How to Garden Indoors & Grow Your Own Food Year Round

by Kim Roman

Ultimate Guide to Vertical, Container, and Hydroponic Gardening. No room to garden outside? Just because you can't garden outside doesn't mean you can't garden. Bring your garden indoors! Learn how to easily grow fresh food in your home all year long! Inside these 192 pages, you'll learn how to grow lush greenery that is not only bright and refreshing inside your home but edible, too! You'll discover how all-in-one systems can make getting started a breeze, how to creative vertical gardens that are both beautiful and practical, and more. Also included is a stunning gallery of real indoor gardens from around the world to inspire your planting.

A complete handbook filled with a host of valuable information and DIY projects, How to Garden Indoors & Grow Your Own Food Year Round shares all the knowledge you need to grow a variety of foods inside your home. From growing vegetables, microgreens, and herbs to hydroponic gardening, troubleshooting, and more, you'll learn how to grow fresh produce all year-round, no matter where you live!

With insightful sections and expert tips on composting, working with grow lights, choosing a growing locale, container gardening for both root and above ground vegetables, keeping your soil balanced and nutrient-rich, and so much more, this must-have resource is a one-stop shop on everything you need to know about successful indoor food production and how to maximize your indoor space!

Complete guide to successful indoor food production with clear, easy-to-understand guidance on how to grow year-round edible plants inside your home: At-a-glance grow charts for vegetables, fruits, and herbs, from tomatoes and garlic to peas and peaches; Maximize your space indoors, with wall gardens, vertical gardening, and more, for the best vegetable yields all year long; Start-up costs for every budget, with essential details on growing vegetables, microgreens, herbs, and fruit; Composting, container gardening, hydroponic gardening, grow lights, choosing a growing area, and more. Author Kim Roman is the owner of Square Foot Gardening 4 U where she offers small-space vegetable gardening methods and online classes for beginners
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Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Plants

192 pages, Hardcover

Published March 25, 2022

Reviews

[Susan's Reviews]

I'm actually applying, even as I write this, some of the advice and instructions in this well written and illustrated manual!



Detailed explanations and step by step instructions will guide newbie (and not so newbie) container gardeners on how to grow your own plant based food - indoors. This book is an obvious "must-have" on your reference book shelf. (Note: because of copyright restrictions, the images used here were culled from the internet and are not from this book.)





During COVID lockdown, many of us tried to grow our own food. I had a few spectacular failures, but some of my herbs (tarragon is pretty hard to kill, thank goodness!) have survived. Alas, my mint plants are a no show this year.



Do yourself a favour and add this book to your growing collection. If we experience any more lockdowns in the future, at least this very excellent, detailed and well written handbook makes for enjoyable reading, even if you never do get around to planning an elaborate indoor vegetable or herb patch - as I still contemplate doing at some point!



Happy Gardening!

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Mike]

Gardening books are a useful resource and this one is specifically for indoors with minimal space requirements. How to Garden Indoors & Grow Your Own Food Year-Round by Kim Roman is a how-to guide for year-round vegetables, fruits and herbs, with multiple chapters, photographs, helpful grow charts and even costing budgets. All the basics are covered including light, air, soil as well as hydroponics, plant profiles and seed germination. It also comes with useful tips on composting, pests, diseases and a handy resource guide. A timely publication that can assist anyone willing to cultivate an indoor veggie garden with useful tips, albeit American based. So overall, a fine addition to your garden library books, with its helpful advice and a four-and-a-half-star rating. With thanks to Fox Chapel Publishing and the author, for an uncorrected advanced copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given, without any favours owing.

[Dana-Adriana B.]

