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The Old Farmer's Almanac Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook
This book is the perfect companion for every vegetable gardener—even those who have never touched a trowel and wouldn’t know mulch from mud! The practical advice presented in the Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook demystifies gardening by providing the best, most proven methods for sowing, growing, and harvesting. Highlights include … Created for new gardeners, green thumbs, and old hands alike, The Old Farmer’s Almanac Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook is loaded with advice and inspiration to help plants—and growers—thrive. Only The Old Farmer’s Almanac has the experience and longevity to offer the very best tried-and-true information, tips, and advice about all things gardening and growing. With the Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook , we are a patient master gardener passing down the secrets of growing great food to every gardener.
208 pages, Paperback
Published November 12, 2019
43 people are currently reading
669 people want to read
About the author
Old Farmer's Almanac
232 books50 followersAmerica's best-selling annual publication, with facts, feature articles, and advice that are "useful, with a pleasant degree of humor."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
January 7, 2023
I’m sure I will read this multiple times as I continue to improve my vegetable garden.
January 16, 2020
Even though I'm a semi-experienced gardener, this is a book that I might buy because it had so much helpful information. The first part of the book "Ground Rules" goes over different types of gardening (raised beds, container gardening, etc.), testing and building soil, composting, starting seeds and knowing when to plant. Part 2 covers Vegetables and Growing Concerns. In the Vegetables section each vegetable gets a few pages that covers planting, care, common diseases and pests, and harvest. In Growing Concerns dealing with disease and pests are covered in more detail and watering and fertilizing are also covered. There are also several journal pages throughout the book for keeping notes about your garden. There is a LOT of really good, helpful information in this book for a beginner or more experienced gardener as there is always more to learn with gardening.
March 22, 2023
A must read for all gardeners. Full of info and wit. Such as:
in 2013, a team of scientists and schoolchildren lit an 8-foot-tall Christmas tree in London with the energy from 1,000 Brussels sprouts (a total of about 62 volts).
Carrots were the first vegetable to be canned commercially.
To rejuvenate wilted lettuce leaves, put into a bowl of cold water with ice cubes for about 15 minutes.
At Patrick’s Day is traditional day for planting peas.
Garlic or onions rubbed on bee or insect bites take away the sting.
What country carves turnips for Jack-o-lanterns instead of pumpkins?
Read the book to find out!!!
in 2013, a team of scientists and schoolchildren lit an 8-foot-tall Christmas tree in London with the energy from 1,000 Brussels sprouts (a total of about 62 volts).
Carrots were the first vegetable to be canned commercially.
To rejuvenate wilted lettuce leaves, put into a bowl of cold water with ice cubes for about 15 minutes.
At Patrick’s Day is traditional day for planting peas.
Garlic or onions rubbed on bee or insect bites take away the sting.
What country carves turnips for Jack-o-lanterns instead of pumpkins?
Read the book to find out!!!
February 14, 2021
Good information. Some I already knew but some I didn’t so I learned from this book. Well put together and can be used to record annual stuff like pH, crop rotation, pests , etc.
As a gardener it is a useful tool and will be where I keep my gardening records.
As a gardener it is a useful tool and will be where I keep my gardening records.
May 31, 2022
A really good addition to your home library. As a semi-experienced gardener most things were already known for preparing your space. I was interested in what information was included for the vegetables that I might not know. Fun "wit & wisdom" was included for each vegetable that was interesting to read about. Great photos. There's always something to learn.
January 26, 2025
Informative and a great refresher for any vegetable gardener, new and old. Lots of tidbits to look back on, space to note gardening plans, seed saving, and the like.
Recommended.
Recommended.
March 2, 2021
When I first read the Farmer's Almanac I thought it was some weird magazine old people subscribed to. As I reread it I realized that it is an awesome tool! So when I saw the veggie handbook I snatched it up! Love how informative it is. However, my favorite part is the cool fun facts it provides on each vegetable. LOVE IT! For sure a good read!
