The Compleat Squash: A Passionate Grower's Guide to Pumpkins, Squashes, and Gourds [Hardcover]

Amy Goldman (Author), Victor Schrager (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2004

Part gardening book, part "encounters with remarkable vegetables," Amy Goldman's The Compleat Squash unearths the personalities—yes, personalities—of the pumpkin and the squash. They are members in good standing in the horticultural hall of fame, and Goldman lovingly ponders their case histories and culinary merits both with common and uncommon varieties. She gets glorious help from award-winning photographer Victor Schrager, who brings out their eclectic beauty in more than 150 luminous color portraits. Growing, harvesting, and seed-saving instructions are included for the gardener, and for the cook a selection of recipes that show off the unique, lovely flavors of these versatile vegetables.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Amy Goldman works to preserve the agricultural heritage and genetic diversity of the world's fruits and vegetables. Known to viewers of Martha Stewart Television and PBS, she has written for Garden Design and has been profiled in such publications as The New York Times and House & Garden. She is the author of Artisan's Melons for the Passionate Grower and The Compleat Squash. She lives in New York City and Rhinebeck, New York.

Victor Schrager's photography has been featured in exhibitions across the country. He is the photographer for Bird Hand Book (2001) and Artisan's Anatomy of a Dish (2002).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Artisan (October 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579652514
• ISBN-13: 978-1579652517
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,419 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Move over, Sugar Pie: there's a new gang of pepos in town, February 13, 2006

By 

A. Ryan "Merribelle" (Westminster, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Compleat Squash: A Passionate Grower's Guide to Pumpkins, Squashes, and Gourds (Hardcover)

I knew this would be good from the moment I first saw it on the endcap display. A few years earlier, Amy Goldman had impressed me with her scrumptious homage to melons in Melons for the Passionate Grower; now she's done it again, this time for cucurbitas (summer and winter squashes, which include my favorite vegetable-the Pumpkin!).

The Compleat Squash has all of the photographic panache of MFTPG, and all the passionate style of prose besides. The vast majority of listed varieties each have an extravagant, portrait-style photo of the fruit and often an entire page of commentary to accompany it. If a species has any points of special interest that are not obvious by the picture, you can be sure Ms. Goldman will expand on them at length and with flourish. She also loves to throw in anecdotes about how and from whom she came across the original seeds, recipes, stories behind funny names, and significant historical context for certain groupings of cucurbitas. Not since Georgeanne Brennan have I read such romantic, detailed tributes to vegetables! Too bad that there are human limitations on how many different cucurbitas a person can possibly grow, catalog and photograph in two seasons; you get the definite feeling she would have liked to have included them all, but had to content herself with merely 150 heirlooms.

But while Ms. Goldman may be in love, she's not blind. Each listing is straightforward about the variety's suitability (or sometimes lack of) for table use, decorating, carving, and/or livestock feed. You also get an estimate of size, weight, rind color, flesh color, color rating (!), fiber, date of introduction, synonyms and seed sources. There is also an introductory section that lays out nicely the growing and care of cucurbitas in general. Like a good matchmaker, she makes sure you and your prospective squash are well prepared before the planting bed is ever cultivated.

It is clear that the author wants us to not only appreciate cucurbitas in theory but to grow them in fact, harvest them, handle them, use them and save their seeds for the future. These are living treasures, *heirlooms*, that will disappear forever if we don't. That's a loss for our tastebuds and for the precious genetic diversity of the planet.

Okay, enough soapboxing. Let's get our hands dirty!

-Andrea, aka merribelle

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A winter treat for a gardener, January 9, 2007

By 

Joanna Cary (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Compleat Squash: A Passionate Grower's Guide to Pumpkins, Squashes, and Gourds (Hardcover)

This book is beautiful to look at, has a great deal of interesting history, useful gardening information, and some good recipes. Also it is inspirational, makes you want to source the rarer seeds and get out there with the spade. I don't know how much of this information is readily available in America, but here in Britain, where growing squash still mostly means butternut or Jack o' Lantern, the book is a revelation.

Highly recommended

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book--passionate but balanced writing, August 30, 2006

By 

Zenos Paradocs - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Compleat Squash: A Passionate Grower's Guide to Pumpkins, Squashes, and Gourds (Hardcover)

Beautiful photos. Well-researched. Passionate, but balanced assessments. Writing comes from intimate and in-depth experience. I would have liked even more technical information on growing habits, morphology, and horticultural groups, but it is a wonderful book as it stands. Highly recommended