The 20-Minute Vegetable Gardener: Gourmet Gardening for the Rest of Us

A humorous book about vegetable gardening would seem to be an oxymoron, but the zany wit in this book will appeal to both doers and dreamers in the gardening world. Continuing the friendly rivalry and practical philosophy of The 20-Minute Gardener, Christopher and Asher (dubbed the ""Click and Clack"" of gardening) embark on a path of easy vegetable production. They intersperse a wealth of practical advice with a friendly narrative peppered with comments about neighbors, family and each other's foibles. A 10-point advice guide sets the tone of the book: for example, the authors wisely put forth that any vegetable grown by a 20-minute-a-day gardener is only valuable if it offers a significant improvement over the store-bought alternative, and they point out that they don't weed: ""only the hyperactive and the truly stupid try to outwit nature."" Suggestions for high-impact vegetables and how to plant and cultivate them are followed by tips for soil maintenance, harvesting and even favorite recipes for both common and unusual vegetables. Sources for heirloom plants and seeds complete this book that reads as easily as a novel but offers as much information as any valuable reference book. (Feb.)