Agnes Street Gardens

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• The Art of Fermentation:
• An In-Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes from Around the World
• Sandor Ellix Katz
• Chelsea Green Publishing, 2012
• Katz is the dean of fermenting and he has written the encyclopaedia. Winner of the 2013 James Beard Foundation Book Award for Reference and Scholarship, and a New York Times bestseller, The Art of Fermentation is the most comprehensive guide to do-it-yourself home fermentation ever published. Read more.

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• The Art of Simple Food II:
• Recipes, Flavor, and Inspiration from the New Kitchen Garden
• Alice Waters
• Clarkson Potter, 2013
• ISBN: 978-0-307-71827-3
• This wonderful book is perfect for home gardeners who love to cook what they grow. The author, a restaurateur from Berkeley, has compiled an information-packed compendium of her favourite vegetables and fruits along with notes on growing them as well as recipes. There are also sections devoted to harvest, crop preservation, and gardening basics. You're in for a treat when you borrow this book.

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• Backyard Bounty:
• The Complete Guide to Year-Round Organic Gardening in the Pacific Northwest
• Linda Gilkeson
• New Society, 2018
• This is an outstanding book for both the beginning and experienced gardener. The author, a Salt Spring Island resident, offers up practical advice for producing lots of produce and fruit using methods that minimize the work effort. She covers growing food in containers, greenhouses and open gardens. Topics include planning and preparing the garden, basic methods of growing vegetables and fruits, starting and saving seeds, managing pests and problems, a year-round gardening calendar, A to Z for vegetables and fruits that grow well on our coast. This book is chock-o-block full of practical tips for gardeners of all levels. Highly recommended.
• For more tips and advice Linda has a mailing list, Linda's List, you can subscribe to. Send an email to: gilkeson@shaw.ca to get on the list. Past messages are archived on her website, http://www.lindagilkeson.ca/gardening_tips.htm

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• The Backyard Homestead Book of Kitchen Know-How
• Field-to-Table Cooking Skills
• Andrea Chesman
• Storey Publishing, 2015
• ISBN: 9781612122045
• Agnes Street gardeners may not consider their plot a homestead, but this book will be a great help once the harvest avalanche starts! There is lots of practical information on processing, preserving, and preparing the food you grow. Included in this book is a guide to preparing fresh veggies and fruit including harvest tips; grains and beans (dry) harvesting, preserving, and cooking tips; a large section on food preservation, including freezing, drying, and canning; and a recipe section. As our climate gets more unpredictable, having food you grow and preserve will become ever more important. Highly recommended.

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• Backyard Roots:
• Lessons on Living Local from 25 Urban Farmers
• Lori Eanes
• Skipstone Press, 2013
• ISBN: 978-1-59485-711-9
• This wonderful book highlights a wide variety of urban farms on the West Coast from San Francisco to Vancouver. Great photos.

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• Batch:
• Over 200 Recipes, Tips & Techniques For A Well Preserved Kitchen
• Joel MacCharles and Dana Harrison
• Appetite by Random House, 2016
• This book is a treasure trove of food preservation techniques accompanied by recipes, practical advice and tips. The 7 methods of preservation covered in this book include water-bath canning, pressure canning, dehydrating, fermenting, cellaring, salted & smoked, and infusing. The second half of the book is organized by ingredient. This is particularly handy for the home gardener who wants to preserve as much as the harvest as possible. In 2008 the authors started a food blog called WellPreserved - a great resource for the beginner and the experienced cook.

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• Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life
• Marta McDowell
• Timber Press, 2013
• ISBN: 978-1-60469-363-8
• This delightful book weaves the story of the origins of Beatrix Potter's interest in gardening and plants and how this passion shines through in all her childrens books. All her characters (Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle Duck, and all the rest) live a very cushy life amongst the vegetable and flower gardens of Hill Top Farm and environs in England's Lake District. The book contains many lovely pictures of her paintings, illustrations from her books, and photos from her life. Highly recommended.

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• Better Homes and Gardens Complete Canning Guide:
• Freezing, Preserving, Drying
• Better Homes and Gardens
• Mifflin Harcourt, Boston and New York, 2015
• This is one of the best books I've seen on food preservation! It covers step-by-step guides to canning, freezing, fermenting and drying. Includes many recipes with clear instructions and illustrations. Highly recommended.

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• Birds, Bees, & Butterflies:
• Bringing Nature Into Your Yard & Garden
• Nancy J. Hajeksi
• National Geographic, 2016
• This is an outstanding reference book that helps the gardener attract pollinators (birds, bees, butterflies and moths) to your garden. Included in this book are chapters on creating the right habitats for these species - the basics, life cycles, top plants for songbirds, hummingbirds, and butterflies, and bees; and identification sections of each with information about their habitat, favourite food, natural history, and fabulous photographs. Highly recommended.

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• Canadian Gardener's Guide
• Everything You Need To Know To Create and Care for Your Garden
• Editor Lorraine Johnson
• DK Canada, 2nd edition, 2016
• This is an excellent, comprehensive garden guide for Canada. It targets both the beginner and experienced gardener. The book covers getting started, garden design, planting your garden, grow your own veggies and fruit, caring for your garden, and help & advice. It also has a large section on choosing plants for your garden. It is organized by plants for different seasons, growing conditions, native Canadian plants, plants for specific growing conditions & soil, deer-resistant plants, and many other categories that the reader will find useful. This book is a veritable cornucopia for garden information targeting the Canadian gardener. Highly recommended.

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• Composting for Canada
• Suzanne Lewis
• Lone Pine, Edmonton, 2010
• This compact book is designed especially for Canadian gardeners. It covers the following subject areas: the basics of backyard aeration composting; on-site composting; successful anaerobic composting methods; worm composting (how to care for your new pets!); using the finished product; problem pests; and the basics of soil structure. Excellent photographs and illustrations. Highly recommended.

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• Cool Season Gardener
• Extend the Harvest, Plan Ahead, and Grow Vegetables Year Round
• Bill Thorness
• Skipstone, 2013, Seattle, WA
• ISBN: 9781594857157
• This is an excellent guide for the gardener who wants to extend their gardening experience beyond the summer with the added bonus of fresh veggies for Christmas and throughout the dark days of winter. Topics covered include: planting timetables; getting to know your micro-climate; starting winter veggie plants; DIY building plans for cloches, cold-frames, and poly tunnels; and the best varieties for fall and winter planting.

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• Cultivating Garden Style
• Rochelle Greayer
• Timber Press, 2014
• ISBN: 978-1-60469-477-2
• The author offers a sense of fun to gardening with this book. Even if you are just into veggie gardening over at our community garden, it's fun to look at all the different styles of gardening out there. Included in this book are 23 different styles with advice and help in creating them to accent your style in your outdoor living space. The photos are outstanding.

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• The Culinary Herbal
• Growing and Preserving 97 Flavorful Herbs
• Susan Belsinger and Arthur O. Tucker
• Timber Press, 2016
• This book highlights the best varieties of herbs for the home garden. Also included are a few uncommon varieties. Each entry includes at least one photograph, growing, harvesting, and preserving instructions along with the best uses for incorporating into flavourful culinary dishes. There is a section of recipes for syrups, pastes and butters.

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• The Deckchair Gardener
• 101 Cunning Stratagems for Gardening Avoidance and
• Sensible Advice on Your Realistic Chances of Getting Away With It
• Anne Wareham
• Michael O'Mara Books, 2017
• This book is for you if you get stressed out by the constant stream of well-meaning gardening advice -- (particularly at the beginning of the gardening season) -- when certain things "must be done" that in the end of the day creates a giant "to do" list.
• Organized by season, this book offers practical advice including what not to do.
• Throughout the book there are snippets of garden wisdom. This one I particularly liked: "Fine gardening is not for us. If you like it visit gardens of posh houses --the Royal Horticultural Society and the National Trust. You'll be able to have tea and lemon drizzle cake too if you do." Same for us here in Victoria -- visit Butchart Gardens! :-)

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• Eat Your Greens:
• The Surprising Power of Homegrown Leaf Crops
• David Kennedy
• New Society, 2014
• This is a great guide to getting off the industrial food train and start growing some wonderful, nutritious greens. The author covers both the common and unusual greens and provides comprehensive grow guides for each. Also included are harvesting and preserving information as well as harvest-to-table recipes. One of the neatest sections of this book is "Open-Source Gardening", which is similar to non-proprietary software which can be used and shared by everyone. "Seedy Saturdays" throughout Canada, as well as seed and plant exchanges, and garden information sessions at the Gardens are some examples of this.
• Highly recommended.

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• Edible Perennial Gardening:
• Growing Successful Polycultures in Small Places
• Anni Kelsey
• Permanent Publications, 2014
• ISBN: 9781856231497
• The author has done an amazing job cramming tons of information on edible perennials in 164 pages. She has meticulously researched a wide variety of plants suitable for small places. Topics covered include: getting started and basic principles, site selection and preparation, low-maintenance strategies, permaculture, forest gardening, and natural farming. In addition there is a chapter on cooking with these perennial veggies. If you have dreamed of growing a low-maintenance garden of edible perennials in a small space this is the book for you. :-) The ideas in this book can be easily applied to our community garden particularly if you are experiencing "lack of space" problems!

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• Edible Spots & Pots
• Stacey Hirvela
• Rodale Press, 2014
• ISBN: 13-978-1-60961-959-6
• This book is jam packed with great ideas and tips for growing all manner of things in containers and raised beds. There is a large section on raised beds, which will be of interest to our gardeners.

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• Edible Wild Plants & Herbs
• A Compendium of Recipes and Remedies
• Pamela Michael
• Grub Street, 2015, London
• ISBN: 9781909808232
• This is both a cookbook and field identification guide to a wide range of wild plants and herbs. Each plant is illustrated with wonderful, detailed paintings that are absolutely stunning along with a history of each plant and its uses in the past. There is a handy calendar that informs the reader what time of the year to look for each plant. Highly recommended.

