Veg Out: A Stress-Free Guide to Creating Your First Vegetable Garden

This comprehensive primer by Rodino (How to Houseplant) shows readers how to grow their own vegetables, “from selecting a spot for your garden and navigating seed catalogs to dealing with pests and harvesting your first crops.” She covers the basics, including how to work around regional restraints (gardeners in colder climes can elongate their growing season by starting seeds indoors), where to plant one’s garden (the location should receive “six or more hours of direct sunlight per day”), and what type of soil to use (loam is the best, but such shallow-rooted crops as corn and lettuce can grow in silt). Outlining the pros and cons of planting in raised beds or the ground, she notes that the former option usually has fewer weeds but requires more frequent watering while the latter is cheaper to set up but harder to protect from pests. Plant profiles detail the ideal conditions for a variety of vegetables; for example, broccoli requires cool temperatures and lots of space, while carrots thrive in loose soil. Rodino’s straightforward style and thorough look at every stage of the growing process will encourage even the most trepidatious new gardener to pick up a trowel. This has all one needs to get started. (Mar.)