Book Review (Kitchen Gardens by Cathy Wilkinson Barash)

For those of us who enjoy reading we know that there are moments of feast and famine when it comes to worthwhile material. Currently I am in the very lucky position of having lots of great literature to read this winter as I prep for the new season.

I recently borrowed Kitchen Gardens~How to create a beautiful and functional culinary garden~by Cathy Wilkinson Barash from my local library. This 122 page book by the Houghton Mifflin Company is a quick read with some very useful information and inspiring pictures.

As the title suggest this book is full of great ideas for the backyard gardener who wants to create interesting meals for their family. What is nice from my perspective is that a lot of the material is geared towards those of us who are dealing with the landscape and weather of the northern growing climate. There is a great focus throughout on recycling whether it is creating compost for the garden or using old branches not only for a trellis but as a visually appealing cottage fence. There are also some good ideas in regards to garden design as well. One last thing I would like to point out about this book is that it had a section on edible flowers, something I am really not all that familiar with. After reading what Barash had to say on it though I think it is something I am going to look into this year, especially since lilac was one of the flowers mentioned and we have 8 bushes on our property.

If you are looking for some easy reading this winter while daydreaming about the warmer months of the year I would recommend this book.