This book is designed to aid the beginning vegetable grower. Even if you're never planted a thing in your life, you can have a successful vegetable garden by following the simple, nontechnical advice and techniques presented in these pages.

Author Hugh Wiberg has based this book on a decade of personal experience and has to his credit an abundant vegetable garden, eighteen fruit trees, twelve nut trees and a record-breaking pumpkin weighing 115 pounds!

Among the subjects covered in this book are:

• Planning your garden—its size, shape and location.
• Preparing the soil—depth, drainage and fertilizing.
• Insect control—specific pesticides are discussed.
• A compact but explicit guide on 28 different vegetables—when to plant, how to grow and suggested varieties.
• How to cook, freeze and store your vegetables.
• How to make your garden attractive.
• How to grow 100-pound pumpkins— for the ambitious only!
• The use of the cold frame.

The advantages of growing vegetables in your backyard are numerous. The first is the delight of enjoying tastier, fresher vegetables than you are probably eating now. The second is the nutritional and health benefits derived from fresh vegetables free of excess chemicals and toxins.

And not the least consideration is the money you can save, which could be as much as three of four hundred dollars a year. Exercise is another by-product of home gardening, something the whole family can take part in. And finally, there is the indescribable feeling of satisfaction you receive from seeing the results of your labors pay off in that first vegetable plucked fresh from the garden and placed onto the dinner plate.

Good luck and good harvesting!