Sugar Snaps and Strawberries: Simple Solutions for Creating Your Own Small-Space Edible Garden

by Andrea Bellamy, Jackie Connelly (Photographer)

Imagine savoring fresh-picked strawberries on a weekend morning, plucking plump figs from your mini-orchard to quarter and serve at a farm-to-table meal with friends, or harvesting and sautéing the edible stalks of garlic bulbs. If the size of your space is bringing you back to reality, here's the best you don't need a big backyard to grow your own food. In fact, you don't need a yard at all.

Andrea Bellamy, founder of the acclaimed blog Heavy Petal, gives you the dirt on growing gorgeous organic food with very little square footage. Simple, straightforward, design and growing advice can help you transform just a snippet of space into a stylish and edible oasis. Bellamy goes beyond the surface and shows you how to create and maintain healthy soil, decide what and when to plant, sow seeds and harvest, and most importantly, enjoy the process. So go ahead, picture that tiny nook, corner, strip, porch, alley, balcony, or postage-stamp-sized yard overflowing with fingerling potatoes, fragrant herbs, sugar snap peas, French breakfast radishes, and scarlet runner beans.

Armed with luscious photography, encouraging tips, and sophisticated designs, you're sure to be inspired to join the grow-your-own revolution.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Food, Cooking, How To, Reference, Adult

221 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is perfectly adequate for the beginning small space gardener. The photos are gorgeous, the gardens are beautiful and the text is packed with information about the sorts of options and creativity it takes to grow edibles in small spaces. If I knew someone who was reading this, I would not slap it out of their hands. I didn't find anything that was factually inaccurate or outright bad advice.

I'm giving two stars to this book because it's too similar to a book I loved that came out last year: Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces. Grow Great Grub is awesome. I highly recommend it. As much as I like Andrea Bellamy as a blogger, SS&S falls short. I don't know if it was an editing issue or something else, but her singular perspective is just not there.

I often ask myself why someone would write a book if they don't have something substantially different, interesting, or special to contribute. Unless your name is R.L. Stine or VC Andrews, in which case, thank you for writing the same books over and over again, and I never minded at all that you were repetitive in my adolescence. Nowadays, I read a lot of garden books, so I ask myself this question a lot. It seems like a topic becomes trendy and then there will be 10 books about it in 3 years. Growing food in small/urban settings is one such topic right now. This book is ok, but not the cream of that crop.

[Sara Q · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most useful part of this book was the A to Z list of edible plants in the back, with short tips about growing them in containers and which specific plants do best in which climates. The front half of the book did not have that much useful information - mostly a bunch of hand-waving, generic, kumbaya advice. I guess I do better with charts and lists when it comes to books like this. Not paragraph after paragraph of basic questions. Don't get me wrong - there is some helpful information scattered throughout, but you have to skim through several pages each time to find it. A better resource is The Bountiful Container by McGee and Stuckey.

[Christa Cordova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great tips with awesome photography. Loved the chapters about designing your garden - the author urges readers to take into account what they want to accomplish with their space, other than just putting some plants into the ground in a certain order. This is a departure from other books I've read and I really liked it. Highly recommend this book to novice and experienced gardeners alike.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was certain a great deal different than I thought it would be, but it wasn't different in a bad way.  I thought that this book, based on its title, would focus mainly on fruits and vegetables and herbs that would allow for a suitable and enjoyable edible garden, especially one with a small size.  However, this book was more about encouraging gardening as a whole [1].  This book, rather than being a book about the plants mainly, ends up being a one-stop resource for those who have small areas for containers or gardens and who want to make the most of it by growing food that is both visually appealing as well as delicious.  This is definitely an acceptable approach for me when it comes to books on the subject, and this is definitely a book I think would be worthwhile to add to someone's gardening library, especially if they were interested in putting its ideas into practice.  Gardening edibles is a good way to eat good food, whether or not one gets any economic benefit out of doing so--quality is its own reward, sometimes.

Although a relatively short book of just over 200 pages, and one that is blessed with colorful graphic design as well as photography, this book manages to have ten chapters of material and then an additional 50 pages that describe the edibles that most people will be looking for from this book.  After a brief preface and acknowledgements, the author begins with a discussion of garden style (1) and a brief discussion about garden design philosophies.  After this the author spends some time encouraging the reader to assess their space (2) and find other space if they need more through community gardens, shared backyards, or even guerrilla gardening (3), as well as take advantage of container gardening on patio or balcony space (4).  After this comes several chapters that discuss aspects of planning one's gardening (5) and knowing and improving soil (6).  Then comes a set of a chapters that discusses sowing and growing (7), keeping plants healthy without using harmful and toxic pesticides (8), making the most of limited space through succession planting and interplanting and winter gardening (9), and harvesting and preparing for the next year (10) before the author gives a detailed look at worthwhile edible plants and provides a glossary, bibliography, and index.