I am trying usually aromatic herbs indoors but it is not easy. The tendency to overwater is constant during wintertime. I will try the hydrophonic method one day. I found much interesting information in this book.
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

[Alicia Bayer]

This is a very thorough, informative book. As others have mentioned, it's the kind of book that may make you realize you don't have the time, money, room or energy to do this after all. :) That's not necessarily a bad thing. It's very in-depth and there are lots of photos, tips from real people and a boat load of information. This should be your go-to guide if you want to get serious about growing food indoors.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

[Jennifer]

How to Garden Indoors and Grow Your Own Food Year Round, yes please!
I’m a big fan of square foot gardening and have used Mel’s techniques off and on for years. I’ll garden in my small beautiful space successfully for 2 years and then take a year off. But as I get older I’m becoming more committed and want to grow year around.
So when I found this book I got really excited. She cares about world hunger and helping people garden successfully. She created this book to encourage people like me to grow my own food.
I loved the garden tower and hope to have success with it. There are lots and lots of pictures in this book, which I love.
FYI, this isn’t a weekend project book, just so you know. It’s a commitment with a big pay out of accomplishments and a personal satisfying indoor garden experience.
In this book, there is:
• Tips and troubleshooting
• How to’s
• New ideas
• Start up costs for every budget
• At-a-glance charts
• DIY projects to construct
• Hydroponic gardening and maintenance
• Wall gardens
• Plants needs
• Pollination
She challenged me before starting with questions like:
• What are my yield goals?
• How much time do I have?
• Where are good locations in my house for this?
• How’s my home lighting?
• How much should I grow?
• How long it will take?
I highly recommend book if you want to be an indoor gardener. It’s doable with everything right at your fingertips in this book.
Thanks Creative Homeowner via NetGalley.

[(a)lyss(a)]

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I will admit the introduction to this book surprised me by talking about the post-pandemic world when we are clearly not post-pandemic. That being said this is a surprisingly thorough guide to growing food indoors.

This book dives into the ins and outs of gardening indoors. There is information on growing plants vertically, hydroponically, and more. Roman talks about different seeds, how to provide the right light, and sufficient warmth and water. There's a lot of information in this book to sort through! There's also helpful advice on choosing how much to grown and when. Roman also gives estimates for how much things will cost, but I would say a lot of that varies by region.

Overall an interesting read.

[LittleRead]

I got excited by the title and had to read this book. I love nothing more than a fresh salad, fresh berries, fresh herbs, fresh (you get the idea) so I had to read this book. Why let the seasons ruin for you when you can do some work and grow them year round?

While this is a great book and you can grow your own produce year round, I just realized that I’d need far more space and resources than I have right now and am going to have to work on acquiring some things before I can get started. But don’t let this deter you…knowing what is required is a great starting place and I WILL get there soon. This book is a great resource and the promise of fresh tomatoes is enough to keep me focused and motivated!

[Jonann loves book talk❤♥️❤]

Calling all veggie lovers! You can now grow all your fresh produce indoors!

I am so excited about Kim Roman's new book "How To Garden Indoors & Grow Your Own Food Year Around". Kim gives exact plans for gardening big or small in containers, hydroponic and microgreen gardening setups economically. The plans include considerations for space, light and cost. Wouldn't it be great to have fresh peas, herbs, greens, carrots, cucumber eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers year around? Plus you get the joy of growing them yourself! This beautiful book has gorgeous photographs and step-by-step instructions to ensure your success.

Thank you NetGalley and Fox Chapel Publishing for letting me review this fantastic e-book. It will be available for purchase March 15, 2022.

[Johanna Sawyer]

Interesting way to garden inside, and the author shows multiple examples from around the world where people are learning to grow indoors. I started last year trying to start seeds inside but I still don’t think I’m advanced enough to try more than a basil plant or aloe. Still I love to peruse books offering different things and insights. You never know what you might pick up. Four stars!

I received a complimentary copy to read and am voluntarily leaving this review.

[Sage]

I was really looking forward to this book because I do a lot of indoor gardening and wanted to see what I could do to expand into edibles. Some of Roman's information is useful, especially concerning hours of grow light various plants need, and the photos are nice. However, it seemed like she spent just enough time on various growing methods to be confusing rather than helpful.

