The Creative Vegetable Gardener: 60 Ways To Cultivate Joy, Playfulness, and Beauty Along with a Bounty of Food

Gardener Trimble (sr. editorial dir., HGTV; Vegetable Gardening Wisdom) has penned a delightful book about designing and growing creative vegetable gardens. She invites readers to rethink established vegetable gardening rules, such as using raised beds, record keeping, and plant spacing. She explores numerous garden styles, shapes, and unconventional materials to outline beds. Sharing multiple reasons (physical and mental health, spiritual, and social) for vegetable gardening beyond providing food, she introduces botany and plant family information in an easy-to-understand manner. Trimble advocates for gardening ecologically, thinking of a garden as an ecosystem by planting in layers and including vegetables, herbs, and flowers, as well as encouraging beneficial insects and improving soil health. Throughout, she profiles a variety of gardeners and their gardens, alongside beautiful color photographs of each garden.