Come in from your lush garden and check out a few books on growing and harvesting fruits and veggies.

• Nature’s Harvest: A Produce Reference Guide to Fruits and Vegetables From Around the World, by Donald D. Heaton, Haworth Press, $34.85

There’s a world of information here in concise paragraphs of descriptions followed by lists of varieties, running alphabetically from apples to yams. Take plums, for example. They grow easily in our area and are the second most popular stone fruit nationally, behind peaches.

Regular plums are native not only to the U.S. but also to Asia and Europe. The most consumed types are Japanese red and yellow, while blue and purple plums are the base for prunes.

• The Organic Home Garden: How to Grow Fruits and Vegetables Naturally, by Patrick Lima, Firefly Books, $19.95

Well-illustrated and written, this book has all kinds of tips on how to plant and harvest veggies and fruits organically while protecting them from disease and insects.

Directions are offered on topics ranging from caring for and preparing your earth to sowing cool crops (peas, spinach and onions), then tomatoes and lettuce. Then you get to the root of the gardening effort, with carrots, radishes, beets and the like.

You’ll also learn how and when to seed in midsummer for fall harvest. Strawberry instructions alone cover several pages. Seed sources also are included.

• The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible, by Edward C. Smith, Storey Publishing, $24.95

Smith calls his system W.O.R.D., for wide rows, organic methods, raised beds and deep soils. The method is illustrated by hundreds of color photos and drawings.

After explaining how to prepare for planting, the focus shifts to specific veggies, with information on when and how to plant. It’s a handy reference for your library.

Dale Langford is an area lawn and garden specialist.

source : www.rockymountainnews.com