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21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Smartest Garden/Cooking Book in Recent Memory, February 11, 2010
This review is from: Grocery Gardening (Paperback)
Gardening and cooking books are my happy place. I'm a voracious reader (gardener, cook, eater). Sadly, until Grocery Gardening came out, I was getting a bit tired of the formula of most garden/cooking books. Sure, the authors were all well respected, the photography was great and the recipes were good. However they were all the SAME. Grocery Gardening really blew my socks off because the authors took the tired garden/cooking book formula and turned it on its ear.
The first thing I like about this book - and what makes it so timely - is that it was written collaboratively by a group of veteran gardener/cooks who met and worked via Twitter/Facebook. This takes the content to a whole new fresh level. The "ringleader" Jean Ann Van Krevelen - who wouldn't want to follow a woman with a name like that?! - used new technology to seek out the best of the best to make this book great.
The second thing I like about this book, is that it is interesting for a veteran like myself yet approachable enough to be a really great, useful resource for a new gardener. Food gardening (Grocery Gardening!) increased by 7 million households last year so there are a lot of new gardeners out there who are going to want advice!
The third thing I like about this book is that it is fun and concise. The "avatars" of the authors provide cheeky/fun comments that pepper the well organized and streamlined information. It makes the read very personal and gives voice to the authors which, very freely, want you to contact them via Twitter and Facebook to ask questions.
The content, approach and zeitgeist of Grocery Gardening make it a real winner. And if the authors have coined a new term in the process... even better! The concept of Grocery Gardening is so positive and actionable... unlike "recession gardening". Yuck. That makes gardening sound like a necessary evil which it isn't. Gardening is a joy.
So foodies, gardeners and would-be foodie/gardeners rejoice! You've just been introduced to your new gardening best friend - Grocery Gardening. And the fun isn't over when you're done reading the book, because the authors are ready, willing and able to keep the conversation going via Twitter and Facebook.
Maybe other authors out there will step up so gardening/cooking books can be everyone's happy place again!
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply fantastic!, February 11, 2010
This review is from: Grocery Gardening (Paperback)
I got to know the author of Grocery Gardening, Jean Ann Van Krevelen, a little bit via twitter. With a few 140 character strings and lots of other people also tweeting, she brought my awareness to this great book.
The premise of the book is to help people gain the knowledge they need to begin to grow their own food.
I think it takes a great viewpoint - approach people who want good food but who mainly know their food as things you buy at a store, not raise with your own two hands.
New gardeners can often feel overwhelmed. One might start gardening for the sake of securing safe wholesome food but very soon the truth emerges, gardening is not intention, it is action and observation and attention.
With this book, the entry level gardener can begin to make their segway gracefully from poking veggies in the store to growing their own.
The book is somewhat unusual in that there are several contributing authors who speak from experience: Jean Ann Van Krevelen, Amanda Thomsen, Robin Ripley, and Teresa O'Connor.
The photography is crisp and very inviting. The pages are packed with information on growing as well as recipes for using your bounty! The mixture of voices very much evokes the current trends in social media where one is bathed in a diverse community of knowledge, viewpoints, attitudes.
Chapters
* Gardening 101
* Organic disease and pest management
* Purchasing quality produce
* Edibles
* * Herbs
* * Fruit
* * Vegetables
* Preserving your harvest
I am happy to recommend this lovely book to anyone who is interested in learning more about growing their own food and also how to enjoy their harvest throughout the year!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A beautiful informative book, February 6, 2010
This review is from: Grocery Gardening (Paperback)
This is a gorgeous book, so easy to read and find what I'm looking for. And it's very inspiring! A group of my friends are going to get together & make recipes from this book & from their own gardens...I can't wait to try that amazing looking mascarpone crostata with strawberries & apples! (ok, I'll be hitting the farmer's market, not my garden, for that one. But it's still a delicious book. Highly recommended.)
- Carrie Triffet,
author of Long Time No See: Diaries of an Unlikely Messenger
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