I have to admit that when my husband and I first bought our home a few years back the last thing on my mind was gardening. I was mainly concerned with un-doing all the peach colored paint with gold flecks on the living room walls and what seemed like endless amounts of border and stencil everywhere else.
But the following year having re-painted every single room in the interior of the house I was now ready to focus on some gardening tasks. By the time I gave it any real thought it was too late for seedlings or to dig up a vegetable patch in the backyard but I have always been a fan of container vegetable gardening. It’s not super time consuming, it’s great for first time gardeners and besides who wants a boring old fern (no offense to all you Fern lovers out there) when you can grow your own sweet potatoes in containers. There are many container gardening books on the market as interest in the art has soared over the years but what a delight it was to stumble across Don’t Throw it, Grow It. I had mastered growing container herbs, tomatoes, and lettuce in galvanized metal tubs I was looking for another challenge, something different, and something fun.
In this book, author Deborah Peterson not only tells you how to grow more common food items like carrots, beets, or beans indoors but also exotic fruits and vegetables like Avocado and Chinese Star Apple. For instance, did you know that Sweet potatoes have small purple flowers that resemble morning glories, or that Chickpeas make great looking hanging baskets? With this book you will find indispensable little tidbits of information like that and so much more. So the next time you take a look around your living room and think I could probably use a nice potted plant in that corner of the room, think about growing your own little Pomegranate or Avocado tree for a change of pace.
I don’t know about you but when it comes to gardening I’m constantly trying to challenge myself to do more and this book is chock full of great ideas to help you do just that.
Next week: Who knew Starting a Farmers Market could be so hard? Updates on starting a community Farmers Market in my town.
Heather Jones is a wife, mother, freelance food writer, and graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. She has worked for Gourmet Magazine, TV Personality Katie Brown, and the New York based Indian-fusion restaurant Tabla. Heather resides in New Jersey with her husband and two daughters. She is a strong supporter of the Sustainable Food Movement and believes that education is the key to making a difference.