Fruit and Vegetable Books

Fruits of Bali is a beautifully designed field compass to the exotic nursery of tropical fruits that flourish on lush, bright-green, equatorial Bali. A jaunty introduction is bracketed by charming, nineteenth century antique prints of Bali's "most typical fruit, salak," and "the celebrated durian, most notorious of all Southeast Asian fruits." This preliminary background material acquaints the reader with Bali's small individual landholders-who plant a few native fruit trees in their house yards and wind up producing the stunning carnival of shapes, tastes, colors, and smells on display in the tri-weekly village markets. The authors enlighten Western visitors about communal fruit collectors (harvesters), village market day schedules, local fruit prices, and bargaining techniques, but "assume no responsibility for the reader being overcharged when buying a banana!"
Thirty-nine different Balinese fruits are spotlighted in informative, sugar-charged briefs complemented by brightly colored photo illustrations. The Eisemans tell us about each specie's historical and native origins (early Spanish missionaries thought the passion fruit's flower symbolically represented the crucifixion of Christ) plus a botanical description of its size and appearance. Fruit by fruit, we survey their distinctive varieties, flavors, and seasonal availability; how the Balinese eat them; where they grow on Bali; practical applications (caffier lime juice is also used to wash hair!); and medicinal properties (plus name translations between Balinese, Bahasa Indonesia, and Latin). Connoisseurs of fine fruit will love this look at delectable, rare produce largely unfamiliar to the Western palate and diet. Travelers currently on Bali graduate fully prepared to recognize and seek out the mouthwatering taste treats that surround them-from their hotel breakfast buffet table (of papaya, watermelon, and pineapple) to the flamboyant rambutan, breadfruit, pomegranate, and mangosteens that await their pleasure in the local markets.

Various kinds of tropical fruits grow well in Bali Island. And only the best quality ones are selected and made into beautifully arranged ornaments offered to the gods. It is such a spectacular sight to see Balinese women heading to the temples carrying these colorful fruits on their heads. Readers will agree with the author that only in Bali can one find this breathtaking ritual.

This book is great for beginners. I have no decorative painting experience at all, only a burning desire! This book is fun to use, and I was successfull quickly. I particularly like the designs that are supplied to copy and trace, and the great ideas for wood projects! I highly recommend this book if your interested in learning how to paint fruits and vegetables. I have found a new relaxing way to deal with stress!

We do not have a great selection of decorative painting books here in Switzerland so I have to order mine, mostly sight unseen, abroad, and sometimes I am very disappointed. What a delight to receive this one. I keep looking at it over and over again and it has given me so many ideas. I am not an experienced painter but a very enthusiastic one and I find Prudy's projects to be both interesting, inspiring and very well explained. Prudy, could you please do another book very soon.

This book is all I expected. I took a tomato class from Michele and this book was displayed on the counter. I knew I had to have it. If you like tomatoes it is a must!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michele Anna Jordan has the ability to cover a single ingredient in depth and create recipes, a lot of recipes that celebrate the foodstuff without making a cliche out of it. In "Tomatoes" she presents us with exquisite recipes that celebrate the old time, comfort foods in a solid and secure way. She also gives us some new and adventurous dishes to try, ones that no doubt will become favored summer classics as time goes by. A great little book for tomato junkies, young and old.

This is an adorable little cookbook! Great for collectors and as a family pass-down item! We'll be getting much use out of it for many years.

This is the antithesis of the coffee-table book: paperback, pocket-sized, pumpkin-shaped, photo-less (in fact, entirely pictureless), and page after page of about 50 fantastic recipes! These are not just simple desserts (though there are several exotic ones), but spicy gourmet main dishes from around the world. I haven't seen a single one that I do not want to try.

The only mark against is the lack of pictures, so you may have to use your imagination a little, though it will not impact your ability to make any of the dishes. That it is so small, unassuming, and pumpkin-shaped attests to the pure practicality and quality of the contents. If your taste tends toward the exotic, you can't go wrong with this book.

