Starter Vegetable Gardens, 2nd Edition: 24 No-Fail Plans for Small Organic Gardens by Barbara Pleasant

Starter Vegetable Gardens, 2nd Edition: 24 No-Fail Plans for Small Organic Gardens

by Barbara Pleasant

Best-selling gardening author Barbara Pleasant makes organic vegetable gardening easy, fun, and rewarding with detailed planting and care designs for 24 beginner-friendly gardens. From what to buy, where and when to plant, and how to care for each vegetable, Pleasant encourages readers to start small, grow the food they love, and expand their plant selection as their skills develop. Specially tailored plans focus on what gardeners most want to grow, from the Front-Yard Food Supply to the Marinara Medley, Sweet Corn & Company, and High-Value Verticals. There's a plan and plant selection to fit every gardener's passion. Detailed illustrations show how to start small the first year and expand the garden in years two and three, encouraging readers to make food gardening a way of life. AUTHOR: Barbara Pleasant has written about organic gardening and self-sufficient living for more than 30 years. Her books include Starter Vegetable Gardens, The Complete Compost Gardening Guide, The Complete Houseplant Survival Manual, The Gardener's Bug Book, The Gardener's Weed Book, and The Gardener's Guide to Plant Diseases.

Reviewed by annieb123 on

5 of 5 stars

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Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Starter Vegetable Gardens is a beginner accessible tutorial instruction guide for planning and executing an organic garden by Barbara Pleasant. Originally published in 2010, this second edition is due out in early 2022 from Storey publishing. It's 232 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

Storey is quite well known for high quality lifestyle, gardening, and sustainable living titles. This is a classic, and lives up to their standards. There's a logical progressive layout which takes readers through planning, siting, selecting, planting, soil improvement, harvesting and other necessary tasks using accessible, easy to understand language supported by good clear photography and schematics.

The book also includes several appendices: a glossary and definitions list, a metric conversion chart, an overview over the garden plans included in the book, as well as a short resource and seed vendor list. Vendors are slanted toward readers in North America, but with online vendors, availability shouldn't be problematic for readers living elsewhere.

Five stars. This would make a good choice for smallholders, gardening / allotment groups, public or school library acquisition, and for the home gardener.

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

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