Fern Marshall Bradley - Rodales Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening: The Indispensable Green Resource for Every Gardener

Edited by FERN MARSHALL BRADLEY, BARBARA W. ELLIS, and ELLEN PHILLIPS

A

.............................. 31

.................................. 32

............................... 56

........................... 58

.............. 60

......................... 63

.................................. 66

B

.................................. 72

................................... 77

............................. 78

........................... 94

........................... 99

C

............... 137

D

E

F

................................ 226

................................... 237

............................ 253

G

H

.................... 303

I

JK

L

............................... 354

........................... 358

M

............................ 371

N

P

............................... 412

............................. 414

................................ 445

.................................... 462

QR

S

................................. 526

T

............................... 582

Uv

................................ 633

WW

............................... 662

........................................................ 663

................................................................................. 668

................................................................................ 672

........................................................................... 675

.............................................................. 676

...................................................................................... 680

Well-worn copies of The Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening, edited by J. I. Rodale, are part of gardening book collections in libraries, homes, and garden sheds across North America. In the decades since this remarkable book was published in 1959, organic gardening has changed from a fringe movement to mainstream. True to the vision of J. I. and Robert Rodale, organic gardening is now recognized as the safest, most economical, and most practical method for home gardeners.

In 1989, Rodale's garden book editors decided to rejuvenate the encyclopedia. We wanted to create a resource book that would reflect gardeners' wishes to use organic methods and to learn about new breakthroughs in organic pest control. We laid plans for an encyclopedia that would include not only raising food crops but also maintaining perennials, annuals, trees, shrubs, and lawns without chemicals.

To follow through on our vision, we gathered ideas from many gardeners, writers, and editors.

Robert Rodale also lent his unique insights, one of his last contributions to a Rodale gardening book before his death. Then we called on a broad range of garden experts and writers to draft entries in their areas of interest. A team of editors carefully blended and refined their work to create Rodale's All-New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening.

In 2007, Rodale realized that it was time to update this vital reference book yet again, and called together three members of the 1992 edition's editorial team-Barbara W. Ellis, Ellen Phillips, and myself. We reread and discussed the entire book, painstakingly choosing outmoded entries to leave out, adding new entries (such as Kitchen Gardening and Gardening Safely), and updating plant and organic pest control information throughout. And in light of the vital issues we face as gardeners in an era of climate change and declining natural resources, we added an all-new section on "green gardening"-garden- ing sustainably as a part of reducing our carbon footprint. Our goal with this revised edition, as for all previous editions, was a comprehensive, easy-to-use book that provides practical information on the entire realm of organic gardening.

This book is organized to reflect the way you garden. We've grouped information into useful, complete entries that will provide all you need to know about a particular topic, rather than spreading out facts in thousands of short entries. For example, the instructions you need to plan, plant, and care for a vegetable garden are in one entry: Vegetable Gardening. The Compost entry tells you everything you need to know to make and use compost (and compost tea). Entries on Annuals, Perennials, and Trees describe how to get started, how to use these plants in your landscape, and how to keep them flourishing. They include lists of specific plants for specific environmental conditions and uses.

Individual food crops and ornamentals entries provide additional specialized information. For example, the Tomato entry offers lots of tips for growing the biggest, best, earliest tomatoes. Dozens of special entries-including Cut Flower Gardening, Edible Landscaping, Rock Gardens, Weather and Weather Lore, and Wildlife Gardening-will stimulate your gardening imagination and curiosity.

Scan the table of contents to get a general picture of the encyclopedia's range and focus. Under

each letter is a list of the entries that begin with that letter. It's fun and informative to flip to interesting entries that catch your eye. We've included illustrations as well as lots of tips and unusual entries that we hope will liven up your browsing sessions.

If you want information on a particular subject, such as how to control Japanese beetles, turn to the back pages to a vital, if often unappreciated part of a book: the index. Flip to the Japanese beetle listing in the index, find the subentry for "control of," and you'll be referred directly to page 459, where you'll find a description of the beetles and the damage they cause and a list of the best organic control methods. You'll find the index is an important tool in getting the most from your encyclopedia.