Excellent resource for information on what to do with most types of produce from your garden.

This book explains step by step procedures on canning,preserving and freezing. The recipes are delicious.It also tells you the best way to preserve a particular fruit or vegetable or whether it's worth preserving (i.e. summer squash is NOT worth trying to preserve). I have tried a number of recipes and each one has come out great! I have tried recipes from other books and they just don't compare.

An excellent book, well-written, and beautifully designed and illustrated. It makes the daunting tasks of creating and managing a vegetable garden seem simple. I could see my thumbs getting greener as I read it.

The book manages to be comprehensive, yet concise, covering all of the important topics, without deluging the reader with excessive details, or complicated Latin names. It gives the beginner everything that they need to know to grow all of the common vegetables, but it will also interest the more experienced reader since it contains many unusual and challenging varieties too.

This book stands head and shoulders above its neighbors on the bookstore shelves.

Thoroughly recommended.

This book is wonderful!!! This is my second year growing veggies and my first year with this book. I learned so much from this easy to read guide. The begining general section taught me about crop rotation and sunlight and watering schedules. The sections devoted to each type of vegetable are very informative and go into just enough detail to be really helpful bot no so much that it was over my head.
This is a great book for begining veggie gardeners!!!

Piers Warren starts off with basic instructions for storage methods: clamping (storing large quantities of roots outside) and other methods of dry storage, freezing, drying (from oven to dehydrator), vacuum-packing, salting, bottling/canning, pickling, relishes & sauces, jams & jellies, and fermenting. This volume isn't meant as a full-blown wine-making or jam-making resource, so these are only the most basic instructions.

The rest of the book covers individual types of produce in alphabetical order. Since the focus of this book is supporting yourself on your own produce, Warren discusses some topics you might not expect. For instance, how best to harvest a vegetable so as to encourage further harvest throughout the season. He discusses varieties that will have longer harvest times, or that will produce during different times of the year. He talks about how some plants can be started at different times so as to result in a longer harvest period as well.

One potentially useful feature is the section of recommended varieties. For example, the apples section lists out two good varieties of cooking apples, a crab apple, and a handful of eating apples, noting which ones keep particularly well or work best for wine-making or the like. However, in some cases this won't be as useful outside of Britain (the book was written & published in Britain but is also being distributed in other countries). For instance, I don't recognize many of the apple or tomato varieties. However, I do recognize a number of the carrot and chard varieties. It just depends on whether a particular type is available & grows well where you are.

The one other small potential snag is a couple of terminology issues. Most of them aren't a big deal (what US readers call canning, Brits call bottling, but the author notes this). One or two types of produce might be listed under a name unfamiliar to you (plenty of people have heard eggplants called aubergines, but not everyone in the US knows them by that term). Don't let this deter you from buying this book if you're in the US, however---the information is incredibly useful, and in most cases there are enough informative notes included that you can substitute varieties as appropriate or easily figure out the terminology differences. Also, all measurements for recipes and such are given in both metric and English measurements.

If you want to become more self-sufficient, or you just want to make better and less wasteful use of your garden produce, I definitely recommend this book.

This unusual book saves so much time trawling through all my old gardening books looking for storage techniques for various vegetables and fruit. I use it a lot and have also given it to friends as presents and they are very pleased too! Highly recommended.

The concentrated nutrients, phytochemicals, and antioxidants in fruit and vegetable juices are vital to human healthy and well-being. Juice Power is a slim, 256-page compendium of information and recipes for the inclusion of juice drinks into our daily diets and menus. Each recipes is accompanied by a description of the most significant nutrients it contains, providing the basis in science as to how and why these recipes work as they do. Also included are recipes for fruit medleys that are as delicious as they are health inducing. From Fruity Ice Cream Soy Shake; to Pick-Me-Up Coconut Date Shake; to Cucumber Lemonade; to Banana Moon; to eight different vegetable combos, Juice Power will soon become a "family friendly favorite" addition to any and all kitchen cookbook collections.

