Kitchen Gardens: Beyond the Vegetable Patch by Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden Botanists Staff

From the Publisher

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden produces authoritative, illustrated books that help readers in all parts of North America create gardens that are both beautiful and ecologically sensible.

Generously illustrated with full-color photographs, "Kitchen Gardens" divides eighteen essays by well-known horticulturists into four categories: Kitchen Garden Designs; Kitchen Garden Basics; Essential Plants for the Kitchen Garden; and Regional Kitchen Gardens. Specific ideas for tailoring a kitchen garden to the Northeast, Southeast, North and Midwest, Southwest, and Pacific Northwest regions are also included.

Library Journal

The difference between vegetable gardens and kitchen gardens, writes Turner in her introduction to Kitchen Gardens, is that "a kitchen garden has style." No more straight boring rows of vegetables: culinary gardens can now be made in a variety of styles and laid out in intricate patterns that include plenty of flowers among the edibles. Recognized garden writers address this style in 17 chapters: Suzy Bales on kitchen gardens in bloom, Renee Shepherd on essential vegetable plants, Cathy Barash on kitchen gardening in the Northeast, and so on. Grouped by theme (design, basic techniques, plant material, region), these short essays provide the inspiration and basic information to get any gardener started. The Gertleys' book concentrates on just one of the possible design styles for a kitchen garden, based on the parterre de broderie, which achieved its ultimate glory at Versailles. Beginning with simple geometric shapes, their designs become increasingly complex as they use Celtic knots, Japanese crests, and quilt patterns as their inspiration. These gardens demand much of their creators, as they must be meticulously laid out, carefully groomed, and even harvested with care in order not to destroy the patterns made by the vegetables. Unfortunately the diagrams for the various garden layouts are hard to decipher, putting an unnecessary burden on the gardener. A better volume to follow up on the ideas of Kitchen Gardens is Susan McClure's Culinary Gardens (LJ 10/1/97). For specialized collections.Molly Newling, Piscataway P.L., N.J.

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