Also, her focus is very clearly on northern regions with mild summers. She does not take into account areas where summer is our dormant period. Here in south central Texas, we usually see highs in the 90s from May through October, with consistent highs at or over 100 for all of July and August. At the height of summer, nothing will grow outside but okra and succulents -- even allegedly "invasive" mint burns to a crisp and goes dormant until fall. Indoors, growing mint in a southwest window, no matter how well air-conditioned and watered, will burn it to a crisp in the sun. What this means is I can't rely on any of the "sunny window" recommendations Roman gives here to be accurate for my latitude. Which leaves me where I was before: guessing.

Also, she gives wildly inaccurate (to my experience data) on rosemary. In the Texas Hill Country, you can plant a small rosemary bush outdoors and in a year, it'll be taller than a man and wider than his armspan. All it takes is a LOT of heat and wind and a little rain. They're drought proof. The only bad thing is they are excellent for setting houses on fire, as the oil in the stems has a very low flame point. So, uh, don't plant them immediately next to your home if the siding is flammable. I haven't tried to grow rosemary indoors in decades, but I imagine the challenge is keeping the ambient temperature hot enough and the roots dry enough.

I got very lost in the section on hand-pollination, not because it's a confusing process; it isn't. What confused me was the notion of growing squash indoors. HOW?! Wouldn't it take up the whole room?

All in all, this was a frustrating read. Growing greens indoors is simple, but I found the instructions on growing fruits and vegetables lacking.


ARC

[Annie]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

How to Garden Indoors & Grow Your Own Food Year Round is a basic general guide to indoor gardening for producing edible plants and herbs written and curated by Kim Roman. Due out 15th March 2022 from Fox Chapel, it's 192 pages and will be available in hardcover, paperback, spiral bound, and ebook formats.

Food security and transportation costs and availability are real and immediate concerns for the vast majority of people. We only have to look at the supply issues of the last few years to see how vulnerable we are to interruptions and resource scarcity. It's not possible to be self-sufficient with toilet paper and toothpaste (well, not really), but providing for part of our food needs ourselves is a great way to reduce some stress, gain valuable skills, and gain a fun and relaxing hobby.

This is a good general guide to maximizing yields by utilizing vertical growth "walls", hydroponics, and indoor container gardening with edible plants/herbs. The information is presented well and understandably. The author is an experienced gardener and adept at educational writing. The text is accessible and direct. The sections of the book are arranged logically: getting started, understanding what plants need (and how to give it to them), systems for indoor growing, choosing what to grow, and troubleshooting.

The book is full of clear color photos of different types of containers, optimal plants and varieties, and small tutorials for setting up and maintaining indoor growing spaces. There are a lot of good tips and tricks for stretching the gardening budget whilst still choosing safe plastics and other materials. Salient info is contained in highlighted text boxes throughout the text.

Four stars. I liked that the author is quite realistic about how much food can be produced reliably indoors year-round, but indoor gardening can supplement summer outdoor garden produce as well as being an enjoyable and rewarding hobby. Reliably being able to start seeds every year and get healthy seedlings will vastly enhance the available selection of plants for the gardener to utilize as well as cutting down on costs and transportation.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Beth]

Fairly thorough guide for what it would take to actually grow food indoors. It covers some things I hadn't thought of before, such as distributing the weight of your plants on your floors (although I found myself wondering if this is really a problem considering the weight of our furniture), but it doesn't go into nearly enough detail on some of the things that, to me, are either really important (hand pollination) or something a lot of people want to know about (hydroponics). Still, a lot of good information presented in a way that wasn't overly technical.

[Tove R.]

This book is for someone like me, a person who wants to grow useful greens at home. Living up north with so little light during winter it is a challenge, but this book covers these issues as well. It is possible to grow some of your own food indoors at home, and that is something we should all try! I do not have a green thumb, but I try my best. This book has a lot of great tips, instructions and gorgeous pictures to take you through this journey. Highly recommended!

[Flora]

Such comprehensive information here on how to grow your own food indoors! Highly detailed too, even including how to calculate how much soil that will be needed, how much water, how much you will likely spend, and so on. One thing we might not think about is how well our living spaces can take the extra weight that indoor plants might exert on our floors.- something vital to know if we live in apartments or condos.