Bring yourself into balance
Cleanse your body
Relax your nerves
Revive your senses
Strengthen your immune system
Lose weight
Increase your energy level
Elevate your mood
Develop more stamina, memory, clarity, and focus-

Using nutritious juices for any taste, occasion, or lifestyle.
This book will certainly help you do all of this. I have spent a great many years juicing, so am well aware of the benefits. I like how this book uses creativity to make healthy juices exciting and tasty. Anyone who has ever picked up a juice book will adore this one!

But Juice Power for the thirsty soul is not just a juice book; it is jam packed with lively smoothie and shake recipes as well. All of the recipes are easy to make and could easily accomodate a raw foodist by substituting nuts and seeds to replace the soy. We tried all of the recipes in the book and our favorite ones are Ginger Get Well, Tropical Dream, and the Daily Grape Drink. For the sugar aspect of the recipes (maple syrup, honey, etc.) we substituted wild raw agave nectar. Juice Power for the thirsty soul is a real gem. My son Ian and I highly recommend this book. --Angela Elliot

This book is wonderful. It is the only one I could find that specifically uses edible plantings in landscape plans. I had gotten this from the library first and quickly realized I wanted it for my collection. The illustrations are beautiful and the author gives just the right amount of information on each species.

I ordered this book through Amazon.com because we are interested in using fruits and vegetables in landscaping. Actually, we just plain like to garden and eat. Landscaping is secondary.

Fruit tree catalogues are very basic, and frustrating. You see some closeup's of a fruit, and that's it. No sense of the tree or shrub shape, seasonal looks, the plant's needs, or anything else. So, it's hard to figure out what variety and what plant fits with your yard.

This book is prob. the best garden reference I have ever purchased, and has become our favorite when planning spring plant orders. Mr. Hagy writes as clear an explanation of landscape design concepts as I have read in any book. He has good illustrations of ways to incorporate fruit and vegetable plants into the landscape. But since the landscaping is secondary to me, what is most helpful for me are the great illustrations and details of the many edible plants that can be used in landscapes. I've learned a lot reading this book, and I'm a farm girl who's been around "edible landscapes" all my life.

This is truly a 5 star gardening book.

Using 740 illustrations, Dr. Mittleider has created an outstanding book that belongs right in the garden with you. With examples of great gardens from around the world that have often been created on the worst soils you've ever seen, he shows you step by step how to have great success growing beautiful, healthy vegetables in any soil, in any climate!

This book will raise your sights regarding how much you can grow! You'll learn how to grow between 2 and 10 times what others were growing in the same place, with no weeds, and using half the water normally required. And it's so easy when it's done right!

Nothing is left out, as you learn how to pick the best location, prepare the soil, plant seeds, transplant, weed, water, prune, harvest, etc. And, you learn how to do everything the best, fastest, and most efficient way, so that you can really enjoy the gardening experience.

You can even learn how to build an excellent greenhouse in this great book - or how to automate your watering system - or how to grow your plants vertically in order to save space and maximize your yield while minimizing losses to bugs & diseases.

The chapter on how to spot problems with your plants and correct them is extremely helpful, and you'll discover ways to easily "cure" what you always thought were incurable diseases.

You will have all the benefits of an organic garden, without pesticides or herbicides, while producing yields more nearly what hydroponic growers achieve - simply by using the best cultural practices and natural mineral nutrients.

I wouldn't be without it. Get yours and you'll soon see why.

This book is a very good users reference to raised bed gardening, probagating vegetable plant growth, intensive use of vegetable planting and growing a garden in the winter for very few dollars. I recommend it highly to anyone just starting out with vegetable gardening. The intensive plantings makes it possible for a large family to have a garden in a VERY small space and even in a city on concrete. Read this and prove me wrong I dare you!!!