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• Fifty Shades of Kale
• Drew Ramsey and Jennifer Iserloh
• Harper-Collins, 2013
• ISBN: 978-0-06-227288-1
• You can never have enough recipes for kale, so here's another book I can highly recommend. The Cocoa Delight recipe (with kale and dark chocolate) looks great.

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• Food To Grow
• A Simple, No-Fail Guide to Growing Your Own Fruits, Vegetables and Herbs
• Frankie Flowers
• Harper-Collins, 2016
• This is an outstanding Canadian guide to growing your own food. The author comes from a long line of food growers (known as muckers) in the fertile Holland Marsh area north of Toronto -- so he really knows his onions!
• The book is divided into two parts:
  1. Food to grow groundwork which includes food basics; the dirt - getting ready to plant, tasty choices, maximizing yields; getting down & dirty - maximizing your harvest; maintaining the garden -- keep it clean!; protection against predators; the harvest; and putting the garden to bed for the winter, and
  2. Food to grow plant guide which details how to grow a wide variety of veggies and herbs. I liked the author's dedication: "For you, my fellow humble gardener: every seed is just a plant waiting to show itself to the world. From backyards to school yards, fields to gardens to rooftops, keep growing and stay dirty forever".

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• Foolproof Preserving:
• A Guide to Small Batch Jams, Jellies, Pickles, Condiments, and More
• America's Test Kitchen (Editor)
• America's Test Kitchen, 2016
• This is a nice collection of well-tested recipes from America's Test Kitchen. The art of preserving produce by canning and preserving has come full circle from grandmother's kitchen to a whole new generation now eager to learn it. This detailed guide ... read more

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• The Four Season Farm Gardener's Cookbook
• From the Garden to the Table in 120 Recipes
• Barbara Damrosch and Eliot Coleman
• Workman Publications, 2012, New York
• ISBN: 9780761156697
• This is two books in one -- a detailed guide to organic gardening year-round and a recipe book for creating wonderful dishes from your veggie garden. Part 1 of this book includes information on soil; layouts for your garden; the crops - what to grow for the salad garden, the practical garden, the hard times garden, the winter garden, the self-reliant garden, and the savoury garden; information on making gardening easier, weed control, cold-frames, hoop houses, fencing, irrigation, sowing and starting seeds; growing and cooking advice for your crops organized by plant families. Part 2 has scrumptious recipes for your crops including appetizers & sandwiches, soups, salads and dressings; pasta, grains, and legumes; meat and seafood, summer veggies, and desserts. The authors live in Maine, so they are quite familiar with gardening in winter. Highly recommended.

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• From Seed to Table:
• A Practical Guide to Eating and Growing Green
• Janette Haase
• Insomniac Press, 2009
• ISBN: 978-1-8978-75-1
• This is an outstanding book that emphasizes the importance of local, organic food production. The author provides a month-by-month guide to growing a lot of food on a modest-size plot. She also includes some recipes for the end product. The author lives in Ontario so this book is particularly useful for Canadian gardeners.

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• The Front Yard Forager
• Melany Vorass Harrera
• Skipstone Press, 2013
• ISBN: 978-1-594-85-748-5
• This is a handy identification guide to collecting and cooking up cool recipes from the 30 most common weeds found in your yard, on boulevards, and other public spaces. The author is from Seattle, so this book is particularly applicable for Victoria. Who knew that one of the most invasive weeds over at the Agnes Gardens - red dead nettle - is edible. One recipe is Dead Nettle Crisps. So, when weeding your plot this spring, take some home and enjoy!

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• The Garden of Small Beginnings
• Abbi Wasman
• Berkeley, 2017
• This book is a bit of a departure for our library of gardening books -- it is a novel about a widowed mother who gradually gets sucked into the wonderful world of growing your own food. The characters in her weekly garden class plus the dishy instructor makes it a fun time with her kids and sister every Saturday. At the end of each chapter there are instructions for growing individual vegetables, with a dash of humour added to each.
• Here is an example of one entry (edited) - How to Grow Carrots.
• "Plant seed 3 to 4 inches apart, in rows at least 1 foot apart. Side note: No need to pull out the tape measure for this stuff, just eyeball it. They're not going to get pissy and refuse to grow just because you're are an inch out. Unless you plant those fancy multicoloured carrots; they take this shit really seriously."
• A delightful story with a gardening theme, excellent gardening instructions and lots of humour.

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• The Gardener's Guide to Weather and Climate
• Michael Allaby
• Timber Press, 2015, Portland
• This is a unique book that deals with the science of weather, climate, and your garden. The author talks about the increased longevity of growing seasons; how to create microclimates in your garden; plants and their environment; protecting against harsh weather; and the effects of global warming. An excellent, timely book.

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• Gardening for Birds, Butterflies & Bees
• Everything You Need To Know To Create A Wildlife Habitat In Your Backyard
• Editors at Birds and Blooms
• Reader's Digest Association, 2016
• This is a great guide to selecting plants that will attract birds and bees to your garden. There is a separate chapter for annuals, perennials, grasses and vines, and trees and shrubs. There are also chapters on backyard bird and butterfly profiles. The photographs are stunning. This book is a real treat. Check it out!

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• Gardening for the Homebrewer
• Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry (Pears), and More
• Wendy Tweten and Debbie Teashow
• Voyageur Press, 2015, Minneapolis
• This is a nifty guide to growing your own ingredients for homebrewing all manner of different and unique drinks. The photography is outstanding. The book is organized by different groups of drinks with clear growing and processing instructions for each plant or fruit ingredient. Examples include: beer, wine, ciders, liqueuers and infused spirits. An excellent introduction for gardeners who want to grow and brew their own liquid refreshment.

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• Garlic:
• An Edible Biography
• Robin Cherry
• Roost Books, 2014
• ISBN: 978-1-611180-160-6
• This book contains a wealth of information about garlic including: garlic & health, garlic and food, garlic in legend and lore, growing garlic and an added bonus - lots of recipes. The book also includes information on heirloom varieties. Highly recommended.

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• Grow All You Can Eat in 3 Square Feet
• DK Publishers, 2015
• ISBN: 968-1-4654-2980-3
• This is a nifty guide to growing food almost anywhere in all seasons. There are lots of innovative ideas for making the most of every square inch of soil you have. Contains many pictures and illustrations.

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• Grow. Food. Anywhere.
• The New Guide to Small-Space Gardening
• Matt Pember and Dillon Seitchik-Reardon
• Dillon Hardie Grant Books, 2018
• This is a fun-filled, colourful book chock-a-block with tons of information on growing your own food in all sorts of spaces -- from nooks and grannies,large raised beds, balconies, small courtyards, reclaimed, neighbourhood public spaces to all sorts of cool containers. The book covers 3 main topics: what plants need to grow well, fruits and veg to grow, and pests and diseases.
• The authors, owners of the Little Veggie Patch Co., present the information in an engaging and entertaining style with lots of photographs, illustrations, and clever design. This book is a true inspiration to all gardeners and those who would like to have their patch of earth to grow food. Their love of gardening shines through on each page.
• Highly recommended for both veteran and newbie gardeners.

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• Grow For Flavor:
• Tips and Tricks to Supercharge the Flavor of Homegrown Harvests
• James Wong (Author) and Jason Ingram (Photographer)
• Firefly Books, 2016
• The goal of this book is to educate the gardener on how to maximize the flavour and nutrition of homegrown veggies and fruits with minimum labour. This goal is met and then some! Chapters include: Grow for Flavor Toolkit; Old-school Crops (tomatoes, salad greens, root veggies, corn, summer & winter squash, fruit); Wildcard Crops (sweet potatoes, fungi-culture, specialty onions, winter radishes, edible weeds and flowers); Herbs, Spices and Nuts (including new herbs for foodie adventurers); and Capturing Flavor (preserving in oil, drying, botanical booze, and jamming). This book is packed with information accompanied by outstanding photography. Highly recommended.

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• Grow Vegetables
• Alan Buckingham
• Dorling Kindersley/Penguin Random House, 2nd edition, 2016
• This is book is cock-o-block full of everything you need to start growing your own vegetables and herbs. Lavishly illustrated with beautiful photographs, the author provides clear instructions on how to grow specific crops - how and when to plant, routine care, harvesting, problems (pests and diseases). and recommended varieties, Also included in this book is a section on vegetable grower's know-how, the vegetable doctor, and a vegetable year planner. The only quibble I have with this book is there is not enough information on growing veggies organically. Sometimes the author simply states to use an approved pesticide.

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• Grow What You Eat, Eat What You Grow
• The Green Man's Guide to Living and Eating Sustainably All Year Round
• Randy Shore
• Arsenal Pulp Press, 2014
• The author gave up the Vancouver rat-race, moved to Robert's Creek on the Sunshine Coast, and immersed himself in growing food and using this garden bounty to create healthy recipes. This book takes the reader on a journey through all 4 seasons. It's primarily a cookbook, but there is a lot of gardening advice as well as a heart-felt essays on local food and living sustainably.

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• Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades:
• The Complete Guide to Natural Gardening
• Steve Solomon
• Sasquatch Books, 2002
• Solomon may not be to everyone's liking as he is fairly technical and somewhat opinionated. Nevertheless he has invaluable advice about basics, such as watering and soil health. And he focusses on the Pacific Northwest--mainly Oregon and Washington State. The book includes the basics of soil, when best to plant, the art of composting, what varieties grow well here, which seed companies are reliable, information on handling pests and an extensive section ... read more.

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• Herbs + Flowers:
• Plant, Grow, Eat
• Pip McCormac
• Quadrille Publishing, 2017
• This is a practical and handy little guide to 32 herbs and edible flowers. Each entry, accompanied by lovely illustrations, contains information on the taste, when to plant, when to pick, how to plant, companion plants, culinary uses. A thoroughly enjoyable book.

