Indoor Kitchen Gardening: Turn Your Home Into a Year-round Vegetable Garden - Microgreens - Sprouts - Herbs - Mushrooms - Tomatoes, Peppers & More

by Elizabeth Millard

As featured in the New York Times and named to "Best Garden Books of 2014" by the Chicago Tribune

It takes just a few dollars and a few days for you to start enjoying fresh, healthy produce grown indoors in your own home. Imagine serving a home-cooked meal highlighted with beet, arugula, and broccoli microgreens grown right in your kitchen, accompanied by sautéed winecap mushrooms grown in a box of sawdust in your basement. If you have never tasted microgreens, all you really need to do is envision all the flavor of an entire vegetable plant concentrated into a single tantalizing seedling. If you respond to the notion of nourishing your guests with amazing, fresh, organic produce that you've grown in your own house, condo, apartment, basement, or sunny downtown office, then you'll love exploring the expansive new world of growing and eating that can be discovered with the help of Indoor Kitchen Gardening. Inside, author and Bossy Acres CSA co-owner Elizabeth Millard teaches you how to grow microgreens, sprouts, herbs, mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers, and more-- all inside your own home, where you won't have to worry about seasonal changes or weather conditions. Filled with mouthwatering photography and more than 200 pages of Do-It-Yourself in-home gardening information and projects, Indoor Kitchen Gardening is your gateway to this exciting new growing method--not just for garnishes or relishes, but wholesome, nutritious, organic edibles that will satisfy your appetite as much as your palate.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Reference, Food, Nature, Plants, Health

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Jason Pettus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started indoor urban-gardening about three years ago, completely on a whim (I'm a middle-ager now, and this seemed like an appropriate middle-aged hobby); but not knowing a single thing about gardening before then, most of the books I researched on the subject were just general gardening guides (or at the most, guides for "container gardening," whether that was indoor or outdoor in nature), and so my actual experiences have been rather hit and miss, with some crops that have grown in great and some that wither and die a few weeks after the seedlings started appearing in the first place.

So I'm glad to have recently come across an eBook copy at my local library of Millard's guide specifically to indoor gardening, because it's made me realize that I've been making a series of mistakes over the last few years -- for indoor gardening requires a different kind of soil makeup than outdoor, even if both are being done in containers, not to mention requiring a really specific kind of density to that soil, a specific amount of aeration, and different watering/misting schedules based on what you're growing. And in the meanwhile, Millard turns me on here to several other types of indoor gardening that I had never thought of before; like "microgreens," for example, which is when you cultivate things like salad plants right after they've grown just their first set of beginner leaves, then use them in places where you might also use things like bean sprouts.

Full of highly specific advice just for people growing their plants indoors, and full of great opinions about what works and what doesn't (like how hot peppers are ideal for growing indoors, for example, but green peppers aren't, or how cherry tomatoes do well indoors but full-sized ones don't), this is highly recommended for urbanites like me who need such advice, and are tired of sifting through general gardening guides to find the specific information they need.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome resource for indoor gardeners! I love how many topics it covers, from easier projects, like herbs, microgreens, and sprouts, to bigger vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes. It is amazing that the author has figured out how to grow hers indoors, during off growing seasons, and is sharing this information with the reader. She has even gone through the work of finding the varieties of seeds that she has found work for her best and including those. There are step by step instructions on how to plant each item she highlights with an abundant array of pictures to help clarify. This book would be well suited to a gardener who would like to expand their growing inside or even a beginner without gardening experience, as she is constantly identifying issues the reader may run into, what it is, and how to correct the issue.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I live in NYC and don't have access to a yard to garden outdoors, but I've been wanting to do some indoor and fire-escape type gardening for a while. The internet is a great resource, but having a book specifically catering toward indoor growing is immensely helpful, and Elizabeth keeps it real with what can actually be done without a yard or garden. Elizabeth's tone was positive and lively, and she covers everything from planning to eating. I can't wait to get started.

[Julien · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very complete and comprehensive guide with a ton of useful information. Even a complete beginner like I was able to start an small indoor garden and grow veggies. I also appreciated that the author added a touch of her own personality and sense of humor. Reading did not feel like a chore, which pleasantly surprised me. Thank you!

[Emily✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I'm a total gardening novice, so I really appreciated that this book had loads of information for beginners. I also really liked the voice it was written in-- it wasn't dry and it kept me engaged. (As an aside, the author is a wlw who runs a farm with her partner, which was a happy surprise!)

I do wish that the chapter on herbs had been a bit more substantive, since that's what I'm mostly interested in, but I was surprised to find myself interested in microgreens and sprouts as well. And I did learn a lot about what to expect from a kitchen garden and the amount of work it'll take. I stopped reading after the herb chapter, since I'm not interested in mushrooms or food crops. I'm thinking of buying this book to have it on hand as I embark on my kitchen garden adventure.

[Kate TerHaar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Experimenting with indoor kitchen gardening helps get me through the long Michigan Upper Peninsula winters and this book gives some good tips. This is the first book I have read on the subject (and I have read several) that discusses the difference between sprouts and micro greens. I found the information interesting and helpful as I continue to try to grow.