October 11, 2021
"The Old Farmer's Almanac Vegetable Gardener's Handbook" by Sherin Pierce is a wonderful way to learn more about garnering and how plants work in the first place. In this review I will go over the most important part of the book in my opinion. First is getting started on pages 10-11. You can't feel better if you don't get started. In these two pages you learn about the basics of what a plant needs to thrive in an environment, one you need a sunny spot for your plants to grow. In the book it says a plant needs at least 6 hour in the sun. It is also a space for itself, if it's next to a tree the tree will cover the sun which is vital for it to survive. Also if it is next to another plant both plants will compete for water and nutrients in the soil. Water is also one of the most important elements in a plant's survival, if it is in a dry season or the soil is just dry then you might have to water it with a watering can. You might not know this but air travel is also one of the most important parts of growing, it will keep diseases at bay if your air travel is good. The wind can be destructive to plants, to solve this problem you can put up fences and solid walls to stop the wind. But you can't put them right next to the fence because it will block sunlight. And the last basic thing to know about getting started is the cold, cold air is heavier than hot air which means that the soil can get pretty cold in the colder months. To combat this you can learn when the first frost in spring and the last frost in fall.
The next topic that is important to learn is the tools. You can't plant your plants correctly if you have no clue what your tools are and how to use them. The most important tools to learn about are cloves, garden fork, hand cultivator, garden hose, and a watering can. The cloves are to protect you from the harsh parts of plants, some plants can give you cuts and blisters to the hand, so for safety it is a good idea to get a pair of gloves. The garden fork is mainly for turning over soil and compost as well as digging up root crops like carrots or horseradish. After that the hand cultivator is great for getting rid of small weeds and making the soil softer for planting, if you have really tough soil then you need to use this in your garden. Next is the garden hose which is used for water, if you have a large outdoor garden then you need to get a garden hose. You can put it on sprinkle mode to evenly distribute the water to all the crops or you can use the jet mode to water a smaller group of plants. Then lastly is the watering can which is used for watering small gardens when you don’t need to give the plants a lot of water.
The next selection is “U.S. Frosts and Growing Seasons” in this review I am going to talk specifically about Colorado, in the book it names the capital of Colorado, Denver. Denver’s growing season is 145 days in a year. The last spring frost happens on average on May 7th, then the first Fall Frost on average is on September 30th. For other areas in Colorado it is not always the same, this is because of the mountains and that in the mountains it can be around 15 degrees colder than in Denver. So it is mostly the same, it might have a little less days and an earlier Spring and Fall frost but that is it.
Now I will talk about the two things to grow in the book, there are a couple of pages about herbs so I will specifically talk about the herb Basil and the vegetable I want to grow which is cucumbers. Some things that I learned about basil in this book are that you should start the seeds indoors in early spring, transplant them after spring, and put the basil into fertile, well-drained soil in the middle of the day. Plant them about 12 inches apart to prevent root rot. Basil likes heat and water in the middle of the day. On average after the first six weeks they will start to create the basil leaves. Then there are the vegetables, the cucumbers. There are two main types of cucumbers: the vining cucumbers and the bush cucumbers. It is one of the fastest growing vegetables of them all if it gets plenty of sun and water. It thrives in any amount of space and has a great ability to climb. The vining cucumber creates vines on a fence, it has large leaves that protect the cucumber. This is the most common cucumber.
