Gardening, food, gardening, food…
Here are some books we’re looking at ordering soon.
By Nikki Fotheringham
Cooking with flowers is something we’ve heard about before, but this book takes the concept to new levels. Nikki Fotheringham lives in central Ontario and collects flowers from a meadow nearby. Fancy a Lavender Love Martini? Or some Flower Pasta with Marigold Pesto? Check out the recipes offered. She also has a guide to foraging 15 flower varieties and a number of tips for growing flowers. The book has over 90 recipes and is printed in beautiful colour-coded chapters.
By Rosie Daykin
Rosie Daykin is an award-winning writer, from Vancouver, of cookbooks who is also a gardener. In fact, she turned a weedy patch beside her house into a garden to grow vegetables and fruit and a good supply of flowers for cutting. The Side Gardener features recipes from the garden, all vegetable-forward, along with musings and gorgeous photographs.
By Carson Arthur
From one of Canada’s favourite gardening experts! This one has been out for a while, but it’s too good to pass over. Carson Arthur shows you how you can grow vegetables in any kind of space you have, even if it’s only a windowsill. He covers straw bale gardens, raised beds, vertical gardens; starting seeds; how-tos for projects like building a cucumber trellis or planter box; and complete seed-to-table guides on 20 different vegetables. Also? There are primers on backyard chickens and beekeeping!
By GF Quinn
This independently published guide from an Indigenous writer came out last year under the radar. If you are an old gardener but new to gardening in raised beds, join Quinn in his journey of discovery. He was a longtime gardener who built a raised bed and found out all the things he should have known going into the project. He brings his knowledge to give you a complete guide to putting in and growing in raised beds, including some uncommon things like how to use drip tape and whether or not to use coffee grounds.
By Lorraine Johnson and Sheila Colla
This book makes strong arguments in favour of native plants in the garden. It’s worth the read even if you disagree with the arguments.
The bulk of the book is profiles of native plants, including grasses, sedges, trees and shrubs. Some of the plants are difficult to find information on, and this book gives you all the information you could need plus interesting facts: did you know Jack-in-the-pulpit can change its sex?
Plants listed in the book are all specific to the Great Lakes and Ontario. Some are the same for other areas of Canada, and the arguments are valid for any area.
The book is illustrated by photographs and pictures drawn by Ann Sanderson. The images give you a beautiful understanding of the pollinators and plants discussed.
By Niki Jabbour
The latest book by Canada’s favourite Halifax gardener. If you’ve seen pictures of her, she may well have been bundled in a ski suit in the snow, looking inside her cold-frame garden. Jabbour tells you, step by step, how to use covers in the garden. Row covers, cold frames, cloches, polytunnels, and those sorts of things. The first thing you may think of is extending the season, and that is one very good use for these plant shelters. They also help with too much sun in summer and undesirable insects on your veggies.
If you’re ready for a longer growing season than the one we’re blessed with, this is the book to read.
