The author does indeed cover many aspects of starting a worm farm: beginning in one's kitchen and even expanding vermicomposting into a job. That being said, I am skeptical about some of the advice given. The author doesn't seem to mention brown-green ratio (unless I missed it when skimming), and even suggests giving the worms some meat!

The book would be more convincing if it was proofread: "For the bedding you will surely WANT TO SHOULD tear the newspaper" (location 62), "If you DO DON'T desire to do that" (63), "If you are able to pay a visit to an art gallery, you will certainly find a worm farm" (112! Maybe the author meant a science museum?). The cover photo was attractive, but does the author really believe that a caterpillar is a type of earthworm? These errors add to my skepticism.

My suggestions to improve this book: Adding some simple measurements, diagrams or photos (but no caterpillars, please!;-) would make this book more useful. How about also telling readers where they can find or buy worms to start their farm with?

I've checked out most vegetable gardening books at the local library and used the extension service materials, but this is the best general guide I've seen. Each vegetable and common herb gets its own page with how to plant, maintaing harvest and treat common problems. There are organic methods side by side with nonorganic methods to let the reader choose instance by instance. Each page has an illustration or actual photograph. Where appropriate information on growing in different hardiness zones is included. There are also step by step instructions on planing, preparing the ground, sowing and planting, making your garden grow (watering, feedings, weeding, pests diseases, harvest and storage, and lastly pages for each vegetable as grouped into sections such as herbs, root and stem crops etc. I checked this out from the library but decided to buy it after realzing how useful it will be in my house as a reference.

The first chapter of this book had me going "oh dear," with the idea this would be two stars. Nina Greene, the author, starts by talking about sun exposure and where to put your garden. She basically dismisses areas that have less than six hours of sun or southern exposure, mentioning you might try ferns, wild flowers or begonias. There are entire books dedicated to shade gardening, it can be a lovely experience with lily of the valley, Ivies, gingers, hostas, just to name a few off the top of my head. She says not to plant under trees, that can be true, or not. Again, there are plants that like a nice filtered light. My shrimp plants, ivy, and gingers all enjoy the filtering light of the tree. And a true tree that you can't grow stuff under, very dense trees like walnut, are perfect places to put a bench, a bird bath, and hang a bird feeder. The birds nesting in the limbs will appreciate it and you don't have to worry about the seeds scattering and growing ugly weedy sprouts all over.

then she goes on to say don't plant in rocky soil or standing water. Again, there are plants who like both. So we were off to a rocky start, but I persevered and discovered a really helpful little book once past the first chapter.

Chapter two is prepping the sight and it could have been more in depth, talk of soil conditioners and composting would have been good, but it wasn't a bad start

Chapter 3, tools and supplies, very good start up for the basic starting gardener.

chapter 4: how to navigate a garden center, hey, now we're getting into some good stuff, glad I read on after chapter one. I do wish she'd talked more about local nurseries. Big box chains can have some great deals but they also sell plants inappropriate for the zone they are in, since most stores get the same truck loads of items. A local nursery, especially for a beginner, is a treasure trove of local plants and local staff knowledge.

Chapter 5- how to read a seed packet. Simply brilliant and helpful for the beginner gardener. It mentions zone, which she hasn't yet, but she does later on

Chapter 6- she continues with seed gardening, sowing or starting indoors. This one could have used more detail but it was a nice little overview

chapter 7- How to read a plant tag, back to brilliant, great chapter

chapter 8- How to choose a healthy plant- this cannot be overstated for success. A lot of good info in this chapter

Chapter 9-How to read a hardiness zone map with a link to the usda gov site. Her own chapter is a paragraph, could be a lot better, not just saying climate is important but discussing why Arizona and Florida might both be zone 9 but one is humid and one is dry and why that is an issue. The usda site is a good start but google zone information and read more on this one

Chapter 10- how to read a fertilizer label. At least she tells us it's important, but the info is scant. She says how to read it but not so much what the information means. Could use a lot more detail here.

Chapter 11- how to improve garden soil, lacking detail, very brief overview

Chapter 12-watering, good basic info

Chapters 13-18 is on the plants themselves, annuals, perennials, bulbs, shrubs, trees, fruits and vegetables. Lots of good basic information to get started with, though not a lot of specifics on the plants themselves. Still, it will give the beginner a good overview and they can discuss with the nursery what sort of plants they want if they want, say, bulbs with red flowers.

This is right between a 3 and 4 for me, I wish we could do halfsies because this is a solid 3 1/2. Lots of good information in certain chapters, others are to brief and will need the garden beginner to find other sources for more detail. Still, I would recommend this book based on a few of the chapters like reading a seed packet and plant label and choosing healthy plants.

This book is great! Easy to read, step by step instructions. It even tells you how to start your own compost, which is something I will definitely try now. I have gardened in the past but I never thought about the no dig method. I am going to give that a try too. I recommend this book to both beginners and those of us who think we know a thing or two about gardening! Two "Green" Thumbs Up!!

My wife and I have been worrying about the chemicals in the food owe serve our children for the last couple years. It's always been on the back of our minds as something that we should take care of but we kept avoiding the real work of dealing with the problem. A month ago, one of those big news stories about some produce in our area being poisoned with improper chemical usage pulled the trigger for us. We feed our children this food. How could we possibly not take the time to protect them!? That's why we picked up this book. We knew that we had to do something.

Now, by no means, are we farmers. This book really guided us through everything. It told us what we needed to get, how we find it, and how we take care of our new garden. It is very thorough. It has all the details that we could possibly need to know. It's given me a lot of confidence in my ability to get this done. It actually looks like it's going to be a lot of fun.

I just want to add... Do something. Don't support these big conglomerates slowly poisoning our families with these chemicals. Let them know that you won't be providing your support by starting to look into your organic garden. It helps us all. It also looks like it's going to save a bunch in the long run.

This is my second book by Doctor Garden as I am new to the Organic Gardening scene. The first book proved to be very helpful in getting me started. With this guide, Doctor Garden covers the basics of the big three, Sun, Soil, and Water. While this is common sense stuff, if you new to this like me, then it is educational and helpful information to have. Like the other book I have by the Doctor, I'll be referring to this book in the future in helping me maximize the benefits of my little organic garden. Thanks Doctor Garden!

Eat fresh, home-grown vegetables year round? Eliminate canning and freezing? Do this all at low cost? Eliot Coleman does, you can, too, and here is the how. Coleman is a market gardener in Maine who may eat better than Bill Gates. He shows that sunlight and wind protection are more important that temperature--and, by the way, most of the U.S. gets more winter sunlight than Coleman's place. Inexpensive, unheated greenhouses that he calls tall tunnel houses--some say hoop houses--and cold frames protect from wind and keep snow off the veggies. Greenhouse comfort is more to benefit the gardener. The key is what and when to plant. Full info given for planting dates, construction details, sources of seeds, tools, greenhouses. Well illustrated. An essential guide for organic gourmands.

I loved this book. I have been trying to stay organic in my home garden, but the only quick advice I got was to grow enough so the bugs could eat their share. And the bugs weren't leaving me my share!!. In this book the author outlines the main bugs that a person will encounter, the damage they will do and how to identify them, and the methods to deal with them.

The book was written without much fluff, so although it is short, it delivers a lot of information in those pages. This really helped me with my garden. Anyone wanting to cut down or eliminate pesticides in their garden should check this book out.