5 comments about Designing the New Kitchen Garden: An American Potager Handbook.

1. This book is filled with beautiful pictures and explanations that inspire and educate. Ms. Bartley has her own garden and I felt that I benefited from her own experience. After reading this book, I was ready to place a potager's garden in my own back yard.



2. I bought this book as a gift for my friend Ellen, who loves gardening. She was thrilled!!



3. As a horticulture student, I bought this on a field trip at Pennsylvania's Longwood Gardens. And though I had to truck it with me across 5 states and 2 countries, it's defiantly worth the buy. Not only does Bartley discuss the history of the potager, but she offers insight into both traditional and American gardens as well as helpful hints for the beginning designer. A must have for any kitchen gardener.



4. Like other "potager" books (formal, French-style kitchen gardens), this has beautiful photos of gardens artistically planted in geometric designs, which are unrealistic for those of us without at least fairly large properties and larger bank accounts. It also has the best-researched history, which is interesting in itself and will give you fodder for entertaining conversation. The unexpected bonus that sets this one apart from the others is that it's useful, too, because there are many detailed how-to charts, designs, and lists. These are particularly for those who live in the Midwest (Zone 5 and adjacent), as the author does. East Coasters can benefit, too, but those of us in California will have to adapt her when-to-plant info, for instance. Even so, this is one of the most interesting and useful books of many that I've read or skimmed lately on all variations and topics of vegetable gardening. I actually READ most of this one.



5. I recently purchased a used volume of Designing the New Kitchen Garden: An American Potager Handbook. The page views were very helpful in helping me decide the content was what I was looking for to help me redesign my current garden. The photos and description of the condition of the book ( which was very accurate)also aided in helping make my decision.
   The book arrived in the described condition and in a timely manner. I was extremely pleased with this transaction and the book has indeed met my expectations for the information I was hoping to obtain.

5 comments about Joy of Gardening (Garden Way Book).

1. This is the best resource I have found for small gardeners. I would highly recommend it.



2. I picked up Dick Raymond's Joy Of Gardening at a yard sale a few years ago. I can't imagine why any body who is remotely interested in gardening would sell this book. And for a dollar at that. This book is a must read for gardeners or any body who even is considering starting a garden. I have a very small yard and even smaller garden but thanks to Dick Raymond's method of close plant gardening I have been able to increase my yield ten fold. So far this year I have picked 30 pounds of tomatoes and it's only the first week of August. I grow pumpkins, onions, eggplant, cucumber, yellow squash, zucchini, and bell peppers. All of this on a triangular shaped garden with a 15 foot base and 22 foot sides. Not bad for a city boy and it's because of what I have learned from Joy Of Gardening. I highly recommend this book to any one considering starting a garden.



3. Product came in very good condition. Worth the money. Great book in terms of gardening - you will learn a lot. My husband and I have to share it as we both enjoy the many things that can be done to harvest a good garden.



4. Still the very best book to starting and maintaining an organic garden
   that ever was published.



5. I was lucky enough to have stumbled onto this book years ago.It must have been devine intervention because from I went from an interest in growing a vegetable garden to finding this book to growing a killer garden in just a few weeks.This book spells it all out in an easy to understand plan to growing your own food.Lots of pictures(my favorite kind of book),lots of information,not a lot of money.

5 comments about Fruits and Berries for the Home Garden.

1. I bought this book because I wanted to learn to care for the fruit trees and plants in my yard. This book looks like it has a lot of good information but honestly unless you are really good at gardening it is very wordy. I don't think I will sit and read it but I will probably use it as a reference book.



2. The basic information contained in this book isn't much better than what can be obtained online for free. A much better book for the Southern gardening is....
   "The Southern Living Garden Book"
   This book has 26 plant selection guides that helps you to pick plants for your needs (drought tolerant plants and things like that) however I think the plant listings are this books best feature. There are over 5,000 plants with propagation and cultivation information. There are lots of photos too.



3. Excellent book for those who want to grow their own berries and fruits in their own back yard!



4. Lewis Hill seems like the type of guy you'd like to be neighbors with.
   This book is very informative and I love his writing style. Instead of a "dry" text, Lewis draws you into the world of fruit like he is introducing you to his best friends. Although this is a great reference work, I read it all the way through because he is so engaging in his presentation of material. I got it thru the library but am buying it because it is worthy of a place on the shelf on any fruit grower.
   
