Uncommon Gems: 7 Vegetable Gardening Books That Aren’t Boring Guides
Inside: The best gardening books for veggies, herbs, and fruits to help you build the harvest of your dreams. You really need these in your home library so you can refer to them as needed.
No more boring books that read like an encyclopedia and basically tell you to plant everything in well-drained soil with enough sun. Thanks. We know that.
These books have a point and an opinion and will teach you how to do something you haven’t learned yet. From pruning your apple trees to using those weird herbs you aren’t sure about, they will teach you, inspire you, and even (yes!) entertain you. Put down the giant boring vegetable gardening 101 manual. Let’s have some fun.
I have ordered these in the order I think you should purchase them. Everyone should have number one, and they become more optional as you go down the list.
Gardening When It Counts by Steve Soloman
Ah. My favorite. It makes people mad because first it bashes the currently popular gardening model (raised beds, purchased fertilizer, tightly spaced crops.) And when you first read about it, it seems overly prepper-ish, but it’s not. This book will teach you how to build a garden that saves you money nd goes beyond an expensive hobby. It’s a must.
Vegetables Love Flowers By Lisa Mason Ziegler
Eventually, you’ll want to grow cutting flowers because they are the key to happiness. The best news is that they will help your super-practical and frugal vegetable garden thrive. This book will show you how to bring the pure joy of flowers to your vegetable garden, with lots of tips on starting from seed, harvesting, and more. Bees and other good bugs are the gardener’s best friend, and all you have to do is attract them!
She loves zinnias and sunflowers but includes a lot of flowers that might be new to you too.
Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
This isn’t even a how-to book, but it’s a must for every serious vegetable gardener. Why? Because it will motivate you on your organic gardening journey like absolutely nothing else. And really, the basics of gardening are simple (which is why most books just repeat the old “full sun and well-drained soil” adage). The secret is the hard work. Weeding when it’s hot out. Harvesting when you don’t even really want anymore cucumbers. Weeding some more. Canning your extras so they won’t go to waste. Thinning, planting, mulching. Did I mention weeding?
And this book will remind you, in the most beautiful way, why you’re even doing this. I read it every single year.
Fruits and Berries for the Home Garden by Lewis Hill
A boring title, but not a boring book. Since growing fruits and berries have become less common over the years, I find that some of the older books are much better. This book is written in plain English and suitable for beginners and beyond. Includes tips on nuts as well!
Cool Flowers, by Lisa Mason Zeigler
A small but information-packed book that teaches you how to grow cool-season cutting flowers. This is for the intermediate to advanced gardener who wants to try something new. This book will teach you how to grow super early flowers like snapdragons, sweet peas, and more that you can enjoy in the early parts of the season. For many of you you’ll plant them in fall. It’s a new and beautiful thing to try and an amazing way to go beyond the basics
Berries by Louise Riotte
I love this little book and most of the Storey Country Wisdom booklets. It is super affordable and there are more that go into specific berries. You’ll find simple and easy-to-understand illustrations that cover pruning, planting, and more. Every year I pull this out to make sure I’m pruning my blackberries correctly!
Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth
As you become interested in heirloom varieties and frugal gardening, you’ll discover the power of saving your own seeds. At its heart, it’s simple: save seeds and replant each year, but every variety has its own rules to follow. This book shows you, plant by plant, how to select, harvest, dry, and save seeds. It’s not something you’ll sit down and eagerly devour, but you’ll use it as a reference book all season long. If biodiversity and heirloom vegetables are important to you, this one’s a must-have.
Betty Crocker’s Kitchen Gardens
Out of print and quite old-fashioned, this book is lovely to look at and full of useful advice. it’s very focused on herbs, with many sample plans and recipes for using them. I consider almost a book entirely on herb gardening. It’s definitely more of a “nice-to-have”. First a second on herbs (quite a bit of space is devoted to this, much more than most modern gardening books), and then vegetables. The vegetables are divided into “favorites”, ones that anyone can grow, even in containers, and then “elbowroom vegetables”, for people with larger plots. There is a section for kids gardening, including sample plans, and finally a chapter on using your harvest, with ideas for herb mixes, vinegars, and teas.
Keep it Simple
And honestly, those are all you need. It’s better not to fill your head with lots of conflicting voices and ways to do things.
I have many specific gardening articles here that focus on my methods, but most of what I’ve learned has come from these sources.
I wish you the very best of luck with your garden. And, of course, remember the well-drained soil 😉.
By Katie Shaw
Katie lives in Virginia with her husband, three daughters, a chocolate lab, and over thirty chickens. She loves creating simple tutorials for sourdough, bread, and soap. Her recipes, articles, and YouTube videos reach millions of people per year.
