Gardening books are some of my favorite reads. We have a garden of some size every year. This year we are wondering if the only thing we will grow will be the strawberries because it looks like they survived the bitterly cold winter we had and our time seems to be growing smaller and smaller as the year goes on.
But that doesn’t stop me from picking up garden related books! I just love to look at them. They are so beautiful and full of information. I pick up something new from each one I read. Today I’m sharing my latest haul of books for gardeners from the library (and a couple from my shelves).
Books for Gardeners of All Kinds
Homegrown Berries: Successfully Grow Your Own Strawberries, Raspberries, Blueberries, Blackberries, and More! by Timber Press Growing Guides – The photography in this book is gorgeous. The “more” of this book includes gooseberries, currants, elderberries, chokeberries, cranberries, jostaberries, huckleberries, juneberries, and lingonberries. That’s a lot of berries and a lot of information.
Grow a Little Fruit Tree: Simple Pruning Techniques for Small-Space, Easy-Harvest Fruit Trees by Ann Ralph – Fruit trees are intimidating to me. These fruit trees are literally little fruit trees. The yield is smaller and the care is easier because the trees aren’t too tall. At least, that’s what she spends roughly 168 pages explaining.
Epic Tomatoes: How to Select and Grow the Best Varieties of All Time by Craig LeHoullier – I am such a fan of how gorgeous gardening books have become. It makes me want them all. So at the risk of sounding redundant, this book is gorgeous. Lots of photos, lots of history, lots of great information.
Edible Spots and Pots: Small-Space Gardens for Growing Vegetables and Herbs in Containers, Raised Beds, and More by Stacey Hirvela – Very thorough, easy to read format. Doesn’t have the color photography of other books, but it isn’t photo free.
The New Horse-Powered Farm: Tools and Systems for the Small-Scale Sustainable Market Grower by Stephen Leslie – Not exactly my cup of gardening tea, but a great informational book. Covers horse breeds, care and training, and working with horses on your farm. It includes a section on working with horses with specific crops, too.
Small-Space Vegetable Gardens: Growing Great Edibles in Containers, Raised Beds, and Small Plots by Andrea Bellamy – Walks you through the assessment and planning stages, even has photo directions for building raised beds. Also covers pest control and plant diseases you may face. Ends with a nice size section on specific edibles.
Farm Fork Food: A Year of Spectacular Recipes Inspired by Black Cat Farm by Eric Skokan – This is a cookbook, not a gardening book. It has a lot of recipes in it, a lot of unique recipes. Basil ice cream with summer berries? You’ll find it in here. Lots of things that I probably wouldn’t try, but you may be more adventurous than I.
Start a Community Food Garden: The Essential Handbook by LaManda Joy – The book is organized in three parts: gathering your community, building your garden’s supports, and managing your community garden. Community gardens need to become a thing, a big thing. There is so much potential for good.
Practical Permaculture for Home Landscapes, Your Community, and the Whole Earth by Jessi Bloom and Dave Boehnlein – I find this book fascinating. Permaculture uses lots of tricks and techniques that would be helpful to gardeners at large. A big book, with a ringing endorsement from Joel Salatin.
Aquaponic Gardening: A Step-by-Step Guide to Raising Vegetables and Fish Together by Sylvia Bernstein – Maybe you want to try a different way of gardening? You could give this a try and grow some fish while you’re at it.
The Ever-Blooming Flower Garden: A Blueprint for Continuous Color by lee Schneller – I get stuck in the thought process of food gardening when I think gardening, but vegetable gardens aren’t the only kind of gardens you can grow. This is a great flower gardening book. Flower gardens are great for drawing in pollinators like butterflies, bees, and birds.
There you have it, a short list of books for gardeners of all kinds. Let me know if you discovered a new to you book to add to your reading list!
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