Sch-Cooking from Gardn

In her bestselling Complete Book of Edible Landscaping , Creasy introduced edible landscaping as an alternative to the purely ornamental. Now she celebrates the marriage of gardening and cooking in lively text and full-color photographs. Useful to cooks and gardeners alike, her book profiles individual gardeners and cooks, famous (Seppi Renggli of the Four Seasons) and not (Jan Blum, an heirloom vegetable gardener in Idaho); discusses how some began and maintain their gardens; and offers recipes for what they cook with fresh produce. The range of expertise Creasy discovers is impressive. No garden featured is merely pretty or just practicalshe proves the beauty and utility of even the humble potato (available in blue, red and white varieties), as well as the newfound potential of edible flowers. All told, Creasy discusses 17 theme gardens based on types of vegetables and flowers (e.g., herbs) and the cuisines of regions and countries. Her unusually comprehensive source listings of seed companies, growers' organizations, etc., along with her encyclopedia of ``superior vegetables,'' could stand alone as an invaluable reference work. (Oct.)