Reply #23: The Vegetable Gardener's Bible by Ed Smith

[Kolesar]

...covers raised bed and organic gardening concepts. Deemphasize the section on "companion planting". I found those concepts to be hard to apply.

Gardening When It Counts by Steve Solomon...Covers fundamental gardening concepts with a thesis of gardening on a minimal budget if your goal is food production for your family. I have read that book several times over. I would recommend skipping the section on how to select a water sprinkler section. This book finally explained composting to me--although composting is of secondary importance. The real thesis of Solomon is how to provide soil nutrients for your vegetables.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=246&topic_id=7452#7485

I don't favor the close-in plant spacings after reading Solomon

Dave's Garden is highly regarded. I use it to research varieties of vegetables, but not much more. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/

Look up articles at www.motherearthnews.com for perfectly written and edited articles.

Gotta go!