Edible Gardening for the Midwest: Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits & Seeds

by Colleen Vanderlinden, Alison Beck

Food plants have their own ornamental value, adding harmony to existing landscapes without creating a separate vegetable garden. They also provide a fresh, healthy alternative to the tasteless and woody fruits and vegetables bred for long-distance transportation and shipped to our grocery stores from all over the world. In this book, we show how, with just a little effort, you can augment your landscape with edibles of every description in an environmentally sustainable * Veggie tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, beans and onions * blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries * The flax, broccoli, kale and garlic * The oddly Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, asparagus and artichokes * The ancient and quinoa, amaranth and fennel * Plus starting, maintaining and harvesting an edible garden * Propagation and winter care * Solutions to common garden problems.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gardening

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Colleen Vanderlinden is the author of the Hidden and Hidden: Soulhunter urban fantasy series, as well as the Copper Falls paranormal romance series.

The her novels Home, Nether, and Godkiller have all been finalists for RT Book Reviews’ Reviewers Choice Awards for best self-published urban fantasy novel. Her books have consistently received positive reviews, and RT Book Reviews has called her storytelling “electrifying.”

She also writes small-town contemporary romance as Ella Linden. Her book, Lost with You, won the RT Book Review Reviewers' Choice Award for best Indie or Small Press Romance in 2017.

She lives in northern Michigan with her husband, kids, demonic Basset hound, and four lazy cats. You can find out more about Colleen’s books at colleenvanderlinden.com, or follow her on Twitter.

Reviews

[Janette Ozoa · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a semi-newbie to edible gardening, I was a fan of the structure and overall content of the book. It includes a list of common pests and diseases including suggestions on how to address them. It also has an alphabetized list of edible plants appropriate for the Midwest with condensed information on how to grow them, common issues, etc. I would have loved a section on companion planting.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edible Gardening for the Midwest: Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits & Seeds provides a 50-page overview of gardening how-to and then a 190-page A-Z list of suggested plants, with a special focus on their ornamental as well as edible value. The color photos are inspirational, but the information is brief and basic. This book would be a good one for a new gardener choosing plants, but an experienced gardener likely wouldn't learn much. The focus is slightly toward the Upper Midwest.