annieb123's Review of Growing Tasty Tropical Plants in Any Home, Anywhere

by Laurelynn Martin and Byron Martin

It's now possible in any climate, thanks to "Growing Tasty Tropical Plants in Any Home, Anywhere", the breakthrough book by Laurelynn Martin and Byron Martin. In this practical guide the owners of the acclaimed Logee's Tropical Plants draw on a century's worth of family secrets for lush, exotic edibles, all grown in containers indoors. The book covers 47 varieties of fruiting plants - from chocolate to cherries, from papaya to passion fruit, from grapefruit to guava. For each plant the Martins provide everything an enthusiast needs to know, including information on plant selection, planting, pruning, maintenance, and harvesting. They also provide guidelines for caring for container-grown fruit trees - watering, pest control, pruning, fertilizers, and troubleshooting. The book will have instant appeal to the ever-growing number of consumers interested in growing their own food, as well as house plant enthusiasts looking for new and unusual (an productive!) plants.

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Edible Houseplants is a tutorial and gardening guide for raising tropical plants like coffee, vanilla, and citrus as houseplants written and curated by Laurelynn and Byron Martin. Originally published in 2010, this reformat and re-released edition was released 12th Sept 2023 by Hachette on their Storey imprint. It's 160 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is a well written, accessible, and fun guide to growing tropical plants in the home/garden. The author does a great job explaining the challenges and tricks involved in an enthusiastic and "can-do" manner.

The book is arranged in thematic chapers: Citrus fruits, other tropical fruits (acerola, avocado, banana and many more), coffee tea & chocolate, sugar & spices, and general tropical plant care & propogation (including one of the better all purpose troubleshooting and pest control chapters I've seen). The author/publisher have also included a good abbreviated glossary and resources and links lists.

Five stars. I think most readers will understand that nobody is going to be able to grow enough of anything to make a significant addition to their food and/or resources balance, but as a fun and education experiment and for bragging rights, it's a very very cool book.

This would be a great choice for home use, gardening groups, and public and school library collections.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Reading updates

23 September, 2023: Started reading

23 September, 2023: Finished reading

23 September, 2023: Reviewed