Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Foolish Assumptions 2
Icons Used in This Book 2
Where to Go from Here 3
Part 1: Digging Into the Basics of Vegetable Gardening 5
Chapter 1: Vegetable Gardening 101 7
Having a Garden: Yes or No 7
Planning a Veggie Garden 8
Growing a Cornucopia of Vegetables 9
Tomatoes 9
Peppers and eggplants 9
Carrots, onions, and potatoes 10
Peas and beans 10
Cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and squash 11
Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower 11
Lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, and specialty greens 12
An array of other great veggies 12
Non-vegetable edibles 12
Getting Down to Growing 13
Choosing between seeds and transplants 13
Working the soil 13
Keeping your garden growing and enjoying the rewards 14
Trying for a bigger bounty 14
Chapter 2: Eyeing the Popularity and Benefits of Vegetable Gardening 15
Food Gardening: It’s Popping Up Everywhere 15
Identifying a Few Good Reasons to Grow Your Own Food 17
Better tasting and higher quality food 17
Improve your health 18
Save some cash 18
Help the environment 20
Increase your quality of life 21
Self-reliance 21
Chapter 3: Planning Your Veggie Garden 23
Deciding Where to Put Your Vegetable Garden 23
Considering different sites 24
Letting the sun shine 26
Checking your soil’s drainage 27
Understanding Veggie Varieties 28
Timing Your Planting Wisely 30
Some like it cool, some like it hot 30
Frost dates and the length of the growing season 31
Your local forecast trumps frost dates 33
Designing Your Garden 33
Deciding on hills, rows, or raised beds 34
Spacing your plantings properly 36
Following the paths 37
Sketching it out 37
Part 2: Focusing on All Things Veggies 43
Chapter 4: Tomatoes: The King of Veggies 45
Checking Out Tomato Varieties 46
Categorizing tomatoes 46
Classifying tomatoes by their appearance 48
Enjoying classic red, round tomatoes 48
Surveying all the other colors of tomatoes 50
Sweetening the pot with cherry, grape, and pear tomatoes 51
Considering some saucy tomatoes 52
Introducing the tomato’s relatives 53
Growing Tomatoes with Ease 54
Jump-starting tomatoes 54
Planting, trellising, and pruning 55
Fertilizing and maintaining your plants 57
Eliminating pests and other problems 59
Harvesting tomatoes 61
Chapter 5: Meeting the Tomato’s Cousins: Peppers and Eggplants 63
Producing Plenty of Peppers 64
Those sweet bells 64
Long and round sweet peppers 66
Peppers that turn on the heat 67
Pretty peppers: The ornamentals 71
Distinguishing Eggplants by Shape 71
Large and oval 72
Cylindrical 72
Small and round 73
Growing Peppers and Eggplants 73
Starting and planting 74
Fertilizing and watering tips 75
Patrolling and controlling pests 76
Harvesting peppers and eggplants 76
Chapter 6: Growing Underground Crops: Carrots, Onions, and Potatoes 79
A Rabbit’s (and Gardener’s) Favorite Root: Carrots 80
Classifying carrots by type 80
Examining some varieties 81
Onions: The Bulbs with Layers of Sweet and Pungent Goodness 82
Choosing your onion varieties 83
Looking at scallions and perennial onions 85
Potatoes: No Longer a Boring Spud 87
Potatoes classified 87
Selecting a few potato varieties 87
Growing and Gathering Root Crops 89
General guidelines for all your root crops 89
Cultivating carrots 90
Growing onions 91
Producing potatoes 92
Keeping Your Root Crops Healthy and Pest Free 95
Chapter 7: Sweet and Simple: Beans and Peas 99
A Bevy of Beans: Filling Your Rows with Bean Family Plants 100
Bushels of bush beans 101
Pole beans: The long and tall crop 102
The versatile shell and dried beans 103
Miscellaneous beans not to be forgotten 104
Growing Peas, Please! 106
