March 24, 2009 An article in a local paper entitled, Mainers Sow Seeds to Save made me reflect on how important gardening will be this year. With this in mind I asked some of our area's finest gardeners to reveal their all time favorite gardening books. One thing that immediately came to light was that many old standbys are languishing in the out of print category. Ellen Grundblatt's all time favorite, The Gardener's Book of Secrets, pictured to the right, is one such book. Ellen notes that "the authors, Dorothy Hinshaw Patent and Diane Bilderback, start with gardening science--the "secret life of seeds," plant structure, and soil improvement--and then go on to explain the idiosyncracies of a variety of common garden plants. For instance, did you know that if you plant root vegetables so early that they are exposed to cold temperatures followed by lengthening days, they will bolt, even if they are biennials like carrots and beets? I was dumbfounded when that happened in my garden after a series of early June frosts, but never understood why until I read this book. If you can find it, or if a concentrated effort by gardeners and booksellers can bring it back into print, it is worth every penny." Two of Jo Josephson's picks, Gardening: The Complete Guide to Growing America’s Favorite Fruits & Vegetables, and The Organic Gardener, by Catherine Osgood Foster, are in the same deplorable boat. Some of our correspondents felt that the traditional how to volume was not their preferred strain of gardening book. Jo Josephson, for example, mentions that, "I’m afraid my favorite all time gardening books aren’t of the how-to kind but rather of the personal, particular and political kind." Cindy Rubenfine, however declared that "I like books that offer some specific detailed advice, nuts and bolts books. They tell you how people actually grow many types of vegetables, and even sometimes why they grow them. Pastorals don't do much for me. I term them Bucoholic." The selections below reflect both sensibilities and in any case I hope you enjoy looking through this special Gardening edition of The Weekly Top 2!   Rodale's Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening: The Indispensable Green Resource for Every Gardener By Bradley, Fern Marshall Ellis, Barbara Phillips, Ellen 2009/02 - Rodale Press 9781594869174 - Trade Paper List Price $24.95 - Your Price: $19.96 Availability: Available   Preorder Title Back Order Outstanding local gardener Cindy Stancioff remarks that "Apart from my sentimental attachment to the classics of the early seventies in general, I turn to Rodale's Basic Book of Organic Gardening several times a year for practical reasons. I'm sure there are many other concise, alphabetical-by-vegetable digests of planting guidelines, but this is the one I have. I've had it for 25 years and it's still working. In addition to refreshing my memory about pea spacing and depth every spring, the book also offers a thorough but straightforward account of the essentials of composting, including nutrient content of different manures and natural sources of minerals. Non-toxic pest control and the pluses and minuses of various mulches are other favorite resources. I like the book because it's pithy and practical. I guess when it comes to gardening, I tend to be a traditionalist, and Rodale is basic to my tradition!...More   The New Organic Grower: A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener By Coleman, Eliot Amsel, Sheri 1995/10 - Chelsea Green Publishing Company 9780930031756 - Trade Paper List Price $24.95 - Your Price: $19.96 Availability: Available Revered gardening legend Cindy Rubenfine declares that "certainly everyone should have The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman.As Stan Lee would say, 'nuff said!'...More   Oriental Vegetables: The Complete Guide for the Gardening Cook By Larkcom, Joy Douglass, Elizabeth 2008/04 - Kodansha America 9781568363707 - Trade Paper List Price $19.95 - Your Price: $15.96 Availability: Available Revered gardening legend Cindy Rubenfine also declares that "Oriental Vegetables by Joy Larkcom is a personal favourite."...More   Green Thoughts: A Writer in the Garden By Perenyi, Eleanor Pollan, Michael Lacy, Allen 2002/02 - Modern Library 9780375759451 - Trade Paper  See Other Formats List Price $14.95 - Your Price: $11.96 Availability: Available Jo Josephson, one of Temple Maine's leading Horticultural minds, notes that Green Thoughts was "first published in 1982 by Random House. This is the book, I would love to have written. It is a collection of short horticultural essays that are sophisticated, intelligent, funny, and opinionated and yes, fact-filled. Organized alphabetically, it begins with “annuals” and “artichokes” ends with “wild flowers” and (a) “woman’s place” (in agriculture)."...More   The Gardener's Year By Capek, Karel Karel, Capek Pollan, Michael 2002/02 - Modern Library 9780375759482 - Trade Paper  See Other Formats List Price $11.95 - Your Price: $9.56 Availability: Available Jo Josephson also recommends "The Gardener’s Year by Karel Capek, the Czech playwright. Capek’s essays are in a class all of their own: the psychology of gardeners. Quirky and opinionated, the essays take you through the year from January to December. First published in 1929. Reprinted in 2002."...More   First the Seed: The Political Economy of Plant Biotechnology By Kloppenburg, Jack Ralph Kleinman, Daniel Lee Handelsman, Jo 2005/03 - University of Wisconsin Press 9780299192440 - Trade Paper  See Other Formats List Price $26.95 - Your Price: $21.56 Availability: Available Of her final pick Jo Josephson writes that First the Seed: The Political Economy of Plant Biotechnology is "a fascinating history of plant breeding and genetic engineering, first published in 1988; a second edition in paperback appeared in 2004. Puts a lot of what is occurring today into perspective, with a touch of hope."...More   Four-Season Harvest: How to Harvest Fresh Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long By Coleman, Eliot Bray, Kathy Damrosch, Barbara 1999/10 - Chelsea Green Publishing Company 9781890132279 - Trade Paper List Price $24.95 - Your Price: $19.96 Availability: Available Mark Paddock has found the Four Season Harvest to be in sync with his own green thumb. "Coleman just gets it right. Following his directions gets you the most yield, and gives you green fruits and vegetables over a much longer period of time. It would be fair to say that he's my gardening guru." Ellen Grundblatt also picked Four Season Harvest of which she said, It is an aspirational book, rather than a blueprint for my garden, because it is so much about what is possible with sufficient time and attention to details. Time and attention are in short supply around here, but I can certainly fantasize about French melons and blanched asparagus. More within reach are the techniques he describes for extending the garden season (short of the mobile greenhouse on a track), and perhaps this is the year we will build that cold frame and plant some of those tender overwintering carrots he rhapsodizes about. The best part of the book is its somewhat bemused, gentle tone--no guilt-trips if you can't keep the weeds from overwhelming the spinach. There is always another season, another chance to plant and harvest those delicious, healthy vegetables....More   Great Garden Companions: A Companion-Planting System for a Beautiful, Chemical-Free Vegetable Garden By Cunningham, Sally Jean 2000/05 - Rodale Press 9780875968476 - Trade Paper  See Other Formats List Price $17.95 - Your Price: $14.36 Availability: Available The redoubtable Joe Hodgkins, of Scatter Seed Project fame, likes Great Garden Companions "because it taught me how to plant flowers and vegetables in such a way that they are mutually beneficial. The technique mimics how things work in the wild, but has been refined by centuries of human experience. The other thing I think is important is its information on intensive planting, which maximizes soil space. For example it encourages planting in such a way that leaves touch each other creating shade and encouraging water retention."...More