The Timber Press Guide to Vegetable Gardening in the Midwest

by Michael VanderBrug

How to grow your own food in the Heartland!

There is nothing more regionally specific than vegetable gardening—what to plant, when to plant it, and when to harvest are decisions based on climate, weather, and first frost.  The Timber Press Guide to Vegetable Gardening in the Midwest , by regional expert Michael VanderBrug, focuses on the unique eccentricities of the Midwest gardening calendar. The month-by-month format makes it perfect for beginners—gardeners can start gardening the month they pick it up.

This must-have book is for home gardeners in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Reference

176 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2015

Reviews

[Sonnet Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm annoyed that I impulsively spent $20 on this book at the flower show.

In large part, this is simply not a very good guide to gardening. There is little real information included. If you are an experienced gardener, this book will feel beyond basic. The topics covered skim the surface and deal with extreme basics of gardening. On the other hand, if you are new to gardening, the author uses several uncommon terms without ever giving an explanation (furrows, collinear hoe, etc.) The end result is that this book is essentially useless for everyone.

In small part, I was greatly disappointed to note that this book was not appropriate for Minnesota gardeners, despite the name. It starts with the author excluding MN from states that border the Great Lakes and have to deal with lake effect, miscategorizes our soil type (MN is solid limestone and our soil is very basic with high levels of calcium) and goes on to get our frost and thaw dates significantly wrong. The main part of the book is a month-by-month guide that exclaims about tending your seedlings in March... the snowiest month in Minnesota. There's two months left until thaw, much less planting.

Overall, I would say this book might be usable by gardeners in certain Midwest locations (Ohio? Missouri?) However the market is full to bursting with other gardening guides that contain significantly more useful and more accurate information.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Includes a great breakdown of month to month garden planning and lots of helpful tips

[Debra Hofland · Rating 3 out of 5]

As noted by another reviewer, this book somewhat misses the mark for those of us gardening in Minnesota! Basic info is spot on, but anyone not familiar with upper Midwest late winter snowstorms & frost (even though, technically, we're "in spring") will likely end up staring seeds indoors waaaay too early. Save your money & check out from the library instead.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to read, with lots of helpful tips. However, it came from the perspective of a small-scale farmer rather than a home gardener, so some of it was beyond the scope of what I was looking for. All in all, a pleasant read that got me thinking about how to take my Midwestern garden to the next level.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really good for what it claims to be, a guide to the basics and a schedule.

Good for looking at what you can accomplish right now, or looking ahead to what you might be able to get a jump on if the weather is warm, or looking back a month to see what you might be able to salvage.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good info to reference year-round.