The New Seed Starters Handbook

The New Seed Starters Handbook

In this revised and expanded version of The Seed-Starter’s Handbook, gardening writer Bubel discusses starting seeds indoors, moving plants outdoors and saving seeds, then presents a lengthy “encyclopedia of plants to grow from seed” that describes the characteristics of dozens of flowers, vegetables and herbs. Bubel gives advice on the time-consuming process of growing plants from seeds in a writing style that is chatty and accessible. The reader will enjoy her enthusiasm and benefit from her thoroughness. But Bubel can be overly cute, as when she relates how she once “tried planting melon seeds in cast-off shoes.” She also tends to repeat herself, and her presentation of technical information on the germination of seeds is difficult to follow. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Starting plants from seeds
This book is an excellent resource for starting plants from seeds, with easy-to-follow directions that are easily understood. The results of using this book have been outstanding.

5 Stars Best Seed Info Book made
I have the previous edition to this book and have been using it for years and years. I had a greenhouse and have been starting and growing flowers for 14 years. In my Or town, I am known as the Flower Lady and I can thank this book. It is one of those hard to find DOWN TO EARTH EASY TO READ INFO books. It tells you if the seed is difficult to germinate, and sometimes those seeds you can buy in packets in the stores, you couldn’t start no matter what unless you owned a nursery and had all the equipment. Like I like to grow and sell perennials as they bring in good money and many of the perennials are very easy to grow from seed, but some of them are very hard, almost impossible, so before I start with a flower seed, I always look in this book. It is a life saver for me. I thin it also has veggie’s ??? I can’t remember and I can’t find my copy but I”m digging. I alreay know most of what is in it, but this is the book for you if you want to grow flowers from seed and be very successful, but always remember the most important ingredient in growing flowers is goods soil. NOthing much worthwhile except a few grow in average to poor soil. I heavily ammended mine before I began. Good luck and your kids would love to grow too

5 Stars Superb Manual for all Plants. Buy It!
`The New Seed Starters Handbook’ by Nancy Bubel is a serious and superior manual on virtually all aspects of starting all different types of plants from seed. As with books on cooking, there are hundreds of books on gardening which are designed to go directly to the budget book pile and give relatively small value for the space they take up on your bookshelf. There are several obvious symptoms that this book is not to be dismissed as a lightweight. The first is the fact that Rodale Press publishes it, which may be the only publishing imprimatur which has a serious commitment to its particular speciality of organic gardening. The second is that this is a second edition of an already successful book. Unfortunately, a third easy sign of a book’s quality is missing, as there is no thumbnail sketch of the author’s biography and credentials.

Fortunately, a quick browse of this book quickly reveals that Ms. Bubel has got serious game when it comes to instructing us on how to raise plants from seed. I’m especially fond of the opening to her introduction where she says her first attempts were not immediately successful, setting a realistic tone that even with the best instruction, growing plants from seed is not easy. That is not to say it can’t be simple! I’m often enchanted by the difference in the cooking world between `easy’ and `simple’. While making a great soup is not easy, if you break it down into its various steps, it is really rather simple, if you have the patience and the time to carry out each step with care and love (that is, close attention to what you are doing). Ms. Bubel cuts no corners in covering all the details, but lays everything out with an affection for her subject which invariably draws one in to wanting to run right out and build some cold frames.

The author addresses all types of seed started plants, including vegetables, herbs, `domestic’ flowers, wildflowers, trees and shrubs. However, I suspect her first love is in growing vegetables, as that seems to come first and occupies the most space. But, in most cases, what works for your carrots will probably also work well for your marigolds, with only a few variations.

My fondest feelings for the book arise when I see Ms. Bubel going far beyond the average suburban garden plants of tomatoes, zucchini, and sweet peppers. Her dictionary of planting techniques even includes entries for the relatively exotic artichoke, peanut, and salsify. This brings me to the most appealing reason for growing your own vegetables. There are many species that are simply not available in even the biggest megamart. This includes even relatively easy to grow varieties of salad greens. And, even if you do find a good `summer mix’, it is probably outrageously expensive. The second most appealing thing about growing your own, even if you limit yourself to a very few species, is the fact that homegrown vegetables can taste so incredibly better than store-bought stuff. I was pleasantly surprised when I cooked with some Italian parsley which had grown up from self-seeding from the previous year, and the difference in taste between it and the local fare was simply amazing.

The book is amply stocked with great appendices on sources. The only annoyance is that this is a pre-internet publication, but no Internet jocky worth their salt will have any problem locating the sites for, fore example, `Johnny’s Seeds’ or `Charlie’s Greenhouse Supplies’.

5 Stars Indispensable for serious start from seed gardeners
Nancy has researched and presented in simple and easy to use format the critical information needed for successful early season indoor gardening. If you want to save a ton of money and have great bedding plants you grow yourself, this book will give you invaluable assistance. I like her “down to earth” approach and clear explanations of her methods. If you’re a serious gardener, you will seriously love this book!

5 Stars Great All-Around Gardening Book
This book is an introduction and reference for people who want to grow plants from seeds. The book is organized into 5 main sections: starting seeds indoors, preparing outdoor beds to receive transplants or seeds, detailed instructions for growing individual vegetables from seed, saving seeds, and record keeping and exchanging seeds. Bubel integrates the results of scientific studies and her own growing experience in her advice to novice gardeners. In striving for completeness, she even includes a chapter with folk wisdom about planting, noting which moon phases are thought to be best for planting and which are not. The book is amply illustrated with black-and-white photographs and drawings. End material includes a glossary, a bibliography, a list of suggested readings, lists of seed and equipment suppliers, and an index.

Although the book is written for people with very limited gardening experience, it is so full of information that even experienced gardeners are bound to learn something through reading it. Bubel’s approach to gardening very much follows organic practices. The section on individual vegetables is a very valuable reference, with its details on when to plant, when to fertilize and how much to use of what, and when and where to transplant in the garden. Interspersed with the text are charts summarizing information such as germination rates for different vegetable seeds at different soil temperatures, or viability of vegetable seeds over varying storage times. The sections on preparing the soil for planting or transplanting and on saving seeds at the end of the season round out the book quite well, making this an excellent general gardening book, and not just a book about starting seeds.

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