Vegetable gardening made easy

Press, 28 August 1979, Page 3 (Supplement)

Vegetable gardening made easy

Vegetable Gardening in New Zealand by Ralph Ballinger publishe I by Caxton Press. 1979. 104 pp. $4.95. Reviewed by Rosemary Homewood. A new practical illustrated guide to vegetable gardening which even the most hesitant and amateur gardener would have no difficulty in understanding. The author has spent a lifetime in the growing of vegetables and has been actively involved in home gardening, commercial growing and vegetable research. He is an acknowledged expert within

the. field of horticulture. The easy to read and concise text contains chapters on soils, tools, planning, manures, fertilisers, seed bed preparation, raising plants, and pest and disease control. There is alphabetical information on individual vegetables and a special section on herbs. Basic tables of general purpose fertiliser mixes, as well as information on pest and disease control are a real boon to ths busy layman who has little time to spare, but wh' wishes to provide the

family with home-grown vegetables that are really first class in condition and taste. I particularly liked the monthly reminders that are a prominent feature of this well-thought-out book; each is headed by an appropriate quotation, the one for October is most apt: “take time to enjoy a walk in your garden each day.” Gardening is a very therapeutic activity for those who have a sedentary or stressful occupation; it is also very good exercise. Vegetable gardening has many benefits, not least . mongst them the very real savings that can be made within the weekly food budget. Anyone who is contemplating growing the family vegetables or wishes to improve the quality of those at

esent under cultivation would find this well-illust-rated and concise book invaluable. There are over 180 black and white photographs and special drill diagrams that have been drawn to scale. As this reviewer is a very amateur gardener who has achieved moderate success with the flower garden but none whatsoever with the vegetable patch, I can only try once again, but this time I shall at least be well-in-formed on what I should and should not be doing.

The author has done the home-gardener a valuable service, in producing such I an informative and clear I guide, for as the Novem- ( ber quotation states; “Your own vegetables definitely taste better than those grown by anyone else.”