Complete Guide to Growing and Cultivating Herbs and Spices: Expert Advice for Planting Indoors and Outdoors, the Best Containers, and Storage

British gardening expert Gray (Growing Winter Food) spent more than a decade farming in France. Her extensive guide utilizes that background and includes listings for 33 herbs, grown for their leaves and flowers; nine spices, grown for their seeds, roots, stigmas, and bark; and a few multipurpose plants that can be used as both herbs and spices. Entries include background information about each option, its scientific name, and clear photographs of different parts of the plant: leaves, flowers, and seeds. Growing advice, such as how to start indoor plants from seeds, and topics such as root division, cuttings, or layering, are in the book as well. Gray also offers tips for growing plants in containers, harvesting and storing them, and using them for medicinal purposes; she warns readers about the ones that must not be consumed in large quantities. Descriptions are clear, the writing is conversational, and there are recipes too. Backmatter includes a metric cooking conversion chart and index.