*Editor's Choice on Best Products List of 35 Gardening Gifts for the Person in Your Life with the Greenest Thumb One intrepid cook's exploration of her urban terrain, with over 500 recipes for every season! "Marie Viljoen is the real deal. . . Forage, Harvest, Feast is a joy to read, an inspiration, and a culinary adventure." Amy Stewart, author of New York Times bestseller Wicked Plants In this groundbreaking collection, celebrated New York City forager, cook, kitchen gardener, and writer Marie Viljoen incorporates wild ingredients into everyday menus and special occasion fare. Motivated by a hunger for new flavors and working with thirty-six versatile wild plants some increasingly found in farmers markets she offers deliciously compelling recipes, including variations on: Cocktails Snacks & Appetizers Entrees Desserts Breads Preserves, Sauces and Syrups Ferments, spices, and salts From underexplored native flavors like bayberry and spicebush to accessible ecological threats like Japanese knotweed and mugwort, Viljoen presents hundreds of recipes unprecedented in scope. They range from simple quickweed griddle cakes with American burnweed butter to sophisticated dishes like a souffleed tomato roulade stuffed with garlic mustard, or scallops seared with sweet white clover, cattail pollen, and sweetfern butter. Viljoen makes unfamiliar ingredients familiar by treating each to a thorough culinary examination, allowing readers to grasp every plant's character and inflection. Forage, Harvest, Feast featuring hundreds of color photographs as well as cultivation tips for plants easily grown at home is destined to become a standard reference for any cook wanting to transform wildcrafted ingredients into exceptional dishes, spices, and drinks. Eating wild food, Viljoen reminds us, is a radical act of remembering and honoring our shared heritage. Led by a quest for exceptional flavor and ecologically sound harvesting, she tames the feral kitchen, making it recognizable and welcoming to regular cooks. "The photos are beautiful, and most of the recipes are simple enough that you don't need a culinary degree to follow them, but at the same time they ooze creativity. . . . It's not just a book of recipes, it's a celebration of local flavors. You can feel the love on every page. There are no other books like it an amazing source of inspiration and a must-have for anyone remotely interested in wild edibles." Pascal Baudar, author of The New Wildcrafted Cuisine

Over the past four or five years in the UK, the grow-your-own phenomenon has meant that more and more people have been producing their own food. From salads and root crops to apples, cucumbers, squashes and strawberries, home-grown food is enjoyed in ever-increasing quantities. And why not? Growing your own provides exercise, nutritious food, and gardeners can choose their favourite varieties for taste or yield. But what about those who want to grow their own, but perhaps have a small garden, and do not want to lose its decorative appeal? How can they combine growing their own food with flowers and colour? Growing for Food and Colour shows that it really is possible to cultivate fruits, vegetables and herbs alongside flowers - and that the beauty of the garden can be enhanced rather than compromised by productive plants. Following the advice in this book will enable the reader to enjoy home-grown food that is fresher, healthier and tastier - but which also looks fantastic.

From Minnesota to Moscow - how to grow fresh figs in cold climates Growing Figs in Cold Climates is a complete, full-color, illustrated guide to organic methods for growing delicious figs in cold climates, well outside the traditional hot, arid home of this ancient fruiting tree. Coverage includes: Five methods for growing figs in cold climates including overwintering Cultivar selection for cool and cold climates Pruning techniques for a variety of methods of growing figs in cold climates Pest problems and solutions Harvesting, including ways to speed ripening, identify ripe fruit, and manage an overabundance Small-scale commercial fig production in cold climates. Fresh figs are juicy, full-bodied, and filled with a honey-sweet flavor, and because truly ripe figs are highly perishable, they are only available to those who grow their own. By choosing the right cultivars and techniques, figs can be grown across cool and cold growing zones of North America, Europe, and beyond, putting them within reach of almost every gardener. Easy and delicious - if you can grow a houseplant, you can grow a fig.

It's wonderful to grow your own fruit and vegetables but what do you do when it all ripens at once? How do you cope with the glut which threatens to overwhelm you? Will help all those who grow their own fruit and vegetables to store their produce properly so that it will last for months and feed the family when the garden's bare. Easy and practical advice on how to bottle, dry, freeze and even salt home grown fruit and vegetables. Discover the taste of your delicious homemade jams, chutneys and ketchups. John and Val Harrison reveal just what you can do with that bountiful harvest and share their 30 years' experience of growing fruit and vegetables and you'll never waste another tomato or courgette again. Praise for John Harrison: 'Britain's greatest allotment authority'. Indpendent on Sunday.