There are at least several categories of edible gardening plants that are worth keeping in mind.  There are trees with edible fruit, for example, that can help set the tone for a garden and provide something that will provide benefits for years and years.  There are other plants that are useful to grow because they provide food on an annual basis, some that are perennials, as well as various herbs that can provide spice (oregano and basil, for example, among many others).  While there are many plants that I would not ever grow in a garden because I simply do not like them (mango and beet, for very different reasons, would be among them), there are plenty of plants talked about here that do strike me as interesting, and I am especially intrigued by the author's call for gardeners to engage in rotation of their garden to maximize the growing potential of a garden over seasons and also engage in companion gardening so that some plants will drive away the pests that plague delicate but desirable edible plants that one wants to eat for oneself rather than feeding birds or insects or slugs.  There is a great deal to appreciate and appropriate here.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

[stephoto604 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have had this book for years and love re-visiting it as a quick reference each year with the planting A to Z section. As a beginner gardener this was the perfect non-intimidating book to get me started and made me think about simple steps to plan with success in mind instead of my previous haphazard gardening (ie. think about the type of containers you're planting things in (metal/ terracotta) & where you put them (direct sun/ shade.)

[Kate M · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nicely organized and clearly written basic guide to container gardening. It was really great for what I was looking for, and provided decent overviews about all basics.

[Honey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful! Not too condescending, but also not presuming you know everything or understand the jargon.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is filled with the most beautiful photographs of gardens and produce. I have been a serious gardener for years, growing both edibles and flowers. Gardening is my favorite hobby. Although I am fairly knowledgeable when it comes to gardening, I can't resist picking up a gardening book or magazine with the hopes of getting a new idea. Every year I try at least a few new things, and I find that one of the things I love about gardening is that there is always room for improvement.

The author and her daughter:


This book is designed for people that are just beginning to create their own small-space edible garden. This book was bashed by another reviewer because there was nothing new to her in it. If you already know everything and don't expect to find anything new in a gardening book for beginners or advanced beginners, you might consider passing on this book.

I know there are a lot of people that may have grown tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers that could benefit from this book. How do I know? Because they call and ask me about gardening. About 30 years ago there were a lot more people that had gardens and could give advice. There are fewer people that have had much experience with gardening, and now more young people want to grow their own healthy food.

There is definitely a need for attractive books that explain the basics of edible gardening. Blogger, Andrea Bellamy (http://heavypetal.ca/) systematically covers the basics and gives good advice for creating small space edible gardens.

Have you seen those internet ads that tease you with the question concerning the 12 fruit/veggies with the most pesticide residue? When you click on it, they try to sell you that info. It is listed on p. 67, starting with celery, peaches, strawberries, and 9 others.

The author does a good job of making suggestions that will help you plan your garden. Don't go too big too fast! Bellamy discusses the soil, going into depth about pH, soil texture and structure, composting, mulch, testing your soil, and soil additives. Don't skip this chapter! As you grow your plants, you should be growing and improving your soil.

I have wondered why people grow nasturtiums, which are not that attractive in the eye of this beholder. Bellamy points out that nasturtiums serve as a trap crop for aphids, luring aphids away from other plants. I will try that next year and kill any aphids ASAP with soapy water!

I did find a mistake in this book. Bellamy stated, "Cucumbers, like all cucurbits, produce both male and female flowers." Cucumbers do produce male and female flowers, however cantaloupes produce male and perfect flowers. Perfect flowers contain both male and female parts which makes it much easier for fruit set. I have been growing cantaloupes for years and average about 9 melons per plant, while I find it necessary to hand pollinate my watermelons because the male and female flowers on the watermelon plants do not contain enough nectar to attract enough bees to do the job.
I took these pictures of my cantaloupes 2 days ago and it will be a couple of weeks before they are ready to eat:

Two cantaloupe plants take a lot of room, and you can't even see all of the vines:

I only have 1 developing watermelon on one plant:


Much of the credit for the readability and enjoyment for this book must go to photographer Jackie Connelly. If you are somewhat new to gardening or just like to look at luscious pictures, this book is a good one!