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• Homegrown Pantry:
• A Gardener's Guide to Selecting the Best Varieties & Planting the perfect Amounts for What You Want to Eat Year-Round
• Barbara Pleasant
• Storey Publishing, 2017
• This is an absolutely fantastic book for gardeners wanting to produce and preserve their homegrown food and keep the pantry full year round. The book has the following parts: why grow your own food; basic food preservation methods (cold storage, freezing, drying, canning, and food fermentation); vegetables, fruits and herbs for your pantry. Each entry has great photographs, stellar varieties, how to grow, pest and diseases, how much to grow per person, harvesting and storing, and best ways to preserve your bounty. Recipes are also included. Highly recommended - 5-star rating.

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• How to Grow Winter Vegetables
• Charles Dowding
• Green Books, 2011, Totnes, Devon
• ISBN: 9781900322881
• The author writes about his experiences in year-round gardening in Somerset, UK, which are relevant for gardeners on the West Coast. The book covers preparation for winter; sowing, planting and growing calendars; winter harvests; stored harvest; and winter veggies under cover. The book's dedication is beautiful: "To our Earth Mother, giving food when in repose".

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• The Joy of Keeping a Root Cellar
• Jennifer Megyesi
• Skyhorse Publishing, 2010
• ISBN: 978-1-60239-975-4
• The gardener will find this book chocked-full with invaluable information on harvesting and preparation of fruit, vegetable, and herbs; root cellaring for storage; canning (includes some history and safety tips); drying, pickling & fermentation, and freezing fruits and vegetables. Wonderful photographs.

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• Kale:
• The Complete Guide to the World's Most Powerful Superfood
• Stephanie Pedersen
• Sterling Press, 2013
• ISBN: 978-4549-0625-4
• For those gardeners who have a surfeit of kale in their garden (or those that want to grow kale next year), this is the book for you! Lots of good info. and tips. Includes 75 delicious recipes.

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• The Market Gardener:
• A Handbook for Successful Small-Scale Organic Farming
• Jean-Martin Fortier, Severine von Tscharner Fleming, The Greenhorns
• New Society Publishers, 2014
• Les Jardins de la Grelinette is a micro-farm located in eastern Quebec, just north of the American border. Growing on just 1.5 acres, owners Jean-Martin and Maude-Helène feed more than two hundred families through their thriving CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and seasonal market stands. Read more.

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• Monet's Palate Cookbook
• The Artist and His Kitchen Garden at Giverny
• Aileen Bordman and Derek Fell
• Gibbs Smith, 2015, Layton, UT
• ISBN: 978-1423639978
• This book takes the reader on wonderful culinary and garden journey of Claude Monet's house, art and kitchen garden at Giverny, France. The photographs are absolutely stunning as are the photographs of selected Monet paintings. There is a section of Monet's favourite vegetables as well as section of recipes. I absolutely loved this book.

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• The New Organic Grower:
• A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener
• Eliot Coleman
• Chelsea Green Publishers, 1995
• In this newly revised and expanded edition, master grower Eliot Coleman continues to present the simplest and most sustainable ways of growing top-quality organic vegetables. Read more.

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• The New Shade Garden
• Creating a Lush Oasis in the Age of Climate Change
• Ken Druse
• Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2015
• ISBN: 978-1-61769-104-1
• This is a wonderful and practical book in classic Ken Druse style. The author combines his extensive knowledge of garden design and his love of working with nature. Extensive information on shade-loving plants combined with outstanding photography make this a "must read" for shade gardening.

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• The New Vegetable Growers Handbook
• Frank Tozer
• Green Man Publishing, 2013
• ISBN: 978-0-9773489-9-2
• A users manual for growing organic vegetables. This book is a veritable treasure trove of information. For each vegetable the following information is included: crop value, ease of growing, climate, nutritional content, planning, planting, care, harvesting, unusual growing ideas, varieties, and kitchen use. This book is a veritable treasure trove of information and is a must see for organic gardeners.

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• The Organic Gardener's Handbook:
• A User's Manual for the Organic Vegetable Garden
• Frank Tozer
• Green Man Publishing, 2nd edition, 2016
• There are no pretty pictures in this book; however, it is jam-packed with information on all aspects of growing organic vegetables successfully -- all within the backdrop of sustainability. Topics include (only a small fraction of the total): site selection, how plants grow, soil and soil appraisal, fertilizing and amendments, mulch, gardening methods, seeds, disease, garden pests, crop planning and spacing, propagation, perennial vegetables, water and watering, and harvesting. An ideal book for the beginner as well as experienced gardener.

