Cover Image: Grow Great Vegetables in Pennsylvania

Grow Great Vegetables in Pennsylvania

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

I've never been to the Northeast and I can't afford to travel, so I like to look at books about what life is like in the Northeast. I love gardening and I am totally unfamiliar with the climate of the Northeast (apparently they have real winters there?? Thank God the Pacific Northwest avoids those things...) so I checked out Timber Press's whole series from Marie Iannotti, Growing Great Vegetables in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York.

Funny story, each of these books contain the same information with only a few variations. Still, lots of great info about gardening in the Northeast, I place I will probably never visit. Some great tips about vegetable gardening in general, regardless of where you are (especially if you need help maintaining your garden during the winter). So if you live in the region, these books will be very useful. If you're just an armchair traveler / gardener, then you'll find some great info.

Also no way am I ever living in any of those states. First frost in September? SEPTEMBER??!?! No thank you. I'll stay in the West, where by September most of the west is still on fire.

Was this review helpful?

Grow Great Vegetables in Pennsylvania is a regionally tailored home gardening guide for producing vegetables for taste and nutrition and to increase self-reliance and food security. This is one of a series of regionally specific guides (MA, NY, NJ and PA) released by Timber press. Written by Marie Iannotti, it's 244 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.

This guide is arranged by seasons with a chapter for each month. The introductory chapter (~13% of the page content) covers garden planning, climates and subzones in Pennsylvania, as well as a very general gardening introduction.

The monthly sections include tasks for each month, potential problems and troubleshooting, planning and placement of the garden plot, harvesting and more.

The third section of the book is a regional guide to choosing vegetables and varieties which will thrive in your area.

There's a resource list (slanted to readers in the mid-Atlantic region), a bibliography and further reading list, USDA based hardiness zonal map, and an index. The photography is crisp, clear, and abundant. This is a well crafted book which will provide gardeners with hours of blissful dreaming as well as serving as a valuable troubleshooting guide.

Five stars. Very well done.

Was this review helpful?

Great information for learners and as a reference book for experienced growers. It is tailored to Pennsylvania planting..
With great pictures and graphs, it covers frost dates, planting and harvest goals. It also covers pest control, trellis planting, soil amendment, companion planting and irrigation in easy to grasp, clear writing.
It is a smart place to start if you want a high yield
I requested this book as an ARC from Netgalley and recommend it to anyone who is interested in growing their own food.

Was this review helpful?

This book is a great reference for anyone wanting to grow the most ideal vegetables for the PA area. I found many useful tips and tricks, as well as information on what plants would do best in your backyard garden or hobby farm. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to grow vegetables, whether they live in PA or the surrounding areas that may also have a similar climate. This book is great for the beginning novice or seasoned gardener. I am sure I will come back to this book many times over the years to come!

Was this review helpful?

This is a fantastic gardening book, and the rest of the series looks great too! PA is such a huge state, so the fact that the author took the time to break each area down into different planting zones is wonderful!

Was this review helpful?