Lastly is the critters and the pests, I will talk about one of three critters and one pest in this paragraph. Three critters in this book is Deer, Rabbits, and lastly , squirrels. Some ways to get rid of deer is to put bright lights around the plants. They say to use Christmas lights in the book. It tells you to keep them on from dawn to dusk. This scares the deer and makes it so that they don’t take the chance of coming close to your crops. Another way is to fold lengths of chicken wire into pleats, then you put it around your crops. When they walk over it, it scares the deer and they don’t like the unstable feeling on their feet. Next critter is the rabbits. You can place dried sulfur or wood ashes around the edges of your garden. This makes the crops appealing so the rabbits go get other plants to eat. And the other tip is to sprinkle blood meal around your crops after each rainfall. Then lastly is the squirrels. I think the best tip is to put a fence a foot under the ground for your garden, this makes it so that the squirrels can’t go underground to sneak into your garden and eat. Then the second best tip is to put cayenne peppers, pepper flanke, and garlic pepper on plants that are ready to bloom so they won’t eat them because of the spice. Then the one pest I learned about in the book is the stink bugs, some ways to tell that you have a stink bug problem seeing yellow or white blotches on the leaves, scarred, dimpled, or distorted fruit. The best way to get rid of them is to destroy crop residue with them or if you can handpick them with gloves on and destroy their eggs.
The next topic that is important to learn is the tools. You can't plant your plants correctly if you have no clue what your tools are and how to use them. The most important tools to learn about are cloves, garden fork, hand cultivator, garden hose, and a watering can. The cloves are to protect you from the harsh parts of plants, some plants can give you cuts and blisters to the hand, so for safety it is a good idea to get a pair of gloves. The garden fork is mainly for turning over soil and compost as well as digging up root crops like carrots or horseradish. After that the hand cultivator is great for getting rid of small weeds and making the soil softer for planting, if you have really tough soil then you need to use this in your garden. Next is the garden hose which is used for water, if you have a large outdoor garden then you need to get a garden hose. You can put it on sprinkle mode to evenly distribute the water to all the crops or you can use the jet mode to water a smaller group of plants. Then lastly is the watering can which is used for watering small gardens when you don’t need to give the plants a lot of water.
The next selection is “U.S. Frosts and Growing Seasons” in this review I am going to talk specifically about Colorado, in the book it names the capital of Colorado, Denver. Denver’s growing season is 145 days in a year. The last spring frost happens on average on May 7th, then the first Fall Frost on average is on September 30th. For other areas in Colorado it is not always the same, this is because of the mountains and that in the mountains it can be around 15 degrees colder than in Denver. So it is mostly the same, it might have a little less days and an earlier Spring and Fall frost but that is it.
Now I will talk about the two things to grow in the book, there are a couple of pages about herbs so I will specifically talk about the herb Basil and the vegetable I want to grow which is cucumbers. Some things that I learned about basil in this book are that you should start the seeds indoors in early spring, transplant them after spring, and put the basil into fertile, well-drained soil in the middle of the day. Plant them about 12 inches apart to prevent root rot. Basil likes heat and water in the middle of the day. On average after the first six weeks they will start to create the basil leaves. Then there are the vegetables, the cucumbers. There are two main types of cucumbers: the vining cucumbers and the bush cucumbers. It is one of the fastest growing vegetables of them all if it gets plenty of sun and water. It thrives in any amount of space and has a great ability to climb. The vining cucumber creates vines on a fence, it has large leaves that protect the cucumber. This is the most common cucumber.
Lastly is the critters and the pests, I will talk about one of three critters and one pest in this paragraph. Three critters in this book is Deer, Rabbits, and lastly , squirrels. Some ways to get rid of deer is to put bright lights around the plants. They say to use Christmas lights in the book. It tells you to keep them on from dawn to dusk. This scares the deer and makes it so that they don’t take the chance of coming close to your crops. Another way is to fold lengths of chicken wire into pleats, then you put it around your crops. When they walk over it, it scares the deer and they don’t like the unstable feeling on their feet. Next critter is the rabbits. You can place dried sulfur or wood ashes around the edges of your garden. This makes the crops appealing so the rabbits go get other plants to eat. And the other tip is to sprinkle blood meal around your crops after each rainfall. Then lastly is the squirrels. I think the best tip is to put a fence a foot under the ground for your garden, this makes it so that the squirrels can’t go underground to sneak into your garden and eat. Then the second best tip is to put cayenne peppers, pepper flanke, and garlic pepper on plants that are ready to bloom so they won’t eat them because of the spice. Then the one pest I learned about in the book is the stink bugs, some ways to tell that you have a stink bug problem seeing yellow or white blotches on the leaves, scarred, dimpled, or distorted fruit. The best way to get rid of them is to destroy crop residue with them or if you can handpick them with gloves on and destroy their eggs.