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• 100 Plants to Feed the Bees
• Provide Healthy Habitat to Help Pollinators Thrive
• The Xerces Society
• Storey Publishing, 2016
• The world is in a pollinator crisis which threatens our food production. This book helps to address what an individual can do to make their patch of earth (no matter how small) a pollinator heaven. There is a concise overview of plants and pollinators and information on 100 plants that help the gardener pick the right plant for the bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds
• This book is divided into the following categories: native wildflowers, native trees and shrubs, introduced trees and shrubs, introduced herbs and ornamentals, and native and non-native pasture plants. Each entry has a coloured pictures, growing requirements, North American range, recommended varieties, notable flower visitors, and uses.
• Highly recommended.

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• 1001 Plants to Dream of Growing
• Liz Dobbs, General Editor
• Universe Publishing, 2016
• An excellent compendium of dream plants to grow. Organized by broad, general categories including annuals/biennials, bulbs, perennials, roses, shrubs, herbs, vegetables and fruits. Each entry is illustrated and accompanied by growing instructions. An added feature to each entry is a listing of alternative plants to grow. This is just the book to curl up with during the long, dark days of winter before we all come back to the Gardens and start another season! :-)

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• Plantiful
• Start Small, Grow Big with 150 Plants that Spread, Self-Sow, and Overwinter
• Kristin Green
• Timber Press, 2014
• ISBN: 13-978-60469-387-4
• This book is a dream come true for gardeners -- plants that keep on giving new plants all for free! What's not to like? These chapters are sure to please: 50 Faithful Volunteers; 50 Thrilling Fillers; and 50 Come-Back Keepers. Each plant in these chapters has an accompanying photo, general description and "fine print" - growing requirements, and invasive notes where appropriate. Highly recommended.

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• Power Plants:
• Simple Home Remedies You Can Grow
• Frankie Flowers and Bryce Wylde
• Harper Collins, 2014
• ISBN: 978-1-44342-676-3
• This is a clear and concise guide to growing plants that you can use for home remedies for a variety of health conditions. Frankie Powers is one of Canada's top expert in the gardening field and Bryce Wylde is a Canadian expert on alternative medicine. For each plant information is included on health benefits, growing, harvest, storing, and uses, including recipes. They do include cautions if there has not been enough research to back up health claims.

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• Putting Food By
• Janet C. Greene
• Penguin Group, 5th edition, 2010
• ISBN: 978-0452296220
• This is the classic book on food preservation that has stood the test of time. Topics covered are canning, freezing, salting, smoking, drying, and root cellaring.
• Includes recipes.

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• Preserving
• Putting Up the Season's Bounty
• The Culinary Institute of America, 2013
• ISBN: 978-0-470-80373-5
• This book covers many topics including: food safety, root cellaring, preserving techniques, canning, freezing, brining, curing, and smoking.
• Includes recipes.

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• Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning
• The Gardeners & Farmers of Terre Vivante
• Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 1999 (English translation edition)
• This wonderful little book covers traditional techniques using salt, oil, sugar, alcohol, vinegar, drying, cold storage (in ground and root cellaring), drying, and lactic fermentation.
• Includes recipes.

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• Real Gardens Grow Natives
• Eileen M. Stark
• Skipstone Press, 2014
• ISBN: 978-1-59485-866-6
• This book targets both new and experienced gardeners who want to create a garden which is sustainable, functional, and easy care. Much of the book covers native plants found in the Pacific Northwest and how to incorporate them into your garden along with non-natives and food crops. The author includes 100 of the best native plants organized by sun requirements. Each entry contains information on maximum size, bloom traits, sun and moisture requirements, spacing, benefits to wildlife, how to propagate, related species. Outstanding photographs.

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• Remarkable Plants That Shape Our World
• Helen and William Bynum
• University of Chicago Press, 2014
• ISBN: 978-0226204741
• This is a fantastic compendium which highlights the most important plants that have made a huge difference in human history. The book explores the history of eighty key species that have influence our current world. The illustrations are a delight to look at. Sit back and enjoy.

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• The Rodale Book of Composting
• Easy Methods for Every Gardener
• Grace Gershuny and Deborah L. Martin, editors
• Rodale Press, 2nd revised edition, 2018
• First published in 1967 and updated frequently, this is the essential guide for gardeners who want to care for their soil; not waste any freely-available materials to enrich their soil; grow healthy crops; and take care of the Earth.
• Among the topics included in this book are: compost throughout history, benefits of compost, life inside a compost heap; best materials for compost; methods of composting; compost structures; safe use of manures; and tips for urbanites and apartment dwellers.
• Highly recommended.

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• Salad Leaves for All Seasons
• Organic growing from Pot to Plot
• Charles Dowding
• Green Books, 2008, Totnes, Devon
• ISBN: 9781900322201
• This handy little guide is packed with information on how to keep your kitchen supplied with all manner of greens 365 days a year. No more tired-looking, nutrition-challenged greens shipped in from afar. Just step out to your garden and pick! :-) This book includes planting charts; descriptions of various greens; dealing with unwanted guests (a biggie are the slugs!); and winter greens.

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• The Seed Garden:
• The Art and Practice of Seed Saving
• Lee Buttala (Editor), Shanyn Siegel (Editor)
• Seed Savers Exchange, 2015
• The definitive encyclopaedic guide to savings seeds. You don't need any other book. Winner of the American Horticultural Society Award for Excellence In Garden Book Publishing; Winner of the Silver Medal for Best Reference from the Garden Writer's Association. Read more.

