Blog Update!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.

I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Idiot's Guide to Vegetable Gardening: book giveaway

Welcome to day four of green book week, where I'm giving away a green book a day. If you didn't see the previous posts, there's still time to enter the drawing for The Green Teen, Chickens in Your Backyard and The Transition Handbook.

Today's giveaway is for the book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegetable Gardening written by a reader of mine, Daria Bowman. Now, I know many of you will argue that maybe I should actually be keeping this book as a reference given my gardening failures over the years, but this is a great book for someone getting into edible gardening.

It covers the essentials of getting started, planning, what to plant, how to keep it growing, troubleshooting and reaping the rewards, including seed saving, record keeping and tool care. From the back of the book:
With food costs - and food scares - on the rise, you know the healthiest, safest food is the fresh stuff you grow yourself. But you have trouble keeping houseplants alive, and your backyard is hardly "green acres."

Don't bury your head in the mulch! Master the basics of planting, weeding, and more with the help of the simple instructions and full-color photos... [In this book] you get:

  • Expert techniques for planning and plotting a garden
  • Down-to-earth instructions for growing vegetables, fruits, herbs, berries, and more
  • Foolproof tips on feeding, pruning, and harvesting
  • The basics of organic gardening, including weed and pest control

  • To enter the random drawing to win this book, add your name to the comments of this post. You have until Friday, October 2nd, at 6:00 pm PST to enter. The winner will be drawn and announced on Saturday.

    83 comments:

    equa yona(Big Bear) said...

    Oh, Crunchy, I could sure use some help. i am trying 'square foot gardening in 2010. I'll post pics and results at equayonabigbear.

    mother earth aka karen hanrahan said...

    am thinking the east exposure and front of the house could be a good edible garden space

    CitricSugar said...

    I suck at gardening. i need this one.

    Manda said...

    I could do with this one, I killed my parsley. I didn't know you could kill parsley.

    Sparkless said...

    Count me in. I love gardening books.

    Suze said...

    I'd love to grow my own but am totally clueless

    Michelle said...

    My summer garden was nearly a failure...I could use this! :-)

    Anna said...

    I definitely need this.

    Unknown said...

    Now there's a book I could definitely use!

    Jamie

    Brittany said...

    We have been trying to get the garden going for a while! Would love this!

    Frugal Pursuit said...

    I need all the references (and help) I can get in the garden. Something with tool care instructions would be useful. Thanks for being so generous with the book giveaways this week.

    Mellisa Nicholosn said...

    This is a timely giveaway! My husband and I just decided this week to turn all the grass and gardens in the backyard to edibles! It will be a challange for us non gardeners but I really want to make it work. With this book I'm sure we can do it!

    Vegan Burnout said...

    The only vegetables we've managed to grow have been two acorn squash that sprouted from an abortive attempt at a compost pile. Plus, I can't even keep potted herbs alive. I need help.

    Jenny said...

    I would love to win this book! This year was my first year gardening. I had some success, but sure could use some help!!

    710 East Myrtle Avenue said...

    My garden keeps growing every year and I garden using the trial and error method:D I could use some help and would love to win this book.

    Lisa Z said...

    I do know a few things, but I could always learn more...

    Kelly said...

    I too, would be totally blessed by this book...believe it or not! I will garden in the Spring! I will! I will! I will!

    peanutspansy said...

    Please help my garden to live...it really wants too.

    snackpig said...

    I just moved from New York city and for the first time in ten years, I have space to grow. Too bad I stink at it, maybe this book would help.

    Tree Huggin Momma said...

    I killed a plastic plant. No seriously. I am notorious for my inability to keep things alive (well I do ok with my girls). When I graduated High School I got this lovely basket with plants in it. After oh lets say two weeks (maybe less) all but one plant dies. So I dug the dirt around it and put it in a pot. I watered it weeklyish (and I was amazed at how hardy it was). Then I moved into my dorm room and in about February the heat came on really really high and I came home to find my plant wilting. So thinking it needed more sun and warmth I put it atop the windowsill next to the heating element. I came back from class the next day to find it melted (and this is when I learned it was plastic). I never really looked closely at it, and I never touched the plant itself cause I was amazed I hadn't killed it. Now that I want to get into gardening I need all the help I can get.

    Moade said...

    I could definitely use it.

    Jenna said...

    Oh pick me, pick me!
    I need this :)
    Trying to grow an edible garden not hugely successful but we did find some potatoe scraps i gave my four year old had grown yesterday!
    Thanks,
    mountaingoats at hotmail dot com

    AmazinAlison said...

    Wow. I could really use this! We moved into a place this summer with lots of space for a garden. I've been planning out a raised bed and could really use some advice regarding growing vegetables (and troubleshooting).

    Billie said...

    I could use this because I would like to try gardening on my balcony.

    MKD said...

    SIgn me up too! we have 2 raised beds and well...some times I think I'm doing something wrong. I'm like a wanna be green thumb that seems to not be getting any greener...

    Cave-Woman said...

    This looks like a useful book.
    I've been trying "Lasagna Gardening", and it's been great----but I could use a few tips to refine things.

    C. said...

    My tomatoes are just turning red this week in time for the first freeze! I definitely need the help of this book!

    emerzim said...

