Gardening for Everyone

by Julia Watkins

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Gardening for Everyone is an exuberant newbie-friendly general gardening guide by Julia Watkins. Due out 8th March 2022 from HarperCollins on their Mariner imprint, it's 304 pages and will be available in print and ebook formats.

This is an appealing book absolutely full of instagram worthy color photos of vegetables, herbs, and flowers bursting with health and undamaged by insects or covered in dirt/grime/who-knows-what. I've been gardening a long long time and am pretty realistic when it comes to yields and cosmetics of the plants I grow. I know that some years I'll get so much zucchini that my neighbors pretend they're not home when I come 'round. Some years, I fight vine borers and birds (!?) for enough to pickle to last through winter. This book is the equivalent of the winter-dreams perfection of the pictures on the seed packets and descriptions in the Thompson & Morgan plant catalogues which get us through winter blahs whilst waiting for springtime. How realistic they are, I'm not sure.

I fear that actual beginning gardeners will have unrealistic expectations and possibly give up because of the unrelenting expectations of perfection. That being said, this *is* a good general guide to gardening simply and effectively. Information is grouped thematically and sensibly in chapters: planning/assessing/execution, building (semi- and permaculture things such as raised beds and containers), planting (with a good general guide to seed starting and other essential skills), tending, and harvesting/using crops. The next section was the highlight of the book for me. It includes a nice selection of useful fun mini-tutorials for garden related crafts such as origami seed envelopes, citronella candles, hand scrub, syrups, treats, upcycled items, and more.

The final section of the book includes an herbal with good general plant suggestions. Plants listed include herbs and popular vegetables, but no strictly decorative plants. Basic info for each plant is given in bullet point lists in a highlighted text bar and includes common name, general botanical info (Latin nomenclature is not included), hardiness, best practice for selection and planting, culture needs (light/water) and rotation info. Each listing is also accompanied by a line drawing of the plant and short general essay on starting, growing, harvesting, and use.

This is a good basic book with easily accessible text. Graphically it's a beautiful book, full of really superlative color photos of plants bursting with health and vigor. The text is high contrast and easy to read. The author has included resource lists with retailers who are responsible and ethical with regard to organic & heirloom seed strains who focus on diversity and quality. I really liked that.

Four and a half stars. This is a good starter book. It would be a nice choice for gifting, perhaps bundled with a gift card to one of the seed sources in the back of the book.

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