September 4, 2020
Goes into detail about pests. Needs to give more solutions. Detailed as to when to plant vegetables but could definitely cover more on quite a bit. I felt like they don't cover in detail the transfer from in the home to outside for hardening off. Same with different types of soil. Could have covered more.
January 17, 2020
As a full time organic farmer, I have learned a lot over the years. Because I am madly in love with my job, I continue to learn & read anything I can get my hands on regarding natural farming. While I did already know much of the information in this book, I also learned a great deal too. My favorite thing to say is that no matter how much I learn, I know nothing.
This small & slender book is beautifully laid out with full color photos & packed with information regarding the growing requirements of vegetables. From soil health, to compost, fertilizers, weather, plant variations, & more, this book is bursting with useful information & tips. At the end of each section there are charts you can fill out to help you keep track. For example: 'My Seed-Starting Record' This has a column for the date planted, the seed/variety, the medium, & the days to transplant. There are disease & pest records, fertilizer records, rotation records, & much more. If you don't want to write in the book, I suggest photo copying these pages & putting them into a dedicated farm journal/binder.
If you are new to gardening, know that you will make mistakes. If you are smart you will learn from them. The more in tune you are with your micro climate & your land, the more progress you will make each growing season. After a few years you will be amazed at how far you have come & how much knowledge you have gained, not to mention a pantry full of your bounty come the dreary winter months.
Be aware that this is strictly a vegetable & herb book. If you would like growing advice for fruits, flowers, berries, or cotton, you will want to buy separate books.
I highly recommend The Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening by Rodale. It's not as pretty as this book, but it's great if you want to look something up.
Do I recommend this book by The Old Farmer's Almanac? Yes, yes, & yes. I love it.
This small & slender book is beautifully laid out with full color photos & packed with information regarding the growing requirements of vegetables. From soil health, to compost, fertilizers, weather, plant variations, & more, this book is bursting with useful information & tips. At the end of each section there are charts you can fill out to help you keep track. For example: 'My Seed-Starting Record' This has a column for the date planted, the seed/variety, the medium, & the days to transplant. There are disease & pest records, fertilizer records, rotation records, & much more. If you don't want to write in the book, I suggest photo copying these pages & putting them into a dedicated farm journal/binder.
If you are new to gardening, know that you will make mistakes. If you are smart you will learn from them. The more in tune you are with your micro climate & your land, the more progress you will make each growing season. After a few years you will be amazed at how far you have come & how much knowledge you have gained, not to mention a pantry full of your bounty come the dreary winter months.
Be aware that this is strictly a vegetable & herb book. If you would like growing advice for fruits, flowers, berries, or cotton, you will want to buy separate books.
I highly recommend The Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening by Rodale. It's not as pretty as this book, but it's great if you want to look something up.
Do I recommend this book by The Old Farmer's Almanac? Yes, yes, & yes. I love it.
March 17, 2023
I have several years container gardening and growing a couple of veggies each year but I recently moved into a house with plenty of yard space to build the garden of my dreams and I really want to get it right.
I was looking for a gardening book and most I looked at continued only the most basic of information that I already knew. Picked up this Farmer’s Almanac book and knew it was just wanted I needed. It gives information from preparing your soil and choosing the right seeds to detailed pages breaking down the growing requirements for a variety of vegetable species to detailed explanations on how to make various composts to watering to how to pair (or not pair) certain species together for various benefits. It also gives a lot of awesome tips for growing specific species like putting a couple of matchsticks in the soil next to your peppers to provide sulfur.
