The Ohio Gardening Guide

The Ohio Gardening Guide

by Jerry Minnich

As much as some books are great for inspiration with their many ideal, if not practical, plans and pictures, some books do a 180° turn and present facts, information, and techniques with a no-frills approach. This is pre-eminently an informational book.

The book, Ohio Gardening Guide, is largely dedicated to the Kitchen gardener with most of the information concerning edible fruits of the garden, especially the vegetables. There are information tables, individual plant profiles, techniques and tips, all to help the food gardener get the best results for his efforts. Many Kitchen garden varieties are noted for the Ohio climate, such which strawberry hybrids to plant, etc.

Excellent basic information on everything from making compost to transplanting to pruning. A street tree list, an annuals list, and good appendixes of resources, this is like one of the old time no-nonsense garden resource books that covers a broad range of gardening information. There are drawn illustrations, but no color pictures.

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I think this is one of those books an Ohio gardener would want on the bookshelf. Ready to do quick and dirty work on getting the information you need when needed, and to double check right before planting a new purchase, or to help plan the garden schedule for the year. This is one book I want to purchase for myself, and one I would give to a new gardener.

The author wrote a similar book for Wisconsin gardeners, and as he says: the truly basic information, such as how to make a compost pile doesn’t change from area to area, which makes this something useful for many Midwest gardeners.

The soil information specific to Ohio geography is the detail that makes the title of ‘Ohio‘ most pertinent, much of the other information is transferable to neighboring states.

I really like this book for what it is: an excellent basic, no-frills, information-giving book on the factual part of gardening.