   One small point to consider: if you are strictly organic you may be slightly disappointed. He takes a "middle of the road" approach to chemicals in the orchard. He try's to avoid them if possible and gives great advice on buying trees that won't need as much spraying.
   
   Highly recommended.



5. Fairly comprehensive and one of the best books I've seen. Has all the basic information on how to get started in gardening from soil considerations, space, and fertilizing to tree pruning, pests, and small orchard management. Great reference book for gardeners of any experience level. Covers brambles, vine fruits, strawberries, bush fruits, fruit trees, and nut trees. Wouldn't be without it.

5 comments about Desert Gardening.

1. Why does everyone who uses this book live near me?

   I bought this book for my father, a very experienced gardener and landscaper who recently moved to the desert. Although he is not a big book reader I see him using this book repeatedly.

   The book is easy to follow, gives a number of great tips, and presents ideas that even a seasoned professional like my father hasn't thought of.




2. This book fooled me at first glance. I browsed the bookstore and purchased several other books on gardening for hot, arid climates and passed on this book. The lack of color and the obviously amateur photographs in this book led me to believe that the text would be amateur too. This assumption was complete in error! After reading the other books I still didn't feel satisfied that I had received the knowledge I was seeking so I took a chance on this book. This book is very detailed and is really the only book I should have purchased. The author is conversational in his writing style which makes it easy to understand and to the point.

   If you have tried gardening in Phoenix or other hot places you know that, with our very short growing seasons, the timing and preperation is critical. This book addresses both these issues and more. It tells you exactly how to prepare our basically "crappy" soil and goes week by week on the gardening activities such as planting, fertilizing, pruning, etc... Buy this book and you will soon realize that it is all you need to get started. The only other thing you need is your own practical experience.




