BOOK REVIEWS

Organic Gardening for the 21st Century
A complete guide to growing vegetables,
fruits, herbs and flowers

John Fedor
Photography by Steven Wooster
Frances Lincoln
Distributed by Bookwise International
$NZ39.95

Reviewed by Mike Gowing

IN writing this book, John Fedor's credentials, as a biochemist who has turned his hand to organic gardening, are impeccable. The statement in the preface that organic gardening should never be thought of as backward looking is borne out in the text that follows. As befits a book emphasising that gardens can thrive without chemicals, much is made of getting the soil right through conditioning.

Fedor discusses compost and green manures, for example, at length. His biochemist's eye for detail turns in fascinating facts - as in, did you know that each tablespoon of topsoil has more then six million living organisms?

Crop rotation, saving seed, and heritage and heirloom varieties are all discussed. And Fedor is unequivocal about the use of sprays.

"A poison is a poison is a poison," he says, adding that organic pesticides and fungicides can be just as poisonous as their synthetic counterparts (Fedor lists his own occasional remedies, using among other things, garlic and chilli peppers).

This book is an ideal starting point for those who have the planet at heart when they pull their gardening gloves on.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH