Blue Potatoes, Orange Tomatoes: How to Grow a Rainbow Garden

by Rosalind Creasy, Ruth Heller (Illustrator)

Young gardeners learn everything about growing fruits and vegetables in a host of unexpected colors, in a guide that includes simple planting tips, special recipes, and full-color illustrations for easy identification. By the author of Cooking from the Garden.

Genres: Gardening, Picture Books, Nature, Childrens, Food

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Rosalind Creasy is a garden and food writer, photographer, landscape designer, lecturer and consultant. She is the author of several books, including The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping, Cooking From the Garden, Edible Gardening, The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping and Edible Landscaping. Her writing has also appeared in national publications such as the Los Angeles Times and Gardening How-To, where she writes regular columns, and Garden Design.

Reviews

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Ruth Heller’s (the book/author links are still not functional) work and own many of her books, so when I saw this book at the library, a book unfamiliar to me, I grabbed it.

Heller’s illustrations shine in this book. They’re just terrific.

The book itself is a manual, suitable for children and adults, about how to grow a variety of organic unusually colored edible crops in home outdoor gardens. There is a lot of useful information here about how to do this, from getting the seeds to harvesting the plants.

The main problem with this 1994 book is how outdated it is. The seed companies listed might no longer exist or be the best source, and writing a snail mail letter to order seeds was the way back then, but now, if not found locally, would be ordered via the internet.

As a vegan it wasn’t my favorite book. Although the book covers the growing of vegetable and fruits, many of the recipes are not vegan, and the fertilizer suggested is from fish oil. One advantage of growing one’s own produce is to grow the crops in a veganic organic manner. Along with being more palatable and humane, it’s also safer for everybody.

I also didn’t like the text that much. Some of it made me cringe a bit, such as when the reader is told how to thin out plants so that the remaining ones will thrive but you may not like doing that. Etc. But, there are step by step instructions, and there are helpful tips about such things as weather and how to deal with pests.

The illustrations: 4 ½ stars, the content: 2 stars, partially because the book is 16 years old and not up to date. I have no opportunity to grow edible plants, but for me this book was worth reading for the illustrations. I also did learn some things, such as that potatoes grow from potatoes (parts that contain eyes or sprouts) and not seeds. I’m a city apartment dweller and mostly ignorant about gardening, unfortunately.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

An old book with good information and great illustrations by Ruth Heller.

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good for colorful suggestions for a garden but seemed a bit difficult, exclusive to find these organic varieties of plants.

[Donna Crane]

Children normally become gardeners by watching and helping others garden. Once however a child has expressed an interest in growing their own vegetable garden, this title provides a nice introduction to all the steps: ordering seeds, bed preparation, planting, organic pest control,and harvesting and preparing simple recipes from your own produce. Bountiful, brightly colored pencil illustrations of gorgeous plants feature birds, animals, and insects on every page, making this title especially appealing in the winter months when gardeners of all ages are planning and dreaming of summer's bounty.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I only had some sun!

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

We wrote away for seed catalogs right away.

[Jhawn]

Do not buy. Not good.