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The Kitchen Gardener's Handbook
“A mouthwatering picture book.” — Toronto Tasting Notes
No longer content with separating the plants they grow to eat and the plants they grow for beauty, gardeners are discovering the pleasures of incorporating both edibles and ornamentals into their home landscapes. The Kitchen Gardener's Handbook makes it easy. Whether she's sharing tips on planting radishes in spring, harvesting tomatoes in summer, or pruning perennials in winter, Bartley's friendly advice gives gardeners the tools they need to build and maintain a kitchen garden. Readers will learn how to plant, grow, and harvest the best vegetables, fruits, greens, and herbs for every season. They'll also find seasonal recipes that celebrate the best of the harvest, monthly garden chores, eight sample garden designs, and information on using cut flowers for decoration. The Kitchen Gardener's Handbook is a guide for gardeners who want it all—the freshness of fruits and vegetables and the beauty and simplicity of hand-picked bouquets.
No longer content with separating the plants they grow to eat and the plants they grow for beauty, gardeners are discovering the pleasures of incorporating both edibles and ornamentals into their home landscapes. The Kitchen Gardener's Handbook makes it easy. Whether she's sharing tips on planting radishes in spring, harvesting tomatoes in summer, or pruning perennials in winter, Bartley's friendly advice gives gardeners the tools they need to build and maintain a kitchen garden. Readers will learn how to plant, grow, and harvest the best vegetables, fruits, greens, and herbs for every season. They'll also find seasonal recipes that celebrate the best of the harvest, monthly garden chores, eight sample garden designs, and information on using cut flowers for decoration. The Kitchen Gardener's Handbook is a guide for gardeners who want it all—the freshness of fruits and vegetables and the beauty and simplicity of hand-picked bouquets.
224 pages, Paperback
First published November 24, 2010
13 people are currently reading
120 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 25, 2018
Lots of information with really nice pictures. While the title focuses on growing what you can eat, the author includes flowers and greenery for the table for every season, and potential plans for yard design.
May 18, 2018
Loved it. It was inspiring, which you want in a gardening book.
July 14, 2020
Pretty good for temperate zones with 4 seasons
I liked it, and if I ever move to a zone where it would be useful, I might buy it. I borrowed this ebook from my public library. A couple issues plague the electronic version: the illustrations and charts are too small to read asis, but when I tried to enlarge them, it appears they were scanned at the same resolution as the type. 88dpi is fine for text, but you should scan images much higher, preferably at 300dpi or better.
There were a couple factual errors too. Beautyberry berries are edible, just not especially tasty. They are bland & sweet. Small children adore them fresh off the shrub and cooks covet them for the color imparted to jams, jellies & sauces. They really need other flavors added, like raspberry or citrus, or you end up with pretty sugar water. There was something else, but darned if I can find it. Lol it must not have been important.
The good: where to start...
Seasonal crops- herb, flower, fruit, vegetable all mixed together in glorious abundance. That is how I plant also, it confuses the bugs & keeps their grubby paws off my food, flowers, etc.
Seasonal menus- too much meat, but otherwise very yummy sounding. Use what you grow, when you grow it.
Seasonal chores- aimed at temperate zone dwellers, but good nonetheless.
List of vendors- Baker's Creek is #1 on the list! They are my go-to guys for info, seeds, advice, news updates, farm gossip, etc. All organic, all heirloom, all wonderful. The rest of the list is great, too. Websites & phone numbers included.
Altogether, this is a well-thought-out, well-planned, wonderful book.
9/10 unicorns 🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄
I liked it, and if I ever move to a zone where it would be useful, I might buy it. I borrowed this ebook from my public library. A couple issues plague the electronic version: the illustrations and charts are too small to read asis, but when I tried to enlarge them, it appears they were scanned at the same resolution as the type. 88dpi is fine for text, but you should scan images much higher, preferably at 300dpi or better.
There were a couple factual errors too. Beautyberry berries are edible, just not especially tasty. They are bland & sweet. Small children adore them fresh off the shrub and cooks covet them for the color imparted to jams, jellies & sauces. They really need other flavors added, like raspberry or citrus, or you end up with pretty sugar water. There was something else, but darned if I can find it. Lol it must not have been important.
The good: where to start...
Seasonal crops- herb, flower, fruit, vegetable all mixed together in glorious abundance. That is how I plant also, it confuses the bugs & keeps their grubby paws off my food, flowers, etc.
Seasonal menus- too much meat, but otherwise very yummy sounding. Use what you grow, when you grow it.
Seasonal chores- aimed at temperate zone dwellers, but good nonetheless.
List of vendors- Baker's Creek is #1 on the list! They are my go-to guys for info, seeds, advice, news updates, farm gossip, etc. All organic, all heirloom, all wonderful. The rest of the list is great, too. Websites & phone numbers included.
Altogether, this is a well-thought-out, well-planned, wonderful book.
9/10 unicorns 🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄
February 6, 2019
A fun mix of cookbook, garden design inspiration, and plant manual. I liked the way this was organized in seasons to know what you can expect to enjoy at what time. A lot is packed into this little book and it's a great place to get inspired and to think through how to plan for color and enjoyment through all four seasons, though additional research would be needed to move from inspiration to design + execution. For example, the section on planting an orchard is only a couple of pages and would be well-paired with the home orchard book I recently reviewed. I took pictures of all the pages with the seasonal chore list because I'm hoping to start my own individual season chore list for my gardens as they get going and I learn their rhythm.
June 12, 2025
This book was just mostly just cool pictures, interesting recipes I saved and some cool garden mapping. The information about most of the plants featured I already knew, but I've been gardening for a while.
LOVE the pictures though. Really nice photos of different foliage and veggies. Nice to flip through. Nothing special
LOVE the pictures though. Really nice photos of different foliage and veggies. Nice to flip through. Nothing special
June 21, 2019
This book is fantastic for those who want a garden full of color and interest all year long. The author also added some recipes in that I'm definitely going to try.
March 5, 2015
Very nice book. If you're interested, the book provides a history of the portager garden. My favorite parts were the garden plans and the author's list of things to consider when planning and planting.
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May 1, 2016DNF
Gorgeous book but it didn't have the kind of direct and helpful information I was looking for.
This book might be ideal as a cookbook for an experienced gardener but it was not what this beginning gardener was searching for.
Gorgeous book but it didn't have the kind of direct and helpful information I was looking for.
This book might be ideal as a cookbook for an experienced gardener but it was not what this beginning gardener was searching for.
May 3, 2011
A quintessential book for all things gardening; done by season and includes wonderful recipes.
May 29, 2015
mix of recipes and seasonal gardening advice with really lovely photos.
July 20, 2012
It is a great book for reference. The pictures are the best part of the book, but I do like the fact that gives clear and concise information concerning plants including the zones.
November 27, 2012
Beautiful book with lots of gorgeous photos. The gardening information and suggestions are great and the recipes are super Yummy.
August 27, 2014
Lovely photos and recipes. Wish there was a little more region specific information
June 12, 2016
A pretty book, with a lot of interesting ideas. Glad I read it, but not one I'd keep for keeps.
#14 in my read-through-the-bookshelf challenge.
#14 in my read-through-the-bookshelf challenge.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews