The Kitchen Garden (Garden Project Workbooks) (Volume 9) [Hardcover]

Richard Bird (Author), Jonathan Buckley (Photographer)

Book Description

Series: Garden Project Workbooks | Publication Date: March 2000

Growing -- and eating -- one's own fruits and vegetables is one of the most satisfying experiences in gardening. Fortunately for today's small-space gardeners, fruit and vegetable plants have shed their utilitarian image and are now an integral part of many an ornamental garden. The Kitchen Garden shows, in 20 easy-to-execute projects, how to use these vitamin-packed edibles to create a variety of delightfully decorative and productive plots.

The newest installment in the Garden Project Workbook series, The Kitchen Garden offers readers a panoply of unique solutions for adding fruits and vegetables to gardens of any size or style: laying down a salad bed, designing a knot garden for herb plants, building a rooftop kitchen garden, creating an arbor of vegetable vines, introducing vegetables to hanging pots, and planting fruit among the flowers.

With this winning combination of practical advice and dearly illustrated, step-by-step instructions, all gardeners can now enjoy the fruits -- and vegetables -- of their labors.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard Bird has written many books on gardening, including Flowering Trees and Shrubs, Guide to Rock Gardening, Cottage Gardens (with Christopher Lloyd), and Organic Gardening. His contributions to the Garden Project Workbook series include Beds and Borders, and Fences and Hedges.

Photographer Jonathan Buckley's work has appeared in such magazines as Horticulture, Country Life, The Garden, Gardens Illustrated, the Guardian, the Telegraph, and Gardenia (Italy).

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

"The Scented Garden" and "The Kitchen Garden," by renowned gardening author Richard Bird, are the next two titles to join the successful Garden Project Workbook series published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang.

One of the most satisfying experiences in gardening is growing-and eating-one's own fruits and vegetables. Fortunately for today's small-space gardeners, fruit and vegetable plants have shed their utilitarian image and are now an integral part of many an ornamental garden. "The Kitchen Garden" shows, in twenty step-by-step projects, how to create a variety of delightfully decorative and productive plots.

"The Kitchen Garden" is divided into four main sections containing innovative ways of using fruit, vegetables and herbs in garden plots, in containers, as climbers, and as an integral part in beds and borders. Each section presents a number of unique solutions for adding fruits and vegetables a number of unique solutions for adding fruits and vegetables to gardens of any size or style. Among the projects included are : planting a salad bed, designing a knot garden for herb plants, building a rooftop kitchen garden, adding vegetables vines, and planting fruit among the flowers.

"The Kitchen Garden" shows that incorporating these edible delights into an ornamental garden can be fun and wonderfully decorative, as well as productive. With the practical advice and clearly illustrated step-by-step instructions, all gardeners can now enjoy the fruits-and vegetables-of their labors.

This unique series consists of hardback spiral-bound books that are dedicated to providing inspirational ideas on a range of gardening topics and each book provides a comprehensive, practical guide for all levels of gardening experience.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Stewart Tabori & Chang (March 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556709609
• ISBN-13: 978-1556709609
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 6.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,097,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful applications..., April 26, 2003

By 

Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Kitchen Garden (Spiral-bound)

KITCHEN GARDEN by Richard Bird is one of the many books I've acquired about growing comestibles outside the back door. When purchasing a book, I look for well presented, novel, and useful ideas. KG was printed in China and contains less than perfect but colorful and informative photos, and plenty of useful information. The book includes sections on: 1) vegetable (potager, salad bed), fruit (strawberry bed), and herb plots (taste of Asia); 2) container-grown fruit and vegetables for rooftops and patios; 3) climbing fruit and vegetables (bean arbors and pear tunnels); and 4) decorative beds and borders (apple border, herb border).

Each section includes a photo of a project, such as a potager, printed on a foldout page. Associated with each foldout page is a diagram of the project and other pertinent information including illustrations of various tasks required to execute the project, tool lists, plant lists, and other items. Although some of the presentations require more space than others, even folks living in townhouses with a space no larger than a deck or patio can benefit from the ideas offered in this book.

One of my favorites sections is the `Patio container garden.' You might ask what could anyone say about container gardening that has not already been said, but the answer is plenty. For example, Bird shows you how to secure your recently planted container so that birds and animals don't disturb the contents. Having watched a squirrel roll around one of my containers yesterday (apparently playing, there was nothing in it but soil), I can attest to the random, senseless, and wanton destruction of run-amuck wildlife. Bird also shows in his patio container section how to irrigate a strawberry jar. In all the years I've reviewed books and plant catalogues, I have never seen his novel approach depicted.

If you're looking for a cookbook approach to kitchen gardening, as opposed to an encyclopedia of possibilities where you supply the creative combinations, Bird's book of clearly described and carefully planned projects is a good place to begin. For intermediate gardeners.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceedingly well conceived, February 28, 2006

By 

Southern Review (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kitchen Garden (Spiral-bound)

I love this little gem!
This succinct guide contains 20 first class photographed and illustrated projects. Often garden "project" books suffer an utter lack of grace and refinement to the extent of becoming downright gauche. The ideas herein are delightfully decorative and infinitely tasteful.

As an artist and former art director, I respect the quality of illustration, handy layout design, and talented use of resources.

Mr. Bird offered a practical construction idea for cages that provide protection from birds and squirrels. He has a project for fruit trees in pots. A pear "tunnel" - a pergola, or archway covered with pears as a romantic garden feature.

He offers ideas on a charming bean arbor, decorative beds and borders, ways to use PVC pipe in large planters to disburse irrigation water more efficiently; and he offers plans for a very attractive double-groined trellis structure constructed with simple re-bar and installed as an apple arch.

Richard Bird has an innovative "step-over apple hedge" suitable for smaller gardens that is jaw-droppingly elegant. It essentially is an espaliered apple tree with just one horizontal tier that like most of his projects; it is not difficult - but it does require patience, and rewards they that wait.

For a pittance, this is a real jewel of a garden book. I am impressed.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard to find the other books in this 10 vol. set, May 24, 2003

By 

M. Ness (Small town, Rural MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Kitchen Garden (Spiral-bound)

I got this book as a "bargain" book at another big name book seller (bn) for about [cheap]. I'm glad I did. Unfortunately, I have yet to use any of the ideas in it, but I have to wait until I get a bigger yard! The book's set up is nice, spiral bound w/fold out pages, great illustrations. The author makes it look so effortless. The instructions that I have read are very thorough, right down to the supplies needed. Over all a nice set up.