No comments about El huerto en casa / The Vegetable Garden at Home: Rapido y Facil / Fast and Easy (Jardin En Casa / Garden at Home).

No comments about Vegetables (Rodale Organic Gardening Basics, Vol 3).

No comments about Guide to Iowa Vegetable Gardening.

1 comments about Rooted in America: Foodlore of Popular Fruits and Vegetables.

1. This book is a fascinating study of the historical and cultural contexts for everyday foods. Each chapter looks at the history of a fruit or vegetable that is a common part of American foodways. The writers fill out the historical background with intriguing discussions of the social and cultural norms that are associated with nine different foods and also with tobacco use. Readers can find out the real scoop on Johnny Appleseed and also discover why the cities of Fulton and South Fulton host a banana festival in two towns that straddle the border of Kentucky and Tennessee. The book is an excellent resource for information about common foods in Americans' diets, but it also provides a model for writing a social history of significant aspects of everyday life. You'll never eat an orange or a slice of watermelon in quite the same way after reading this interesting and well-written book that presents solid folklife scholarship in a digestible format.

No comments about Guide to Alabama Vegetable Gardening.

4 comments about Peppers: The Domesticated Capsicums, New Edition.

1. First published in 1984, Peppers is one of the most beautiful books about any food plant we've ever seen. Author Jean Andrews is not only the artist behind 34 full color plates of the world's capsicums, she is also a thorough historian of food whose work has influenced many books about capsicums that followed hers. Peppers is to the capsicum family what Redcliffe Salaman's The History and Social Influence of the Potato is to solanum tuberosum, with the bonus of color illustrations. Andrews' book explores the origins of the plant, its travels beyond South America, its biological and economic story, its multiple varieties, its most recent high tech implications, and ends with several recipes, and a photographic glossary of botanical terms. Any student of food plants will find repeated value in this book.



2. Andrews is an agent of the dominant culture. She homogenizes chiles and attributes Christopher Columbus for discovering them. In fact, the book is dedicated to this age of exploration tyrant. What a joke! She gives a nice little backstory about why chiles are referred to as peppers and how chiles are the number one condiment in the world.
   Wake up Andrews! Chile is not a condiment! It's a staple of various aboriginal cultures throughout the world: from Asia to the Americas. Andrews perpetuates the genocide of these cultures by degrading them to condiments! And this updated version of the book includes so-called new medicinal uses of chile. The aboriginal people of the world have been using chile for medicinal purposes for centuries upon centuries! So, what are we to do now? Attribute the medicinal discovery to Andrews, just as she attributed Columbus's "discovery"? Please. Orwell warned us that whoever controls the present now, controls the past. Therefore, the dominant culture can rewrite (continually) history as they see fit. Praising their alleged heroes for introducing "new" discoveries.



3. I bought this book as a chemist looking for information on the chilli pepper. I certainly found it. The book is exquisitely illustrated with numerous colour plates, photographs and drawings. No excuse for confusing your Habanero with your Pimento. It has also got a very detailed bibliography. In between the covers there is a detailed account of the history of peppers, their biology and their uses. The author belongs to the prevailing culture that dictates that chemical structures should not appear in a popular science text, but that's my only criticism. I look forward to reading it again.



4. I first read this book some 15 years ago. I had gone to a low fat, largely vegetarian diet for health reasons, and was saved from the world of bland by the chile pepper. My wife gave Jean Andrews' book to me as a gift after I eventually expressed a mystical love for the capsicum as a salvation from culinary boredom. Ms. Andrews rendered the wonderful illustrations of various pepper species as part of her work toward getting a Masters of Fine Arts in the Art Department at the University of Texas in the early 80s. She developed, in the process of this work, an interest in the culinary, cultural, aesthtical, and botanical nature of the wonderful wold of the capsicum. This is a classic tome devoted to the chile pepper. Ms. Andrews has written several other books on the chile, and is regarded by lovers of the capsicum as something of a saint.

No comments about Growing Vegetables (RHS Encyclopedia of Practical Gardening).

1 comments about Grow Your Own Pharmacy.

1. "Canadian Garden" magazine writer Linda Gray presents Grow Your Own Pharmacy, a well-rounded guide to growing one's own vegetables, herbs, berries, and fruit trees, along with the basics of essential nutrition in many home-grown plants, recipes, information on edible flowers, and how to use certain medicinal herbs to treat common ailments. Written in plain terms, Grow Your Own Pharmacy is a welcome means to create organic and healthy food within the grounds of one's own home. An easy-to-use "how-to" resource, highly recommended for first-time gardeners and advanced gardening buffs alike.

1 comments about McMillen's Texas Gardening: Vegetables (Mcmillen's Texas Gardening Series).

1. This book is a boon to Texas vegetable gardeners. Judging from discussions with other gardeners in my neighborhood, this book is comprehensive and useful to gardeners ranging from novice to experienced. It covers topics from the average first and last frost dates in the region to selecting varieties of seeds that will do well in Texas to a specific review of 50 of the state's most popular vegetables. It even includes some information on vertical gardening.

   I would suggest this book to any vegetable gardener in Texas.

1 comments about Chile Peppers (Brooklyn Botanic Garden All-Region Guide).

1. I bought this book used because I wanted to compare the BBG CHILE PEPPER book with other pepper books and the price was right. I have a confession. I never eat peppers. I can grow anything that smacks of capsicum, but I don't even like the smell of green peppers on pizza. Okay, I make chili and do it the right way with several tablespoons of ground chili pepper, and I eat plenty of Asian food including various dishes with pepper, and I love Salsa, but I avoid items on the menu with the little chili pepper (Szechewan, "hot" Thai) and I no longer eat Black Pepper because it makes me sneeze. My son-in-law pops whole peppers in his mouth - right off the plant, and the hotter the better. He scoffs at Scoville units, and he's teaching the bolder of my granddaughters to engage in the same crass behavior. I know that Capsicum helps relieve pain, so he should feel no pain this summer. I prefer my Capsicum in tablet form or as an ointment.
   
   I grow peppers because they are so pretty and easy to grow. I place them in clay pots and line the driveway. I take the tall purple and black varieties and lace the perennial beds. I use them as the "fill" in potted arrangements. Peppers make great accent plants, and they can handle drought in hot summer. In fact, they love drought. Apparently, the more drought the better the pepper. The BBG CHILE PEPPERS monograph includes a section on growing `Small Chiles and Ornamentals', but it's very short, lacks photos and is not terribly helpful for those who would like to enhance their garden plots. I found Rosilind Creasy's EDIBLE PEPPER GARDEN more helpful.
   
   The BBG CHILE PEPPER book is filled with recipes for main dishes, pepper dishes and salsas and vinegars, and shows you how roasted peppers should look before you whip them into a salsa.
   
   I like the book because it is short and to the point with lots of photos. As a gardener, I find it more cook book than anything else, although it includes the inevitable section on pests and diseases. I am always puzzled by this, because the least of my concerns with peppers are pests and diseases. In fact pepper can be used as an insect deterrant.