cover image The Dirt Doctor's Guide to Organic Gardening: Essays on the Natural Way

The Dirt Doctor's Guide to Organic Gardening: Essays on the Natural Way

Howard Garrett, J. Howard Garrett. University of Texas Press, $14.95 (230pp) ISBN 978-0-292-72781-6

This treatise by Dallas Morning News columnist and fervent advocate of the organic technique leaves no stone unturned on the subject of chemical-free gardening. Garrett offers persuasive arguments in favor of a holistic approach to gardening that considers composting, soil enrichment with natural ingredients, mulching, alternative pest control (using such harmless ingredients as baking soda and vinegar) and so on. Serious in tone, this isn't exactly light reading, but neither is it scholarly or dull. Garrett displays a steady supply of wit and anecdotes to keep the prose flowing at a lively clip; the Texan spin on things (ridding a garden of fire ants and armadillos, for example) is intriguing. This volume serves well as an up-to-the-minute reference, one that gardeners of an organic persuasion will likely consult repeatedly. Rodale Book Club selection. (Nov.)