The Vegetable Gardener's Bible (brochure)

A Letter from Edward C. Smith

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bout ten years ago I sat in front of a computer putting the finishing touches on the book that would become The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible. I wish I could say that I knew then that it would become the most popular vegetable gardening book of the subsequent decade, but I didn’t. How did that happen? Well, what is known “in house” as The Veggie Bible is a very real book: it was born on a real homestead in a real garden in northern Vermont. The photos in the book (many of them taken by my wife, Sylvia) are not stock photos of anonymous plants in unnamed gardens. Those vegetable plants are ones we grew in that garden. The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible is user friendly. There are lots of pretty pictures to break up the text. A good photo does, in fact, equal — if not a thousand — at least a few hundred words. The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible was the first mainstream gardening book to be based entirely on organic methods. So, after ten successful years, how do you go about changing a good thing? Very carefully. What I’ve tried to do is highlight new information and add new plant varieties that weren’t available to North American gardeners a decade ago. I’ve tried to make the book understandable and accessible to all gardeners, new and experienced. Now is a very exciting time to be a vegetable gardener. More is known now than was known a decade ago about compost and the amazing ways that the microbes in compost communicate with and interact with vegetable plants, so I’ve revised the chapters on soil and compost.

More is known now about garden pests and how to keep their depredations in check, so I’ve revised the pest control chapter to include the latest methods and techniques. There is, in short, more to know now to help us be better gardeners. Folk wisdom notwithstanding, old dogs — and old gardeners — can learn new tricks. They can also abandon old ones that no longer work. I’ve questioned how I’ve done things and learned new methods for doing things. I’ve heard from readers who had good suggestions or asked questions I hadn’t thought to answer. The world is changing in ways that will make The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible ever more relevant and more popular in the coming decade. As the cost of fossil fuels goes up and up, the cost of food goes up and up in tandem. Crops are seeded, tended, harvested, and transported by machines fueled by diesel and gasoline. They’re moved, often over thousands of miles, in trucks, ships, and airplanes running on fossil fuels. The more fossil fuels cost, the more food will cost; the more food costs, the more incentive we all have to grow as much of our food as we can. Almost daily, there are reports of contaminated food, or of food that doesn’t really nourish us and may make us more susceptible to various diseases. And fresh food just tastes better than processed food. More people are becoming aware that we need to find sustainable growing methods that improve rather than degrade the capacity of the earth to support healthy plant growth. We need to garden in ways that preserve and improve soil fertility, and the new Vegetable Gardener’s Bible will help us do that. — Edward C. Smith

What the Media Is Saying “An abundance of photographs . . . visually bolster the techniques described, while frequent subheads, sidebars, and information-packed photo captions make the layout user-friendly . . . [Smith’s] book is thorough and infused with practical wisdom and a dry Vermont humor that should endear him to readers.” — Publishers Weekly “Smith . . . clearly explains everything novice and experienced gardeners need to know to grow vegetables and herbs . . .” — Library Journal “. . . we will be recommending The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible whenever we get a chance.” — HortIdeas “[Smith’s] advice, hints, insights, illustrations and charts will benefit any gardener.” — Foreword

Sow & Grow with Ed’s

Bookseller Seed-Starting Kit!

Storey is pleased to offer booksellers a seed-starting kit, filled with everything a budding gardener needs to plant spring vegetables at home. The kit will contain a variety of seed packets, hand-selected by Ed Smith, small peat pots for starting inside before transplanting outside in warm weather, and an information sheet on how to plant the seeds and nurture them for best results. Booksellers will be able to offer the kit to three of their employees with the hope that sales for The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible will grow like these greens!

“. . . an invaluable addition to any gardener’s library.” — Countryside

“The contents of this book are vital for every organic gardener.” — Organic Book Review

The GardeVegetable Tom ner ’s Bib le ato Se eds

“Smith explains how to plan and jump-start a garden, then [Smith explains how} to make it self-sufficient.” — Cleveland Plain Dealer

“Smith gives insight into the gardening world through pictures, sidebars, and a thick, easy-to-use section on nurturing vegetables with names A­–Z.” — Today’s Librarian

getable le e V e Th er’s Bib Garden e Blend uc

Lett

The Bestseller — Now Even Better

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verything your customers loved about the original edition of The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible — with over 250,000 copies in print — is still here: it’s friendly, accessible language, full-color photography, comprehensive vegetable-specific information, and ahead-of-its-time commitment to organic methods. This new Tenth Anniversary edition features 15 additional vegetables, including a section on salad greens and European and Asian vegetables; growing information on more fruits and herbs; new cultivar photographs (many by the author’s wife, Sylvia Ferry Smith, a professional photographer); and a much-requested section on extending the season into the winter months. “Now is a very exciting time to be a vegetable gardener. We need to garden in ways that preserve and improve soil fertility, and the new Vegetable Gardener’s Bible will help us do that.” –Edward C. Smith, Author

“

In every small town, there is a vegetable garden that people go out of the way to walk past. Smith is the guy who grew that garden.”

s Ship ber m e c De ! 2009 NEW! FLOOR DISPLAY

— The New York Times Book Review

12-Copy Counter Display: $299.40 US ISBN: 978-1-60342-506-3 No. 62506

The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible 2nd Edition Paper: $24.95

Hardcover: $34.95 US

ISBN 978-60342-475-2; No. 62475

ISBN 978-1-60342-476-9; No. 62476

Full-color; photographs and

352 pages; 8⁄/™ x 10‡/•

Fully Updated 10th Anniversary Edition Over 250,000 copies sold!

The

Vegetable Gardener’s

Bible

Discover Ed’s High-Yield W-O-R-D System for All North American Gardening Regions: ➤➤ Wide rows ➤➤ Organic methods ➤➤ R aised beds ➤➤ Deep soil

illustrations throughout 1st Edition (ISBN 978-1-58017-212-7; No. 67212, 2000)

Publicity & Promotion Publicity Contact: Amy Greeman (413) 346-2113 or [email protected] • Video press kit • National pitch to policy makers, food industry talking heads, and editorial page editors • National mailing to food and garden publications • Feature campaign • Sunday morning political television pitch • Review mailing

Storey books are distributed in the gift and book trade by Workman Publishing. To order, please see your sales representative or call (800) 722-7202. Storey books are distributed in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son, LTD, (800) 387-4333.

Edward C. Smith “The book by my bed is one of the most American gardening tomes ever published . . .” — Verlyn Klinkenborg, New York Times Book Review