Grow Cook Eat: A Food Lover's Guide to Vegetable Gardening, Including 50 Recipes, Plus Harvesting and Storage Tips

"Grow, Cook, Eat" is a gorgeous, practical guide - enhanced by Jim Henkens's photographs of enticing vegetables and the author at work in her garden. The book describes the pleasures and satisfactions of eating what you grow - and tells you how. Many people know Willi Galloway from KUOW's popular Seattle radio show "Greendays," her website (digginfood.com), and her many guest appearances at gardening events. In the book's introduction she says: "So think of the guides and advice in these pages as a recipe you can make your own - add a cup more here, a pinch less there - and have as much fun as possible."The first chapter of the book is a perfect guide for new gardeners, and chock-full of hints for more experienced ones. In a solid, readable way, she covers the gardening fundamentals from planning and planting to dealing with weeds. Then the book divides into sections on herbs, greens, legumes, squash, cabbage, roots, tubers, and bulbs, warm-season vegetables, and fruit. Each category gets specific by describing the vegetables, their cultivation preferences, and when and how to harvest.But what makes this book stand out is what comes next: past the growing and the harvesting of each vegetable to the cooking. After reading about basil, turn the page and encounter Willi's "Nona's Pesto," or learn about growing shallots on one page, followed by their use in "Everyday Vinaigrette" on the next.It's a handsome book with an elegant, inviting design beginning with the cover - a well-used pan full of roasted carrots on a weathered blue table. It will inspire, encourage, and make you hungry to try her "Butternut Squash Tacos with Spicy Black Beans" - "also Rhubarb Chutney"!

I agree with the other reviewers that this book has great information and an excellent layout. The photos are beautiful and the way that it's organized makes it incredibly easy to use. It's such a beautiful book that it's a shame to mark it up, but I'm sure that I will. It's going to be a book that I will use often.The book begins with a good, solid section on gardening fundamentals. Then progresses to sections on:- Herbs- Greens- Legumes- The Squash Family- The Cabbage Family- Roots, Tubers and Bulbs- Warm Season Vegetables- FruitThe information for each plant includes sections on planting, growing, harvesting, storing, cooking ideas and delicious varieties. At the end is a list of potential problems such as which pests or diseases the plant is susceptible to. The recipes look really good and are the kind that "normal" cooks would use on a regular basis. I can't wait to try them.I'm a Master Gardener and my project for the last couple of years has been growing herbs in our demonstration garden. I've read at least 30 books on growing herbs over the last two years. I check them out of the library and buy only the best. I've purchased only a few herb reference books and this is one that I'm adding to my library. Even though it isn't specifically an herb book, it has information that I haven't found anywhere else and it is organized so well that I'm sure I'll turn to it often.

This is a book for gardeners and cooks. It begins with a chapter on gardening fundamentals (soil, planting, watering, fertilizing and pest control), and then moves on to chapters based on plant type -- herbs, greens, legumes, squash, cabbage, roots and bulbs, warm-season vegetables, and fruit. Each chapter covers 4-12 specific plants; for example, in the chapter on warm-season vegetables, several pages each are devoted to corn, eggplant, peppers, tomatillos and tomatoes. Each entry has one or two color photographs and a paragraph on planting, growing, harvesting, storing, cooking ideas and varieties, followed by a recipe using that ingredient.The pictures are beautiful and the recipes seem interesting. (I've made two and they both were very good.) The gardening information has already been quite helpful, and is detailed enough that there are some plants I haven't worked with before but I may try.A beautiful and valuable book, it is on the large side, about 8-1/2 by 11", typical for a gardening book.

I've been gardening for years, and cooking. This is a great book because it pulls together both, and on some produce I have not had much experience with. The format is excellent, love the fact they pick a family/plant, explain what it is, how it's grown, what it's used for, how to store/save/freeze/can/dry, and some recipes. Also, another good resource for some of the more exotic items in my CSA box.

I saw this book in my local schmancy grocery store and was immediately struck by it's sheer beauty. The photos are simply stunning. I was also intrigued by the concept of growing more food in my yard and eating food grown on my postage stamp lot. Still wary, I downloaded the sample on my kindle. Fabulous!!! The writing is exactly how I would write if I could write: simple, straight forward, every word packed with utility. I bought the kindle version straight away and proceeded to bookmark what seems like every other page. I NEVER bookmark! Now I'm thinking I need the print version as well. This will be my go to book for garden planning. The only con really is that I'm on a kind of no wheat, little dairy kick lately and a lot of the recipes have wheat and dairy, but I'm sure that that concern is really personal to my tastes. This book is beautiful, well-written, inspiring, day-dreamy, perfect. You won't regret this purchase.

Has lots of great tips we’ll use for sure. Thought I was ordering a book from the show filmed in Ireland but got this one. It’s probably better as it’s for more plants in our area.

lovely informative book!

Good book for growing food and recipes to try.

I first borrowed this book from the library, but liked it so much, I knew I wanted it for my own collection. As a fairly new gardener, I find the simple, straightforward instructions very helpful, and the recipes look delicious!

A really beautiful book that I bought as a gift. The photography is beautiful and it seems to have many great recipes.