[Pam Penick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like a rebel without a cause, I continue to resist growing edibles despite the current fad and inspiring examples of fellow gardeners and bloggers who savor their homegrown fruits and vegetables. Sure, I stick a basil plant in the ground each spring and harvest the leaves all summer. Yeah, I snip sprigs of rosemary from the evergreen herb in my deer-resistant garden. But that’s the extent of my edible garden. Why? I don’t really know. I’ve just never gotten enthused about watching my food grow when selecting it from the organic bin at the grocery store is so much easier (no daily watering required, and bugs and weeds are not an issue) and when there are so many ornamentals I want to grow in my sunniest spaces.

And yet…I almost had a change of heart while reading Sugar Snaps and Strawberries by Andrea Bellamy, Vancouver balcony gardener and author of the blog Heavy Petal. Andrea makes a convincing case for homegrown food, and she shows that you don’t need a country acre or fancy potager — or any plot of dirt at all — to do it. From a row of potted herbs on a deck railing to beans planted in a few inches of soil at the base of a fence and trained to grow vertically, the possibilities for squeezing edibles into tight spaces are fully explored. Have you always dreamed of an orchard but lack the real estate? Andrea shows how even apples — grown from dwarf rootstock in containers — can be espaliered on a horizontal trellis and grown on an apartment balcony.

Andrea explains the basics of growing food (of growing any plant, really) in clear detail, and beginner gardeners will find everything they need to know to get started on and eventually harvest an edible garden of their own. As a Deep South gardener, I did feel that the book was skewed to a temperate gardener’s point-of-view, with much discussion of early seed starting indoors and summer harvests, when I know from local blogs that the edible gardening season in central Texas is really two seasons — spring and fall — separated by a hot, humid, yet dry summer that takes a toll on plants and gardeners alike. Still, there’s much useful information in Sugar Snaps, and I’d recommend it to any new gardener of edibles, particularly one who has limited or no access to a plot of earth she can call her own.

[AyaSuu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sugar Snaps and Strawberries is a "How-to" for small-scale edible gardens, with small meaning anything from balcony to roof deck to tiny patio or allotment plot. Bellamy does a great job in giving basic information about soil, light, seeding, planting etc. Sometimes the information is more that just basic, most of the "info boxes" fall under that category. As far as I know, the information given is correct, but mostly nothing that you haven't heard before. As somebody mentioned, the book is really similar to "Grow Great Grub", down to the layout and format and heck, even the font type is the same! No offense, maybe Bellamy just had the bad luck of her book being published too late...
Anyway, I would have liked a bit more new and in depth information that is hard to find anywhere else, for example about designing small-space gardens, growing (pseudo-)grains and mushrooms (the two things that were really new to me) and - yes! - Bellamy's very own garden.
Personally, I think the pictures are beautiful, but they are mainly macros that are decorative but often don't deliver much additional ideas/inspiration or information (unless you don't know what a particular plant looks like). What I really liked was the "Edible plants from A-Z" at the end, because it's quite detailled.
Conclusion: This book is definitly a Beginners' Guide and it's really good for anyone who is totally new to gardening. More experienced gardeners will find only little new infos.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for gardening novices just getting started. I loved that Bellamy gave instructions for how to test your soil's pH levels, which I was wondering how to do. There are loads of beautiful photos, which were great, although it would have been nice had she included some more specific shots--for example, when she talks about various weed species, it would have been helpful had there been photos of the more common varieties. (I tend to be afraid to pull weeds early on in case what I'm pulling is actually the plant!) There is so much information in this book, however, that I am thinking I might need to go buy it so I'll have a copy on hand this winter and next spring when I'm planning my garden. This one, plus one that focuses specifically on what to plant in my particular region of the world.

[karenbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sugar Snaps and Strawberries was initially a library loan on my Kindle, but I liked it so much that I bought a hard copy; it's the sort of book that works better on paper than as an ebook, anyway.

This is really a beginner's guide: Bellamy lays out the basics of small-space gardening clearly, in a step-by-step linear fashion that lends itself well to a straight-through reading. There are useful charts, gardening "recipes," and pretty photos throughout the book. It's like having a gardening website laid out nicely in book format.

