Product Description

With few exceptions-such as corn and pumpkins-everything edible that's grown in a traditional garden can be raised in a container. And with only one exception-watering-container gardening is a whole lot easier. Beginning with the down-to-earth basics of soil, sun and water, fertilizer, seeds and propagation, The Bountiful Container is an extraordinarily complete, plant-by-plant guide. Written by two seasoned container gardeners and writers, The Bountiful Container covers Vegetables-not just tomatoes (17 varieties) and peppers (19 varieties), butharicots verts, fava beans, Thumbelina carrots, Chioggia beets, and sugarsnap peas. Herbs, from basil to thyme, and including bay leaves, fennel, and saffron crocus. Edible Flowers, such as begonias, calendula, pansies, violets, and roses. And perhaps most surprising, Fruits, including apples, peaches, Meyer lemons, blueberries, currants, and figs-yes, even in the colder parts of the country. (Another benefit of container gardening: You can bring the less hardy perennials in over the winter.) There are theme gardens (an Italian cook's garden, a Four Seasons garden), lists of sources, and dozens of sidebars on everything from how to be a human honeybee to seeds that are All America Selections.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21410 in Books
• Published on: 2002-01-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

From Publishers Weekly
McGee (Basic Herb Cookery) and veteran gardening writer Stuckey (Gardening from the Ground Up) share their expertise and experience in the art of container gardening. Armed with this manual, frustrated apartment dwellers can indulge their passion for growing edible things. If there is an available balcony, porch, front or back steps, according to the authors, growing produce in containers can be easy and rewarding. With some limitations, it is even possible to grow foods in a window box or on an indoor windowsill. This compendium of practical advice includes detailed information on the types of containers to use, equipment needed, the right soil, when to plant which seeds and how best to deal with problems such as too much or too little sunlight. They also explain more sophisticated techniques like succession planting, whereby ongoing seasonal planting takes place in the same container. This can yield a harvest of peas in early summer, tomatoes in late summer to early fall and kale that will grow into winter. Included are mouth-watering recipes for harvested container crops. Written for the beginner as well as for those with a background in gardening, McGee and Stuckey's directions are comprehensive, clearly written and frequently inspiring. Illus.

Review
This is a great little reference book! It fits neatly into your pocket or briefcase, and contains just about all the information you need on over 1200 beers from around the world. Everything from Aass Amber, to Zip City Vienna is rated by Klein. Although you may not agree with Mr. Klein's tastebuds on all the beers he rates, you will respect his honest and knowledgeable opinions.

Klein does more than just rate the beers however. He discusses beer styles, color, aroma, taste, temperatures, brewery types, glassware, and how to listen to your beer. The appendixes include beers by state and country, best beers by style, best beers for novices, odd beer names, rating notes, breweries, and brewpubs.

The guide is filled with interesting beer facts and tips. You will pick this one up and use it again and again. -- The Ale & Lager Examiner

From the Back Cover
Clear and easy directions: Vegetables for every season: 21 varieties of beans, including favas and haricots verts; peppers from sweet orange Valencias to fiery Thai Dragons (a scorcher at 60,000 Scoville units); dwarf eggplants; fingerling potatoes; 17 terrific tomatoes; lettuces; and Asian greens like bok choy, mizuna, and Chinese kale. Herbs, including basils green and purple, exotic lemongrass, soothing chamomile, saffron crocus, and the essential culinary herbs such as parsley, rosemary, sage, tarragon, and the many thymes. Fruits: Meyer lemons, strawberries, gooseberries, figs, and even apples, peaches, and grapes. And edible flowers, like tart begonias, pepper nasturtiums, clove-spicy dianthus, and sweet daylilies, to add enchantment to meals. Complete with all the basics of choosing the right containers, determining soil types, applying fertilizers, and knowing when to start from seed and when to start from seedling.

Customer Reviews

Informative and interesting
When I started growing a vegetable garden in containers on my balcony, I looked to several books for guidance. Bountiful Container was the most helpful.

Boutniful Container addresses garden basics such as equipment and fertilizer, but the bulk of the book is specific information on a variety of vegetables, herbs, fruit, and edible flowers. Each plant is addressed for several pages, with information such as when to plant, sun and water requirements, general care, and varieties suitable for containers.

One unique feature of this book is that they actually address container depth for every plant listed. I was amazed at how few container gardening books spent any significant time on container selection. For instance, I learned that salad burnet, a small plant, requires a deeper container than many larger plants in order to allow its taproot to develop (lo and behold, I was able to grow it for a change!). It disusses the advantages and disadvantages of several container materials, and addresses issues such as reducing the weight of oversized containers.

One frustration I had with other container gardening books, was that they assumed you had at least a small yard in which to plant and much of their information was useless for people who were limited to containers. Not a problem with this book.

Bountiful Container is beautifully written, and the information is well organized and easy to reference. I highly recommend it.

Well organized
This most readable book was written for "everyone who aspires to have garden-fresh foodstuffs but has no yard in which to grow them". This is a detailed book about growing herbs and vegetables in containers - there is a chapter each on fruits and edible flowers too. Both writers are experienced growers and standard growing information is not only tailored to container growing, but is supplemented by the experience of two down to earth women who have been there and done that.

Sensibly organized, the book starts with planning a container garden and moves on to basic information such as the tools you'll need and the pros and cons of different types of containers. But most of the book tells you how to get the best crop from a great long list of vegetables and herbs There are chapters on growing fruit and edible flowers in containers and a decent list of mail order sources for seeds and plants.

I liked the direct, no-nonsense approach of the two writers. They have produced a thorough and thoughtful book, sensibly organized and both readable and knowledgeable.

Great for beginners
Like myself - the author assumes zero gardening knowledge, thank god. This book really helped me understand and plan my first balcony garden last season. There are no glossy photos but the advice is quality, clear and there are tons of ideas. I recommend this for any urban dweller new to gardening. Hopefully they'll do a revised version soon.