Specialty focus books are one thing but in all honesty I don't think any general gardening book can match the info available on the web. ;) It would have to be the size of a set of encyclopedias! And even then it wouldn't be "comprehensive" as it would still be only one person's opinion. There is no one right way to garden. Instead you might want to explore some of the many agriculture state universities informative websites - preferably your own state's since it would be the most relevant to you. You don't indicate where you live but most state AG extension have great info, detailed to specific crops. For example: Ohio State University provides detailed "how-to" fact sheets on everything from Asparagus to Watermelon and that only scratches the surface. Google '___________(your state) agricultural extension service' to find the ones nearest you. Also check out Backyardgardener not to mention all the great vegetable-specific forums here. GW forums cover everything from Alliums to Wildflowers. ;) Dave

Please follow the link below for more professional information since I may accidentally make this sound lame and disjointed. It's only because I am as yet uneducated. My sister with the Masters in Horticulture from NC State insists that I take Will Hooker's class. She loved it. Permaculture ("permanent" + "culture" or "permanent" + "agriculture") is a design philosophy developed by Bill Mollison in the 1970's. It basically teaches you to use nature's principles as your own as you build your home and structures, design your landscape, think about water and energy. The point is sustainability focusing on intensive small-scale food production by developing the natural relationships between plants and animals. I am really interested in the landscaping principles since I'm in The American Suburb. Right now, the land is what I can control most. Permaculture principles that I need to learn about are things like "food forests" where you layer different plants as you would find them in nature. Canopy, low tree layer (like dwarf fruits), shrubs, herbaceous plants, root crops, cover crops, and climbers/vines. I don't know yet what that means for me who lives on the edge of real woods and just figures I'll do straight-up raised beds. I want to know more. There's also a principle of "everything must have at least two uses". One example is housing your chickens in a chicken tractor so you can position them under your grape arbor. You shake down your vines, the beetles drop into the tractor. You save your grapes, you feed your chickens... Since I don't have chickens (yet!...), I want to see what else I might dual-purpose. I'm itching to build my arbor. Another observation/principle is that there is no waste in nature. Everything has a purpose and returns to the earth somehow. One man's apple core is another worm's dinner. That kind of thing. We all know composting is good, right? One of the desired results of permaculture is efficiency. There's much more that I don't know about. You might be able to tell that I haven't gotten my hands on the books yet but I do want to learn before I commit to my backyard landscape design. That's why I want cohorts in Charlotte :) This is the link to the course description at NC State. http://delta.ncsu.edu/apps/coursedetail/index.php?id=HS:590::601:FALL:2009 Here is a link that might be useful: Permaculture

I don't know that there are any vegetable garden books specifically related to Oklahoma other than Louise Riotte's books. However, as written, they were intended for a national audience. I think it is just because we know she was from southern OK (Ardmore) that we treasure her books so much. I like all her books, and listed some of them in the previous thread about gardening books I'm going to link below. Many of my favorite gardening books that I rely upon are mentioned in the link below, but I have a couple of new favorites that I don't think I'd read at the time last year's book thread was written, so I'll mention them here. "The Texas Tomato Lover's Handbook" by Dr. William D. Adams, published in 2011. Dr. Adams enjoyed a long and distinctive career with the Ag Extension Service in Texas where he tested tomato plants year in and year out with the help of Master Gardeners in his county. He also maintains his own kitchen garden, and sells his excess produce at market. If there is anything you need to know about how to grow tomatoes in our climate and soils, he covers it in this book . I love, love, love this book so much that if I had to get rid of all my gardening books and could keep only one, this is the one I would keep. It would be really hard, though, for me to get rid of the next two. "Homegrown Vegetables, Fruits & Herbs" (a Creative Homeowner book), by Jim Wilson (of Victory Garden fame) and Walter Chandoha, published in 2010. This book was written/photographed by two men with over 100 years of gardening experience between them. Best of all, Jim Wilson gardened in the south, so the book is well-balanced for all regions of the country, which is not necessarily the case with all books geared toward a national audience. This book is outstanding. If I was a new gardener who was just getting into growing veggies, fruits and herbs, this book would tell me everything I needed to know in order to know where to begin, what to do and how to succeed. I've mentioned this next book many times before. Even though I've had it for almost 3 decades and practically have it memorized, I'd panic if my copy was misplaced and I couldn't find it. Dr. Sam Cotner's "The Vegetable Book: A Texans Guide to Gardening" was published in the mid-1980s, and I am on my second copy, having totally worn out the first copy about a decade ago. Dr. Cotner was the head of horticulture at A&M before his retirement, and that was the position he held when he wrote this book. I learned how to grow veggies from watching my dad do it, but he was very quiet and didn't talk about what he was doing or why he was doing it--he just did it. So, I learned the how from observing my dad, but from Dr. Cotner's book I learned all the why's and wherefore's. It was this book that taught me about the effect of soil temps and air temps on plants, which may seem elementary, but most of us don't know those things when we're just starting out. Once you understand the effect of air and soil temps on your plants and their productivity, everything else just falls into place. My favorite guide to growing herbs is "Southern Herb Growing" written by Madalene Hill & Gwen Barclay with Jean Hardy. No one was/is more qualified to write about southern herb growing than Madalene Hill and Gwen Barclay, except perhaps for Jim Long. All his books are great too. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention "Texas Gardener" magazine, which I've been reading for a couple of decades now. Although it covers all aspescts of gardening in Texas, I find its info just as appropriate for OK. It does cover all sorts of gardening, everything from lawns to trees and shrubs to water gardening, flowers, fruits and veggies. It seems to me that it has at least as much emphasis on fruits, herbs and veggies as on ornamentals, and I love it. So, that's my two cents contributed to this discussion. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Previous Thread on Gardening Books

That one is on my list to read, Lee - just as soon as I can get my hands on a copy! My (little bitty small town) library can't seem to locate it; so I've given the ISBN # along with all pertinent info to my daughter so that she can try to order it from the library where she goes to college. I've found several sites where I could place an order, but it's being reprinted, so they can't promise delivery anytime soon. Sigh. Guess I'll just keep stumbling along. Does anyone subscribe to any permaculture magazines? The only one I could find online comes from the UK - I wondered if the info would be adaptable to the midwest US?