Greening Austin Daily

Book Review- Texas Organic Vegetable Gardening: The Total Guide to Growing Vegetables, Fruits, Herbs, and Other Edible Plants the Natural Way

14th July, 2010 - Posted by katherine - 1 Comment

I have been using Howard Garrett’s book “Texas Organic Vegetable Gardening: The Total Guide to Growing Vegetables, Fruits, Herbs, and Other Edible Plants the Natural Way” ever since I started getting semi-serious about gardening this summer. It’s very useful- every common vegetable and fruit are covered alphabetically, and for each one, the book describes when to plant, what kind of soil treatments to use, and has a page of common problems for that particular plant (for example, plant not producing fruit, or plant covered in white spots), with the possible causes listed for each problem (for example, a certain disease or pest), followed by a solution (often treatment with materials you can easily find or make in your home, like compost, garlic, and red pepper).  The book also has a section on organic additives, a section on common pests, and a section on beneficial insects.  I found it very helpful and liked it so much that I am going to buy a used copy online (I checked out my copy from the library). 

Even if you’re not totally committed to organic gardening, it’s useful if you’re new to gardening in Texas because it has Texas-specific planting times and Texas-specific pests, which I found very helpful.

not my garden, but so pretty!

photo credit