Rosie and ARC&D’s Build-It-Up program provide a wealth of information for both inexperienced and experienced home gardeners. Each time I look for the answer to a question in the workshop materials, I learn several new things I missed earlier. In addition to the Build-It-Up program information, there are many excellent and authoritative books, websites, and videos on organic gardening. Here are the 3 garden books that I use most often:
- The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible by Edward C. Smith. Published by Storey Press in 2009.
Ed Smith explains organic gardening from planning through harvest in an easy-to-understand manner. Other topics include fertilizer, compost, common pests, and common diseases. He provides excellent, detailed plant profiles for favorite garden vegetables and herbs. This is a great, well-organized reference book for new and seasoned gardeners.
- The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener by Niki Jabbour. Published by Storey Press in 2011.
If you feel a touch of sadness as fall approaches and you long to garden a while longer, then this book shows you how. Niki Jabbour provides practical information about summer crops, cool- and cold-weather crops, and methods to extend your garden into fall, winter, and early spring. She gives useful, detailed plant profiles for familiar and possibly unfamiliar vegetables. Her profiles include guidance on planting dates for traditional and season-extended (extra-early spring, late fall, & winter) gardens based on your local frost dates. Another excellent, thoughtful garden book.
- Vegetables Illustrated: An Inspiring Guide with 700+ Kitchen Tested Recipes by the staff of America’s Test Kitchen. Published by America’s Test Kitchen in 2019 and distributed by Penguin Random House Publisher.
This is a great cookbook for gardeners! Each of its 41 sections has a wide variety of easy-to-follow recipes devoted to a single vegetable (or vegetable family, such as summer squash). Many of my favorite recipes lie within its pages. Vegetables Illustrated is a welcome resource when the harvest is good and you are into the 4th week of eating ______________ (beans, broccoli, carrots, . . . ).
Wishing you a Bountiful and Delicious Garden!
Jacqueline
