Chicago Botanic Garden

Education — Lenhardt Library

Current Books & Book Reviews

PHOTO: bookcover

Mary Horsfall.
Fabulous Food from Every Small Garden.
Collingwood, Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing, 2009.
Paper, 221 pp., ISBN 978–0–643–09597–7, $27.50.

Encouraging readers to grow their own food, Australian author Mary Horsfall tells of her experience in starting a garden from scratch at a site that had limited space and few free resources. She found that a significant difference in climate and new pests with which to contend was less of a challenge than gardening on a small site. She provides tips on the most suitable crops for these conditions; gives advice on techniques for achieving high production; tells how to create more fertile soil; and goes through the regime for caring for plants. In the second section of the book, there is a directory of suitable crops. Each description includes information on proper soils, use, nutrition, how to harvest and store the bounty, and each section concludes with tips on saving seeds.

— Marilyn K. Alaimo, garden writer and volunteer, Chicago Botanic Garden.