Organic grower David Hirsch is a senior member of the famous Moosewood Resaurant Collective in Ithaca, New York, which he joined in the 1970s after bartering his garden-fresh basil for meals.

In this newly revised and updated guide to Moosewood-style gardening, Hirsch profiles 75 vegetables, herbs and edible flowers and explains how to plan and maintain a kitchen garden. The profiles include growing requirements for each plant, harvest information, and some culinary tips. Seventy recipes complete the spread.

"Superior quality and flavor results from harvesting foods as close to ripeness and the kitchen as possible," Hirsch proclaims. "Home growing can expand your cooking repertoire to include interesting veggies and herbs."

The "Moosewood way" of culinary gardening is not really a method, but an emphassis on growing produce close to home organically. The Moosewood Restaurant relies on no single kitchen garden, but several individual gardens and small farms in the Ithaca area for its food stuffs.

"We use fresh produce year-round with a particular emphasis on locally grown foods," Hirsch explains.