Growing Your Own Vegetables: An Encyclopedia of Country Living Guide [Paperback]

Carla Emery (Author), Lorene Edwards Forkner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 30, 2008

Drawn from and expanded on the bestselling Encyclopedia of Country Living, this is a complete manual for setting up a vegetable garden—whether it’s just a few rows of lettuce or a year-round field that produces enough for a whole family to eat. This book is informed by years of hands-on experience and the wisdom gathered from a generation of homesteaders and small farmers. Starting with planning the garden (plot size, seasonal considerations, getting the most from a small plot) and laying it out (rows, beds, plowing), this book addresses the planning and growing issues for all North American climate zones. Gardeners need to understand (and love) their soil, and the Growing Your Own Vegetables explains it in simple terms, with advice on composting and testing for contamination (so important since this is going to be your food source!). Carla Emery was a very early advocate of gardening without chemical fertilizers, so the approach here is organic all the way. The large part of the book is the crop-by-crop guide to planting, cultivating, and harvesting the delicious vegetables we love to ear: onions, leafy greens, stems and flowers (rhubarb, artichoke, broccoli), roots (spuds, radishes, jicama), grasses & grains (just imagine: your own wheat field!), legumes, gourds, and the nightshade family (that would be tomatoes, peppers, eggplant).

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Carla Emery was the author of The Encyclopedia of Country Living. She passed away in 2005. Co-author of Hortus Miscellaneous, Lorene Edwards Forkner is a freelance writer and award-winning garden designer who lives in Seattle.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Sasquatch Books; Original edition (December 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570615705
• ISBN-13: 978-1570615702
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 0.4 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #962,958 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good info, although repetitive, short, and shallow..., May 11, 2009

By 

Mary White "namaste" (Guntown, MS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Growing Your Own Vegetables: An Encyclopedia of Country Living Guide (Paperback)

Let me start off y letting you know this book is NOT written by Carla Emery.. this is merely a ripoff of her work by her publishing company.. Carla Emery (Rest her Soul) died in 2005 and her work has been .. shall I say.. edited.. for the time and lack of knowledge for city-dwellers.. If you already HAVE Carla Emery's Encyclopedia of Country Living, Vol. 10.. I would suggest you NOT buy this tiny booklet. All the information contained in this book is ALREADY in Carla's Encyclopedia in more depth and detail. If you don't have this book, I would reccomend you buy it instead of this one.

The jist of it is showing ignorant gardeners what, when, and how to plant, how long till harvest, etc. It does NOT contain any what-if information or help regarding pests and diseases.. this is mainly an instrucion booklet. It is a good book, although very short and not very informative, considering I already OWN Carla's Encyclopedia of Country Living and find it MUCH more useful, and informative.. as it goes in depth with each vegetable showing not only propogation how-to, but potential fallbacks and solutions..

Please, don't waste your time with this tiny book. Save your money, add a few dollars to it, and OPT for the BEST source of information ..

Carla Emery's Encyclopedia of Country Living Updated 10th edition..

you won't be disappointed!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical. Experienced. Down-to-Earth., January 16, 2010

By 

Jeffrey E Ellis (Naperville, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Growing Your Own Vegetables: An Encyclopedia of Country Living Guide (Paperback)

GROWING YOUR OWN VEGETABLES is based on a larger work THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF COUNTRY LIVING by Carla Emery. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA is a massive work of exquisite detail, scope and practicality making it invaluable to the country homesteader.

GROWING is born out of real world, practical experience. Carla Emery is witty, wise and eminently down to earth. She takes the reader through the strategy of where and when to plant, what to grow where, and how to do it successfully. The range of topics includes planting to minimize bugs and threats, planning on varying sunshine, preparing soil, continual harvesting, etc.

As I have begun planning a new vegetable garden, I consulted GROWING. It has helped me with tips and practical advice each step of the way. It was like having an experienced gardener in the chair next to me. I highly recommend the book for the novice and expert alike.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grow Your Own Vegetables, It's Not Rocket Science, June 5, 2009

By 

Joshua M. Moreland "bookworm" (Kitsap County WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Growing Your Own Vegetables: An Encyclopedia of Country Living Guide (Paperback)

For those of us who aren't actually interested in homesteading and just want to grow a few of our own vegetables this is a great book to start out with. The book is well written, informative and to the point. Over the years I have observed that all together too many gardening books overwhelm the novice/"ignorant" gardener. This book inspires and directs those of us who have limited experience with growing vegetables.

Edwards-Forkner and the editors of the new Encyclopedia of Country Living series should be commended for honoring the legacy of Carla Emery and giving her work a fresh, approachable new format. For those of us who do not want the all inclusive, 928 page Encyclopedia and just want to start growing vegetables ... this is the book.

If I ever want to "manage a herd of cattle" I'll go spend the day with my neighbor up the road. When we "log our own land" we call the guy with the logging equipment who has it down to an art form and can get us top dollar for our lumber.

When I need the necessary information on how to grow our own vegetables this is the book I'm turning to this spring and summer. And I am looking forward to book two in the series, due out Fall 2009, Canning and Preserving Your Own Harvest. I'm kinda hoping that book three will cover raising chickens.

This is a great book to use and share with your children and grandchildren as well. Great for use in the city or country by the humble novice ready to grow vegetables this spring/summer.