It has been such a hot summer that I haven't been able to spend as much time as I would like puttering in my garden. This book was a balm for the days spent inside waiting for the cooler fall growing season to start. I would call this a gardening book with recipes. The author mentions that good country cooks knew "how to extract the most from each season without too much fuss." and I love that concept. This is a book I will return to again and again.

If you plan to have a garden next summer, pick up this book now and start preparing!!

This is an amazing guide for new and expert gardeners. There is so much information that can be helpful no matter your experience level.

The book goes through how to prep your garden plot, what to plant (I loved the Thanksgiving garden, kids garden, and gardens based on cuisine!),how to compost, where to buy seeds (shout out to my personal favorite southern exposure seed exchange), and how to care for the plants. But most importantly, there are some awesome looking recipes to use once you've successfully nurtured and harvested produce from your garden. The smashed cucumber chicken salad looked especially delicious.... which is convenient as it's the only thing I successfully grew this year.

I'm so excited for this book to be released I can get my hands on a completed copy!

This book is for gardeners and cooks. I love that it begins by addressing what YOU may want to plant in your garden; your tastes, your growing conditions, the amount of time you have to spend on your garden.

One of my favorite things in this book is a “growing cuisine” table. This table lays out the signature flavors (herbs, etc.), signature vegetables, and additional vegetables. Do you like Mexican food? You may want to plant chilies, cilantro, garlic, onions, and oregano as your signature flavors. For the signature veggies, you may want to grow calabacita, corn, tomatillos, and tomatoes. Additional vegetables may include epazote, Mexican oregano, and chayote. Several cuisine types are included. There are another several tables that an avid gardener will find interesting and useful.

Another very useful section, particularly for new gardeners, or gardeners who want to expand their crops includes a discussion of better (and worse) backyard crops.

Helpful sections include discussions of soil, compost, deciding what type of garden you want (in-ground, raised bed, containers, etc., sewing and planting, upkeep, harvesting, and planning your next garden. There is also a useful glossary.

Useful instructions for planting your seeds, starts, etc. are provided for the various types of vegetables, as well as growing tips, and some recipes.

I’ve never seen a book quite like this and I think it’s an outstanding resource for both beginners and more advanced gardeners to plan, prepare, and plant their gardens.

Love the recipes. This book is a little too wordy for me, personally. That’s not to say it isn’t right for others. I’d appreciate more simple, easy to follow/read charts vs all the wordy explanations. I’d like less text, or maybe bold and highlight the important points. It is chockfull of great information and explanations. I definitely enjoy the recipes. It’s a book I’d consider giving as a gift to a fellow gardener. Thanks NetGalley for the review copy.

This book seems like an excellent resource for those who enjoy cooking and gardening. I like the way it's set up, and I especially like that the author listed what plants to grow based on the type of cuisine you typically cook. It's smart, well thought out, and I'll be adding it to my personal collection immediately after release!

This is a book that invites the reader to curl up on a couch, preferably in the winter while in the planning stages of gardening. It feels like reading a work of literature, with thoughtful reflections on gardens and crops, ideas for successful yields and unique gardens one may be interested in planting. The writing is informative, but narrated in such a way that invites imagination. The images are illustrative of what a successful yield may look like, and there are rustic photographs of a compost garden mixed in with infographics and captions.

I can't wait to read the full book--I truly love dreaming and planning gardens more than the execution (something always seems to go wrong) but I keep optimistically trying again. The Cook's Garden makes me want to try even harder this year!

I want to thank NetGalley and Alfred A Knopt, a division of Penguin House Publishing for the ARC of The Cook’s Garden by Kevin West in exchange for an honest review.

Kevin West uses his knowledge of gardening to inspire and inform others who want to create a garden. In one beginning chapter, Kevin writes that when starting a garden, you should look at the garden as an extension of the recipes you make. This line as simple as it is really made me stop and think about how true it is and how I can create a garden that can be more reflective of my cooking needs. The book has chapters that introduce gardeners to the growing zones, soil conditions, watering, different vegetables to grow, recipes and more. I think this book is a great tool for beginner gardeners and will help the readers create a more successful, wasteless garden that you can eat.

Lots of info! As someone who dreams of a big garden and cooking/preserving from said garden (though I must admit I mostly excel at growing weeds), this book provides so much info, both in regards to cooking as well as recipes. The recipes are unique compared to what I usually see in gardening books with recipes. Definitely looking forward to the final product!

This seems like an excellent book. It was a little tricky to read because the kindle version (my preferred way of reading books to review) is formatted badly and there are letters missing in many words and things are all jumbled together. In addition, the ARC for both the Kindle version and the netgalley version is only the first half of the book. I generally will not publicly review a book if I’m unable to review the whole thing.

Since this does seem to be an exceptional guide, I may review it after next week. I am taking part in the boycott of Amazon and its products (which includes goodreads) during the week of march 7-14. As I said, I generally will not publicly review any book that is only released as a partial ARC but what I read seemed far better than most.