Books: Non-stop Vegetable Gardening

 

I couldn't imagine another book on vegetable gardening that would be more useful than the last one I really liked, but this an exception.  In The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener: How to Grow Your Own Food 365 Days a Year, No Matter Where You Live (Storey Publishing, 2012), author Niki Jabbour explains how to keep the garden going year-round.  And being from Nova Scotia, I guess she knows what she's talking about. 

First, she explains how to use those season extenders like row covers, hoops, cloches, greenhouses, polytunnels and cold frames.  There are also instructions for making your own cold frames out of various materials.

Next, there are simple explanations of crop rotation, designs for year-round gardens, and how to implement vertical gardening into your plan.

Finally, there's a page or two on every imaginable veg you might want to grow, with specific instructions on when to start seeds, direct-sow or transplant - either before the last spring frost or the first fall frost.  She takes you through the seasons for each veg and tells you how to plant, grow and harvest, and she lists her "picks" of cultivars for foolproof success. 

Beautiful photos illustrate key concepts, and there are also profiles of successful gardeners and gardens.  Very easy to use, excellent information, and a reference every aspiring vegetable gardener should have.  And designers take note:  get this book as a gift for clients who want a vegetable patch somewhere in that master plan.