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We love to garden at our house, for many reasons. I have a collection of gardening books that we refer to often and many times we have new books on our library shelf. Today I’m sharing 11 books for you to consider as we head into garden season.
The Mini Farming Guide to Vegetable Gardening by Brett L. Markham – This book covers 25 varieties of vegetables thoroughly. This is a handy guide that I intend to add to my collection soon.
How to Make and Use Compost: The Ultimate Guide by Nicky Scott – I found this on my last library trip and it is great! Good gardens start with good soil and composting yard and kitchen wastes is a good way to improve your soil. This is a thorough look at what can and can’t be composted and all the ways you can compost. Another one that will be finding a home on my shelves.
Small Space Container Gardening by Ferm Richardson – This is a fun book. It is creative and informative. If I ever stop killing container gardens, I will be coming back to this book.
Touch a Butterfly: Wildlife Gardening with Kids by April Pulley Sayre – Another library treasure, this is a great way to introduce your kids (and yourself) to gardening. The focus on this book is not gardening for your own food, but for the food of birds, butterflies, toads, and more. Bring nature study to your yard with this one.
Backyard Farming on an Acre (More or Less) by Angela England – A good, comprehensive book that would be suitable for beginners and beyond. As you develop skills, you can find more to try.
Free-Range Chicken Gardens by Jessi Bloom – The idea of a chicken friendly garden intrigues me. We have chickens and they are not exactly garden friendly. They are particularly dangerous to tomatoes (chickens instinctively peck at red). A delightful book that has many great pictures to show just how some families raise free-range chickens and gardens.
The Ultimate Guide to Growing Your Own Food by Monte Burch – Another great one suitable for beginners. Lots of in-color illustrations and photos to show you exactly what they are talking about.
The Organic Farming Manual by Ann Larkin Hansen – The subtitle for this one is A Comprehensive Guide to Starting and Running a Certified Organic Farm. The book covers poultry, livestock, produce, crops, and dairy and includes sections on getting started, marketing, and certification. Generally speaking, this one is probably more for intermediate to advanced gardeners unless you are a beginner with the end goal of running an organic farm. Comprehensive and (for me) inspiring.
Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s Guide by Rosemary Gladstar – I bought this one after Amazon recommended it to me. I love Amazon’s recommendations, I usually check them out at our library and then order the really good ones. This is definitely one of them if you are at all interested in growing your own medicinal herbs.
The Ever-Blooming Flower Garden: A Blueprint for Continuous Color by Lee Schneller – This is the only flower gardening book I own. I LOVE it. It is a great guide for those wanting flower color year round.
Small-Plot, High-Yield Gardening by Sal Gilbertie and Larry Sheehan – This is one of my favorites! There are sample garden layouts and lots and lots of tips for making the most out of your garden.
Do you have a favorite gardening book?
About Vicki Arnold
Add The Worms Eat My Garbage to your list. I read this years ago, started doing vermiculture and have never had more beautiful garden produce. The big plus besides ready compost is I seldom use my garbage disposal.