Heirloom Country Gardens

Presents a guide to growing heirloom plants, and introduces a wide range of regional styles, flowers, herbs, vegetables, and fruits, along with advice on how to plant and cultivate them.

Design a beautiful and self-sufficient garden; learn the secrets of heirloom vegetables, herbs, and flowers; and enjoy 60 seasonal recipes featuring the fruits of your labor—all with one book! WINNER OF THE GARDENCOMM SILVER AWARD “An heirloom garden is an opportunity to plant a piece of history that provides a deeper connection to the food you eat, the people you love, and the landscape that surrounds your home.”—from the Introduction Whether you have a small plot of land just outside your kitchen door or a wide-open field waiting to be tamed, you have an opportunity to honor the past and discover the future through long-lost plant varieties that are full of flavor, fragrance, and old-fashioned charm. By digging deeper into their history, you’ll learn why saving and planting heirloom seeds are key to the past, the present, and the future of our food gardens. In The New Heirloom Garden, award-winning food and garden writer Ellen Ecker Ogden guides you to designing and harvesting from your own kitchen garden, with expert advice, twelve themed garden designs, and sensible tips for a successful harvest. Each design includes an illustrated layout based on a historical garden with a detailed plant key featuring the best-tasting heirloom vegetables you can grow. Discover the unique stories behind the fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers that have been growing in gardens for centuries, and why seed saving is vital to maintain food diversity. An avid cook, Ellen attended cooking school in Italy and Ireland, and shares her 60 best garden-to-table recipes, organized by plant family, making it easy to learn how to substitute with what is growing seasonally and regionally. With a range of soups, salads, entrées, and desserts, you’ll revel in delicious fare that includes cold Summer Squash Soup with Parsley-Mint Pistou, Fennel and Watermelon Salad, Rainbow Beet Spoonbread, Rhubarb Pie with Ginger and Lemon, and Mint Granita, making this book a must-have for cooks who love to garden.

New edition of a classic work on Southern heirloom gardening . . .Heirloom plants belong in Southern gardens. Tough and adapted, tried and true, pretty and useful, these living antiques--passed through countless generations--represent the foundation of traditional gardens as we know them today. Heirloom Gardening in the South is a comprehensive resource that also offers a captivating, personal encounter with two dedicated and passionate gardeners whose love of heritage gardening infuses the work from beginning to end. Anyone who wants to know how to find and grow time-honored and pass-along plants or wants to create and nurture a traditional garden is sure to find this a must-have addition to their home gardening library. Inside the book: New essays on naturalizing daffodils, slips and starts, and growing fruit; A completely updated and expanded heirloom plant encyclopedia;Revised plant lists (bulbs, cemetery plants, etc.) New material on the creation of two of the authors' personal gardens Building on the popularity of the original edition, this lively, entertaining, and informative new book from two proven experts will be enthusiastically welcomed by gardeners and horticulturists throughout Texas and the South.

Iris Maynard lost her husband in World War II, her daughter to loneliness and, finally, her reason to live. Walled off from the world for decades behind a towering fence surrounding her home and gardens, Iris has built a new family . . . of flowers. Iris propagates her own daylilies and roses while tending to an heirloom garden filled with starts -- and memories of her own mother, grandmother, husband and daughter.

"This book is sure to be a modern classic and is one of the most important books on gardening in the current century." —Jere Gettle, founder, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds Heirloom Vegetable Gardening has always been a book for gardeners and cooks interested in unique flavors, colors, and history in their produce. This updated edition has been improved throughout with growing zones, advice, and new plant entries. Line art has been replaced with lush, full-color photography. Yet at the core, this book delivers on the same promise it made two decades ago: It’s a comprehensive guide based on meticulous first-person research to these 300+ plants, making it a book to come back to season after season.

“Part essay collection, part gardening guide, The Heirloom Gardener encourages readers to embrace heirloom seeds and traditions, serving as a well-needed reminder to slow down and reconnect with nature.” —Modern Farmer Modern life is a cornucopia of technological wonders. But is something precious being lost? A tangible bond with our natural world—the deep satisfaction of connecting to the earth that was enjoyed by previous generations? In The Heirloom Gardener, John Forti celebrates gardening as a craft and shares the lore and traditional practices that link us with our environment and with each other. Charmingly illustrated and brimming with wisdom, this guide will inspire you to slow down, recharge, and reconnect.

Eighty seasonal recipes from master gardener William Woys Weaver will inspire victory gardeners and CSA shoppers to turn heirloom vegetables into delicious dishes. As a trusted expert in the lore of the garden, you can’t do much better than celebrated author, chef, and custodian of the Roughwood Seed Collection, William Woys Weaver. With recipes that follow the seasons, each chapter guides the reader from the garden to the kitchen to the table, an invaluable and enjoyable resource of growing, harvesting, cooking, and preserving knowledge. Comforting dishes included here range from fresh salads, slaws, and stir-fries to hearty soups and baked goods. Conserves, marmalades, and pickles preserve peak-season produce for yearlong enjoyment. Weaver’s plant-centric recipes include Pennsylvania Dutch favorites as well as inspirations from his global travels. With each bite, these recipes present the delicious biodiversity of local produce and careful preparation. Essays and sidebars enrich the reader’s experience with practical tips on the proper treatment of ingredients.