    This sounds like a great birthday present for me!!

    Vegetarienne said...

    I'm not sure this would have prevented my whole laziness thing that killed my garden off this summer...but it might help!

    Jenette said...

    Well here is another one I should read. Somehow I couldn't grow pumpkins but my daughter (5) has a crop of gourds growing.

    FernWise said...

    Oh, please please please! My husband has been whining at me about HIS sinus infection, and I need both the book and the love.

    Frondly, Fern

    Miss Kris said...

    We've planted a vegetable garden for the past two years and have had successes and failures. I sure would like to know what we are doing wrong and what we can do better!

    Environmental Soul said...

    Chelsey

    Amy in Tacoma said...

    Add me to the list! We did better than we thought with our first ever vegetable garden this year, but maybe it was beginner's luck. In any case, we still have a lot to learn!

    Keely said...

    in hopes that I'll actually be able to grow edible broccoli next year...

    Simple Mama said...

    Thanks for the giveaway. I love gardening but have had far too many failures.

    Jen said...

    I could use some help. Sign me up!

    The Nurtured Empath said...

    Yup, I need all the help I can get as well, add me to the list! :o)
    Blessings!

    Deb said...

    Neat! Great book for this newbie gardener!

    Dusty Utah said...

    Maybe this book will help me keep things alive in the deserts of Utah. Robert Askin

    Erin T. said...

    Please sign me up! Thank you!
    Erin T.

    LynnieBee said...

    I'm in for this one! :)

    Sara said...

    Oh I need this book!!

    Laurie in Mpls. said...

    Count me in, please! Have had moderate success recently, but could use more info. More data is ALWAYS good!

    admin said...

    I could use this fer sur, duuuuh ;-)

    LizKnits said...

    Veggie gardening ... maybe I could learn to green up my black thumb.

    Anonymous said...

    Please put me in I still have a lot to learn!
    Jo,
    from way down south

    Dawn said...

    Awesome book! I love my garden and after my experience this year with slugs and the cauliflower and tomato fungi I realized I am a total gardening dolt.

    Dillon (dehe@umich.edu) said...

    I've been container gardening somewhat unsuccessfully - so this may help ^_^

    Kelly said...

    I'm a new reader to your blog and I'l love this book!

    Melissa Anderson said...

    count me in!

    Mrs. Money said...

    Awesome! This would totally be helpful. :)

    Shellyg8r said...

    Shellyg8r

    Natalie A said...

    Me, me!! I really need some help with gardening. I tried out squash, but all the tiny squashes kept dying off the vine.

    Q said...

    Wow, you are really throwing some great books out there this week.

    Ash said...

    Man do I need this one. I seem to be missing my green thumb. I pretty much kill anything I plant =(

    heatherzilla said...

    I could definitely use this book. I attempted an organic garden this spring and it only yielded two tomatoes and one green pepper.

    heatherzilla(at)care2(dot)com

    Angela C said...

    I really could use this book, tried planting a huge garden the year and the only thing that grew were my cucumbers.

    Spice said...

    Sign me up. Greenpa is a better gardener than I am, but you'll never get me to admit it. ;-)

    Veronica said...

    I could definitely use this! I'm only growing in pots for now, but I want to graduate to raised beds.

    Kelly said...

    I would love this - I've been wanting to start a garden.

    Nick said...

    Sign me up! The name is Nick.

    Stacy said...

    I'd love to win this book!

    Scout said...

    Count me in for this one!

    Mary said...

    Count me in please.
    Maybe I'll find out why I can't grow peas.

    Anonymous said...

    As usual Crunchy, count me in. I need all the help I can get!
    Nadia P

    kakihara said...

    Yes please--this summer we started our first vegetable garden--and it was lots of hard work--and fun, but we need help!

    Christine F. said...

    My husband and I ARE idiots who keep trying to start up a garden..with very little sucess... we need this book! :) Thanks for the chance.

    Anonymous said...

    I have been winging it in my garden, which is how I ended up with way too many cucumbers and not enough carrots. I need this book!

    Jenni said...

    Hi, this sounds like it was written for me! I'm Hungry like the Wolf! ;)

    Diana said...

    What a useful book!

    Crazy Charm said...

    I would love this! My cucumbers are still blooming and it's 50 degrees outside.

    Veronica said...

    I so need this book. I have a square foot garden but it produces very few actual veggies. I keep trying and one day I may have a green thumb.

    Hannah said...

    I think this is the one I really need...

    Rachel said...

    Looks like a good resource.

    StephCat said...

    Getting better w/ my gardening but could use help....

    Robb & Nancy said...

    I could use some help too. I have not had much success with my gardening in the new house in which we're living - need to figure out why.

    Renee Unplugged - said...

    I would LOVE to have this! I try to garden every year...some years have more success than others.

    Robj98168 said...

    Finally a gardening bookl named after me!

    Amy Estrada said...

    Me, me Me! =) I kill everything, I could really use some common sense.

    Karine said...

    Exactly what I need for my garden next year. I might then be able to plant something else than tomatoes and basilic!

    LittleEagle said...

    I'd like to win this book.

    Tony R. said...

    I hope I'm not to late! we need so veggi help