Serious gardeners have already started this year’s crop of annuals and lettuces. The rest of us? Feeling inspired and maybe even antsy though spring planting is still weeks away. But the time is right for planning edible summer gardens.
A new book from the University of Minnesota Press offers expert guidance for local gardeners. Fresh from the Garden: An Organic Guide to Growing Vegetables, Berries, and Herbs in Cold Climates is the latest by John Whitman, a 50-year veteran of gardening and garden writing. He’s knowledgeable and opinionated, offering advice on everything from choosing plants to how to plant and tend them to how to store and use them. Did you know, for example, that peppers like up to six inches of mulch in the heat of summer? Or that the leaves, flowers, and seeds of kale are all edible?
Whitman is full of such practical advice, offered in straightforward prose. This handy book is much like having a master gardener at your elbow, whispering words of wisdom.
By Chris Lee