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• Seed to Seed:
• Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners
• Suzanne Ashworth
• Seed Savers Exchange, 2002
• ISBN: 1-88424-58-1
• One of the best guides available for the small-scale vegetable gardeners. The author describes specific techniques for saving the seeds of 160 different vegetables.

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• Small-Space Vegetable Gardens
• Andrea Bellamy
• Timber Press, 2015
• ISBN: 978-1-604469-547-2
• This Vancouver-based author has written a wonderful guide to growing fresh, organic food in any space from rooftops, containers, raised beds, and small plots. This book is loaded with photographs and great advice. Building your soil, diseases and pests, and a dictionary of edibles that can be grown in small spaces are just some of the subjects covered. Highly recommended.

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• The Speedy Vegetable Garden
• Mark Diacone and Lia Leendertz
• Timber Press, 2013
• This is the perfect book for gardeners pining for the day when winter is over and it's time to start planting! This books highlights over 50 veggies that are ready to harvest quickly. Included are: soaks and sprouts, micro greens, edible flowers, cut-and-come salad leaves, and quick-harvest veggies. Each entry includes growing instructions, recommended varieties and lovely photographs.

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• Starting Seeds:
• How to Grow Healthy, Productive Vegetables, Herbs, and Flowers from Seed
• Barbara Ellis
• Storey Press, 2012
• ISBN: 978-1-61212-105-5
• There is tons of practical and useful information on how to start seeds indoors and outdoors in this compact book. The author offers up fool-proof tips on getting your seeds going fast.

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• Storing Home Grown Fruit and Vegetables
• Caroline Radula-Scott
• Foulsham, 2011
• ISBN: 978-0-572-03630
• In addition to covering the basics of root cellaring, drying, and freezing your crops, this book has a great section entitled: "A to Z of Storing Fruits and Vegetables". Each fruit and vegetable has information on the varieties, cooking & preparing, storing, freezing, and preserving.

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• The Ultimate Book of Vegetables
• Gardening, Health, Beauty, Craft, Cooking
• Editors of Reader's Digest
• ISBN: 978-1621452225
• This is an excellent, illustrated guide to vegetables for the home garden. There are sections on: the A-Z of Vegetables, including recipes; advice on growing your own vegetables; health and beauty advice using vegetables you can grow; and recipes, including salads, soups, main dishes, and desserts. The photos are wonderful.

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• The Ultimate Dehydrator Cookbook:
• The Complete Guide to Drying Food, Plus 398 Recipes, Including Making Jerky, Fruit Leather & Just-Add-Water Meals
• Tammy & Steven Gangloff
• Stackpole Books, 2014
• Here's a practical no-frills guide to dehydrating, with some recipe ideas. The dehydrator is an incredibly useful tool for long-term food storage and making the most of your garden harvest. Read more.

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• The Urban Wildlife Gardener:
• How to Attract Birds, Bees, Butterflies and More
• Emma Hardy
• Cico Books, London and New York, 2015
• This is a great book for gardeners who want to learn all about how to design and plant a garden that attracts a wide variety of beneficial wildlife. Topics include: the right plants (both veggies and flowers), a HOW-TO on nesting areas, when to prune shrubs and trees, beneficial weeds, water features, growing fruit and vegetables, and plant havens for insects and birds. Wonderful pictures and illustrations.

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• The Vegan Cook & Gardener
• Growing, Storing and Cooking Delicious Healthy Food All Year Long
• Piers Warren and Ella Bee Glendining
• Permanent Publications, 2018
• "Do you want to eat more healthily? Lower your carbon footprint? Banish animal exploitation and suffering? Then this book is for you! It shows what fruit and vegetables you can grow at home, how to store any excess to keep you going all year round, and how to prepare your produce with a selection of satisfying and delicious recipes. Join the fight against food miles, agrochemicals, and climate change, and discover the fun and huge sense of satisfaction that comes from cooking something you have produced yourself. Learn about vegan gardening, self-sufficiency, year round growing techniques and seasonal recipes, fruits and vegetables, herbs, salads and sprouts, challenging crops, plus lots of vegan resources." (from amazon.ca)
• This is an excellent book with detailed information on how to grow and a wide variety of veggies, including storage tips and recommended varieties. The added bonus is the wonderful vegan recipes (about one-half of the book). Well-illustrated with wonderful photographs. Highly recommended.

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• Vertical Vegetables:
• Simple Projects that Deliver More Yield in Less Space
• Amy Andychowicz
• Cool Spring Press, 2018
• This well-illustrated book is packed with oodles of practical information on a wide variety of vertical structures including trellises, living walls, towers, vertical containers and hanging planters. There are clear, concise instructions on how to make these structures. Besides covering vertical gardening basics, the author includes choosing the best plants for vertical structures as well as detailed information on caring for these plants. Another bonus is that the author is an advocate upcycling -- making use of the materials in hand. Highly recommended.

