If concerns about the environment and the health and wellness of yourself and your family leave you longing to make a change, start growing and preserving your own organic foods. With the guidance found in The Modern Homestead Garden, you'll discover how little land and effort it takes to start growing healthy, nutritious food.

Modern homesteading is a lifestyle focused on living lightly on the land and increasing self-sufficiency. It doesn't matter whether "home" is 50 acres in the country, a suburban corner lot, or an apartment in the city; all you need is a desire to reduce your footprint on the earth and live a more sustainable life. To be a modern homesteader, you don't have to live off-grid and you don't have to give up contemporary conveniences.

For most modern homesteaders, it all starts with making the conscious decision to reduce your reliance on the commercial food supply chain. In The Modern Homestead Garden, author and YouTube gardening star Gary Pilarchik of The Rusted Garden walks you step-by-step through the process of building a homestead garden. From laying out the planting beds, nurturing the soil, and starting seeds, straight through to cooking and preserving the harvest, Gary serves as your warm and accessible guide, no matter how large or how small your homestead is. With the guidance found here, you'll move at your own pace, learn, share, and enjoy the journey as you slowly transform your home into an edible landscape.

• Practical advice to site and build your very first homestead garden
• Crop profiles to get you growing quickly
• Cost-effective ways to source seeds and plants
• The low-down on feeding plants in an earth-friendly way
• Methods for preparing planting beds and containers
• Soil prep advice every homesteader can use
• All natural trouble-shooting solutions
• How to include berries, cane fruits, vine crops, and fruit trees in your homestead plans
• Food preservation advice that's easy and delicious

Modern homesteading is as much an attitude as it is an action. It's not dependent on how much land you have or even how much food you can grow; it's about cultivating self-sufficiency and self-reliance, no matter its level. Welcome to The Modern Homestead Garden.

Growing awareness of the importance of soil health means that microbes are on the minds of even the most casual gardeners. After all, anyone who has ever attempted to plant a thriving patch of flowers or vegetables knows that what you grow is only as good as the soil you grow it in. It is possible to create and maintain rich, dark, crumbly soil that’s teeming with life, using very few inputs and a no-till, no-fertilizer approach. Certified permaculture designer and lifelong gardener Diane Miessler presents the science of soil health in an engaging, entertaining voice geared for the backyard grower. She shares the techniques she has used — including cover crops, constant mulching, and a simple-but-supercharged recipe for compost tea — to transform her own landscape from a roadside dump for broken asphalt to a garden that stops traffic, starting from the ground up.

Increasingly unpredictable weather patterns and pest infestations are challenging today’s vegetable gardeners. But best-selling author Niki Jabbour has a solution: Growing Under Cover. In this in-depth guide, Jabbour shows how to use small solutions like cloches, row covers, shade cloth, cold frames, and hoophouses, as well as larger protective structures like greenhouses and polytunnels, to create controlled growing spaces for vegetables to thrive. Photographed in her own super-productive garden, Jabbour highlights the many benefits of using protective covers to plant earlier, eliminate pests, and harvest a healthier, heartier bounty year round. With enthusiasm, inventive techniques, and proven, firsthand knowledge, this book provides invaluable advice from a popular and widely respected gardening authority.

In Complete Container Herb Gardening, herbal guru and certified horticulturist Sue Goetz walks you through the ins and outs of growing these fragrant and flavorful plant treasures in containers.

Herbs are among the easiest edible plants to grow, and when you cultivate your own fresh herbs, you can enjoy their abundant flavors, healing properties, and uses for natural home and beauty every day—plus reap big savings at the grocery store or farmer's market.

Whether you grow on a suburban patio, an urban rooftop, a condo balcony, or on the front porch of your duplex, discovering which herbs grow best in pots, how to select the ideal containers for the job, and how to tend your container herb garden to maximize production (and flavor!) is key to your success.

Highlighted by gorgeous photography, Sue also presents over a dozen container “recipes” for mixing and matching your favorite herbs to create stunning and useful combinations. From the perfect culinary partnerships and natural aromatherapy combos to collections of herbs for natural beauty and chemical-free cleaning products, these herbal arrangements are no-fail and perfectly Instagram-worthy.

Complete Container Herb Gardening is the ideal roadmap for success, even for brand-new gardeners. Learn how to:

• Grow fresh kitchen herbs in small spaces
• Choose the best containers, soil, and tools for herbal success
• Make more herb plants…for free!
• Cultivate unique herbs and spices, like turmeric, saffron, and ginger
• Design herb containers that are both beautiful and highly productive
• Harvest armloads of herbs from a porch or patio
• Tend an indoor herb garden on a windowsill

Friendly, accessible, and packed with practical information, growing herbs has never been easier—even if you have just a small corner of space to spare. Unleash your inner #herbnerd with Complete Container Herb Gardening!

“Gardeners just starting out will earn a sense of accomplishment and a good dose of knowledge.” —Booklist 

Every new gardener has to start somewhere—and the process can be intimidating. Knowing when and what to plant, how to care for the plants once they’re in the ground, and how to keep pests and diseases away is a lot to take on. Luckily, Daryl Beyers—an expert from the New York Botanical Garden—has written what will be a go-to resource for decades to come.

