Step by Step Organic Vegetable Gardening: The Gardening Classic Revised and Updated

For those who want to learn organic gardening without authorial preaching, Ogden may be the perfect teacher. Building on the knowledge passed on by his grandfather, Samuel Ogden (who wrote the original Step by Step in 1975) and on his own years as a market farmer and seedsman, Ogden leads the reader through the process of becoming a good organic gardener. As he states in the epilogue, the book is meant for people who ``want to garden without danger to themselves and without damage to the environment''; in his view, they're neither fanatics of technique nor devotees of traditional ritual for its own sake. Chapters cover planning, seed starting, compost-making and planting. Along the way to a large section on individual vegetables, Ogden gives his opinions on a variety of subjects, from pesticides and power tools to chemically treated seed and the wisdom behind crop rotation, always taking the reassuring tone of a very patient elder. His discussion of vegetable growing is filled with recommendations on varieties, as well as tips on planting, cultivating and harvesting. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Sept.)