your block this is the book for you. Amy Goldman has researched everything you'd want to know about Heirloom tomatoes from which are the best, what types are available and which do well in certain areas. She's done all the work for you. There is information on taste, color and the various types of tomatoes so that you can grown tomatoes to match your tast palate. And she's included recipes as well. Another great thing about this book is the seed guide in the back which are divided by states and there are several to choose from. This is by far the quintessential book on Heirloom Tomatoes.

This book is all that it claims. For those wanting to grow heirloom tomatoes, it can be confusing as to which have the attributes one is seeking (sweet taste, good for sauce, good for munching, etc.) This book takes the mystery out of heirloom tomatoes with great descriptions of each tomato's attributes. The book also has beautiful photographs of each tomato so it is easy to visualize how they would appear in the garden. Finally, there is an extensive list of seed sources.

Great book--well worth the money.

The only problem was you sent me three and I only ordered one and I was charged for three. The other two are on their way back and I am hoping I will be refunded.

The most comprehensive tome on growing record breaking amounts of tomatoes on the market.Gives all the information you need to know in one comprhensive resource on how to grow starters, prepare soil and its correct mix, with poignant stries from the authors experience based on proen scientific research that gets the results you would expect from a book with his title.

This book is excellent information. I learned so much, especially about composting. Nobody can argue with this man's results. It's just amazing.
I do wish there were a follow up book for other plants and trees.

After growing tomatoes for years in a small family garden, I decided to take up the hobby Academically. This book will clearly put my efforts over the top. Armed with all of Mr. Wilbers knowledge and research I should be able to grow the best tomato plants ever. There is lots of conflicting information out there, but from my experience I will go with Mr. Wilber 99%. He gives a clear picture of his purpose. It's all clear and concise. Everyone who reads this book can't help but grow bigger/better Tomatoes! I highly recommend this book.

If you have ever thought of turning to organic gardening then this book will be very helpful. If you have been practicing organic gandening for years there are still some enlightning new theories for you here. If you believe you can get good produce to grow from a brick with the proper amount of chemical fertilizer and don't plan on changing your mind then this book is a waste of time.