The New Gardener’s Handbook is a comprehensive overview of the fundamentals of gardening, based on the introductory gardening class that Beyers teaches at NYBG. Readers will learn about soil, plant selection, propagation, planting and mulching, watering and feeding, pruning, and weeds, pests, and diseases. The information applies to both ornamental and edible plants. Featuring inspiring photography and helpful illustrations, The New Gardener’s Handbook gives home gardeners a foundation upon which they can grow, and encourages them to apply the lessons they’ve learned in an intuitive, natural way.

Perennial gardening can be easy, fun and rewarding, especially when you have this beautifully illustrated guide at your fingertips. With detailed accounts of 92 different perennials, along with information on 569 recommended varieties and cultivars perfect for Illinois gardens, this book takes the guesswork out of perennial gardening. The authors share their commonsense and practical advice to help you transform any patch of ground into a spectacular garden you can enjoy year after year: * Flower and foliage colors * Height and spread ranges * Blooming periods * How and when to start your plants * Planting strategies * Light, water and nutrient needs * Choosing perennials for any location--wet or dry, clay or sandy, sunny or shady * Over 450 color photographs.

If the desire to start a garden has been planted in your heart, then this essential guide is a wonderful companion to accompany you on your new adventure!

If you're not sure of the first steps to take, this handbook takes the anxiety out of plotting and planting and equips you with all the know-how and confidence you need to get digging into your garden.


Creating a garden that you can enjoy and keep looking beautiful all year is easier than you think! You'll find simple step-by-step instructions, with clear images to help you create your dream garden, no matter the size and scale.

Get to know your garden and choose plants that will grow well in particular soil types and conditions year after year. From growing root crop to cutting back ivy, this book gives you lots of simple garden ideas and projects that you can do yourself.

Even if you've never sowed a seed or pulled a weed, Beginner Gardening Step by Step contains everything you need to kickstart your new outdoor hobby! This refreshingly accessible book is perfect for the novice gardener who wants to make the most of whatever garden they have.

Your Guide to Creating the Garden of Your Dreams

Do you want to create a garden you can show off with pride? Would you like to grow your own food? This book will get you started quickly! By following the simple steps and projects outlined in this book, you will reap instant rewards and long-term successes so that you can enjoy your garden in all seasons.

Inside the pages of this comprehensive gardening book, you'll discover:

- Clear definitions and descriptions of the different types of plants.
- Tips on choosing the type of garden you want.
- Easy-to-follow instructions for choosing the right plants for your soil.
- Simple step-by-step instructions to producing your first crop.
- Practical gardening advice on planting, growing, and caring for different plants.

Design a beautiful and self-sufficient garden; learn the secrets of heirloom vegetables, herbs, and flowers; and enjoy 55 seasonal recipes featuring the fruits of your labor--all with one book!

Heirlooms are more than just delicious ingredients or beautiful flowers--their seeds offer us a connection with the earth, and each one tells a story. Author and garden lecturer Ellen Ecker Ogden was inspired to preserve the diversity of plants that are slipping away after learning that we have lost over 85% of the plant world in the last century to extinction.

In The New Heirloom Garden, Ogden inspires us with a history of seed saving in this country, then guides gardeners of all levels to create their own heirloom gardens with tangible gardening tips, twelve themed garden designs, and detailed resources. The first half of the book shares specific garden plans, plant keys with descriptions, plant and seed wish lists, interviews with gardening experts, and even tips and tricks to handle your own local weather. The second half of the book contains 55 recipes for delicious entrees, sides, drinks, and desserts that can be made from each vegetable, fruit, and flower grown in your garden. Readers will delight in making Fennel and Watermelon Salad, Cucumber Summer Soup, Fire Cider, and Winter Squash Pie. It's a book designed for readers to bring to their local supply store, take outside into the garden, and then enjoy in the kitchen.

“Fearless Gardening encourages you—exhorts you—to boldly go forth and claim your garden as a space of joy and creativity.” —Jennifer Jewell, creator and host of public radio’s Cultivating Place

Embrace your inner rebel and create the garden you want—even if it breaks the rules. Loree Bohl, the voice behind the popular blog The Danger Garden, shows how it’s done in Fearless Gardening, with zone-busting ideas and success stories. Bohl’s own gorgeous home garden inspires, with agaves that shrug off ice storms, palms that thrive in the rain, and planting risks that are beautifully rewarded.

Gardening Your Front Yard is an active, inspiring resource that shows you how to treat your front yard like a backyard without sacrificing beauty, from choosing the right plants to building front patios and walkways.

With her unique combination of DIY/building savvy and gardening expertise, author Tara Nolan (Raised Bed Revolution) weaves you past the main pitfalls you may encounter when trying to fit a garden or gardens between your home and the street. This beautiful and comprehensive hardcover book shows how to accomplish several hardscape projects, such as building front patios, borders, edging, and walkways, as well as making your own raised beds, planting containers, trellises, rose arbors, privacy screens, and more—all custom-designed for the rigors of front-yard gardening.

Gardening Your Front Yard is a garden book in every sense of the word, however. Choosing the right plants is even more important when you are dealing with a small, highly visible area with less than ideal growing conditions—all common traits of most front yards. You will find advice on training vines up brickwork and planting around foundation walls, planting boulevards/hell strips, and you’ll even take a trip into the side yard. Shade gardens, privacy screening, and security dos and don'ts are covered, plus how to intermingle edibles and landscape plants, cactus and succulent gardens, birdbaths, and much, much more.

With the sage advice and step-by-step projects of this comprehensive guide, convert your front yard from a bland grasscape to a vital living space.