Vegetable Gardening
Table of Contents
Introduction
About This Book
Conventions Used in This Book
What You're Not to Read
Foolish Assumptions
How This Book Is Organized
Part I: Digging Into the Basics of Vegetable Gardening
Part II: Vegging Out
Part III: Getting Down and Dirty in Your Vegetable Garden
Part IV: The Part of Tens
Icons Used in This Book
Where to Go from Here
Part I
Chapter 1: Vegetable Gardening 101
Why Have Your Own Vegetable Garden?
The Basics of Planning a Veggie Garden
A Cornucopia of Vegetables to Grow
Tomatoes
Peppers and eggplants
Carrots, onions, and potatoes
Peas and beans
Cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and squash
Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower
Lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, and specialty greens
An assortment of other great veggies
Non-vegetable edibles
Getting Down to Growing
Choosing between seeds and transplants
Working the soil
Keeping your garden growing and enjoying the rewards
Trying tips for an even bigger bounty
Chapter 2: The Popularity and Benefits of Vegetable Gardening
Food Gardening: It's Popping Up Everywhere
A Few Good Reasons to Grow Your Own Food
Improve your health
Save some cash
Help the environment
Increase your quality of life
Chapter 3: Planning Your Veggie Garden
Deciding Where to Put Your Vegetable Garden
Considering different sites
Letting the sun shine on your plot
Checking your soil's drainage
Understanding Veggie Varieties
Timing Your Planting Wisely
Some like it cool, some like it hot
Frost dates and the length of the growing season
Designing Your Garden
Deciding on hills, rows, or raised beds
Spacing your plantings properly
Following the paths
Sketching it out
Part II
Chapter 4: Tomatoes: The King of Veggies
Checking Out Tomato Varieties
Enjoying classic red, round tomatoes
Surveying all the other colors of tomatoes
Sweetening the pot with cherry, grape, and pear tomatoes
Studying some saucy tomatoes
Introducing the tomato's relatives
Growing Tomatoes with Ease
Jump-starting tomatoes
Planting, trellising, and pruning
Fertilizing and maintaining your plants
Eliminating pests and other problems
Harvesting tomatoes
Chapter 5: Meeting the Tomato's Cousins: Peppers and Eggplants
Producing Plenty of Peppers
Those sweet bells
Long and round sweet peppers
Peppers that turn on the heat
Pretty peppers: The ornamentals
Distinguishing Eggplants by Shape
Large and oval
Cylindrical
Small and round
Growing Peppers and Eggplants
A few guidelines for starting and planting
Fertilizing and watering tips
Pest patrol
Harvesting tips
Chapter 6: Growing Underground Crops: Carrots, Onions, and Potatoes
A Rabbit's (and Gardener's) Favorite Root: Carrots
Classifying carrots by type
Examining some carrot varieties
Onions: The Bulbs with Layers of Sweet and Pungent Goodness
Choosing your onion varieties
Looking at scallions and perennial onions
Potatoes: No Longer a Boring Spud
Potatoes classified
Selecting a few potato varieties
Growing and Gathering Root Crops
General guidelines for all your root crops
Cultivating carrots
Growing onions
Producing potatoes
Keeping Your Root Crops Healthy and Pest-Free
Chapter 7: Sweet and Simple: Beans and Peas
A Bevy of Beans: Filling Your Rows with Bean Family Plants
Bushels of bush beans
Pole beans: The long and tall crop
The versatile shell and dried beans
Miscellaneous beans not to be forgotten
More Peas, Please!
English peas: The reliable standby
Sweet and tender snap peas
An earlier harvest: Snow peas
Get 'Em in the Ground: Growing Beans and Peas
Planting legumes for an ample harvest
Thwarting pests and diseases
Keep on pickin': Harvesting your crop
Chapter 8: Vigorous Vines: Cucumbers, Melons, Pumpkins, and Squash
Checking Out Cool Cukes
Before you choose: Brushing up on some cucumber vocabulary
Surveying common cucumber varieties
Melons: The Sweet, Juicy Vining Plant
Distinguishing different types of melons
Perusing popular melon varieties
Unearthing the Humble Squash
Different squash types
Popular squash varieties
Great Pumpkins: Counting the Uses for This Versatile Squash
Growing Those Vines
Planting and feeding
Water, water, water!
Ensuring proper pollination
Controlling pests and diseases
Harvesting your vining crop
Chapter 9: Cool Weather Staples: Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, and Cauliflower
Paying Attention to the Often-Overlooked Cole Crops
Easing into cole crops with broccoli
Brussels sprouts: The little cabbages
Choosing cabbage: The age-old and dependable cole crop
Considering cauliflower in a rainbow of colors
Growing Your Own Cole Crops
Giving cole crops what they want
Nurturing cole crops
Putting a stop to pesky pest problems
Harvesting cole crops
Chapter 10: A Salad for All Seasons: Lettuce, Spinach, Swiss Chard, and Specialty Greens
Lettuce Get Together
Crisphead lettuce
Romaine lettuce
Loose-head lettuce
Loose-leaf lettuce
Popeye's Pal: Spinach
Savoy spinach
Smooth spinach and some spinachlike friends
The Attractive and Hardy Swiss Chard
Going Wild with Specialty Greens
Growing Great Greens
Timing is everything: Determining when to plant your greens
Putting your greens to bed
Adding nitrogen-rich fishy fertilizer
Thin and bare it: Thinning your greens
Watering to win the war against wilt
Working out the bugs (and other common ailments)
Your bowl runneth over: Harvesting greens
Chapter 11: Sweet Corn and an A to T of Other Worthy Veggies
Sweet Corn and Its Relatives
Sweet corn
Popcorn
A Variety of Other Great Vegetables
Arugula
Asparagus
Beets
Broccoli raab
Celeriac
Celery
; Chinese cabbage
Collards
Endive
Escarole
Florence fennel
Garlic
Globe artichokes
Gourds
Horseradish
Kale
Kohlrabi
Leeks
Mizuna
Okra
Pac choi
Parsnips
Peanuts
Radicchio
Radishes
Rhubarb
Rutabagas
Shallots
Sunflowers
Turnips
Chapter 12: Growing Berries and Herbs for an Edible Landscape
Sweetening Your Landscape with Berries and Fruits
Strawberries
Blueberries
Blackberries and raspberries
Unusual fruits
Spicing Up Your Landscape with Herbs
Basil
Chives
Cilantro
Dill
French tarragon
Mint
Oregano
Parsley
Rosemary
Sage
Thyme
Making Your Landscape Blossom with Edible Flowers
Part III
Chapter 13: On Your Mark, Get Set . . . Grow!