I don't know if advanced gardeners would need the info contained in Sugar Snaps and Strawberries, but it's a great find for a noob to the world of edible gardening, and fits nicely into my little gardening shelf -- I find the tone similar to Gayla Trail's books, which is probably part of the reason I like it so much.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is targeted at the beginning gardener, so there is a lot of basic info that I sped through (I have a lot to learn, but I do know to look for sunny locations, amend soil, water regularly, etc). But I found some useful (and specific!) info about composting and ideas about new crops to grow in my too-shady yard and to try over winter. I was also impressed by the number of different crops the author discussed, and even more so when I got to the end of the book and learned that she gardens in Vancouver! I wouldn't expect a Canadian gardener to have much experience with kiwi.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this book over the weekend while planning my first-ever garden. It is very clearly and logically laid out, and very definitive for the beginner like me! It also has a lot of tips about how to garden in a small space, such as in a raised bed or just in pots. The sections I found the most useful are the chapter about soil and how the compost, and towards the end of the book where it has an index of all the vegetables/herbs you can grow, how and when to plant, how they do in pots, etc. So straightforward - I found it extremely helpful!

[LS Schulz · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are lots of lovely pictures and the writing is concise and encouraging - especially for a beginning gardener like myself. Being a beginner, it almost seems like an overabundance of information, but there were so many good tips and ideas in here that I think even a seasoned gardener might learn a new thing or two. The last part of the book is an alphabetical plant glossary with planting information which could be of use to both new and seasoned gardeners just needing to look something up.

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming and informative.

Covers the different small garden options, including container gardening, shared plots, work & school gardens and even guerrilla gardens. (See page 44 to learn how to make a seed bomb!)

Takes you through soil options, container options, types of produce as well as the when, where and hows of growing veggies and fruit.

Favorite Quote from the Acknowledgements:

I'd like to thank worms for doing so much of the grunt work. You guys rock.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've often been told that I should use bone meal in my garden, but that's gross and disgusting! This book says vegetarians can use alfalpha meal or pellets (rabbit food) instead of bone meal. It was worth reading just for that little tidbit. The book had lots of good info, was very readable, and had really nice photos. Too bad I'll never be able to create garden spaces like those pictured in the book. :-)

[Nicole Cerklewich · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the beginning small scale gardener. There are a few good tips and some useful info if you've never experienced gardening before. I appreciate the focus on organic, natural methods and the focus on small spaces. Even people with multi-acre plots are more likely to want their garden in a manageable area. If you know what to look for, you can find all of these basics online, but then again, you'd have to know what to look for! A beginner may not.

[Lynn Coulter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the beautiful photos in this book, and the short chapters make it easy reading. I've lost a lot of my sunny garden space over the years, as trees have grown up around my house, so I was interested in learning more about growing in containers or small spaces. This book has lots of useful, easily implemented ideas.
A green thumbs-up to this one.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent resource - just enough information to help you confidently get started without overwhelming. I highly recommend it to anyone living in an apartment or with limited yard space - she has some great ideas for space saving and container gardening. Since we still use a lot of our yard for play, I'm going to use a lot of her ideas as well.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

While much of the information was stuff I already knew, there was also some new interesting info (specially the chapter about soils). The bullet-points list of plants, with common growing habits and potential problems (etc), was also interesting and something I'd put to use. But what this book is really good for is photo inspiration.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful, beautiful book - so much good, basic gardening advice with a little bit of quirk on the side. Can't wait to get outside and start putting some of these ideas into practice - if spring ever arrives! Very highly recommended.

[Country Furniture]

Meet local author Andrea Bellamy for the signing of her new book, "Sugar Snaps and Strawberries."

Saturday, May 21st from 1 - 3 pm at Country Furniture on South Granville. http://www.countryfurniture.net/locat...

[Allison]

This is a great book hat shows you how to start your very own small space garden. It has even me convinced I can grow veggies and herbs on our concrete grass pad (a.k.a our balcony). Let's just hope my new plants don't hear about the orchid incident at work.

[erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked it (4 stars) but it gets an extra star for being so pretty-pretty and using alliteration in the title. Hey, we all have our own rating systems...I'm easily won over with simple bits of loveliness that make me want to display or even hug a book. ::shrug::

[Latasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was interesting because it focused on how to grow semi unique things in containers. It also discussed soil a lot and how to transplant things. I got a lot of info on winter hardy plants as well.

[Degan Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

My dear friend wrote this so I'm a bit biased, but I think it's the best gardening book I have ever read. Easy to grasp, easy to implement and get going. We'll see though, it's still February and I haven't started actually doing anything yet!

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be upfront I did not read every word of S S & S. I was looking for specific info for my situation. Great help for those of us gardening in tight spaces. Beautiful photos. Encouraging. The author covered about everything you'd need to be successful, even if you had little prior experience.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amused that this turned up in my inbox today ;)

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I had the time and money to grow tons of plants in my small spaces at Garvin Place!