Foreword

I’m certain more people would garden if they felt confident in succeeding. And I don’t mean throwing a few marigold or zinnia seeds onto a patch of bare soil and seeing them compete with a jungle of weeds to produce a splash of color, regardless of rainfall or soil fertility. I mean the deeply more satisfying form of gardening that produces edible results—luscious cantaloupes with chin-dripping flavor, meaty tomatoes where one slice can cover an entire slice of bread, raspberries the size of strawberries, strawberries the size of peaches, and bell peppers up to 10 inches long—crunchy, nutritious, and delicious. Surely there are few gardening accomplishments in life more satisfying than planting an Early Cascade tomato in your garden and harvesting a hundred or more red, ripe billiard ball-size fruits in a single season, or serving to a guest at dinner the blemish-free Buttercrunch lettuce he or she just admired on a tour of your garden.

That’s why I recommend this book. It inspires confidence, assures success, and explains clearly and convincingly how to enjoy a bountiful harvest of not only the most worthwhile vegetables to grow, but also fruits, berries, and herbs.

Daria Price Bowman and Dr. Carl A. Price are a daughter-and-father partnership I greatly admire, for in this collaboration Daria brings to bear a practical approach, a lively writing style, and organizing ability, while her father is a wealth of information about the science of gardening. As a retired professor of plant biochemistry at Rutgers University for 40 years, Dr. Price knows the scientific reasons why certain basic gardening practices like composting and disease treatments work, even if the remedy itself is simple. Both are life-long gardeners, and although they advocate an organic remedy as the first line of defense, they know when to turn to science when all else fails.

Many garden books have been aimed at beginners, but these are largely focused on flower gardening, and many are gimmick books, advocating some sensational method of gardening with exaggerated claims like “weed free” and “no work.” The information in this book, on the contrary, offers choices and clearly explains how to succeed whether you want to garden in traditional straight rows, plant in blocks, or harvest abundant produce from raised beds or containers. It’s all here—clearly explained with special helpful sidebars such as Prof. Price’s Pointers and others.

Every dietary study, it seems, confirms the wisdom of eating more fruits and vegetables and using herbs for seasoning for a healthy, long life. Broccoli is known to have anti-cancer properties; we are told that blueberries can reverse the process of aging; carrots can improve eyesight; garlic is associated with a healthy bloodstream; and vegetable fiber cleanses the colon of impurities.

Of course, fruits and vegetables and even herbs can be obtained from the produce section of the supermarket, but the longer a vegetable stays on the shelf or travels in transit from field to point-of-purchase, the more it loses freshness, crispness, and flavor. Moreover, flavor is lost in many fruits and vegetables by being picked too early so as to survive long journeys, even if they’re flavorful varieties to begin with. But more often they’re not those special home-garden varieties with a reputation for top flavor; rather they are commercial grower varieties, bred mainly for appearance and the ability to ship safely, without bruising. Indeed, few home garden varieties ever make it to the local produce counter simply because flavor is fairly far down on the list of priorities for commercial growers.

So here is a book written with the novice home gardener in mind, impartial in its advice, with step-by-step instructions to guide you every step of the way, whether you are keen to have a small garden the first year or a plot big enough to feed a family of four from the last frosts of spring through the first frosts of autumn and even until snow covers the ground. Follow its advice, and I believe you can be a successful gardener the very first season.

Derek Fell

Derek Fell is an award-winning author of gardening books and magazine articles, with more than 60 books to his credit, including Vegetable Gardening with Derek Fell (Friedman/Fairfax) and Herb Gardening for Beginners (Friedman/Fairfax). He has won more awards from the Garden Writers Association than any other person.