Winner of The 2008 Jane Grigson Award, issued by the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP). Winner of the 2008 Cordon d' Or Culinary Literature - History Culinary Academy Award. This is the story of the bean, the staple food cultivated by humans for over 10,000 years. From the lentil to the soybean, every civilization on the planet has cultivated its own species of bean. The humble bean has always attracted attention - from Pythagoras' notion that the bean hosted a human soul to St. Jerome's indictment against bean-eating in convents (because they "tickle the genitals"), to current research into the deadly toxins contained in the most commonly eaten beans. Over time, the bean has been both scorned as "poor man's meat" and praised as health-giving, even patriotic. Attitudes to this most basic of foodstuffs have always revealed a great deal about a society. Beans: A History takes the reader on a fascinating journey across cuisines and cultures.

Greens are highly nutritious, contributing essential vitamins and minerals to the diet, and they are particularly tasty if they are home-grown and eaten soon after harvesting. In this book, the main types of greens are described and illustrated, with useful information about the different varieties that can be grown, their history, cultivation requirements and cooking uses. There are step-by-step instructions for planting greens, as well as keeping them in tip-top condition by dealing with pests and diseases. A must for novices and experienced growers alike, the book is ideal for anyone who wants to experiment with new varieties.

Home Harvest: Your Pocket Guide to Kitchen Gardening is a practical, fun and easy-to-read deck of cards that will help you plant and grow your own kitchen garden. Growing vegetables sounds like a daunting task if you've never done it before, but it's actually very simple. Including gardening 101 tips plus instructions for growing vegetables, herbs and flowers, Home Harvest breaks down the basics of growing your own food. The deck is divided into four sections: Gardening 101, Veggies, Herbs and Flowers. The gardening 101 cards help you start your garden from scratch, offer advice on keeping it healthy and abundant, and introduce you to the common garden enemies with tips on managing them. You will also learn how to entice all the friendly critters needed for a healthy ecosystem. Each veggie, herb and flower card has growing and planting information, plus handy cooking tips and fun facts. In Home Harvest the farmers behind Kinsfolk Farm guide you through the process of planting, growing and eating veggies from your very own patch of soil - as simple as that! The card format is perfect for gardening because you can take one card out to the garden at a time instead of lugging a book around. Each card is beautifully illustrated by the phenomenal Edith Rewa, making this a stunning gift for every gardener in your life.

This is a directory of varieties and how to cultivate them successfully. It is an illustrated gardener's guide to the different varieties of bulb vegetables, their history and cooking uses. It features step-by-step instructions for preparing the soil, sowing from seed and from sets, and harvesting and storing. It includes practical advice on cultivating a wide range of bulbs, including onions, shallots, garlic, spring onions and scallions, leeks, chives and Florence fennel. It contains helpful hints on how to avoid pests and diseases, and what to do when problems occur. Bulb vegetables have leaves that are adapted to store food reserves below or just above the ground, creating fleshy leaf bulbs. This book describes and illustrates all the main types, and includes useful information about the different varieties that can be grown and their cooking uses. There is practical advice for preparing the soil for new crops, making compost and growing bulb vegetables both from seed and from sets, as well as guidance on growing and caring for vegetables and how to harvest and store them. There are also suggestions for dealing with any pests and diseases.This handy book is suitable for novices and experienced gardeners alike.

What would it take to grow mushrooms in space? How can mushroom cultivation help us manage, or at least make use of, invasive species such as kudzu and water hyacinth and thereby reduce dependence on herbicides? Is it possible to develop a low-cost and easy-to-implement mushroom-growing kit that would provide high-quality edible protein and bioremediation in the wake of a natural disaster? How can we advance our understanding of morel cultivation so that growers stand a better chance of success?For more than twenty years, mycology expert Tradd Cotter has been pondering these questions and conducting trials in search of the answers. In Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation, Cotter not only offers readers an in-depth exploration of best organic mushroom cultivation practices; he shares the results of his groundbreaking research and offers myriad ways to apply your cultivation skills and further incorporate mushrooms into your life whether your goal is to help your community clean up industrial pollution or simply to settle down at the end of the day with a cold Reishi-infused homebrew ale.The book first guides readers through an in-depth exploration of indoor and outdoor cultivation. Covered skills range from integrating wood-chip beds spawned with king stropharia into your garden and building a trenched raft of hardwood logs plugged with shiitake spawn to producing oysters indoors on spent coffee grounds in a 4x4 space or on pasteurized sawdust in vertical plastic columns. For those who aspire to the self-sufficiency gained by generating and expanding spawn rather than purchasing it, Cotter offers in-depth coverage of lab techniques, including low-cost alternatives that make use of existing infrastructure and materials.Cotter also reports his groundbreaking research cultivating morels both indoors and out, training mycelium to respond to specific contaminants, and perpetuating spawn on cardboard without the use of electricity. Readers will discover information on making tinctures, powders, and mushroom-infused honey; making an antibacterial mushroom cutting board; and growing mushrooms on your old denim jeans.Geared toward readers who want to grow mushrooms without the use of pesticides, Cotter takes organic one step further by introducing an entirely new way of thinking one that looks at the potential to grow mushrooms on just about anything, just about anywhere, and by anyone."

