BOOKMARK: Gardening Storey

 

Novice gardeners, and even those with sun-ripened green thumbs, sometimes need a boost to sprout planting ideas; Storey Publishing offers a roster of fresh, helpful gardening books that share the wisdom of local authors for the coming season.

 

The Beginner’s Guide to Edible Herbs, by former New Marlborough, Mass., resident Charles W.G. Smith, serves as a clear-cut guide to twenty-six popular and lesser-known herbs and their uses, offering background, tips, and details on how to grow, harvest, and cook the bounty. The handbook is also dotted with recipes, such as those for homemade mushroom ketchup, herb-marinated goat cheese, and aromatic salts and oils, and includes sidebars highlighting tips such as how to use a dehydrator or select an appropriately sized pot. An at-a-glance chart sums it all up in this competent herb-garden companion.

 

Gardeners hoping to take it to the next step—and praying that this summer will be blight-free—can turn to Tomato: A Fresh-from-the-Vine Cookbook by Lawrence Davis-Hollander of Ashley Falls, Mass. This juicy cookbook assembles a hundred and fifty sumptuous recipes for the likes of Heirloom Tomato Pizza and Mussels with Tomato-Saffron Sauce, as well as some surprises such as Green Tomato Chocolate Cake, in which the ingredient adds moistness and nutritional value to a traditional dessert. Also included are handy histories and instructions for preserving and using this plump produce in a number of ways, as well as a glossary of the many heirloom varieties that exist.

 

 

Lastly, crafty gardeners will enjoy The Vegetable Gardener’s Book of Building Projects, a new guide to enhancing and accessorizing the humble vegetable garden with more than thirty sets of step-by-step instructions to creating beds, planters, supports, bird feeders, and furniture pieces that transform the garden from yard to workshop. Each project features diagrams and material lists, illustrated by gorgeous full-page photos providing additional motivation.

 

Whether one wants to embark on an herbal adventure or enjoy a fresh heirloom tomato dish at a handcrafted picnic table, one thing is clear: now is the time to get outside and explore new wonders in the garden. [JUNE 2010]
 

 

THE GOODS

The Beginner’s Guide to Edible Herbs
By Charles W. G. Smith

 

Tomato: A Fresh-from-the-Vine Cookbook
By Lawrence Davis-Hollander

 

The Vegetable Gardener’s Book of Building Projects
By the editors of Storey Publishing

 

Storey Publishing