3. I am so glad I found Desert Gardening. I have tried for years to grow vegetables organically here in Decatur, Texas (about eighty miles northwest of Dallas, Texas). Firstly let me tell you that Desert Gardening is not an organic gardening book, but it has helped me anyway--I'll explain more on that later. I began trying to garden here by looking at the "standard gardening advice" in books I found at the local public library and bookstores, asking for help at the local gardening centers, and reading the backs of seed packages for instructions on how to plant them. At the gardening centers, I found that they wanted to load me up with chemicals, and if I didn't want chemicals they would offer me some weird, expensive organic soil amendments but they couldn't tell me the first thing about what they were for or how to use them. They also never seemed to have seeds, seedlings and trees for sale at the time of year I needed them. The books at my public library and bookstores were completely inappropriate for Texas. They had tips on gardening that were supposed to work anywhere in the U.S.--what a laugh that is! There seems to be a consensus among "U.S. gardening experts" that the Southwest doesn't even exist. It was when I tested my soil pH that I found out I couldn't trust these books at all: they all said to add lime to the soil to raise the pH, and my soil already had a pH of 8.5! I realized that if I wasn't careful what kind of soil improvement advice I followed, I could permanently ruin my soil.
   Next, I tried looking for books on gardening specifically for Texas. There weren't many of them out there, but I found two. I bought Neil Sperry's "Texas Gardening" and Howard Garrett's "Basic Organic Program". Sperry's "Texas Gardening" is great for selecting the right varieties to plant in Texas--in fact, for Texas it's an even better source for selecting varieties than Desert Gardening is; but it gives inadequate information on all the other aspects of gardening. Howard Garrett is into using expensive organic soil amendments, the few of which I tried didn't work, and his bug-zapping recipies don't seem to work either.
   So, for a couple of years I stopped reading gardening books and didn't add anything to my soil at all except compost. I was able to grow squash, green onions, peaches, and banana peppers, but everything else either didn't grow or else it grew but didn't fruit very well.
   Then, last year, I got the idea of searching Amazon for a gardening book for Texas. I was surprised when my search pulled up books on desert gardening. I never thought of myself as being in the desert here. We've got grass, scattered clumps of trees, black dirt, temperatures that stay between 90 and 110F in the summertime, occasionally-adequate rainfalls, and a few streams and lakes. Still, when I read the reviews for Desert Gardening it sounded like a great book, so I decided to give it a try.
   When I opened up the book I went straight to the section on soil and how to improve it. I was amazed when I saw that they were describing my soil to a T! Alkaline, white caliche rocks, heavy clay or sand, solid layer of caliche which makes it hard for trees to grow. Some of the photos looked exactly like the soil at my house, with grass growing on the surface. I was still leery of adding soil amendments so I decided to test the soil improvement advice in a few small areas first. In those areas, I planted about six kinds of vegetables which had never grown before. The results were great! Everything grew and produced.
   I looked through the book more and more and I realized that this is about the best gardening book I've ever seen. Everytime I have a gardening question, I look in the book and the answer is right there. The advice is all just perfect for my area; I think it would work anywhere in Texas. Soil preparation, fertilizing, watering, water conservation, insects and diseases, pest barriers, variety selection, planting times, seasonal changes, frost and heat protection, growing seedlings, care and harvest of vegetables and fruits (many fruits and vegetables have their own chapters), planting and pruning fruit trees and grapevines, and fall and winter gardening are all discussed in great detail. There's also a chapters on hydroponics and container gardening, for places where there's not enough soil to grow anything in. And unlike other sources, it not only tells you what to do but how you're supposed to go about doing it. For instance, Neil Sperry's book tells you you need to keep strawberries alive and growing all summer and winter--but it doesn't say how to do it. Desert Gardening tells you how! What I like best is this book tells you how to do things in the most practical, affordable, and easy way possible--unlike some people/books who want you to spend to the max and knock yourself out with unnecessary work.
   The only problem I can see myself having with Desert Gardening is that sometimes the winters here in north Texas are a bit too cold to carry plants through the wintertime like the book recommends. We have an advantage though, in that the summers here are not quite as hot as they are in Arizona (where Desert Gardening was written), so I'm able to use heavy shade from the west and create a longer summer growing season than the what the book says is possible--some plants can even grow all summer. Another thing is that, since I'm trying to grow organically, I've had to manipulate the soil improvement advice. In the book, chemicals are recommended along with compost, manure, and other organic soil amendments as an overall soil-improvement and fertilizing program. What I do is, I take the chemical soil amendment recommendations and convert them to something organic. For instance, if they say to use ammonium phosphate, I look for an organic fertilizer which contains lots of nitrogen and phosphorus. The bug-killing advice in the book is already mostly organic or poison-free.
   If you're not sure that where you live would be a good place to use Desert Gardening, ask yourself these questions: 1) Do you live in Nevada, California, Arizona, New Mexico, or Texas? 2) Do you live below 3500 feet elevation? 3) Is your soil alkaline? Is it either sand or heavy clay? In some areas, you may not have any soil at all, just rocks. If you have soil, you may hit a solid layer of white, crumbly rocks called caliche rocks when you dig, anywhere from 6" to 5' deep. 4) Do daytime high temperatures usually stay above 95F in the summertime? 5) Do you have frequent droughts? Is soil being saturated by excessive rainfall usually not a problem? If you answered "yes" to all of these questions, then you're in the low desert and Desert Gardening is a good book for you to get.
   
   
   
   
   
   .



4. The most practical and helpful garden book I have found for planting in the desert. The calendar for planting and caring for the garden is also very helpful.



5. Everything else I've read on desert garneding is junk. George actually lived here. He actually answered the phone at the extension service, etc. I've grown stuff I never would have tried. When something dies unexpectedly, I usually find out what I should have done in this book. Buy it first.

5 comments about The Edible Garden (Sunset).

1. The Edible Garden is a practical, easy guide to growing fresh fruits and vegetables. There are a host of unusual ideas here, from kid-friendly projects to different techniques, streamlining gardening processes, and handling diseases, crop rotation needs, and special care. A fine beginner's guide.



2. I've looked at a lot of gardening books in my day, and this one is the best I've seen for growing herbs, fruits and vegetables. It's thin and not a page is wasted.
   
   The bulk of the book is profiles for different types of fruits/herbs/veggies, telling you when to plant, how to plant, how to maintain, and how to use in cooking. It also includes useful tips on everything from extending your growing season and getting rid of pests, to how to arrange plants and espalier your apple trees.
   
   Fascinating and easy to use with beautiful pictures! I read the whole thing in one sitting!



3. 
   Whether you are a master gardener or a beginner, this book would make a fine addition to your library. It is an excellent "how-to", with many color photos (distant and close-up for detail) and nicely-done illustrations.
   
