annieb123
Written on Mar 6, 2022
Four-Season Food Gardening is an interesting and fact-filled collection of tips and techniques for extending harvest and culture for edible crops, in some cases over the entire year. Due out 15th March 2022 from Quarto on their Cool Springs imprint, it's 192 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.
Author Misilla dela Llana spent her early childhood in the Philippines and grew up surrounded by mango, guava, and coconut trees and a tropical climate. Moving to the US meant that many of the specific fruits and vegetables her family was used to weren't viable in her new home, but many others were.
She does a good job of explaining lots of creative ways to extend growing seasons and plan succession plantings very carefully to maximize production even into deep winter. Many cole crops and root vegetables even become sweeter and tastier with hard freezes as long as they're protected by polytunnels or cold frames.
The author has included a selection of plant profiles for various herbs and vegetables which are suited to extended season growing. Profiles include botanical (Latin) name as well as common names and a color photo of the plant/seeds. Planting suggestions, spacing, culture, and habits are included in highlighted text boxes in the profile.
Five stars. Well written and useful. This would be a good selection for public and school library, gardening groups, smallholders, suburban/urban gardeners, and the home library.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.