How to Grow More Vegetables, Ninth Edition: (and Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops) Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land with Less Water Than You Can Imagine

Some of the best writing on soil science and health as it relates to design and growing. The writing is both broad and in-depth and will appeal to novices as well as experts. He casts a seemingly set of dry topics with fascination. Just excellent! Thank you for what is now a classic text.

The earlier editions of this publication by Ten Speed Press (3rd? 1982) were more readable due to a better book design, more logical table design (eg seed propagation) and better illustrations. As the content grew over the years, the material just was not presented well like in the easily digestible first editions. The material is excellent, but if you can also find an earlier edition than 9th (yes get both books) it may be easier to understand. (Not the 1974 Ecology Action edition tho.)Good book design is important for comprehension. I have all these books but was disappointed that the ninth edition's art and design is so clunky. I expected better from Ten Speed. Oh wait, it's now an imprint of Crown Publishing and used a whole different (inferior) design team. Bigger isn't always better.

Great guidelines for our future 64,000 s. f. Garden

I used to own the 8th edition, but either loaned it out or got rid of it in a move. I decided I wanted it back in my collection mostly because of reminders about the book giving instructions about planting by moon signs.It is a strange little book, which appears to have been written by committee. One of the major conceits is that it is possible to grow all of a person’s food requirements on about 4000 square feet of very specifically prepared ground. The assumption is that quite a few of those calories are coming from home grown wheat, and that we will use the straw from the wheat to build compost piles to improve the soil. The voice is a little strange- I think the book started as pamphlets, which were then compiled. I am not sure who the intended audience is. If you are a very beginning gardener, this might not be your best choice of book.There are many pages of charts, which make the book worth it to me. The charts have planting spaces, time to maturity, and many other facts about many garden plants. I’m glad I have it back in my library.

I agree with what other people have said in that this is not very applicable to home gardeners as is advertised. It's not too technical or hard to understand, but I doubt if many people with small gardens have the ability to dig 24-36" into there beds every couple of years. There is only one method of creating beds illustrated in the book, and it's not going to work in small spaces, raised beds, or areas where you can't produce a bunch of compost (small garden). One other problem I have is that there is a chapter heading for seed saving, which I would think would be very important to a self-sustaining garden. As far as I can tell nothing at all is mentioned about seed saving in the book, however, which was pretty disappointing. Finally, pests, which are my number one problem in the garden, aren't really addressed at all. For example, gophers, which would kill anything in a bed in my yard without hardware cloth underneath (definitely not 36" deep), get a brief few sentences stating they are easily deterred by dead gophers and/or smelly things. I've never tried to put a dead gopher in a gopher hole but I can tell you they would destroy any unprotected bed created under this methodology. Aphids, another major pest, are apparently to be fully deterred by repelling plants (ha ha ha). This book is great if you have tons of space and absolutely perfect garden soil...and you somehow have tons of material and extra soil for compost.Side note: also very few citations: eg states beets and pole beans should not be grown together (good to know) but no source or other info. Charts are the best part if you spend the time to decipher them.

Even after reading it a couple of times, some of the counsel it gives just hasn't worked for me. Overall, it's a great reference book for SO many things, and it seems like if I don't give it a full 5 stars I must be petty. I set up my garden according to directions and the plants were water-starved. I live in a desert state and days get hot and maybe the author's experience has been in states with lots of humidity.

Love this book. It is easy to follow but with detailed descriptions. Love the illustrations too. I like it so much I have recommended it to several people.

The author and editor did and exceptional job in organizing and communicating the information as both a exceptional read, and as a quick reference guide, which is a challenge to do well but they have exceeded at this. Highly recommend. This book was recommended many times on Youtube by people I respect. It lived up to their recommendations and now mine.

You would think that gardening would be a universal activity,- more or less the same for any country, - but not so! This book is very American. The 'English' is, in some places, incomprehensible, and some of the descriptions are very strange. Some of the terms used are, to the UK gardener, meaningless. What, when it comes to gardening, is meant by a 'flat'? The veg and fruit covered are not typical of those grown on a UK allotment.The 'Master Charts' are in important part of this book, but are not really suitable for an amateur gardener in the UK. Also. these chart are unreadable on most kindle devices. You would need to buy the paperback version. The book claims to be based on many years of research, but there is a hint of old wives tales and black magic about some of the ideas, methods and techniques for vegetable growing. In short, as a UK allotment holder, I find this book very odd, - and in places incomprehensible.

I completely agree with the reviewer who gave this book three stars and said it was not ideal for a UK grower. I would add that, for a modern book, the illustrations are very poor: possibly unchanged from 1974 when it was first published even though the back cover blurb states it is fully revised and updated. Very disappointing.

One of the best books I have read while making up quite a library of books with a view to micro farming/self sufficiency. Tbis has loads of useful information, written by a total expert.

A very technical book, full of charts and how to build your green house, it has everytbing from moon phase planting, composting, how to save seeds...everything you need if you're the off the grid type...a huge must to your library...

Very good book. Not the most pleasant graphically, but still rather nice to read and most importantly, full of very actionable information. Not sure I "buy" everything the author is saying, but this will undoubtedly remain one of my go-to reference books for gardening.