   No, this is not a "hoity-toity" book that is out of most working peoples' price range - it covers the spectrum of gardeners out there, from the most independent "do-it-yourselfer" to those who want to give ideas to their contractor or hired gardener.
   
   The topics cover not only traditional "in ground" gardening but also touch on urban gardening, raised bed and container gardening, not to mention cold frames and overwintering non-zoned plants. Speaking of traditional gardening, this book also covers innovations for traditional beds; my favorite being
   a grid-shaped trellis for keeping the Asparagus bed neat.
   
   The book also touches on:
   
   * Making a "formal" garden with edibles;
   
   * Edible flowers and scented edibles;
   
   * Beneficial insects;
   
   * How to make chidrens' garden spaces (and how to get the kids involved);
   
   * Making attractive but still very functional critter-proof fencing (deer and groundhogs, to name a few); and
   
   * How to overwinter non-hardy plants and trees, especially in regards to growing container citrus trees.
   
   If you're just starting out into gardening, this would be a "must-have" book for you. If you've some gardening experience under your belt, this is still an excellent book to have as it has innovative but still very useful and functional ideas for your garden and yard.
   
   All in all, five stars for the book. I just wish it was longer - 192 pages was just a teaser.



4. I am gardener in South Louisiana and though some of the cultivars mentioned in this book are difficult to grow here there are many that will work in the south.
   
   This book is full of projects, information on cultivars, diseases, and things to plant in different seasons. Great photos too!
   
   RH



5. I have LOTS of garden books. I LOVE to garden, especially to vegetable garden. This book has great pictures of fruit, vegetable, and herb plants that really inspires you to make your garden not only functional, but beautiful too. I feel that this book is a great addition to my library and plan to reference it many many times in the future. Because of the size of the book, it can't go into alot of specifics about regional issues (I'm in the deep south and this can make a huge difference in what I can and cannot plant and when) although it does give basic overviews of plant preferences and maps of freeze dates etc. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much detail the book goes into on planting methods, pest problems (with lots of good up-close pictures), and other gardening topics. Great book for any fruit and vegetable gardener to add to their collection!

4 comments about Grow the Best Tomatoes: Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin A-189 (Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin, a-189).

1. A very direct sudy in cultivating one of the best loved crops; tomatoes. Advice is straightforward, as are illustrations. Tomatoes are easy to grow but only after a few seasons of experience. Well, this bulletin gives you all that "experience" in a clear, straightforward manner.



2. Great little pamphlet. Quick to read, a lot of helpful information that I didn't find elsewhere in larger gardening volumes. Highly recommended.



3. I'm brand new to gardening, but this book contained very little information that I didn't already know.
   
   I was hoping for detailed information about supporting the tomatoes. My plants are a monstrous 8 feet tall and I've had problems with some of the branches breaking before I tied them. I wanted more information on how to predict which branches would break -- some are obvious to me, but some aren't, and if I tied every branch, I'd spend hours every evening on that chore alone.
   
   I also wanted to know how many branches can be trained to one stake after they outgrow the cage. Advice on thick branches growing horizontally? What should the angle be between the branches and the twine - I think the twine should be slightly overhead, but how much? I've been tying square knots because that's easy in a crowded bush -- what do experienced people do? In addition to tying branches, do I need to support the clusters of fruit themselves? (None of those have broken yet, no matter how heavy they look, so I haven't been supporting them.)
   
   These are the questions of a newbie gardener, and I'm sure I'm not alone.
   This book didn't address any of my concerns.
   
   Here's another topic I hope gets more attention in any future editions: garden hygiene. Should I prune every branch that has a leaf with a tiny spot? That's what I've been doing so far, and while my neighbors have problems with Early Blight, so far my plants seem healthy and productive.
   
   This book is no substitute for experience - it is WAY too vague.



4. I use the Storey series to help customers in my landscape design business.They are a concise and an inexpensive way to support my customers with landscape maintenance questions.

4 comments about Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden.

1. Lee Reich has complied a wonderful, detailed listing of "the fruits less planted". His style is very readable and the photos and illustrations compliment the written material very well. Detailed information on plant descriptions, cultivation, propagation and recommended cultivars. His vivid plant descriptions are enough to make your mouth water, and he has purposely focused on fruits that are relatively low maintenance and disease free. Plants also vary in size, so there are options for those who use containers to those who have room for full grown trees. I enjoyed the book very much, and look forward to adding many of these plants to our homestead.



