Saturday, July 6, 2013

The Speedy Vegetable Garden by Mark Diacono, Lia Leendertz

I received a copy of The Speedy Vegetable Garden through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  I have four kids who are like any kids, they are not the most patient of folk.  We have a vegetable garden but the kids want to see things happen sooner so I thought this might give us some kid friendly ideas!  Here is the cover and the Goodreads blurb:


Typically, vegetable gardening is about the long view: peas sown in spring aren't harvested until summer, and tomatoes started indoors in February can't be eaten until July. But it's not true for all plants. Some things can be planted and eaten in weeks, days, even hours.

"The Speedy Vegetable Garden"highlights more than 50 quick crops, with complete information on how to sow, grow, and harvest each plant, and sumptuous photography that provides inspiration and a visual guide for when to harvest. In addition to instructions for growing, it also provides recipes that highlight each crop s unique flavor, like Chickpea sprout hummus, stuffed tempura zucchini flowers, and a paella featuring calendula.

Sprouted seeds are the fastest. Microgreens can be harvested in weeks: cilantro, 14 days after planting; arugula and fennel in 10 days. And a handful of vegetable varieties grow more quickly than their slower relatives, like dwarf French beans (60 days), cherry tomatoes (65 days), and early potatoes (75 days).

"The Speedy Vegetable Garden"puts fresh, seed-to-table food at your fingertips, fast!
I found this book to be pretty useful.  I love sprouts but never really thought I had the ability to sprout them myself.  Some of the veggies discussed are a bit out there for some readers though.  I thought the most useful parts were on the cultivation of lettuce (I am going to rake my lettuce patch better when I next plant) and the section on edible flowers.  I love the idea of edible flowers.  I am adding Nasturtiums to my garden next year.  The section on micro greens was really interesting.  I think that most people won't be very familiar with the idea of micro greens (I wasn't) but the concept sounds pretty great.  You get fast greens with all the best attributes of their fully grown counterparts and not nearly as much waiting.  All in all, I think this is a great gardening reference book with something for everyone but not all of the book will appeal or be useful to everyone.

You can click here to add The Speedy Vegetable Garden to your Goodreads.  I give this book 3 fairies for a useful reference that I need on my shelf.


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