Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening

Louise Riotte includes many suggestions from the first book. Topics in the new edition include vegetables, herbs, wild plants, grasses and grains, and others. Considering what is planted where is important. For example, you should not plant peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes close together or in the same container. These vegetables are related and planting them close together inhibits growth.

Matching vegetables and herbs or avoiding combinations of vegetables and herbs that inhibit each other isn?t the only topic discussed in this book. Riotte says that tomato leaves can be pulped in a blender full of water and used as a spray that inhibits Black Spot on roses. Similarly, certain kinds of peppers produce a nice insect deterrent. I?ve grown Pyrethrum (a type of Chrysanthemum) in my garden for years. Pyrethrum has been marketed in the West as a bug repellent since at least 1828, but the Chinese are thought to have used it for perhaps 2,000 years.

The best news is that you don?t have to have a half acre to become a gardener and use these ideas. Today, I live in an urban area and have a very tiny lot. I have converted the whole thing into a series of gardens, but half the yard is in shade and vegetables need sun. So, I have placed containers along the driveway in the sun and off the walkway near the patio out back. I am also using many ideas for vertical gardening. I continue to use the planting techniques Riotte suggests, including many for container planting. Compost is important-and even in urban areas you can save kitchen and garden scraps in a compost bin. Carrots may love tomatoes but roses love sh?.


Easy to understand for beginner gardeners!   May 28, 1999
38 out of 39 found this review helpful

I love this book. Ms. Riotte has answered many questions I have had. Nicely written for those just beginning there journey into gardening. She even devotes a section solely to poisonous plants which is very interesting! Ms. Riotte breaks the chapters down as follows: Vegetables; Herbs; Wild Plants; Grasses, Grains, and Field Crops; First Steps for Home Fruit Growing; Nuts; Ornamental Trees and Shrubs; Garden Techniques; Soil Improvement; Pest Control;Poisonous Plants; Garden Plans; Sources; Suggested Reading. I like the fact that things are crossed referenced, so while it is a good read, you can also use it as a manual. The only thing I thought could be improved upon in the book was the drawings of the garden plans. They look as though someone drew them on a piece of paper and then photocopied them into the book. They are legible but hard to read. Luckily in writing they explain what they are drawing.


An indespensible tool for the beginner to the expert.   August 21, 1999
Loren Marcus (silvercloak@mindspring.com)
42 out of 44 found this review helpful

This is a lovely book, filled with diagrams and charts. The nature of companion benefit or detriment is clearly and thoroughly examined in the first half of the book, while the second half demonstrates how to best plan for a garden even if you have no more than a small window. The children's garden and postage stamp garden plans deserve special mention.


Earth Friendly, Informative, and Excellent Reference Book   July 18, 2001
Michelle Hall (Seattle, WA)
28 out of 28 found this review helpful

Carrots Love Tomatoes has become one of my top gardening reference guides. A simple flip through the pages allows a gardener to find specific plant information and a guide to what will be it's best pest-repelling companion.

I planned our family garden using this method and continue to reap the rewards. Not only have I had few pest problems, but I planted a multitude and variety of veggies that have thrived throughout the season.

This book is a must read for all stages of vegetable gardening. We must care for our Earth and using few or no chemicals is an excellent start. Carrots Love Tomatoes will show you how.


A terrific gardening resource!   June 26, 1998
19 out of 20 found this review helpful

I have Louise Riotte's first book "Roses Love Garlic", and consider this one the better of the two. I have never considered myself an organic gardener, but this book makes it easier to give it a try. Riotte lists many of the more common plants, flowers and herbs in categories, along with many of the pests that find them tasty treats. I have used her book as a guide in planning my garden this year, and so far it has been very successful. The most difficulty I experienced was in setting up my garden and flower beds, trying to remember what plants and herbs would not do well next to each other. Like many other gardeners, I already had perennials within my garden. I had to figure out how to work around, or where to transplant them for maximum benefit. She does give several garden plans (small, herb, handicapped, etc), so they can be used as checkpoints and guides for putting in your own garden. An excellent reference to add to your gardening books.