Choosing Seeds or Transplants
Deciding on Your Seeding Method and Decoding a Seed Packet
Starting Seeds Indoors
Picking a pot to plant in
Using a mix that doesn't include soil
Sowing your seeds
Providing the right amount of light and heat
Watering your seedlings
Thinning and transplanting indoors
Feeding your seedlings
Transplanting Indoor Seedlings and Starter Plants
Buying starter plants
Toughening up all types of transplants
Making the big move to the ground
Sowing Seeds Directly in Your Garden
Deciding on a seed-planting method
Thinning seedlings in your garden
Chapter 14: Workin' the Dirt
Razing Your Garden Spot
Killing weeds and aggressive grasses
Stripping sod
Analyzing and Improving Your Soil
Distinguishing different types of soil
Testing your soil
Adjusting soil pH
Adding organic matter (aka the dead stuff)
Turning Your Soil
Making Your Own Compost
Building a compost pile
Avoiding materials that don't belong in a compost pile
Moistening and turning your compost pile
Chapter 15: Maintaining Your Vegetable Garden
Introducing Your Inner Gardener to the Watering Basics
Knowing when your veggies need a drink
Discovering ways to water your vegetable garden
Conserving water with a few handy tips
Keeping Your Plants Cozy and Weed Free with Mulch
Spreading organic mulch
Laying inorganic mulch
Deciding which mulch to use
Determining Important Nutrients Your Soil Needs
Macronutrients
Secondary nutrients and micronutrients
Fertilizing Your Vegetable Garden
Examining a fertilizer label
Choosing a fertilizer
Side-dressing
Give 'Em Something to Lean On: Supporting Your Vegetables
Beans and peas
Melons and cucumbers
Tomatoes
Fighting Weed Wars
Making a preemptive strike on weeds
Battling weeds after planting
Chapter 16: Surveying Some Cool Farmer Techniques
Adding Nutrients and Stability with Cover Crops and Green Manures
Choosing cover crops
Planting cover crops
Giving Your Plants Some Friends: Companion Planting
Making Your Garden Work Double Time with Intercropping
Succession Planting for an Extended Harvest
Rotating Crops to Preserve Soil Nutrients and Maintain a Pest-Free Bed
Planting by the Phases of the Moon
Chapter 17: Keeping Your Plants Healthy
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Controlling Pests
In with the good bugs
The bad-bug roundup
Methods of attack
Gardening to Eliminate Diseases
Avoiding diseases with good habits
Watching out for common diseases
Keeping the Animal Kingdom at Bay
Chapter 18: Containing Your Veggies
Considering a Few Container Characteristics
Filling Up Your Container: Potting Soil Made Simple
Knowing Which Vegetables Grow Well in Pots
Some common container veggies
Some bee-u-tee-ful vegetable combos
Planting Your Veggies in Pots
Caring for Container Veggies
Experimenting with Greenhouses, Hoop Houses, and Hydroponics
Chapter 19: Harvesting, Storing, and Preserving Vegetables
Knowing When to Harvest
Putting Away Your Vegetables
Freezing, Drying, and Canning Veggies
Saving Vegetable Seeds
Part IV
Chapter 20: Ten Tools of the Trade
Watering Hoses and Cans
Hand Trowels
Hand Cultivators
Garden Hoes
Spades and Shovels
Garden Forks
Garden Rakes
Buckets, Wagons, and Baskets
Wheelbarrows and Garden Carts
Power Tillers
Chapter 21: Nearly Ten Ways to Extend Your Growing Season
Choose Clever Planting Locations
Time Your Planting Wisely
Protect Plants with Hot Caps
Add Elegance to Your Garden with Glass Cloches
Buy or Build Cold Frames
Drape Row Covers over Veggies
Place Wall O' Waters around Plants
Try Portable Greenhouses and Hoop Houses
Appendix: Planning Guidelines and Other Resources
Guidelines for Planting
Frost Dates and the Length of the Growing Season
Hardiness Zones in North America
Where to Find Seeds and Other Resources
Vegetables, herbs, and flowers
Seed savers
Fruits and berries
Tools and supplies
U.S. and Canadian Master Gardeners
Web Sites about Vegetables
State sites
Cyber veggies
Vegetable Gardening For Dummies®, 2nd Edition
by Charlie Nardozzi and the Editors of The National Gardening Association
Vegetable Gardening For Dummies, 2nd Edition
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Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
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