While most folks know me as a horticultural authority, the truth is my lifelong love of all plants began with raising vegetables. If you follow my blog Growing with Plants, you know that while i grow and collect many types of plants, vegetables are a passion as they have a deep connection to our past, and to our kitchens. I love to cook (and to eat). In this book you learn things regardless of your gardening experience. First of all, it's personal so I share some of the varieties which I and my peers believe are currently the best available to raise from seed, but I go deeper. I myself love great gardening books. I most enjoy books that I can read again and again, in season and offseason. There are books that I buy but for one reason or another they just look nice but end up in the bookcase. My blog readers already know that I deep-dive into some topics. I take the time to sow and grow my own Belgian Endive not because I am saving money, but because home-grown ones are so incredibly crispy and fresh that no market can compare. In many ways, this book is about luxuries like this. Most of us understand the benefits of a freshly picked heirloom tomato in-season, but how many of us have treated yourself to a freshly picked and steamed heirloom Italian purple artichoke? I also share the newest cultural practices and advice usually only offered to commercial farmers and nurseries as well as facts about soil fertility for each crop, as it is often different (both organic and inorganic methods are shared as each has a benefit). Lastly, if you start your own seeds I offer the ideal temperature range for germinating seeds, whether they need light, a temperature shift at night and the ideal time to plant them. As with our favorite cookbook, this book should be useful to a broad audience. My wish is that it should eventually end up being torn, filthy and dogeared. I hope this is how the book will live in your home! Use it, learn from it, be inspired by it.