I read through this entire book in a day and I will continue to reference this all growing season. A must have for anyone trying to grow a prolific veggie garden.
I plan to share this with my dad who has decades of experience growing vegetables because there’s info in here I’m sure he’s not even aware of.
I was looking for a gardening book and most I looked at continued only the most basic of information that I already knew. Picked up this Farmer’s Almanac book and knew it was just wanted I needed. It gives information from preparing your soil and choosing the right seeds to detailed pages breaking down the growing requirements for a variety of vegetable species to detailed explanations on how to make various composts to watering to how to pair (or not pair) certain species together for various benefits. It also gives a lot of awesome tips for growing specific species like putting a couple of matchsticks in the soil next to your peppers to provide sulfur.
I read through this entire book in a day and I will continue to reference this all growing season. A must have for anyone trying to grow a prolific veggie garden.
I plan to share this with my dad who has decades of experience growing vegetables because there’s info in here I’m sure he’s not even aware of.
June 4, 2021
Answers to all the gardening questions I have ever googled are here in one organized resource! Fun read, with quotes at beginning of each section, often from humorists. Words of wisdom from experienced gardeners. Alphabetical listing of vegetables, each with guidance on planting, care and fertilizing, harvesting and more, and each accompanied by great, useful photos. Overview of all the basics, useful to both new and experienced gardeners. Journal pages throughout to keep our personal log in one convenient location with our reference tools. I own a ton of gardening books. None come close to this!
March 15, 2025
This is a well-balanced beginner's guide to gardening from a trusted source: the oldest publication in North America. It captures generations of wisdom about soil management, planting, and harvesting, while remaining brief and approachable to novice growers. Specific care instructions for common vegetables makes it a great reference source throughout the growing season. It's a solid foundation of knowledge for your first season, without overwhelming you with botany.
August 14, 2021
I got this book hoping to learn something. To my surprise I learned a lot and will be using this book for crop rotations seeding out plants and much more. Just scan the pages you want and use the format they gave you. Without harming the books value. Or use the pages they gave you to do the same. I would recommend this book to any garden Enthusiast.
March 6, 2021
Great handbook that is not too intimidating, but a reference for any basic gardening questions (bearing in mind that basic gardening includes managing pests and disease, a little chemistry to deliver balanced fertilization, and a lot more that isn’t always apparent).
February 5, 2024
This warm weather is giving me spring fever so I read all about vegetables and gardening and weather this weekend! LOL! This week I am planning to work on a new garden layout and researching varieties I want to plant too :)
January 30, 2020
This is an amazing guide for gardners. I learned a lot!
June 15, 2020
Extremely informative!
October 31, 2020
One of my favorite gardening books.
February 8, 2021
A very pretty-to-look-at consolidation of Old Farmer's Almanac information on gardening. OK for a quick read, but not in-depth enough for a "handbook".
March 16, 2021
So excited to put some of this new (or newly remembered) knowledge into action!!
November 2, 2021
Just the book I needed!
July 6, 2022
Great reference book but would have liked more info on container and greenhouse gardens.
May 4, 2023
Very helpful and informative about every aspect of vegetable and herb gardening.
May 7, 2023
Learned lots of valuable gardening tips of various degrees of intensity. Also learned the names of any horrifying garden vermin.
July 6, 2023
Great images and information for understanding what is edible in our yard and what we can do to grow our own Food.
January 25, 2024
Incredible book walks you step-by-step through gardening each different type of vegetable. Enjoyed the vast amounts of comments and clever facts.
Want to read
April 23, 2024O
Read
May 25, 2024Can’t rate until I see how my garden turns out lol
February 9, 2025
One of the best gardeners handbooks I have ever read. If you are a beginner this is for you.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews