Garden Experts Talks: Dick Raymond

If you’re looking for a great book about vegetable growing, you’re probably hoping to find full-color photos, easy-to-read charts and well-written descriptions of various planting charts and garden tending methods. Expert gardener Dick Raymond’s top-selling book, Joy of Gardening, borrows from his 40 years of professional experience as a Garden Specialist and mentor. This book has received glowing reviews and has been referred to as “The Gardening Bible.”

Joy of Gardening is full of valuable information for beginners and experienced gardeners alike. First, you’ll learn about Dick Raymond’s “wide row gardening system” and how to create a continual harvest, save hours on weeding and watering, thin out-of-control crops and plant multi-crop rows. You’ll learn about “Salad Gardens,” “Summer Gardens” and “Eat N’ Store Gardens.” In chapter two, you will learn about getting the soil ready, creating raised beds, testing soil for pH and terrace gardens. Chapter 3 advises on how to start planting and how to calculate dates; choosing pots, soil and light; transplanting; tunnel growing and getting an early crop of radishes. Chapter 4 provides you with the tools you need to fight persistent weeds. Chapter 5 talks about garden care topics like mulching, watering, composting, harvesting and fall gardens. Chapter 6 is about “green” manures. Chapter 7 entails root cellar protocol. In this book, you will also learn about a treasure trove of vegetable growing techniques for beans, cabbage, corn, eggplants, green veggies, okra, onions, peanuts, peppers, potatoes, root crops, sunflowers, tomatoes, vine crops and garden perennials. You will also gain insight into pest deterrents and disease prevention.

To grow iceberg lettuce, “All you need is some cool weather in spring or fall,” Raymond writes in Joy of Gardening (p 243). “Get started early; head lettuce needs as much time as possible developing in cool weather, so the earlier you can set out some plants, the better.” Six to eight weeks before the last anticipated frost, Raymond sets to work planting his lettuce in shallow or pyramid flats. Then, he says, “The most important step in early planting is to harden off the plants… after they are about 4 weeks old, I start giving them some time outdoors. That way they can handle unexpected cold snaps and even a light frost.” He puts his lettuce in wide rows in a 20-inch wide seedbed, set 10 inches apart “in a 3-2 pattern down the row, two at the edges and one in the middle in the first row. And two in the next row, each 5 inches in from the edges.” He trims their outside leaves to help the roots recover from shock and he advises to harvest a few as soon as the heads are “softball” size. As they grow, watering regularly will be crucial.

Joy of Gardening makes a great gift for the green thumb in your family. Winter is a great time to read up on tested, tried and true practices that can make your next gardening season a wild success. Whether you love peppers or turnips, tomatoes or onions — knowing how to approach the gardening process from start to finish can improve your yield, keep pests away, better the taste of your harvest and lead to a more fulfilling experience overall. You can buy this vegetable gardening book new at www.lehmans.com or used at www.amazon.com.

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