Cover Image: Starter Vegetable Gardens, 2nd Edition

Starter Vegetable Gardens, 2nd Edition

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Member Reviews

I don't really consider myself a 'starter gardener; but this book gives so many insights and such great information that I might as well be one. The author explains why you should do certain things rather than just telling you to do them and gives explicit instructions so it is nearly impossible to get confused. I look forward to implementing many of these tips in my own burgeoning garden in upcoming seasons.

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Starter Vegetable Gardens is the perfect book for someone just getting started with gardening. The format is extremely helpful in building that first garden and expanding it year after year. The tips and "recipes" for the garden make it enjoyable to read. The crop by crop varieties section was especially helpful to the novice gardener and covered many of the typical garden varieties. As an experienced gardener, I found most of the varieties listed are tried and true in my garden. Overall the entire book is very well organized, very readable, and extremely helpful to all types of gardeners.

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Great how to book for gardeners! Gardening is laid out in a 3 year program. This book makes gardening a breeze! From how to plot your garden, soil/fertilizer to add, and what types of vegetables to grow where. It’s written in an easy format with illustrations. This author makes gardening fool proof! I’ve been a gardener for years and learned quite a bit from this book! I’d highly recommend it!

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This is a very comprehensive books packed with information and tips on growing vegetables and herbs. There are lots of diagrams of suggested layouts and planting schemes which I found repetitive and too prescriptive. I would have preferred more general facts and just a few suggestions rather than so many different layouts.

There is plenty of good information about seed sowing, fertilizers, insects (good and bad), creating structures to help the plot, etc. Non US readers should be aware that this is a US based book so the vegetable and herb names may be different and the varieties suggested to sow may not be available in your country. It is also in imperial measurements with lots of mentions of inches and feet.

With thanks to NetGalley and Storey Publishing for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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This book is a great resource for gardeners! I love the way there are different examples for different gardening goals. I also love that it teaches how to grow the garden over time. It makes the task feel very approachable. There is so much useful information—great for a beginner gardener. I would consider buying this book to just have on hand as needed. This was great.

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Being a somewhat beginning gardener, failed more than succeeded, this book has given me encouragement. It gave me specifics in planning my garden as the years go by and as my garden grows each year. Suggestions included easy to raise crops, what, how, how many to plant and caring for them is included. All topics from seed, mulch, fertilizer and even insects are covered to help you succeed in gardening. I recommend this for those starting out or are stuck in where to go with their garden or how to "grow" it. It is easy to follow and read.

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The book takes you through soils, garden layout, plant placement, best practices for starting seeds and growth/maintenance, with year-to-year guidance as you begin your gardens and retain for future seasons. This is a fantastic "winter read" to work through and take notes without feeling rushed or overwhelmed to immediately implement. The illustrations were also very helpful in seeing concepts in action.

Thank you to Storey Publishing for the digital ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Very informative, comprehensive book for beginning gardeners. Nice garden plans and explanations.

Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

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As someone who has always wanted to grow their own food, books like this are a lifeline and an apology to all the plants I've killed in the past, thinking that it would be easy to grow vegetables and herbs. It's a lot easier to use a book like this and learn how to do things, rather than trying to do it on your own!

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Really thorough with the information it gives you. I think it's good for people who have no to mid-level experience with gardening as it takes you from deciding what kind of gardening you want to try and how to set it all up. I really liked that it had information on improving your soil and creating compost.
The layout is really easy to follow and the illustrations and brilliant :)

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Great book for beginners. Very inspiring! I would recommend this to anyone who doesn't know where to start.

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This guide is a very helpful book to any gardener when getting started with planning and preparing a garden for the first time or the fifth time. I really enjoyed all the different options and insights the author gives you into putting up different garden ideas, and set ups. I will recommend this one to everyone!

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Starter Vegetable Gardens, 2nd Edition was a great place to start this spring! The colorful pictures and drawings helped to visualize what the garden can look like. I appreciated the one, two, and three year garden plans. I especially appreciated the "Strictly From Seed Garden Plan" that provided information about when to plant seedlings and seeds and techniques to be successful.

As a fairly confident gardener, there were many tips and information that was helpful to plan my garden out and to help revise my current garden plan. I tend to overwater so reading the section on "Water: Make Every Drop Count" I was able to adjust my plan for watering.

This book would be a welcome addition to any amateur or experienced gardener. There is always more to learn in the world of gardening and this book is a great place to start.

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First time reading a book by this author. We’ve been wanting to start a vegetable garden forever, We can’t wait to try all these amazing tips! So many good ones!

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As a new gardener, I found the structure and content in this book to be very useful. The book is organized into different types of gardens - complete with what to plant and when. Lots of helpful tips are interspersed throughout the book. I will certainly turn back to the last section that gives a short overview of the vegetables and herbs mentioned in the book often as I select ones to plant in my own garden.

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I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. (via Netgalley)

Interesting and informative, covering a variety of topics.

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I received this book from the publisher for review and all opinions are my own.
Excellent reference for any gardener. Plans for starting a garden and expanding it over several years included. Plants and growing tips are especially valuable for a new and seasoned gardener.

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I like this book a lot. It has great ideas that can help you grow your garden over 3 years and improve your soil. I like that she gives great directions on a bag garden and how to move from a bag garden over the 3 years into an actually garden in the ground. She tells you how many people you will need to grown each different type of garden. For example the bag garden even after 3 years is manageable for 1 person and the family garden will need a little more help from others. Each project has times when to start planning and how to plan out the seasons. She shows examples like how to make a trellis and how to make a ground cover. She includes a chart about potential bugs that can effect your garden and how to address them.
Overall I would say that each of the projects in this book are doable even for a new gardener. While the family garden needs. a little more experience starting off small and growing the garden over the years will harden up the would be gardener.

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Great book for a beginner or intermediate gardener.!This books can help you start a vegetable garden in just 10 minutes and with minimal effort. And with step by step plans, it can show you how to easily get to a robust garden in 3 years. There are countless tips and tricks which you can pick and choose from, such as: how to get started from zero, which crops to choose, planting designs and even how to easily prevent pests.

One of my favorite tips from this book was on how to pair accent flowers with your vegetable garden, which I had never contemplated, but am really excited to explore!

I removed one star because the kindle format is very hard to read as is - it would be an easy fix to accomplish by pub date though.

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This book has a lot of information on designing, planning, and techniques for executing a vegetable garden. I found the organization a little scattered and difficult to follow, and I would have liked to see advice and designs for smaller spaces. Not everyone has a big yard, and I’ve seen some really interesting space usage on patios and balconies. Hopefully, the published version will also have much better pictures and the stock photos were simply place holders.

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