Have a vegetable garden? Then you’ll love these 5 cookbooks.
The point of starting a vegetable garden is of course to reap the benefits, aka eat the food you grow. Anyone who grows their own food will know the special feeling of putting together a meal with produce that comes from their own raised beds. To go from seed to plant to plate is an amazing process. And with more and more people starting to grow their own food, there are a growing number of garden related cookbooks.
But let’s be honest: these are inspiring books even if you don’t have the space to garden (or if your space is tiny). Ultimately they are celebrations of local and seasonal food, something we could all be eating more of.
1. “Carina Contini’s Kitchen Garden Cookbook” by Carina Contini
Part gardener’s journal, part family memoir, part cookbook, “Kitchen Garden Cookbook” will appeal to gardeners and food lovers of all kinds. It’s organized by month, which means that even in the seemingly dreary root vegetable overdose of the winter, you’ll still be able to to find some cooking inspiration.
2. “Kitchen Garden Experts: 20 Celebrated Chefs and Their Head Gardeners” by Cinead McTernan
Ever wonder how food goes from garden to table in the restaurants of chefs who are working hard to incorporate food grown on site? “Kitchen Garden Experts” brings us into the world of UK chefs and their gardeners, a book that’s as much about the products that are grown as the people that grow them.
3. “From Seed to Skillet” by Jimmie Williams
In “From Seed to Skillet” you actually get a gardening guide and cookbook in one. Learning the art of growing and cooking vegetables from his grandmother, a South Carolina native from a traditional Gullah community whose members were descendents of Caribbean slaves, his book serves as a guide to building your own vegetable garden and putting it to good use. Gardening guides and recipes abound.
4. “Grow Cook Eat” by Willi Galloway
Just because you love good food doesn’t mean you know how to garden. And just because you love to garden, doesn’t necessarily mean that you feel like a master in the kitchen. “Grow Cook Eat” is the book to fill that void. The book is devoted to cultivating fresh, gourmet food, ensuring that everyone has the skills to grow their own, but also that they know what to do with them.
5. “The Gardener and the Grill” by by Karen Adler and Judith Fertig
Who said that all you could do with a grill was meat? “The Gardener and the Grill” is for gardeners who believe in the power of the vegetable. With more than 100 vegetarian recipes, it’s the perfect summer guide to good eating. You could also kindly give it to the grill aficionado in your life to prove that vegetables do have a place over the coals.
Related on EcoSalon
5 Tips for Starting Your Own Urban Garden (Even if it’s Teeny Tiny)
10 Ideas for Sexy Urban Gardens
The 10 Easiest Vegetables to Grow at Home
Images: Anna Brones, Frances Lincoln, Chronicle Books, Sasquatch Books, Running Press