Vegetables, fruits, and grains are a major source of vital nutrients, but centuries of intensive agriculture have depleted our soils to historic lows. As a result, the broccoli you consume today may have less than half of the vitamins and minerals that the equivalent serving would have contained a hundred years ago. This is a matter for serious concern, since poor nutrition has been linked to myriad health problems including cancer, heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes. For optimum health we must increase the nutrient density of our foods to the levels enjoyed by previous generations.

To grow produce of the highest nutritional quality the essential minerals lacking in our soil must be replaced, but this re-mineralization calls for far more attention to detail than the simple addition of composted manure or NPK fertilizers. "The Intelligent Gardener" demystifies the process while simultaneously debunking much of the false and misleading information perpetuated by both the conventional and organic agricultural movements. In doing so, it conclusively establishes the link between healthy soil, healthy food, and healthy people.

This practical step-by-step guide and the accompanying customizable web-based spreadsheets go beyond organic and are essential tools for any serious gardener who cares about the quality of the produce they grow.

Steve Solomon is the author of several landmark gardening books including "Gardening When it Counts" and "Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades." The founder of the Territorial Seed Company, he has been growing most of his family's food for over thirty-five years.

This is the definitive book on growing your own nuts written by Martin Crawford, the leading forest gardening expert. Nut trees are perennials, requiring little maintenance or soil cultivation, so it is no surprise that nuts are the ideal forest garden crop. How to grow your own nuts is a beautifully presented and comprehensive guide to selecting, cultivating, harvesting and processing all types of nuts. Here are old favourites like hazelnuts and walnuts alongside less common varieties such as hickories and butternuts and the exotically named chinkapin. Filled with gorgeous illustrations of trees and nuts in all stages of maturity, this book will inspire gardeners, homesteaders and commercial farmers with its clear and detailed instructions. For everyone who wants to grow their own food and aim at self-sufficiency, this book is a must. Throughout the book we learn how delicious, nutritious and versatile nuts are. Nuts are at the heart of our culinary tradition. They have everything for health: magnesium to lower blood pressure; low carbohydrate to control blood sugar; high protein to keep our energy up, and healthy fats to help absorb vitamins. They are chock full of antioxidants. Eating a daily portion of nuts could lengthen your life, as nuts decrease the risk of heart and neuro-degenerative diseases. Recent Harvard studies indicate that eating pecan nuts increase the survival rates of prostate cancer. For vegetarians and vegans in particular, nuts are a crucial source of protein, but they are enjoyed by many more worldwide as a delicious alternative protein from meat. Martin describes how nuts can be planted singly in a small area, ingroups in an orchard or nuttery, as silvopasture around grazing animals, in alley cropping between cereal crops or intercropping between fruit bushes. Nuts are also multipurpose trees and the A-Z describes their many secondary uses from timber, oil, dyes, fodder and cosmetics to medicines and honey. The beautiful spring blossom, particularly of almond and sweet chestnut, are highly attractive to bees. Every page is rich with the authenticity, passion and experience of a master grower and forest gardener. Whether you are planning to grow nuts at home or commercially, this book is essential reading.

Root cellaring, as many people remember but only a few people still practice, is a way of using the earth's naturally cool, stable temperature to store perishable fruits and vegetables. Root cellaring, as Mike and Nancy Bubel explain here, is a no-cost, simple, low-technology, energy-saving way to keep the harvest fresh all year long.

In Root Cellaring, the Bubels tell how to successfully use this natural storage approach. It's the first book devoted entirely to the subject, and it covers the subject with a thoroughness that makes it the only book you'll ever need on root cellaring.