2. This is a very well written book. There are 23 chapters, each devoted to a single fruit or berry -- all of which are considered "lesser known" to at least the American gardening culture. The chapters all contain a lot of information on lore, characteristics, planting, culture, propogation, and harvest.
   
   What is missing are: listings of particular cultivars that do well in certain regions of the country, certain microclimates, etc. Further, little attention is paid to climate in general with the exception of a few references to USDA zones.
   
   Still, I recommend this book to you with the caution: find out (from a grower or a high-quality nursery in your area) which cultivars are known to work in your area. Consider a line drawn from Monterey CA to Jacksonville FL. For those living above this line, the only real concern is which varieties taste better. For those living below this line, you have the additional question of which varieties will bear fruit and actually survive.



3. I've gleaned much useful information from this easily read item.
   
   The how-to illustrations are clear and should be easily understood both by old-timers like myself and novices in the greatest hobby known to mankind, HOME GARDENING.



4. Excellent book. Learned much. Plan to expand my traditional orchard. Will keep on my reference shelf.

5 comments about The Compleat Squash: A Passionate Grower's Guide to Pumpkins, Squashes, and Gourds.

1. This book is beautiful to look at, has a great deal of interesting history, useful gardening information, and some good recipes. Also it is inspirational, makes you want to source the rarer seeds and get out there with the spade. I don't know how much of this information is readily available in America, but here in Britain, where growing squash still mostly means butternut or Jack o' Lantern, the book is a revelation.
   
   Highly recommended



2. This is a very visually attractive book, with superb photographs, but this is not just for the coffee table. For the devotee who grows pumpkins, all the information needed is there, down to conditions and seed sources for an amazing selection of varieties. For the cook, there are some unusual recipes, but also the eating quality of each type of pumpkin. Essential,this. Some are delicious, others vile. Lots of historical and other info & stories too. Pumpkins are my passion. I grew them, I eat them and now I paint them. It was great to get this book and know there are other squash nutters out there.



3. At this time, this is the most comprehensive volume on the Cucurbita genus. A good personal narrative, coupled with sublime photography. My only quibbles are that none of the images show cut open fruit, to give a view of the flesh and cavity. Secondly, that quite a number of internationally known cultivars are not mentioned. Nevertheless, an absolute "must have" for pumpkin and squash devotee.



4. The Compleat Squash: A Passionate Grower's Guide to Pumpkins, Squashes, and Gourds What a great book. Good information about the squash family and recipes that are to die for. She will introduce you to a new world of a great vegetable. This book will become a family heirloom.



5. I love this book -- sometimes I think it spends more time off the bookshelf being thumbed through than resting on it. Here you have practically everything you need to grow squashes - what the squashes are best used for, some history of the various varieties, selecting seeds, growing and harvesting tips, and (extremely useful!)commercial sources of most of the seeds(many of which you can find easily online), all nicely organized by which Cucurbita species they belong to. (The growing guide to gourds is for C. pepo gourds, not Lagenaria species, and so the title is certainly appropriate growing C. pepo gourds, of which there are many) And recipes too -- so useful! Goldman is extremely helpful in pointing out the virtues and flaws of each variety for eating (though she tries some I wouldn't dare -- brave woman). The photographs are so beautiful as to be absolutely seductive -- watch out, you too will be saying to yourself 'I must grow that pumpkin/squash/gourd/whatever'. Then you too will be seeking out the seed suppliers, tenderly planting your new seeds and now in late summer, seeing them beginning to mature, turning into the fruit promised in the gorgeous photographs, murmur to yourself 'You are so beautiful, Sucrine du Berry. And Winter Luxury, you are the most elegantly lovely pumpkin I have ever seen..."

5 comments about Smith & Hawken: 100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden.

1. Enjoyed the book enough to buy another to give to my tomato-growing son. Also hooked me to the point of buying three other tomato books from Amazon. The author posts regularly on various tomato websites. Great photographs. For the price that Amazon sells this book - you cannot go wrong.



2. Wonderful book written by Dr Carolyn Male. If you don't own or have not read this book, then you really are found lacking in life!