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• Vertical Vegetable Gardening
• Chris McLaughlin
• ALPHA Publishing, 2013
• ISBN: 978-1-61564-183-3
• A complete guide to growing vegetables and fruits vertically. Includes a chapters on DIY vertical structures, veggies and fruits that like vertical structures, vertically-challenge plants, vertical herb gardens, and creative re-purposing.

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• Victory Gardens for Bees:
• A DIY Guide to Saving the Bees
• Lori Weidenhammer
• Douglas and McIntyre, 2016
• This book investigates the problem of our disappearing, pollinators - bees and provides a wealth of information on what to plant in our gardens to attract and feed the bees. Sections include: victory gardens for bees, healthy herbs for pollinators and people, bee-licious edible gardens, indigenous bees, beekeeping and bee hedge rows. Highly recommended.

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• The Weather-Resilient Garden:
• A Defensive Approach to Planning and Landscaping
• Charles W.G. Smith
• Storey Publishing, North Adams, Massachusetts, 2004
• This book offers advice on a wide range of adverse weather (excessive rain, extreme heat, drought, hail, frost) that can affect our gardens. The author offers up many ingenious methods to protect your garden. In addition there are profiles of 100 hardy plants with growing instructions.

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• Wild Fermentation:
• The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods
• Sandor Ellix Katz
• Chelsea Green Publishing, 2003
• Bread. Cheese. Wine. Beer. Coffee. Chocolate. Most people consume fermented foods and drinks every day. For thousands of years, humans have enjoyed the distinctive flavors and nutrition resulting from the transformative power of microscopic bacteria and fungi. Read more.

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• The Wildlife-Friendly Vegetable Gardener:
• How to Grow Food in Harmony with Nature
• Tammy Hartung
• Storey Publishing, North Adams, Massachusetts, 2014
• This unique book educates the reader on how to peacefully co-exist with the creatures in and around your vegetable garden. Contents include: Rethinking our relationships with nature -- Encouraging friends in the underground -- Garden elements that welcome wildlife -- Attracting pollinators and beneficial predators -- Creating habitats for wildlife -- Smart strategies for peaceful coexistence -- Blocking access for unwelcome guests -- Designing wildlife-friendly food gardens. The illustrations are works of art.

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• Winter Gardening in the Maritime Northwest
• Cool Season Crops for the Year-Round Gardener
• Binda Colebrook
• New Society Publishers, 5th edition, 2012, Gabriola, BC
• ISBN: 9780865717084
• This is a great resource for South Coast gardeners who want to harvest crops year-round. Topics covered include: principles of winter gardening; beginners advice; cloches, cold-frames, and poly tunnels; sharecroppers (aka pests); and herbs and veggies to grow.

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• The Winter Harvest Handbook
• Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep-Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses
• Eliot Coleman
• Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2009, White River Junction, VT
• ISBN: 9781603580816
• An outstanding book on successful winter gardening. There is detailed information on a variety of cold-frames, cloche and hoop houses to keep the veggies producing throughout the winter. The author lives in Maine so he knows about cold winters! There is a section on the best crops to grow during the winter. Highly recommended.

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• Worms Eat My Garbage
• Mary Appelhof
• Flower Press, 2nd edition, 1997
• This compact handbook is a detailed guide to vermicomposting. It's packed with information on how to set up small-scale worm composting systems. Topics covered include: composting bin types (both ready-made and DIY instructions for homemade structures); location of worm bins; worm species; care and feeding of worms, including the kinds of vegetable waste worms love; other critters commonly found in worm bins and a detailed bibliography.

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• A Year on the Garden Path:
• A 52-Week Organic Gardening Guide
• Carolyn Herriott
• Harbour Publishing, 2011
• Herriot is a local woman who has written a nice relaxed week-by-week guide to what we should be doing. Lots of lore, localized tips, and recipes. Read more.

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• Year-Around Harvest
• Winter Gardening on the Coast
• Linda Gilkeson
• 2nd edition, 2010, self-published by the author, who lives on Salt Spring Island
• ISBN: none
• This is the go-to book for gardeners on the South Coast. There is tons of information in this compact book. Topics covered include: winter vegetables - what to grow, when to plant, how much, location, protecting plants (cloches, greenhouses, hoop houses), and harvesting; year-round vegetables & fruit; storage & preservation with an emphasis on the simplest methods of storage; and pest management.

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• Year-Round Vegetable Gardener
• How to Grow Your Own Food 365 Days a Year No Matter Where You Live
• Nikki Jabber
• Storey, 2011, North Adams, Mass
• ISBN: 9781603429924
• This is another go-to book for Canadian gardeners who want to extend the harvest beyond the traditional summer garden. The author, a Nova Scotia gardener, covers the following topics: intensive planting; growing veggies in the winter; year-round vegetables; herbs; building cold frames and succession planting and inter-planting charts. If she can have greens during the winter, we all can! Highly recommended.