Gardening for Everyone: Growing Vegetables, Herbs, and More at Home

Simply Living Well blogger Watkins delivers a dandy primer on “planning, building, planting, tending, and harvesting an organic kitchen garden.” Organizing her advice into those steps, Watkins begins with “planning,” in which she recommends observing one’s space as well as the climate and access to sunlight in order to choose the best plot, and offers suggestions for small spaces, such as growing vertically. “Building” provides plans for raised bed gardens, no-dig raised gardens, and an indoor kitchen garden; “planting” covers methods of sowing; “tending” digs into watering, weeding, pruning, and pest-control (“Try to start with the simplest and least harmful methods and then work your way to more complicated treatments”); and “harvesting” is a guide to preserving and storing produce. A final section, “playing,” is a collection of projects and recipes, such as an upcycled chair planter and savory herbal biscuits. Though the endeavor is encyclopedic in its level of information—down to an alphabetical list of plant profiles—readers will appreciate Watkins’s ability to keep things light and straightforward: “Grow what you like to eat,” she advises, and “keep it simple.” Jam-packed with beautiful colorful photographs and helpful tips, this is just right for aspiring eco-friendly gardeners. (Mar.)