3. I received this book as a gift, after my small 4-plant tomato plot fared disastrously last summer. 1 of the 4 plants produced decent tomatoes, while the rest died unceremoniously. This year, following the recommendations in this book, my 4 plants are all doing great, and I already have little tomatoes-to-be on 3 of the 4. For that reason alone I would recommend this book. I wish some of the planting and tending suggestions were a little clearer; you have to piece some of them together for yourself. Nevertheless, just two of the express recommendations on their own have made a world of difference for me.
   
   The photographs and descriptions of the different heirloom varieties are fantastic, and will inspire you to pick out some different and unusual tomatoes for your garden. You don't have to be a tomato fanatic to enjoy and learn from this book.



4. I love thumbing through this book. I buy most of my seeds from Seed Savers Exchange so it is especially fun because several of the varieties I was already growing, are featured in this book. Plus I have been inspired to try a few more. Well laid out. Beautiful book.



5. I have a small greenhouse and sell organic heirloom tomato plants. This book is my tomato bible! I am growing many of the plants she lists. Some I already knew about, some will be new this year, based on the information in this book. In addition, this book contains the simplest and clearest instructions I have found for saving seeds.
   
   Her pictures - well, they are REAL! What a concept! Instead of pictures of these pristine tomatoes that were probably airbrushed, the pictures of her cherry tomatoes show a little crack here and there, and she unabashedly shows scarring and other blemishes. She shows top views, bottom views, and each picture shows a cut tomato so one can see the flesh. For a tomato grower like me, this is great information.
   
   Her descriptions are frank, and since I was already growing some of these tomatoes myself, I know they are honest. You ever notice how the descriptions of the tomatoes in the catalogs imply that EVERY tomato is the BEST tomato? Dr. Male tells it like it is! In fact, she describes some of them having some faults, but has listed them for other reasons. (We agree - Amish Paste? Ho-hum. But historically significant and in spite of its faults, a very popular tomato.)
   
   If you are a tomato aficionado, then you must add this book to your library! I will have a copy at my booth at the farmers market - and I bet it will be dog-eared by the end of the tomato season! I may have to buy another!

5 comments about How to Pick a Peach: The Search for Flavor from Farm to Table.

1. I've heard that the juice of a really good peach will run down your arms all the way to your elbows. One acturally did make it almost to my elbows the other day. Not the kind of peaches you most often find in a supermarket, with only one peach in many having any juice or flavor.
   
   The question is, "How do you select and store fresh fruits and vegies to insure the mzxium excllence in taste and texture?" The answers are found in Russ Parsons' well written book, "How To Pick a Peach." He classisfies each fruit and vegetable by season and not only tells you how to pick the best ones, but also how to store and prepare them. Russ also gives you several simple receipies for using each fruit and vegetable.
   
   Some fragile vegies such as peas, corn and green beans should be eaten right after they are purchased. Some vegies, such as potatoes, onions, tomatoes and winter squash should never be refrigerated. When refrigerated the starch in potatoes turns to sugar and they lose flavor. This was new to me.
   
   He gives an intersting short history of each fruit and vegie. He also gives a history of industrial farming and the cost of compromise when big farmers take over the production of our porduce, which I really enjoyed. Now that I have read "How To Pick a Peach" it will make a valuable referance tool.



2. As others have mentioned, this book is a nice reference and fun to read. I have tried only a few recipes, but they have all been WONDERFUL. To me, they give the ideal kinds of insights for simple ways to prepare food more effectively which can be extrapolated beyond the exact recipe. After trying the beet/cuc/feta salad, and not having much experience with beets, I continued to make a cold beet salad for my 3yearold all summer, at her request! Also, after preparing eggplant in ways I was accustomed and accepting that my daughter didn't like it, I tried his recipe for steamed eggplant (go figure!) and again my 3yearold loved it! (So did I. It's now my favorite eggplant preparation as well.)



3. This book has a few interesting chapters but overall it misses the mark. Each chapter describes a different fruit or vegetable along with a few recipes. Any food lover will be disappointed and not learn much.



4. 
   Great food always starts with great ingredients. According to my teachers at the Culinary Institute, the aspiring home cook can make delicious foods simply by picking great ingredients and then not making mistakes in cooking them. The CIA spends a great deal of time focusing on quality.
   