Root Cellaring will tell you:

* How to choose vegetable and fruit varieties that will store best

* Specific individual storage requirements for nearly 100 home garden crops

* How to use root cellars in the country, in the city, and in any environment

* How to build root cellars, indoors and out, big and small, plain and fancy

* Case histories -- reports on the root cellaring techniques and experiences of many households all over North America

Root cellaring need not be strictly a country concept. Though it's often thought of as an adjunct to a large garden, a root cellar can in fact considerably stretch the resources of a small garden, making it easy to grow late succession crops for storage instead of many rows for canning and freezing. Best of all, root cellars can easily fit anywhere. Not everyone can live in the country, but everyone can benefit from natural cold storage.

Telling the food story of spring, summer, autumn and winter, this is the definitive guide to cooking the right things all through the year. When it comes to the tastiest food, keeping in touch with the rhythm of nature allows us to cook the most delicious recipes with the freshest, most flavoursome ingredients. Each dish is a celebration of the best of local British produce, from Fishcakes with Wilted Chard, Red Pepper and Feta Fritters, Rocket Pesto with Sirloin and Panna cotta with Poached Rhubarb, The Allotment Cookbook follows seasonal produce to restore a natural way of eating. You don't need to have an allotment or big kitchen garden to enjoy this book; although all the ingredients can be found in the shops, have a go at growing your own in the garden, in a scrap of ground or in a pot on a windowsill - it's so easy and is one of life's most satisfying pleasures. The Allotment Cookbook is a joyful guide to a sustainable and nourishing way of life.

Permaculture is an ecological movement popular among farmers, homesteaders, and a growing number of home gardeners. It is a systematic and holistic approach to living that includes everything from beekeeping and raising chickens, to foraging and fermentation, and leads to a life rich in healthy food, comfortable and safe housing, and renewable energy and resources.

Practical Permaculture for Home Landscapes, Your Community, and the Whole Earth provides home gardeners with the skills they need to start their first permaculture garden or to further their current involvement in the practice. Jessi Bloom, the bestselling author of Free-Range Chicken Gardens and an ecological landscape designer, and permaculture expert Dave Boehnlein explain the basic principles and ethics of permaculture, show the entire design process from land assessment to the completed master plan, and offer detailed information on the plants, water, waste, energy, shelter, food, animals, and structures that make up the garden.

Illustrations and color photographs provide instruction, inspiration, and glimpses into working permaculture gardens throughout the world. This comprehensive and accessible guide is the ultimate reference for anyone interested in learning more about permaculture.

Grow your own fruit and veg with trusted advice from the experts at the RHS. This ultimate guide to vegetable and fruit gardening features the cream of each crop, with 100 illustrated profiles and quick reference recommendations to make choosing what to grow easy. From growing tomatoes to caring for your pepper plant, you'll get practical advice on key aspects of cultivation, including sowing and harvesting, and troubleshooting pests and diseases. Clear, easy-to-follow advice on the basic principles of growing fruit and vegetables helps you plan your plot and choose the right seed or plant for your garden space. Now in paperback (previous ISBN 9781405361804), RHS Grow Fruit and Veg is full of essential cultivation advice for grow-your-own beginners and experienced gardeners alike.

Vegetables from your own farm to your own table We all love good food, and the fresher it is, the better! And what could be fresher than farm-to-table terms than vegetables you've grown at home? The new edition of Vegetable Gardening For Dummies puts you in touch with your roots in a thousands of years old farming tradition by demonstrating how easy it is to grow your own. And there's no need to buy a farm: all you need to become a successful cultivator of the land is this book and a small plot of soil in the yard, or a container set aside for some tasty natural edibles. Add water and some care, love, and attention--et voila! In a friendly, come-relax-in-my-garden style Charlie Nardozzi--leading horticultural writer and guest expert on shows such as Martha Stewart Living Radio--shares the nutritious results of a lifetime of vegetable-growing experience to delve into the nitty-gritty of micro-farming. It's not rocket science--quite the opposite--but you do need a bit of patience before you can reap your first glorious harvest. This book shows you how to master that, as you get down and dirty with the enjoyable work of building soil, starting seeds, controlling pests, and maintaining your garden. And as your early efforts turn to green shoots, you can dig deeper into information on special tips and tricks, as well as hundreds of vegetable varieties--many of which are beautiful to behold as well as tasty to eat! Plan out your garden Know your veggies, from tomatoes to chard Keep your plants happy and healthy Harvest, store, and preserve your crops Whether your thumb is a fertile green or you've never put plant-to-pot before, this book will bring out your inner farmer: you'll find everything required to transform your garden into a self-renewing larder--and complement every meal with a crisp, healthy, home-grown treat.

