Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces [Paperback]

I bought "Grow Great Grub" because I got so much out of "You Grow Girl". I really didn't see how the author could come up with that much excellent material again, but she did.

You probably should stop reading and just buy the book. The quality is excellent. Photographs are beautiful. The book is easy to read and doesn't waste time. Well done!

Pictures of what vegetables are supposed to look like always help. I'm always turning to my neighbor and asking, "Did I plant that or is it a weed?" Usually the neighbor says it's a weed, but I'm never sure.

The text covers harvesting, drying, preserving, and storing, only one of which I want to do, harvesting, but the other topics are beautifully covered for those who are ready. I'm pushing my luck just to grow and harvest a plant from seed. Maybe next year I'll preserve and store.

She lists plants that grow well in depleted soil, shady or very hot spots and makes coverage interesting on topics of nutrients, fertilizers, containers, pests, building self-watering planter boxes cheaper than buying, a great idea.

I learned about heat-loving spinach I was already growing, but had no idea what it needed! Lists of recommended varieties of vegetables and those that work well in containers are especially helpful.

Now I know when to harvest vegetables, something that always baffled me, including when to dig up onions, when to stop watering, and hang them to cure, and when my radishes were ready to harvest, unfortunately I didn't learn that in time for the current crop, how radishes can be used as a pest repellent for squash, that carrots are slow to germinate but ready to eat at any size, and when potatoes are ready to harvest. I had been about to pull mine out to check. I'm glad I didn't. I had no idea some gardeners say squash plants produce too much squash! I can't wait to have that problem. She covers spacing and staking squash plants, preferred pot size for these space hogs, when to pluck them for best taste, and how to help pollinate, "to make sure the job gets done."

Sections cover special needs of tomatoes, potatoes, blueberries, cucumbers, squash, and radishes, etc.

My notes include why not to let water splash up on lower leaves of tomato plants and how to give them certain nutrients while making leaves and stems, when to stop so they will produce fruit, and when and what to give them at that point. There are special planting needs, since they have lots of root growth, and companion plants for best use of space. Then she gave the best definition I've heard of the differences between determinate, indeterminate, semi-determinate (new to me), dwarf hybrid tomatoes, and which one is right for me.

There is a section on growing fruit in small pots. Now I think I'll grow some strawberries after all. Blueberries - hedge or containers. I think I'll do both. I learned why nothing grows around my pine tree and why blueberries might, why, what and how to prune out to increase growth and discourage fungal problems, needs of high-bush and low-bush blueberries, which one is right for me, how to get the best crops by promoting cross-pollination, when and when not to pick flowers off so the plant can put its energy into growing healthy roots, why/why not to grow fruit from seed, how to prepare citrus soil for fruit plants, when and when not to water, how much sun and heat they need, and how long it takes for them to grow fruit, I might have given up, and finally, how to plant, elevate, and hand-pollinate.

How did she make all this so interesting and easy to read? I don't know, but I'll be referring to this book often. It's a keeper!

So you're like me: you have a small, but comfortable apartment and you want to have some greenery to spruce things up. A practical soul, you don't just want flowers. You want to be able to grow your own herbs and vegetables, and look forward to your windows popping with color in the summer. But this is your first real foray into the world of container gardening.

This book is not your bible.

While it is beautifully composed, and contains a helpful chapter about canning, there is a distinct lack of real facts and procedures. In short: this is an impratical book. Questions about drainage, how to compose your garden, or how to trellis are barely answered. While the sections on individual produce to grow are inticing, they lack the information you need to really make a go at things. This book can be a good starter, but only when complemented with other, more in depth books, and a good gardening center that can guide you through the practical steps.

As an alternatives, try McGee and Stuckey's The Bountiful Container. Less pretty picture, but far more useful information.

When you first open this book, you'll notice it's beautiful. Seriously beautiful. The photographs are vivid, and the layout is really extraordinary. But then once you get past that, you start to realize it is crammed full of all kinds of information that would be helpful to both the novice gardener and the serious food-grower.

A really, really exemplary sophomore effort by Trail. Run-do-not-walk to buy this great work.