Time Machine
Great Garden Companions -- What a Resource!, April 7, 2005

If you do `Organic', then you probably already know Rodale Press and their penchant for searching out and finding the best possible authors. With Sally Jean Cunningham they certainly have a hit the jackpot. She writes so clearly and with such joy that you would think she was a Rodale herself.

To give you an idea of what her style is like, in the introduction, Sally Jean illuminates the three harvests that she personally derives from her garden. The first is what you would expect, healthful vegetables and beautiful flowers; the second however is "satisfaction and peace of mind". And the third, she says, is the experience of getting to teach to others the techniques and secrets that she has learned over a lifetime of experimentation in the garden.

It would be very difficult to outline all that she teaches. Giving the chapter headings would only be misleading, but suffice it to say that she covers companion planting, french intensive/raised gardening, organic soil building and pest control (which happily includes how to train dogs and children to stay out of the raised beds-LOL) And this in the first few chapters.

From there she covers `"good guys" or those beneficials we'd all like to see dancing about our blooms, the inclusion of perennials amongst the seasonal throng; and design elements, such as arbors, creative mulch, creative garden design, etc.

Of continual use to me over the years are the sections at the end of the book where she goes veggie by veggie describing friends, foes, growing essentials, spacing, feeding, harvesting tips and problems one is likely to encounter.

She also has some summary charts for Beneficials (insects) and plants they like; plants and the pests they may repel; as well as several pages on "Preventing Pest" problems in the first place.

Personally, I have only 3 gardening books at home and this is one. And if you are organic (or want to be) or if you just want a wealth of veggie and flora information, then this book will be a great addition to your gardening library. ( )

Great book if you're looking for information on companion planting. Contrary to what the other reviewer said, I think the book covered the organic benefits of planting certain plants together, just as much, if not more, than color schemes, etc. It most definately does not go very in depth, but it is a good, basic introduction to companion planting.

And just a fun read on top of that. One of my favorite gardening books. ( )

Inspiring, Gets my imagination going!