Southwest Fruit & Vegetable Gardening: Plant, Grow, and Harvest the Best Edibles - Arizona, Nevada & New Mexico (Fruit & Vegetable Gardening Guides)

Author gives clear instruction how and when to plant in the microclimates of Aruzina (So. Cal and New Mexuco.)

I just moved to New Mexico and voraciously read this book as I put in my fall crops in a raised bed. It is well-organized, beautifully illustrated and has great instructions about the plants. I just wish it was a little longer to include even more about some of fruit crops that work only in specific places, but it has nice coverage of a number of fruit trees/shrubs, vegetables, herbs and general how-to-garden in the Southwest information. I highly recommend it for those learning how to garden in the Southwest. Note that the book is specifically designed for Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada.One minor complaint I had: she gives nice hardiness zone maps, but then talks about each plant in terms of low/middle/high desert or low and high mountains. I was not sure which zone I fit into (Las Cruces) without doing some searching on the web and looking at the high and low temperatures for the city. It would help if she told us how the zone maps fit in with the five areas she describes - or just gave a list of towns and cities for each of the areas. I also wish Las Cruces was on the table of highs and lows, and was surprised it was not.But, these are very minor issues I had with the book, and I found it a great help in getting started in a new climate and soil type!

Item was delivered in just a few days even during the holoday season. Barely any wear on the cover and just a few pages with corners bent to mark place.I, as a relatively new gardener, am eager to go thru the book and get ready for the spring.

The book is useful for the southwest and fulfills a niche I haven't found well covered elsewhere.. Living in the "cold mountains region" of NM, I found it to have some use but because the author lives in the AZ desert, the comments seem more focused on that area. It was however, really helpful to me to see some of my observations and experience corroborated (I have gardened in the NM cool highlands as well as the cold mountains since 1993). I would recommend this to any vegetable gardener new to the southwest states. I wish it had been available when I was starting out. But for us cool weather gardeners- don't give up on tomatoes. I didn't have any blossom rot until the last 3-4 years- but now that the weather is noticeably hotter, it may become a more consistent problem (calcium blossom rot sprays seem to help).

By far the most informative gardening book I’ve ever read! The practical information the author provided for this regional has actually made me successful in gardening in AZ, which I was starting to get discouraged with! I would buy this over and over and have already recommended it to everyone I know here!

I bought this book about 2 weeks ago and could not put it down. It is well written and gives specifics for all areas of the southwest. For me, that's low desert. I immediately went out and fertilized my peach trees and have plans to put in another type that ripens later than the 2 I have now ripen. I also plan to add several other fruit trees. As for the vegetables, I think I finally have it though my thick head that I can't plant everything in the very early spring and expect it to flourish once it gets to 100+ a couple of months later. Planting in fall when it's 100+ seems so wrong, but it is what's necessary. Ms. Soule made me see the light and I can't wait to get more garden areas going. Thank you so much for a great well written book full of information!

Easy reading and very informative. User-friendly - doesn't read like a textbook.

I just moved to the high desert in Arizona & have been searching for information on what I could grow here & how. So glad to find this book. Most gardening books don't cover desert gardening which is very different than elsewhere in the country.