English peas: The reliable standby 107
Sweet and tender snap peas 108
An earlier harvest: Snow peas 109
Get ’Em in the Ground: Growing Beans and Peas 109
Planting legumes for an ample harvest 110
Thwarting pests and diseases 113
Keep on pickin’: Harvesting your crop 115
Chapter 8: Vigorous Vines: Cucumbers, Melons, Pumpkins, and Squash 117
Checking Out Cool Cukes 118
Before you choose: Brushing up on some cucumber vocabulary 118
Surveying common cucumber varieties 119
Melons: The Sweet, Juicy Vining Plant 121
Distinguishing different types of melons 121
Perusing popular melon varieties 122
Unearthing the Humble Squash 123
Identifying different squash types 124
Recognizing popular squash varieties 125
Great Pumpkins: Counting the Uses for This Versatile Squash 127
Growing Those Vines 129
Planting and feeding 129
Watering and watering some more 131
Ensuring proper pollination 132
Controlling pests and diseases 133
Harvesting your vining crop 135
Chapter 9: Cool Weather Staples: Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, and Cauliflower 137
Paying Attention to the Often-Overlooked Cole Crops 138
Easing into cole crops with broccoli 138
Brussels sprouts: The little cabbages 140
Choosing cabbage: The age-old and dependable cole crop 141
Considering cauliflower in a rainbow of colors 143
Growing Your Own Cole Crops 145
Giving cole crops what they want 145
Nurturing cole crops 146
Putting a stop to pesky pest problems 148
Harvesting cole crops 149
Chapter 10: A Salad for All Seasons: Lettuce, Spinach, Swiss Chard, and Specialty Greens 151
Lettuce Get Together 152
Crisphead lettuce 153
Romaine lettuce 154
Loose-leaf lettuce 154
Popeye’s Pal: Spinach 155
Savoy spinach 156
Smooth spinach and some spinach-like friends 156
The Attractive and Hardy Swiss Chard 157
Going Wild with Specialty Greens 158
Growing Great Greens 160
Timing is everything: Determining when to plant your greens 160
Putting your greens to bed 162
Adding nitrogen-rich fishy fertilizer 163
Thin and bare it: Thinning your greens 163
Watering to win the war against wilt 163
Working out the bugs (and other common ailments) 163
Your bowl runneth over: Harvesting greens 164
Chapter 11: Sweet Corn and an A to T of Other Worthy Veggies 167
Sweet Corn and Its Relatives 168
Sweet corn 168
Popcorn 170
Considering Other Great Vegetables 171
Arugula 171
Asparagus 172
Beets 174
Bok choi 175
Broccoli raab 176
Celeriac 176
Celery 177
Chinese cabbage 178
Collards 179
Endive 179
Escarole 179
Florence fennel 180
Garlic 180
Globe artichokes 183
Gourds 183
Horseradish 184
Kale 185
Kohlrabi 186
Leeks 186
Mizuna 187
Okra 187
Parsnips 188
Peanuts 189
Radicchio 190
Radishes 191
Rhubarb 192
Rutabagas 193
Shallots 194
Turnips 194
Chapter 12: Edible Landscapes: Fruits, Herbs, and Pretty Things to Eat 197
Sweetening Your Garden: Berries and Trees 198
Strawberries 198
Blueberries 199
Blackberries and raspberries 199
Unusual fruits 200
Focusing on Herbs 201
Basil 203
Chives 204
Cilantro 205
Dill 205
French tarragon 206
Mint 207
Oregano 208
Parsley 209
Rosemary 210
Sage 210
Thyme 211
Blossoming Edible Flowers 212
Part 3: Getting Down and Dirty in Your Vegetable Garden 215
Chapter 13: On Your Mark, Get Set Grow! 217
Choosing Seeds or Transplants 218
Deciding on Your Seeding Method and Decoding a Seed Packet 219
Starting Seeds Indoors 220
Picking a pot to plant in 221
Using a mix that doesn’t include soil 222
Sowing your seeds 222
Providing the right amount of light and heat 225
Watering your seedlings 225
Thinning and transplanting indoors 226
Feeding your seedlings 227
Transplanting Indoor Seedlings and Starter Plants 228
Buying starter plants 228
Toughening up all types of transplants 229
