Reviewed by annieb123 on

4 of 5 stars

Share
Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Southwest Fruit Vegetable Gardening, 2nd Edition is a reformatted and updated 2nd edition of the region specific gardening guide by Jacqueline Soule. Originally released in 2014, this edition is due out in March 2022 from Quarto on their Cool Springs imprint. It's 240 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is an accessibly written information dense regional gardening guide specifically aimed at gardeners in the southwestern areas of the USA: Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and environs. The information is arranged in a logical manner with chapters arranged thematically. An introduction covers the benefits and not insignificant challenges gardeners living in these areas experience, and is followed by: growing edible crops, soil building and composition, planning and planting, and growth & maintenance. The chapters are thorough and contain solid recommendations with both specific cultivars as well as general criteria for variety selection and culture. Cultivars are referred to by botanical (Latin) nomenclature as well as common name to facilitate sourcing and reduce mistaken IDs.

The book is -full- of full color photographs for inspiration and clarity. The book includes a glossary of terms and cross referenced index.

Four stars. This would be a good choice for public and school libraries, gardening groups, community/allotment gardens, suburban gardeners, homeowners, etc. There's a similarity of format and presentation between all the books in this series which makes them easy to use and reference no matter where readers are gardening.

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

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 6 March, 2022: Finished reading
  • 6 March, 2022: Reviewed