What do you think?
Rate this book
The Gardener's A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food
Enjoy the pleasures of growing your own delicious organic food. This plant-by-plant guide includes profiles of more than 765 tasty varieties of vegetables, herbs, fruits, and nuts. In addition to expert advice on selecting suitable plants and growing, harvesting, and storing them, this invaluable resource includes more than 100 tried-and-true organic remedies that fight off diseases and pests. Get out in your vegetable garden and discover how easy and fun it is to grow your own healthy food.
496 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
6 people are currently reading
293 people want to read
About the author
Tanya Denckla Cobb
6 books2 followersPlease note: Works by this author have also been published under the name 'Tanya L.K. Denckla'.
Tanya Denckla Cobb is a writer, professional environmental mediator, and teacher of food system planning at the University of Virginia. She is passionate about bringing people together to discover common ground and create solutions for mutual gain. She is Associate Director of the UVA Institute for Environmental Negotiation where, since 1997, she has worked on a broad range of community, environmental, and agricultural issues.
At home, she enjoys the restorative energy of gardening and cooking from her garden. She lives in Virginia, and is the author of the The Gardener’s A to Z Guide to Growing Organic Food and Reclaiming Our Food: How the Grassroots Food Movement is Changing What We Eat.
- excerpted from her website
Tanya Denckla Cobb is a writer, professional environmental mediator, and teacher of food system planning at the University of Virginia. She is passionate about bringing people together to discover common ground and create solutions for mutual gain. She is Associate Director of the UVA Institute for Environmental Negotiation where, since 1997, she has worked on a broad range of community, environmental, and agricultural issues.
At home, she enjoys the restorative energy of gardening and cooking from her garden. She lives in Virginia, and is the author of the The Gardener’s A to Z Guide to Growing Organic Food and Reclaiming Our Food: How the Grassroots Food Movement is Changing What We Eat.
- excerpted from her website
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 30, 2021
For the gardener who wants more detail on the what, how, when of specific food plants, including pruning, pests, and selected varieties. Nice first chapter that elaborates on terms and the social and economic of gardening. Not a how-to, but a good in-addition-to for the newer gardener who wants to go in depth with their chosen garden plants.
October 13, 2017
Of the dozens of gardening books I've read this is the second I've found that was good enough to buy.
It has good information on gardening practices and excellent information on plants (although a rather traditional selection that misses the more interesting plants).
It has good information on gardening practices and excellent information on plants (although a rather traditional selection that misses the more interesting plants).
June 30, 2024
its cheap.Less toxins and something to enjoy .
Sharing with friends neighbors. The community.
Its winter here in Australia. Thank you Tanya.
Sharing with friends neighbors. The community.
Its winter here in Australia. Thank you Tanya.
August 11, 2009
While this isn't a book that's meant to read through, I did my best. I found it on the library shelves while trying to figure out a good beginner's book on organic gardening. I really found a winner.
This book is a great beginning to organic gardening, giving you enough information that, when confronted with a problem or question, you have enough of the gardener's vocabulary to ask the right questions and look up the answer more easily. It's set up as an encyclopedia so that all the information you need is easily available, plus it has extra resources and suggested reading in the back.
If I ever settle down in a house with a garden, I would love love LOVE this book as a house-warming present. (Hint, hint.) Actually, you know that adage that what you receive from someone is what that person would like to receive for her/himself? I think I'll give this book to friends as house-warming presents and see if that works. ;)
This book is a great beginning to organic gardening, giving you enough information that, when confronted with a problem or question, you have enough of the gardener's vocabulary to ask the right questions and look up the answer more easily. It's set up as an encyclopedia so that all the information you need is easily available, plus it has extra resources and suggested reading in the back.
If I ever settle down in a house with a garden, I would love love LOVE this book as a house-warming present. (Hint, hint.) Actually, you know that adage that what you receive from someone is what that person would like to receive for her/himself? I think I'll give this book to friends as house-warming presents and see if that works. ;)
March 31, 2008
This book is very helpful in teaching when to start and transplant each vegetable and how much of each vegetable to grow per person. One of my complaints about the book is that growing information about some fairly common veggies is totally missing. Not a bit of information about radishes, swiss chard, mustard greens, or turnip greens. (Radishes are pretty easy to grow, so maybe the author didn't think they were worthy.) Another complaint is that the companion information is a bit confusing. For a few of the vegetables the author lists another vegetable as an ally and a foe. Huh?
I haven't read much of the Organic Remedies section yet, but it looks very helpful (even if it doesn't include photos of diseased plants and pests).
I haven't read much of the Organic Remedies section yet, but it looks very helpful (even if it doesn't include photos of diseased plants and pests).
November 11, 2007
lots of very useful information in this guide - i found many helpful tips in planning my raspberry and blackberry bush plantings, as well as good tips on composting. it's certainly a book i'll return to for additional advice come next garden season.
October 29, 2009
This is a good book to flip through. It's pretty much a dictionary for the different types of fruits/veggies you want to grow. It gives you great pointers, and gives you more details for each food item.
June 26, 2011
A must have for vegetable gardeners! It contains information vital for seed starting and harvesting: germination times, days to harvest, spacing information, special planting techniques, storage conditions, and more. I turn to this book constantly during Spring planting.
April 30, 2008
My favorite gardening reference by far. I get it from the library every year to figure out what I need to do.
August 8, 2008
One can never read too much and I am always amazed to learn more. Good organic methods to grow, maintain, nourish, and enjoy..all earth friendly! And, of course, all organic!
August 19, 2008
I am definitely buying this book to use as a reference for planting.
April 20, 2009
a very helpful gardening book!
June 1, 2009
I'm as done as I will be for now, but I can see I'll be using this book a lot next year. Denckla draws diverse information into a cogent, convenient form.
May 20, 2011
A great book for gardeners. It has almost all the information one could need. Anyone could find this book useful or even a necessity if you garden. If you need a book about plants go with this one.
February 19, 2013
Good book with a lot of useful info, including the care of nut trees. It has no pictures, and is lacking info on popular vegetables like chard and radishes.
November 26, 2013
So much concise, useful information! Excited to have this handy reference guide as we prepare to literally put down roots in Oklahoma next year! :)
July 19, 2015
Excellent source for vegetable, fruit, and herb gardening.
April 5, 2014
makes garden planning so easy!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews