Grocery Gardening

This is from my current reading stack and one of my new favorites. Grocery Gardening is all about planting, preparing and preserving fresh food. It was done as a collaborative effort by Jean Ann Van Krevelen with Amanda Thomsen, Robin Ripley, and Teresa O'Connor. An interesting side note, the authors never met in person and connected on the internet, writing this book in just sixty days.

The book begins with valuable gardening tips to get you started, one suggestion is to rotate where you plants things from year to year. Something my husband had been telling me for a couple of years but I like to see things in print first. There's a chapter on disease and pest management where I learned to not water my plants after dark. The water can stay on the plants and cause damage. The chapter on quality produce is valuable for any grocery shopper and provides lots of ideas to improve the quality of our produce, shopping, and eating. The next three chapters are a lot of fun. One chapter on herbs, fruits, and vegetables. You will find lots of species listed for each covering everything needed to be a successful gardener. Tips for planting and growing, varieties, produce selection and harvest, and preserving. With all this growing information and inspiration, I was thrilled to find recipes for each species I might plant that look and sound delicious! We had two raised beds for several years but during my surgery recovery my husband created two more beds. Hoping our temperatures warm soon to plant and bring grocery gardening to our daily lives. This would also be a great gift for any gardener or want to be gardener.