I also like that the book is chockful of beautiful photographs that are relevant and helpful including one section on creative ideas for indoor gardens. There are also plenty of tables and charts for info at a glance.

The author knows what she is talking about as she holds highly popular seminars and workshops in home and garden shows, garden clubs, and Master Gardener Programs as well as online. She is obviously very knowledgeable, having taught the subject since 2010.

HIghly recommended!

[Jada]

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.

I’m more experienced with outdoor gardening - for the first 24 years of my life my family had a large vegetable garden outside. But now I live in an apartment with a balcony, and I thought this could be an interesting book for indoor gardening (and maybe some things I could adapt to my tiny balcony vegetable garden).

This books has an immense amount of information. So much information. It’s great - and it doesn’t cut down on the information to not scare off beginner gardeners. Gardening inside isn’t an easy task - especially for things more than herbs. I appreciated that layout of what you would need and the thought that went behind it. This books has everything from beginning to choose containers, soil, fertilizer choices, how to pollinate your vegetables, pest and diseases you should be aware of (and how to treat them), seed starting, and more. It’s almost an intimidating amount of information - but that’s great because growing more than a pot or two of herbs indoors is going to require work.

But even if you just wanted to grow herbs this books has tips for that. You could easily start out with a pot or two of herbs in a sunny window and slowly add more. And it’s honesty good for container gardening inside or outside. Very adaptable gardening information.

The only slight negative was that the formatting of the e-book I had was off and it made some sections hard to read. I didn’t take off any stars because this is an ARC and it could very well be fixed by publication. I hope it’s fixed for publication. I read on an iPad with the kindle app.

[Christina]

This book is the most informative book on gardening I have ever had the pleasure to read! I am a hobby gardener and as such, I often learned as I went along. This book is a store of invaluable information and I learned so much despite my years of gardening (both indoor and outdoor).

The author thought of everything. This is not simply a how to guide, but a guide on WHY which I feel is incredibly important. The author with this title gives a practical guide both to the obvious parts of gardening (you need seed, soil, light, containers, etc…) but also the parts of gardening that normally hit us too late once we’ve realized our mistake.

Not only does she give a plethora of practical advice, but she also provides tips (such as using the dollar store for supplies) and I particularly enjoyed the images provided of thriving plants in reused plastics that otherwise would have been deemed trash!

I loved the focus on reuse/recycle and I love that the author explained the small things such as lettuce needing to be planted weekly to truly last as it doesn’t regrow, and explanations on why one may want to use vertical space and even something as simple as the difference in lumens and watts.

I’m a member of many Facebook groups for gardening and honestly I feel the majority of questions people have both for indoor gardening and even houseplant growing would be avoided if everyone read the advice within these pages.

As a hobby gardener, this book answered questions I have had and opened up a greater world of possibility than I even realized. I am anxious to try out hydroponics next!

If you’re a seasoned gardener or just starting out, this book will help you with your upcoming seasons.

[Denise Wilbanks | This Is My Everybody]

BOOK REVIEW: How to Garden Indoors & Grow Your Own Food Year Round by Kim Roman
2022 Publication Date: March 15

⭐️⭐️⭐️️

T.I.M.E. Most Anticipated Books of 2022

CONNECT WITH THIS BOOK | T.I.M.E. SIMPLE LIVING TIP
Think outside the box... ✨😎✨

T.I.M.E. BOOK REVIEW: Comprehensive & textbook-like in its' coverage... Budget-friendly supplementary courses are also available via the author's website... BONUS POINTS: Available in Ebook, Hardcover, Paperback & Spiral-Bound editions. I love DIY Home books in spiral-bound editions! It makes it super-easy to work thru your project with your handy reference guide easily open to the section you need... ✨😎✨

Pages: 192
Genre: DIY Home
Sub-Genre: Indoor Gardening

IF YOU LIKE THIS BOOK THEN TRY…
Book: Containers In The Garden by Claus Dalby
TV: Grow, Cook, Eat

--------------------

All my reviews can be seen at This Is My Everybody | Simple Living | Denise Wilbanks at www.thisismyeverybody.com

♡ Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

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[Jessica]

This book has so much useful information! Wow! My first thumbs-up for it was the info about how indoor plants don't actually clean the air, which is a commonly-held myth. Bravo to the author for giving a great explanation about that!
This isn't a book to sit down and read the whole thing of, but rather to browse and use for reference. Yes, some should be read all at once and before beginning an indoor planting journey, but it's something to have on hand for reminders and in-depth review over the years. What a great reference book it is, and I'm so glad to have been able to read it!

