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The book is organized around specific topics including questions about plants in general, soils, annuals, perennials, trees and shrubs, veggies, fruits, insects and diseases - and more. Each chapter has both multiple choice and essay questions, and the answers at the end of each chapter included lots of edifying information. I learned a lot about little things that I thought I knew - but didn't have quite right. Dr. Pellett has been teaching wise-guy college kids for decades, and knows how to stump almost anyone, I suspect.

Feeling smart today? How about this one (first question in the book, and I didn't get it quite right):

What is the difference between a variety and a cultivar?

I tend to use them interchangeably.

Answer: "Cultivars are created or selected by humans whereas botanical varieties are variants of a naturally occurring species. Delicious apple is a cultivar, usually referred to as a variety." He goes on to give a brief history of the Delicious apple, which was discovered in Iowa in 1880 and originally named the Hawkeye.

Do you know the difference between a vegetable and a fruit? Fruits carry seeds - tomatoes and apples, for example, while veggies are the vegetative portions of plants such as roots or leaves. Carrots and lettuce are veggies.

I bet you can get a couple of right answers to this one:

13. What do earthworms eat?

A. Organic material
B. Leaves
C. Mineral soils
D. Living roots
E. Beer cans¡Ö

If you answered D or E you got a bad grade A, B and C are correct. Dr. Pellett noted that we have no native earthworms in our part of the world because the glaciers killed them all. There are 180 kinds in North America; about 30% are alien types.

What is a good shrub for dry soils? Dr. Pellett suggests the rugosa rose, noting that it is also very salt-tolerant, growing along sandy ocean beaches - and along roadsides that are heavily salted. "If older stems are periodically removed, new stem growth and more vigorous flowering will result." But you knew that, right?

What vegetable was known, in the sixteenth century as the wolf peach? I'll give you a clue: it was also known as the love apple, an aphrodisiac. If you guessed the tomato, you win. And what is the best coolant for your mouth when you've bitten into a too-hot pepper? Water? Nope. Milk is. "The casein in milk acts as a detergent to dissociate the capsaicin from nerve receptors, allowing it wash away.¡Ö"

Then there are the fruit questions: Which fruit has the most vitamin C? Grape, apple, pear, orange or pineapple? Yes, the orange. But, I learned, kiwi has even more. And early French explorers in northern New England kept scurvy at bay by making tea of arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) - or even by chewing on the leaves. Do you know what a drupe is? It's the pit of an apricot, cherry, nectarine, peach or plum. The seed is inside. How about a pome? It's the "fleshy fruit developing from a compound ovary (having multiple sections)." Apples and pears are pome fruits.

The chapter on propagation has interesting facts, too. How do you best keep seeds for a long time? Keep them dry and cold. Warmth speeds up their respiration rate - seeds are alive - reducing their longevity. Dr. Pellett notes that sealed jars and plastic bags are good for storing seeds.

Dr. Pellet states that there are about 92,000 insect species in the United States and Canada. How many are considered serious pests? A.0.5%, B. 5%, C 25% or D. 50%? Consider yourself smart if you said 0.5%. And I didn't know that mites are not insects - they have 8 legs, not 6.

And then there are the trick questions such as: "What mammal, sometimes seen in the garden, is known to eat fungi?" Did you guess the gardener? Right. But, he notes, the mushrooms we eat "aren't usually harvested from the garden, but purchased in the supermarket." His humor reminds me of my grandfather's.

So if you want some light reading that also teaches, get a copy of this book. Check with your local bookseller or send a check for $15.45 (which includes postage) to Norman Pellett at 667 Bean Rd, Charlotte, VT 05445. Add $0.78 tax if you live in Vermont.

Henry Homeyer is the author of 3 gardening books that are available from his Web site, www.Gardening-guy.com. He is a UNH Master Gardener residing in Cornish Flat, NH.