Reynolds delivers solid information with a touch of fairy spirit that will come across as charming even to those who don’t lean toward the mystical. Mary Reynolds’s "The Garden Awakening" works to show that trying to claim too much... Read More

The science of growing fruit is complex, but Otto takes the mystery out of it. Anyone can throw a few seeds into the ground and end up with a couple of radishes. However, harvesting a passel of pears from a backyard tree is a bit more... Read More

The founding crops of agriculture—emmer and einkorn wheat, barley, lentils, peas, and flax—were first farmed ten thousand or so years ago, which led to innovations like forged plows and scythes during the Iron Age, grafting expertise... Read More

The long, storied history of gardening as an art form extends many thousands of years, and the great contemporary garden designers owe much to the work of their predecessors, especially in the use of arbors, benches, fountains, gates,... Read More

This is a well-tended and weed-free guidebook that’s likely to serve as a go-to resource for any type of gardener. One of the most challenging parts of gardening isn’t digging into the soil or dealing with pests—it’s planning... Read More

This niche book for history buffs and professional gardeners offers rich insight into how seed catalogs influenced the American obsession with social status. When Martha Stewart wrote about hydrangeas in her magazine, nurseries around... Read More

Offering deeply useful advice and fascinating portraits of urban farmers, Backyard Roots is a rich collection of stories about people who boost community by growing food and raising animals in the heart of a city. Author Lori Eanes, a... Read More

“Better to eat vegetables and fear no creditors, than eat duck and hide from them,” counsels the Talmud, a book of Jewish teachings. In More Food From Small Spaces, Margaret Park provides a cornucopia of techniques for growing... Read More