Making the big move to the ground 230
Sowing Seeds Directly in Your Garden 232
Deciding on a seed-planting method 233
Thinning seedlings in your garden 237
Chapter 14: Workin’ the Dirt 239
Razing Your Garden Spot 239
Killing weeds and aggressive grasses 240
Stripping sod 242
Analyzing and Improving Your Soil 243
Distinguishing different types of soil 244
Testing your soil 245
Adjusting soil pH 247
Adding organic matter (aka the dead stuff) 249
Turning Your Soil 251
Making Your Own Compost 252
Building a compost pile 253
Avoiding materials that don’t belong in a compost pile 255
Moistening and turning your compost pile 255
Chapter 15: Maintaining Your Vegetable Garden 257
Addressing the Basics of Watering 258
Knowing when your veggies need a drink 259
Discovering ways to water your vegetable garden 260
Conserving water with a few handy tips 266
Keeping Your Plants Cozy and Weed Free with Mulch 267
Spreading organic mulch 267
Laying inorganic mulch 269
Deciding which mulch to use 271
Determining Important Nutrients Your Soil Needs 272
Macronutrients 273
Secondary nutrients and micronutrients 274
Fertilizing Your Vegetable Garden 275
Examining a fertilizer label 275
Choosing a fertilizer 276
Side-dressing 277
Supporting Your Vegetables 281
Beans and peas 282
Melons and cucumbers 283
Tomatoes 283
Fighting Weed Wars 283
Making a preemptive strike on weeds 284
Battling weeds after planting 285
Chapter 16: Surveying Some Cool Planting Techniques 287
Adding Nutrients and Stability with Cover Crops and Green Manures 288
Eyeing the advantages of cover crops 288
Choosing cover crops 289
Planting cover crops 290
Giving Your Plants Some Friends: Companion Planting 291
Making Your Garden Work Double Time with Intercropping 292
Extending Your Harvest with Succession Planting 293
Rotating Crops to Preserve Soil Nutrients and Maintain a Pest-Free Bed 295
Planting by the Phases of the Moon 296
Building a Hugelkultur-Raised Bed 297
Growing Plants in Strawbales 297
Adding an Herb Spiral to Your Yard 298
Combining Fish with Plants: Aquaponics 299
Chapter 17: Keeping Your Plants Healthy 301
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Controlling Pests 302
Recognizing the good bugs 302
Rounding up the bad bugs 303
Considering the best form of attack 309
Gardening to Eliminate Diseases 312
Avoiding diseases with good habits 312
Watching out for common diseases 313
Keeping the Animal Kingdom at Bay 315
Chapter 18: Containing Your Veggies 319
Considering a Few Container Characteristics 320
Filling Up Your Container: Potting Soil Made Simple 322
Knowing Which Vegetables Grow Well in Pots 323
Identifying some common container veggies 323
Some bee-u-tee-ful vegetable combos 325
Planting Your Veggies in Pots 326
Caring for Container Veggies 327
Chapter 19: Harvesting, Storing, and Preserving Vegetables 329
Knowing When to Harvest 329
Putting Away Your Vegetables 332
Freezing, Drying, and Canning Veggies 335
Saving Vegetable Seeds 336
Part 4: The Part of Tens 339
Chapter 20: Ten Tools of the Trade 341
Watering Hoses and Cans 342
Hand Trowels 343
Hand Cultivators 343
Garden Hoes 343
Spades and Shovels 345
Garden Forks 345
Garden Rakes 345
Buckets, Wagons, and Baskets 346
Wheelbarrows and Garden Carts 347
Power Tillers 348
Chapter 21: Ten (or So) Ways to Extend Your Growing Season 351
Plant in Clever Locations 352
Time Your Planting Wisely 352
Protect Plants with Hot Caps 353
Add Elegance to Your Garden with Glass Cloches 353
Buy or Build Cold Frames 354
Drape Row Covers over Veggies 355
Place Wall O’ Waters around Plants 356
Try Portable Greenhouses and Hoop Houses 357
Appendix: Planning Guidelines and Other Resources 359
Index 383
