Gardening Books for Every Season

Looking to build your gardening book collection? Check out our top 3 gardening books for every season from our bookshelf. Books that cover a wide range of topics, from choosing the suitable vegetables to plant, to soil preparation, watering, and summer and winter harvesting. We love books with helpful illustrations and photographs, which are great for visual learners.

Whether you’re just starting with vegetable gardening or looking to deepen your existing knowledge, gardening books are an excellent resource to help you create a beautiful garden.

1. “The All New Square Foot Gardening” by Mel Bartholomew

The All New Square Foot Gardening is a classic! It was one of the first gardening books I got my hands on, and I still flip through it all the time. It’s all about growing more stuff in less space – pretty cool, right? I don’t always follow everything by the book, but some gems are in there. Like the soil mix recipe we used for the grow bags and raised beds. Oh, and the seed starting schedule is a lifesaver! There’s a whole bunch more inside, so definitely check it out.

That being said, we recommend growing plants in soil rather than raised beds when possible. To learn more about the differences between raised beds and container gardening, please follow the link to read up on the topic. Additionally, in our experience in colder climates, square-foot gardening is more effective if you make the squares larger, providing plants with more access to sunlight.

2. “The Winter Harvest Handbook” by Eliot Coleman and Barbara Damrosch

The Winter Harvest Handbook totally opened our eyes to growing veggies all year round, even in winter! It’s packed with info on greenhouses and covering rows of plants to protect them from the cold. We live in a colder zone than the authors and had to learn the difference between winter harvesting and winter growing, but we still got many great ideas from it. If you’re curious about winter gardening, this book is a must-read.

The book offers valuable insights on extending our growing season and cultivating crops year-round. It covers everything from the best varieties to grow to the ideal planting and harvesting times. The author, Eliot, has some incredible movable greenhouses that are pretty innovative. Moreover, the book is packed with handy tools and techniques for growing and marketing your produce if you want to expand your gardening experience.

3. “No Dig Organic Home & Garden” by Charles Dowding and Stephanie Hafferty

No Dig Organic Home & Garden is a real treasure! It’s not just about gardening; it’s about the whole cycle – growing, cooking, and using your harvest. Charles Dowding is like the guru of no-dig gardening, and Stephanie Hafferty’s tips are so down-to-earth and practical. The book is full of beautiful pictures and helpful advice. If you’re into no-dig gardening or want a book that covers it all, this is the one for you.

The book contains comprehensive information on how to start a no-dig garden, composting, managing pests and diseases, storing the harvest, and basic plant information. The no-dig method is simple and easy to follow, with concise chapters encouraging readers to practice the information. Additionally, the book offers a variety of recipes for readers to try out.

Winter is the perfect time to curl up in a cozy chair by the fireplace and soak up some great gardening advice. These books have been our go-to; I hope they’ll inspire you as much as us.

I’m curious: what’s your favorite gardening book? Please drop a comment and share your go-to gardening guide with us!

Happy reading and happy gardening! 🌱📚🌷

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