GrowVeg: the beginner's guide to easy vegetable gardening

Homegrown vegetables bring a "universe of tastes, textures, and characters to explore," writes GrowVeg.com editor Vanheems in his vibrant debut. It's best to start with a small garden, he advises, before slowly expanding the quantity and range of crops as confidence grows. He offers plenty of practical gardening advice: if one's yard has poor soil, he recommends using raised beds, which drain better and "warm up quicker in spring, so you can get a head start on sowing and planting." Would-be gardeners without yards, meanwhile, should give container gardening a try. There are lists of which vegetables to plant and when, and, for those having trouble deciding what to grow, Vanheems suggests "writing down what you or your family enjoys eating or would eat more of if you had the opportunity." Vanheems uses a plethora of household materials for gardening: he shows how to plant pea shoots in recycled lengths of roof gutters, pot herbs in old tin cans, and turn a child's former sandbox into a starter garden. Aspiring vegetable gardeners will find this an informative and entertaining guide. (Mar.)

The mission of UK-based GrowVeg.com is to "open up the wonders of homegrown, organic gardening to everyone." Vanheems, who also stars in the website's popular YouTube videos, provides straightforward instruction for the beginner gardener to get started growing garden vegetables of all kinds, in spaces of all sizes. Vanheems guides gardeners through the entire process of growing their first garden. Chapters cover everything from choosing a location to adding organic matter, starting seeds, transplanting, watering, harvesting the first crops, and more. For those short on in-ground soil, alternative methods for growing some vegetables are presented, such as potatoes grown in a trash can, carrots grown in a basket, and chilis grown in a bucket. A variety of simple and accessible garden projects are also included, such as making a hanging garden from a wardrobe organizer, a wormery, a bug hotel, and a pallet planter. VERDICT Beginning gardeners who are eager to get their hands dirty will find both inspiration and practical information in this accessible, colorful, and highly illustrated volume.--Pauline Theriault, Multnomah Cty. Lib., Portland, OR

The mission of UK-based GrowVeg.com is to "open up the wonders of homegrown, organic gardening to everyone." Vanheems, who also stars in the website's popular YouTube videos, provides straightforward instruction for the beginner gardener to get started growing garden vegetables of all kinds, in spaces of all sizes. Vanheems guides gardeners through the entire process of growing their first garden. Chapters cover everything from choosing a location to adding organic matter, starting seeds, transplanting, watering, harvesting the first crops, and more. For those short on in-ground soil, alternative methods for growing some vegetables are presented, such as potatoes grown in a trash can, carrots grown in a basket, and chilis grown in a bucket. A variety of simple and accessible garden projects are also included, such as making a hanging garden from a wardrobe organizer, a wormery, a bug hotel, and a pallet planter. VERDICT Beginning gardeners who are eager to get their hands dirty will find both inspiration and practical information in this accessible, colorful, and highly illustrated volume.—Pauline Theriault, Multnomah Cty. Lib., Portland, OR

Homegrown vegetables bring a "universe of tastes, textures, and characters to explore," writes GrowVeg.com editor Vanheems in his vibrant debut. It's best to start with a small garden, he advises, before slowly expanding the quantity and range of crops as confidence grows. He offers plenty of practical gardening advice: if one's yard has poor soil, he recommends using raised beds, which drain better and "warm up quicker in spring, so you can get a head start on sowing and planting." Would-be gardeners without yards, meanwhile, should give container gardening a try. There are lists of which vegetables to plant and when, and, for those having trouble deciding what to grow, Vanheems suggests "writing down what you or your family enjoys eating or would eat more of if you had the opportunity." Vanheems uses a plethora of household materials for gardening: he shows how to plant pea shoots in recycled lengths of roof gutters, pot herbs in old tin cans, and turn a child's former sandbox into a starter garden. Aspiring vegetable gardeners will find this an informative and entertaining guide. (Mar.)