Gardening Nature's Way: Natural Pest Control Step 2; Gardening Nature's Way: Organic Gardening Step 1

Master gardener Mark Phair is the host and instructor for this two-tape series on organic gardening. In the opening volume, Phair covers the needed tools, planning a garden, seed selection, companion and non-companion plants, adjusting for soil p.h., soil management, constructing raised beds, transplanting, composting, etc. The emphasis throughout is on using environmentally healthy techniques, and avoiding chemicals and poisons. In the second volume, Natural Pest Control, Phair discusses the disastrous consequences of pesticides and offers alternative methods of pest control, such as interplanting, crop rotation, introduction of beneficial insects (parasitic wasp, ladybug, praying mantis, etc.), safe and effective home-made sprays, and attracting "nature" to your garden. The program concludes with a guide to pests: their habits, lifestyle, and suggestions for control. The video qualities are fine, though--especially in the first volume--there is some background noise on the audio. Too, Phair, who seems to have read over and rehearsed the first half of the script for the opening volume is clearly reading the text during the second half of the program. Finally, there were some occasions when the video could have visually demonstrated something that Phair was discussing, but didn't. In spite of these drawbacks, the Gardening Nature's Way series has a couple of very good pluses: namely, a lot of excellent information, and a reasonable price tag. On balance, we recommend both titles. (Available from: Earth to Earth Productions, P.O. Box 1272, Burbank, CA 91507-1272; (800) 775-GROW; (805) 269-2118.)