Maria Rodale's Organic Gardening: Your Seasonal Companion to Creating a Beautiful & Delicious Garden

In this debut of a new generation of America's first family of organic gardening, the author shucks the down-home, quirky pragmatism of her forebears to cultivate a more genteel interest in the style and pleasure of gardens. The theme behind this seasonally arranged almanac is that organic gardens can be beautiful and will produce delicious vegetables and fruit. A dizzying kaleidoscope of personal memoirs, philosophy and information is loosely organized into a legion of lists (everything from ""easy steps to make your dreams come to life"" to good bugs/bad bugs) and ubiquitous info bytes (""11 reasons why you should never, ever use chemicals again"" and ""five ways to dig up grass"") and a few too many common-sense recipes (Mashed Potatoes, Corn). The breadth of subject matter is the strength of this book--and its weakness. Although gardening neophytes will encounter encouragement and helpful advice, many will find that the fluffy or self-evident tips weaken the book. Rodale says, ""This is not a book about how fabulous my own garden is. It's far too new and immature.... Maybe in another 30 years I will do a book on my own beautiful yard."" Gardeners with some experience may opt to wait for the author's own maturing as a gardener and a writer. 600 color photos not seen by PW. (Nov.)