Product Description

A cornucopia of information.

Once available only at farmers' markets, organic produce is now basic stock at the supermarket. With mounting concerns about pesticides, climate change and consumption levels of fossil fuels, consumers are more careful about how, and where, fruits and vegetables are grown -- and how far they have traveled to get to their table. More than ever, people are deciding not only to purchase organic and local produce, but also to grow their own.

The Organic Home Garden shows in detail how to plant, grow and harvest delicious vegetables and fruits from spring to fall and from seed to harvest.

Since most consumers live in urban and suburban settings with limited space, Patrick Lima explains how to create an organic garden that is both compact and productive. Through step-by-step examples, he shows how to prepare odorless in-ground compost; transform fallen leaves into a valuable soil conditioner; and design, build and plant permanent raised beds. Among the important topics covered are:

• Soil preparation
• Using cold frames
• Selecting seeds
• Transplanting techniques
• Natural pest and disease control
• Multiple harvests fromasingle garden
• Frost protection.

Extensive line drawings and charts plus 50 stunning color photographs illustrate the different gardening steps. For making the most of home-grown fruits and vegetables, 30 outstanding recipes are also included.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1035280 in Books
• Published on: 2004-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Lima's fourth gardening book shares his extensive knowledge of agriculture gleaned from years of tending Larkwhistle (his own home garden in Ontario, Canada) without use of chemicals or pesticides. Larkwhistle, Lima states, "grew out of a flat, sandy hayfield thick with twitch grass and weeds. Seasons of organic care and cultivation have transformed the field into a lush and productive garden." Scanlan's mouthwatering full-color photos of Larkwhistle and its harvest certainly add to Lima's credibility. Lima talks would-be gardeners through the planting of the first seedlings-early and indoors-and explains how to feed the soil with compost and natural fertilizer. He advocates designing the garden around small beds rather than long, tedious rows, and offers specific tips for fruits and vegetables from apples to zucchini, always providing line drawings to illustrate finer points. The book covers natural, effective methods of pest prevention and removal, and includes a comprehensive seeding, sowing and transplanting schedule to ensure fresh foods year round. Lima even tosses in several simple recipes in which to use the resulting bounty. The author's passion for natural gardening is infectious, and his language often borders on poetic ("Watermelons sit there, fat and inscrutable"). His knowledge provides an invaluable source for those just beginning their organic garden, as well as more experienced growers looking for some new tricks.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
Delightfully written, it covers the hows and whys of organic gardening. -- Michael Leach, Columbus Dispatch 02/26/2005

Review
Well-illustrated and written, this book has all kinds of tips... Strawberry instructions alone cover several pages. (Dale Langford Rocky Mountain News 20070609)

How to create fruit and vegetable gardens that are both pleasing to the eye as well as the palate. (Megan Miers Tulsa World 20040403)

The authors' strength lie in their encouraging tone and their humor... will inspire readers. Relentless optimism. (Bonnie Poquette Library Journal )

The author's passion for gardening is infectious... an invaluable resource. (Publishers Weekly )

Delightfully written, it covers the hows and whys of organic gardening. (Michael Leach Columbus Dispatch )

Lima's gardening books are consistently wonderful, and this is no exception... Bottom Line? The new kitchen garden bible. (Harrowsmith's Truly Canadian Almanac 2008 )

Customer Reviews

K. Wilson
Decent overview of general gardening. Not much info on zone specific gardening techniques or when is best to start different crops. A good book for beginners.

Covers fresh and healthy foods and how to grow them
Newcomers to organic gardening will find Patrick Lima's Organic Home Garden an excellent, basic introduction which covers fresh and healthy foods and how to grow them with a minimum of additives. From selecting hardy varieties of seeds and seedlings to choosing appropriate compost and controlling pests and diseases through non-chemical means, Organic Home Garden is packed with charts, drawings, and even recipes.

This exact same book can be found for far fewer $ under a different title
I recently checked this book out through interlibrary loan only to find that it is the SAME book as one I own, published in 1992 by Prima Lifestyles, under the title The Natural Food Garden: Growing Fruits and Vegetables Chemical-free, or rather "owned", as I lent my heavily read, annotated, and underlined copy to a friend several years ago and it accidentally got packed in her things when she moved away. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the contents are the same, only the title and cover were changed.
Anyways, it's one of my favorite gardening books, very accessible, encouraging, and inspirational, with some good pictures, and it's available used under the other title often for far less money here: http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Food-Garden-Vegetables-Chemical-Free/dp/1559582022