The Bottom Line
Pros
- Clarke focuses specifically on growing herbs organically.
- The information about growing and propagating herbs is very thorough.
- A yearly calendar of herb gardening tasks lets you know when certain tasks should be done.
Cons
- Clarke does recommend one or two non-organic products.
Description
- Contains information about propagating and growing herbs, and how to harvest and use herbs.
- Detailed encyclopedia of herbs.
- Advice for planning an herb garden, either formal or informal.
- Useful lists in the back of the book list herbs to grow in different situations, such as shade, dry areas, or containers.
- Yearly schedule to help you do herb gardening tasks at the proper time.
- Detailed instructions for using herbs, including making herb oils and vinegars.
- Discusses the importance of herbs in the garden; they are useful as companion plants and for attracting pollinators.
Guide Review - Graham Clarke's "The Organic Herb Gardener"
If you're looking for a "gateway plant" into the world of organic gardening, consider starting with herbs. As Graham Clarke points out in his latest book, The Organic Herb Gardener, "herbs and organic principles are completely in harmony with each other."
The Organic Herb Gardener touches on just about everything related to growing herbs: how to propagate, grow, and use them; how to design an herb garden; how to deal with pest and diseases organically; and how to choose the best herbs for your garden. The latter third of the book is comprised of an encyclopedia of herbs, where you can find detailed information about both common and often-overlooked herbs.
One of the things I appreciated about Clarke's book is that several projects, including starting herbs from seed and taking cuttings, are detailed in step-by-step instructions, including photos of each step. This is bound to be helpful for gardeners who are new at herb propagation (and propagation in general). In addition to these useful step-by-step photos, The Organic Herb Gardener contains plenty of full-color photos throughout - sure to inspire you to grow a few herbs of your own.
Every reviewer has to have at least one thing they don't like about a book, it seems, and here is mine: though Clarke does a fantastic job of explaining how to grow herbs organically, he does fall back on non-organic methods occasionally. Two quick examples: he encourages the use of water-retaining crystals for container plantings, and he suggests using rooting hormone powder when propagating from cuttings. Neither method is strictly organic. He acknowledges this fact in the text, so it's up to the reader whether they want to use these methods or not.
Overall, this was a useful, informative book that I'd recommend not only to budding herb gardeners, but to new organic gardeners as well.