[Meg Tyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably better as a reference book than as a straight through read, as a lot of sections are very repetitive across vegetable types, but insightful and not overbearing!
It did put me to sleep twice though, do what you will with that. I don’t think that loses a star, especially when reading it 7 1/2 months pregnant.

[Chocolategoddess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very encouraging about growing indoors, and suggests a number of vegetables I wouldn't even have thought to grow. Millard walks you through exactly what you need for each type of plant very thoroughly, but not in boring detail. Growing plants requires a bit of experimentation due to different environments, so this felt appropriate.

I'm kicking myself for throwing out that old bag of popcorn last week. Apparently they make good sprouts.

[Joan]

I enjoyed this a lot, but I feel like I’m not really qualified to rate it since I’m not an expert in this field, nor have I actually tried any of the suggestions from the book out. Not much to say; this book was informative and very interesting.

[Joanne McKinnon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best way to fight winter blues

By growing veggies inside we can continue to garden when outside the garden is buried under snow. Being able to snip a few leaves of greens or herbs just before dinner is uplifting. I’ve browsed my favourite seed sources after each chapter. This is going to be fun.

[Nicole Pries · Rating 3 out of 5]

No new information for me, but could be great for someone who hasn't done any indoor gardening before.

[Sam (Hissing Potatoes) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great starter book for indoor kitchen gardening. The author provides all the necessary steps, information, pictures, resources, and helpful detailed considerations needed to plan, start, maintain, and harvest edibles. She also peppered throughout a good deal of her personality and her own experiences that really helped contextualize a reader's motivation and uses for growing edibles.

There were enough text errors to make me note the book could have used another proofread, but they weren't pervasive enough to conflict with comprehension.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been looking for a book like this ALL WINTER! It's perfect; it tells you everything about shelving, soil, light, containers, troubleshooting...

If only the winter weren't over, now!

[Tisha (IG: Bluestocking629) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oops. I finished this book months and months ago. Just saw it was still on my GR “currently reading”.

So, I am doing this from memory.

Fabulous photos. Both from the planting through growing.

Clear and easy to understand steps. You don’t have to be Mr. Green Jeans to understand this informational book.

Very informative.

There are some obvious things you can grow inside: Microgreens, sprouts, herbs. But did you know you can grow the following inside as well? Carrots, beets, potatoes, radishes, etc. For the most part if a plant can fit inside a pot and the pot can fit inside your dwelling then you can grow inside…for the most part. It’s all spelled out within the pages.

If you are new to growing inside, I recommend, from experience, to start small: Microgreens, sprouts and herbs. And if you have a kitty. Or a kindle of kitties then some cat grass.

There is no excuse for anybody not to grow avegetable or fruit. This book proves it. Enjoy and happy growing!

[Keisha Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Instructions on how to grow a variety of vegetables inside. Lots of pictures, basic set up instructions, and troubleshooting.

Very repetitive- pretty sure multiple parts were copy pasted from other sections. Yes, many plants have similar care requirements, but it got a little distracting.

Overall good book for a beginner to get inspired. Also loved reading about different vegetable varieties I've never encountered.

[Del Vandenburg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource

Even though this book is10 years old the information it contains is still valid and very useful, especially for anyone just thinking about trying indoor gardening. I didn't try the resources listed in the back of the book yet but most should be valid as they are companies not individuals.
The author was a little repetitious with some the watering instructions but the flip side of that you tend to remember it.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good beginner's guide to getting started growing small amounts of food indoors. I've been researching/growing microgreens for a few months, and a lot of the information on that was too basic for me now (!). However, I really appreciated the chapters on growing some of the less common vegetables indoors - I might try my hand at radishes or beets now!

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good indoor gardening book. I think I’m looking for a gardening book about herbs specifically because I felt those chapters were the most useful. I don’t think I’m going to be growing potatoes or dwarf fruit trees in my NYC apartment.

Also if you are going to write a book about indoor gardening I wouldn’t reference indoor space or a green house, feel like those are two very different spaces.

[Gail Richmond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as useful as I had thought it might be for my purposes. I wanted more just on growing herbs indoors. This is much broader and covers so much. It is a general overview of everything one can grow indoors.

[CraftyBirdies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really liked the tone of this book and the detail! Lots of helpful tips to start my indoor garden. I also like how realistic it is for the everyday person and not requiring crazy stuff. Helpful as a resource too even after you start.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a lot of gardening books, and they usually fall into one of two categories: condescending or encouraging. This book was real, helpful, and I would totally join a garden club with Elizabeth Millard.

[Molly Sponsler · Rating 4 out of 5]

really accessible. She gives you the information you need but leaves out extraneous long lists that I've seen in other gardening books. I like the way the chapters are organized too.

Walks you through setting up an indoor growing space inexpensively.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good intro to traditional organic soil based indoor gardening, with emphasis on sprouts and microgreens, and recommendations for varieties of larger vegetables that are best suited for growing indoors.

[Andrew Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great info, ready to grow some herbs!

[Ясен В. · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5

Some useful nuggets here and there.

[Cr0w · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colorful and detailed

[Jessica]

DNF - no longer available on app

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and accessible. Inspires me to think that I might actually plant some herbs this spring and keep them alive through the summer! Perhaps!!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good resource on kitchen gardening, including herbs, micro greens, mushrooms, sprouts, and even more adventurous plants like indoor radishes and carrots.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good pictures. Good advice.