   My paperback copy of How to Pick a Peach: The Search for Flavor from Farm to Table by Russ Parsons captures much of that information in a very handy volume. Parsons is a staff writer and the former food editor for "The Los Angeles Times." His approach is similar to that of Harold McGee (see On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, for example): direct, practical, informed and very readable.
   
   Parsons recognizes the reality of many grocery aisles: "tomatoes that taste like cotton; peaches that will never drip; strawberries that could bend a fork." He has written short chapters on fruits and vegetables from apples to winter squash, together with over a hundred recipes. His writing shines: "With its overlapping rows of hard prickly petals, [an artichoke] seems only one step removed from a stick with a nail stuck in it."
   
   The book covers 42 categories of fruits and vegetables arranged by season. The organization is a little confusing, but the excellent Index makes navigation easy and accurate. The index is particularly helpful in distinguishing the several biographies of the ingredients and the practical hints to choosing high quality ingredients.
   
   Parson's recipe for parsnip soup is particularly good and representative of his style:
   
   "This is a somewhat plainer version of a recipe by the San Francisco chef Jeremiah Tower. (He garnishes his version with shaved white truffles.) It's also really, really good with sour cream.
   
   Ingredients
   1 lb. parsnips
   1 Tbsp. butter
   1 onion, chopped
   1 medium boiling potato, peeled and diced
   ~ Salt
   3½ cups water, plus more if needed
   1 sprig tarragon
   1 sprig parsley
   ¼ cup sour cream
   
   Steps
   
   1. Working lightly with a vegetable peeler, peel the parsnips, then cut off the bottoms and tops. Continuing to use the vegetable peeler, cut away and save the rest of each parsnip down to its woody core, catching the thin slices in a wide pot. The color of the vegetable will change from creamy white to ivory when you get to the core. Discard the core.
   
   2. Add the butter, onion, potato, and 1 teaspoon salt to the pot, along with cup water. Place the pot over low heat, cover it tightly, and cook slowly, "sweating" the vegetables until they begin to become tender, about 15 minutes. Stir from time to time to keep the vegetables from sticking and scorching. If necessary, add a little more water.
   
   3. Add the tarragon and parsley and continue to sweat for another 5 minutes. Add 3 cups water, increase the heat to medium, and cook, uncovered, until the vegetables are completely tender, about 10 minutes.
   
   4. Discard the tarragon and parsley sprigs and, using a slotted spoon, transfer as much as you can of the solids from the pot to a blender. With the lid of the blender removed, pulse to chop the vegetables. If necessary, add a little water. Once the vegetables are chopped, blend on the lowest speed and gradually work your way up to the highest. At first the vegetables will jump up the sides, but then they'll subside and remain at much the same level no matter the speed of the blender. With the motor running, add the rest of the liquid and any vegetables left over in the pot and purée until completely smooth.
   
   5. Wipe out the pot to remove any bits of vegetables, then pour the puréed soup back into it. Heat through over low heat. Taste for salt.
   
   6. Beat the sour cream with a spoon to soften it. Divide the soup among four warmed soup bowls, drizzle in a bit of sour cream in a decorative pattern, and serve.
   
   And here are a couple of samples of Parson's hints on finding great ingredients:
   
   A good watermelon should "sound hollow when thumped lightly." The reason: large cavities form inside the ripened fruit. An additional personal hint: if you buy a watermelon already cut, perhaps covered with clear plastic wrap, pick watermelons with large cavities, not the ones that are smooth and completely flat.
   
   When selecting citrus and tomatoes, go for items that feel heavy for their size; lighter ones will have lost moisture and have a pulpy mouth feel.
   
   "Mature fruit that hung on the tree long enough to develop the sugar will have a distinctive orange cast . . . trust your nose: fruit that is ripe and delicious will always smell that way." In particular, "When you buy [peaches] at the right time of year, however, when the local farmers have filled the markets with them, these fragrant treasures go for pennies. They'll even be cheap enough that you can afford to buy the very best. And that's the time you want to pick a peach."
   
   Altogether, I found this a very handy book to refresh my memory of what constitutes excellent ingredients, particularly handy in the paperback size when shopping.
   
   
   Robert C. Ross 2008



5. This book is very interesting. Thank God for NPR or we wouldn't hear about all the great books.