[Arika]

How To Garden Indoors is an extensive resource for anyone who is looking to try growing plants indoors. It is not limited to only garden plants/herbs, I believe you would find this book useful even when researching how to care for houseplants. I liked the modern feel of this book and enjoyed all the beautiful and colorful photos.

The book begins by introducing the idea of growing indoors as a challenge to the reader, the thought that having fresh produce year round is attainable is ground breaking news. From there the author shows us some examples of successful indoor gardens in photographs and little tips on how you could use these methods in your own home. Next we get a glimpse into the cost of the different systems that can be used, with a fair representation that it will take some money to get started, but of course it will be worth it in the long run. The author goes into detail on how to install the system of your choice and different ways you will need to protect your home while gardening indoors, which is certainly a thoughtful bit to add. Something that stuck out to me throughout the whole book is that gardening indoors can really be aesthetically pleasing, many people have used their fresh plants as decor and it looks great in the pictures included in this book. The next section focuses on plants, what they need, and how to give it to them. This section was very detailed and slightly overwhelming. I appreciate the author including this section but it was a lot to read at once. It will certainly be a useful tool when you are looking up what to do for a specific plant!

A fact included was that there is a myth that houseplants clean the air of your home. I personally had always believed this but was then taught in this book that it is not true.

The last section in the book is a detailed troubleshooting guide which is a really nice reference to have for a beginner gardener, including pictures for comparison. I have not seen this before in a gardening book and I think it's a wonderful addition! The book ends with a lovely index that will be the reader's best friend when needing to look up something specific. I always love a good index.

A great beginners guide for gardening indoors, a subject that is not widely covered.

[Stephanie]

I am fortunate to live in an area where we can grow food outdoors year-round…but for those in locations where there is actual winter, or those who just like the idea of growing food indoors,How to Garden Indoors & Grow Your Own Food Year Round by Kim Roman is a great book. There are four techniques covered in depth: container, hydroponic, vertical, and sprouts/microgreens.


In addition to discussing growing your own herbs, sprouts, or micro greens, larger crops (think tomatoes and cucumbers) are also covered. Tips on lighting, water, nutrients, hydroponics, plants, soil and also some thing that hadn’t occurred to me, but essential for apartment dwellers, topics such as the need to consider the weight of the “garden” in relation to the walls and floors of the building!

There is an incredible amount of detail, and nice photos. For those (like me) who tend to jump on an idea and get all manic, then burn out, Ms. Roman suggests starting small. Variables which as types of light and plant placement (what to grow where) are covered, plus there are some great photos! Great for the gardener who wants or needs to do their growing indoors. Five stars, and thanks to Fox Chapel Publishing and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for this honest review.

[Gabrielle]

This gardening book has five different sections going over different ways to grow food inside. She goes through different techniques like container, vertical and hydroponics gardening. The book starts off with some different indoor garden setups from around the world. It then moves onto how to set up your home to get started. She offers several different budget options from basic budget up to some small hydroponic systems.

She discusses the needs of plants light, air and nutrients and offers examples on how to improve them. There is a check list to determine what plants you want to grow.
Included in this book is a chart of plants that you can grow and the best way to grow them. Some examples of planters and how to make self-watering planter.
Overall this is a good book to add to your gardening library if you are looking for some options to help grow some food year round.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this book to provide an unbiased review.

