The Complete Kitchen Garden: The Art of Designing and Planting an Edible Garden

by Patrick Bowe, Patrick Bowe

Focusing primarily on the aesthetics of this new garden form, The Complete Kitchen Garden is a study in design for the home gardener. Garden site and size considerations are followed by recommendations for constructing paths, edges, beds, walls, fences, and other architectural elements. Lists of appropriate plants provide a melange of color, form, and texture choices to help ensure a successful kitchen garden. There are even resources for seed suppliers and public kitchen gardens around the world.
Throughout the book are examples of noteworthy kitchen gardens in the U.S., Europe, and Canada, both modest and grand, for inspiration. A wealth of beautiful photography by Cynthia Woodyard helps make The Complete Kitchen Garden a comprehensive tool for beginning kitchen gardeners everywhere.

Genres: Gardening

208 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1996

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stopped in at one of my favorite used book stores and while browsing the shelves found a hardbound copy of the book The Complete Kitchen Garden: The Art of Designing and Planting an Edible Garden.

Out of many thousands of books, at a glance, I chose to purchase it.

First off, I do appreciate the cover image. It is fun to watch cabbage develop and I've always grown cabbage in my kitchen garden.

The forward by Rosemary Verey points out how this book is different from many.

The book provides interesting information on things that interest me such as bed orientation, Intercropping, and Close-Planting. I liked the fact that the book references practical elements such as the bean tunnels of the famous picture book illustrator and author Tasha Tudor. I also enjoyed learning more about the history of forcing jars as well as Antique Gardening Tools and Equipment.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic resource. This may have been published 20 years ago but the information remains timely and interesting. The author provides insight into everything from garden location to where to put a garden seat. Throughout the book the reader is treated to beautiful photos that illustrate the author's points on various topics.

I've read a lot of gardening books and this is among my favorites.

[Ligaya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful gardening book! Reading it almost 20 years after publication, though, I found some of the information a bit dated. Most of the gardens are very highly structured and very few are of US gardens. Nonetheless, lots of inspiration to be discovered here!