Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 All you need to know ... and then some. August 28, 2008
Excellent book for the beginning gardener. It goes into a detailed and extensive garden plan from breaking ground to harvesting crops. Because it is so in-depth, the reader can pick and choose what he needs.
 Not Organic, but Visually Stunning... January 7, 2007
Even though I'm an organic gardener, I've fallen in love with this book. In fact, now that I've bought my own copy, I've actually paid less than I've paid to the library in overdue fines for this book. It's just a visually stunning masterpiece in the sense that it inspires me to get out into my own garden and to imagine what it could potentially look like. Of course, the author seems to have unlimited time to garden and an almost unlimited budget. I'll never achieve his masterpiece, but it's nice to dream. I especially love to curl up with this book in January when the seed catalogs are just coming out.
It lost a star for me because it is decidedly NOT an organic gardening book. The author relies heavily on chemical fertilizers and black plastic mulch. Although he does mention compost and soil improvement, I don't recall him even mentioning earthworms, which are a definite indicator of soil health. He does, however, try to use less harsh methods of pest and weed control.
Chapters are arranged by month, detailing the author's gardening chores and schedule during that month, from starting seeds to transplanting out, to weeding, watering, fertilizing, caring for tools, and constructing gardening architecture. Since he gardens in the north, I can't go by his schedule, nor can I grow the same veggies or varieties thereof that he does. If you're looking for a how-to book, this probably isn't it, unless you happen to live just where he does and are willing to use chemicals. But if you're looking for inspiration, this book is well worth it.
Excellent February 2, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was one of my first gardening books and is still my favorite one. Perfect for the beginning gardener. Why aren't more gardening books organized like this one?
An all time favorite September 3, 2005
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
In my periodic attempts to grow vegetables, this book -- and its predecessor, "Crockett's Victory Garden," have been my constant and favorite companions. It's past time for this 1987 book to be updated and republished.
This is Cadillac gardening as Crockett and his successor Bob Thomson apparently had a large budget, a full toolshed, and endless time to produce a perfect garden. My pitiful efforts never yield much in the way of edible products, but I enjoy reading about how I would grow vegetables if I were not such a lazy and shiftless person.
The book is broken down by months with a long list of vegetables for planting, tending, and harvesting for each month as well as other garden tasks. The monthly labors are for Boston. Being further south, I tend to do things a month earlier in the spring and a month later in the fall than Thomson prescribes. "The New Victory Garden" is full of solid gardening advice for an establishmentarian gardener. If you're into organics or (like me) inclined to low-impact, no inputs type cultivation, you might not like Thomson's reliance on chemical fertilizers -- but he makes up for it with good advice on compost, natural fertilizers, and lots of touchy feely stuff. The pictures are beautiful. Someday, in some future world I'll have a garden like this. Yeah, sure. Dream on! But I like reading the book and I occasionally try to follow the advice.
Smallchief
An INVALUABLE tool, particularly for novices! May 8, 2003
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
In my opinion, this book needs to be actively published again! I used this book as a guide to grow my first vegetable garden in Richmond, VT. It thoroughly explained EACH step in the process with text and illustrations/photos. My neighbor, whom I hadn't met yet, left a letter in my mailbox around August of that year. It contained a photo of my garden and a note saying that mine was the most beautiful vegetable garden she'd ever seen and thought I would appreciate the picture of it! I have checked this book out of the library each spring since and this year it was listed as "lost!" That's why I'm here on-line: buying an "acceptable" condition copy used rather than do without! BUY THIS BOOK IF YOU CAN!
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