Kitchen Garden A to Z

A local bookstore in Santa Fe, Garcia Street Books has two bargain tables outside that I can't help rummaging through. One of the books I purchased there this Spring about vegetable gardening was Kitchen Garden A to Z: Growing Harvesting, Buying and Storing by Mike McGrath.

Kitchen Garden A to Z

It's a coffee table book for beginning vegetable gardeners. There are four sections:

• Kitchen Garden Basics,
• Tools of the Trade,
• The Cycle of Life, and
• The Kitchen Garden A to Z

square foot garden

Kitchen Garden Basics gives an overview of raised beds, composting, companion planting, natural pest and weed control, and containers. The overviews are brief, which I appreciated. I especially liked the summary of composting. It gave enough information without overwhelming a newbie vegetable gardener with too many details. The Tool of the Trade, and the Cycle of Life sections are similarly structured. I might even try making my own seed starting mix next year with the recipe provided in this book. 

lemon cucumbers on makeshift tuteur

The meat of the book is the Kitchen Garden A to Z section. The book starts with artichokes and ends with zucchini. I loved the layout of this section. It devotes a two page spread to most of the plants. (Tomatoes have a four page spread.) The left page has two columns: the first is a photo collage of the plant and the second column provides an overview of the plant with the following headings: scientific name, types, growing tips, harvest, buying, storage, and tricks. It also footnotes what each of the photos are in the collage. The right page is a full page photo of the plant. 

zucchini gone wild

The trick it mentions about zucchini is, "You do not have to choose between the delicious edible squash blossom flowers and fabulous fruit. There is a golden moment when the baby fruits have just become big enough to eat and the flowers is still attached and in good shape." (p. 158)

Roma tomatoes

Even though it is a coffee table book, it is not devoid of useful information. I find myself reading this book before I go to sleep. It includes growing tips for herbs, non-traditional vegetables like kohlrabi and edible flowers. Some readers might find this book scant on detail, but it was enough for me. Please note this book is out of print. However, you can find it online at used book resellers. 

Brandywine tomato

I'm joining Holley's monthly Garden Book Review meme.  Special thanks to Holley at Roses and Other Gardening Joys for hosting. Please check out what other garden bloggers are reading.