[Kelly Paradis]

I'm a beginner gardener living in a very cold climate and I picked up this title because I was thinking it would be amazing to not have to deal with the weather and potentially grow things year-round. But, I ended up being really overwhelmed. There is a lot of great information but sometimes I think it is too much with too many options that all seem like they have major drawbacks. I was excited about reading about hydroponics but that section opens with saying that it's basically a big pain and not worth it. Even the microgreens section I couldn't totally understand what I was supposed to do and instead had to go online to figure it out. The section on plant profiles was very useful for figuring out what might be good options to plant.

Thank you to Fox Chapel Publishing and NetGalley for free access to this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

[Diane Hernandez]

Four indoor gardening techniques are explained within How to Garden Indoors & Grow Your Own Food Year Round: container, hydroponic, vertical, and sprouts/microgreens.

I like that budget is discussed in this book. Most garden books assume their readers have unlimited funds. If you are willing to do a DIY project or two, your indoor garden could cost as low as $50.

How to Garden Indoors & Grow Your Own Food Year Round is an exploration of options to start indoor gardening. It is not enough by itself. However, the book does suggest specific titles for more information. This book may fire up your enthusiasm to start your garden as it has words of encouragement and full-color photographs of actual indoor gardens. However, I expected more detailed instructions. 3 stars.

Thanks to Fox Chapel Publishing and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Stephanie]

How to Garden Indoors by Kim Roman was a very informative book. It is specifically geared towards indoor gardening, but a lot of the information can be applied to outdoors as well. Kim Roman provides a wealth of detail on nearly everything you need to know about gardening indoors. Even though it’s a lot of information, she writes it in a simple, understandable way, so that the beginning gardener has a solid base of what to do when they are just starting. She even includes several DIY projects you can do if you are tight on money and want to start a small garden inside. I particularly liked the section with specific crops and how to grow them indoors since I already have a pretty extensive outdoor garden, but would like to try growing more during the winter months when I can’t grow outside here. This is a great resource to have to reference.

[Ashley Hite]

Thank you to Netgalley and Fox Chapel Publishing, for early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Kim Roman has written a new beginners guide to gardening full of details, information, and recommendations. She takes the reader through the entire process of beginning a garden from seeding, lighting, soil, composting and even some trouble shooting. I think it was a very well written guide for the early indoor grower, which I am. The chapters are structured in clear concise ways and include lots of pictures and tips along the way. I am not sure how helpful this would be for an experienced grower or someone looking to grow a few herbs.

[Kate TerHaar]

Lots of great information for growing food indoors. I have recently been interested in not just starting seeds indoors but to actually grow and harvest, this book describes several ways to do just that. Hydroponics, lighting, and even making sure your floor is strong enough to use some the the systems. Also info on varieties to grow. Very informative plus I found some experts to follow on Instagram.

[Asha Butterflys]

We go thru a lot of vegetables in our house and with the cost of how much food is right now it. This the best time to use the little space you do have to start saving some money on the things you use the most. For me we have started growing Tomatoes and Potatoes. I want to start growing onions, garlic and sweet potatoes for the up coming year. This book is so detailed and I am learning more every day when I am reading this book. I am so excited for how my garden will look in the end.

[Witch-at-Heart]

This book is so helpful. It is what you don’t know and how fantastic it is to find a gem to walk you through it. This book is very comprehensive. It takes you through indoor gardening from start to finish and gives you a solid understanding of the whole process. The picture’s are beautiful and inspired. I never even thought about it but I am grateful for the tip on chlorine in water - made the difference in some of my dying plants. Great book I highly recommend it!

[Dave Hale]

Phenomenal resource!!
I checked out all of the library books on the topic of growing plant-based food indoors, and this book vaulted to the top of the list! I realized how useful this book is as a comprehensive reference, that I even went out and bought a copy to keep on hand! I highly recommend this book to anyone who doesn't have space for an outdoor garden, or lives in an area with a very short growing season.

[Polly Krize]

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A super book to introduce you to indoor gardening, whether hydroponic, vertical or micro greens and herbs. Even a section of fermentation! A serious book for anyone wishing to become more self sufficient and enjoy year-round gardening.