The content of this book originally appeared in The New Kitchen Garden, published in 2015. 'An endless selection of delicious produce you can plant, grow and then cook with.' Raymond Blanc OBE Now you can create your own delicious edible garden at home! More and more people are being inspired to grow a little of what they eat at home. But while starting your own kitchen garden may seem like a daunting task at first, Grow & Cook makes it easy. Award-winning author and gardener, Mark Diacono, has distilled years of knowledge into this pocket-sized book. Whether you are new to gardening and only have a small window box or you are much more experienced with the space to experiment, this user-friendly handbook will inspire and help you. Mark is here to show you that there are plenty of options for everyone and lots of exciting new varieties to discover. Each variety in the book includes a wealth of information on when to sow, growing tips, potential problems, harvesting and plenty more. There are hundreds of varieties to pick from that can be grown and then used in your kitchen. Mark separates the growing guides into three groups: * Vegetables * Fruit & Nuts * Herbs & Spices Whatever you choose to grow should suit your lifestyle. You might prefer something tough and sturdy that doesn't need too much love or time commitment, or you might get pleasure from the steady graft of looking after your veg patch. Whichever your circumstances, your kitchen garden should bring you joy both in the growing process and then in the kitchen. Grow & Cook is the essential pocket guide for modern gardeners.

In this truly innovative book Lucy Hutchings – aka She Grows Veg – proves that vegetable gardening doesn't always require outdoor space.

Through clever uses of space and containers, understanding of growing conditions and a unique, design-led approach, Lucy showcases how anyone can grow pretty much anything in their back garden, courtyard, balcony or kitchen.

Lucy creates 19 projects, from living vegetable walls and hydroponics basics, to indoor greenhouses and hanging herb racks that have all the decorative style and visual interest of ornamental house plants.

With step-by-step illustrations and stunning photography, with Get Up and Grow, you can go from gardening novice to growing pro in a matter of weeks. Lucy is blazing a trail for new-wave gardening with a mantra of anything is possible, for anyone.

NEW EDITION COMING AUGUST 2021 What do avocados, apples, mangos and tomatoes have in common? The answer is that they can all be grown at home, for free, from pips that you would otherwise throw into the recycling bin. RHS Plants from Pips shows you how to grow a range of fruit and vegetables, indoors and out, with minimum equipment and experience. This complete guide covers everything from the science of how plants grow to how to deal with pests and other problems. Find out what to grow, what to grow it in and when and where to grow it for the best results. Packed with colourful photographs and step-by-step illustrations, this is the perfect way to introduce beginners of all ages, from 6 to 60, to the joys of watching things grow.

If you want a vibrant, chemical-free vegetable garden, companion planting is the solution. Did you know tomatoes produce a natural insecticide that can help protect carrots against pests? Or that planting mint near lettuce can repel slugs? Every gardener knows that the key to an abundant harvest in their vegetable garden is controlling pests and disease, while still maintaining a healthy growing environment. But it is possible to have a healthy, thriving vegetable garden without using dangerous chemicals? It is, as long as you know how to pair up the right plants. Organic gardeners have known for years that planting the right plants together is the key to minimizing pests, improving soil quality, and increasing the yield of their gardens, and almost any vegetable you can grow likely has a beneficial companion. Companion planting is the ideal way to avoid using chemicals, while still increasing the efficiency of your garden. Expert organic gardener Brian Lowell will teach you how to use plants to create a beautiful, vibrant vegetable garden that will be free of toxic chemicals. Here's what you'll find inside: Handy companion planting pairings for all of the most common garden vegetables Practical, simple photography and colorful illustrations for dozens of beneficial planting configurations Expert advice from a master gardener that is specifically designed for beginners Loads of troubleshooting tips for fixing common issues with companion-planted gardens Tips for setting up the perfect vegetable garden, including practical advice on watering, soil management, troubleshooting, and more

'A beautifully photographed guide for gardeners' - Daily Telegraph 'Nick offers solutions for every season' - Country Living 'A thought-provoking and beautifully written book' - Fergus Garrett, Head Gardener, Great Dixter In 365 Days of Colour in Your Garden BBC Gardeners' World presenter Nick Bailey shows you how to plant and manage your garden, whatever its size, to ensure year-round colour and interest. Initially explaining simple colour theory principles and how to apply them to your garden, the book goes on to highlight beautiful plants and planting combinations for every season no matter what type of garden you have. With chapters covering the longest flowering plants, pot recipes and gorgeous plants for difficult sites, along with a comprehensive seasonal directory, this book will inspire and delight both experienced gardeners and beginners alike.