Gardening guru Barbara Pleasant's Starter Vegetable Gardens, 2nd Edition: 24 No-Fail Plans for Small Organic Gardens is a colorful, easy-to-follow guide designed for both new and experienced gardeners curious about the immensely satisfying hobby of growing one's own food. By adopting Pleasant's simplified growing techniques and design strategies for planting vegetables and flowers together, readers willing to spend a few hours a week in their gardens can create outdoor edible spaces bursting with visual and culinary appeal. Pleasant (Homegrown Pantry; The Complete Compost Gardening Guide), a mental health counselor turned master gardener and author, has more than 30 years of horticultural experience and is passionate about growing, preserving and cooking vegetables and herbs. In the chapter "Marinara Medley," borders of onions, oregano and parsley are paired with basil, peppers and tomatoes rich in vitamin C that will eventually be simmered into Pleasant's recipe for a deliciously fresh marinara sauce.
Starter Vegetable Gardens is ripe with diagrams and illustrations of gardens for every type of space and skill level. The book opens with the surprisingly easy technique of planting seeds in open bags of potting soil, a method that has a high success rate, and progresses to colorful vegetable borders and full-scale front-yard planting plans teeming with colorful edibles such as stained-glass chard and multi-colored snap beans.
With her joyful, down-to-earth writing style, Pleasant shares advice and valuable tips for food-gardening novices, reminding readers to stay open to new lessons and experiences each growing season: "In gardening as in life, there is always something new to learn." --Shahina Piyarali, reviewer