I love gardening. Indoors and outdoors, it is a hobby that gives me pure joy. I was smiling when I read that Mr. Kevin Espiritu started out his garden with basil, which is what also started my love for gardening. It was given to me as a welcome gift from church, (it was a basil planting kit). I enjoyed the beautiful photos and invaluable advice given in this book. I only have a few years of gardening experience so I found this book extremely entertaining and interesting. I plan to buy a copy of this book to use as a reference.

3 out of 5

**OMG! I cannot believe that these reviews haven't been done! I am so sorry they are so late!!!**

I originally requested (and was approved for) this book through NetGalley, but they have a habit of archiving books before I get to finish reading them fully. Since it was a book I was interested in reading and I hate having books languishing on my feedback to-do shelf forever, I ordered it through inter-library loan after publishing and have finally fully read it.

This is a well illustrated, thorough book that shows all of the ways you can basically garden even if you're in an apartment or have very limited space. Espiritu covers a lot of subjects besides the basics, such as which recycled materials are safe to grow food in. He also has lots of the basic information on determining your soil type, what plants need in terms of nutrients, garden pests, and much more.

Espiritu goes into great detail about all of the ways you can grow food in an urban environment, including on balconies, on rooftops, vertically, inside, with hydroponics, using microgreens and more. He also goes into a lot of the hurdles you may have, such as HOA rules, weight restrictions on rooftops and balconies, etc.

I especially enjoyed the pictures of urban gardens from around the world in the intro. Parts of the book were way more than I was interested in (like all the different types of grow lights and what everything means, specifics about all steps of aquaponics, etc.) and showed me that some of this is more cost and effort than would be worth it to me, but I appreciated the information. I also got ideas for my own yard (not at all urban) and things I'd like to add or update about my raised beds, balcony garden, etc.

This is a great book to show all the ways you can grow food no matter where you live, with very helpful steps to get you there.

My rating system:
1 = hated it
2 = it was okay
3 = liked it
4 = really liked it
5 = love it, plan to purchase, and/or would buy it again if it was lost

Vom Überblick, über Basics hin zu tollen Tipps und Tricks und vielen wertvollen Informationen.
Ein wahres Füllhorn an kreativen Ideen, das jeden zum Gärtner machen kann im Bereich des Möglichen!

An interesting book with nice ideas and wonderful tips. Helpful information about watering. And really encourage you to try gardening no matter how small your space is; balcony, window, pot...

The book Field Guide to Uran Gardening is a well written and illustrated book that is easy to read and follow. It provides some great pointers and it’s easy for any level of gardener to enjoy.

This book was provided free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion. I give this a 5 star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My rating: 4 of 5 stars, I really liked it.

I have a tiny balcony and have been trying container gardening for several years with some hits, some misses along the way. When I saw this book on NetGalley I jumped at it.

This book was filled with gorgeous photos and step by step instructions. It offered many interesting tips, and handy ideas for things like self-watering pots as well as upcycling things like plastic soda bottles and milk crates into containers.

I'm intrigued by the vertical gardening idea and may try that next year.

*I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book given to me by the publisher, via NetGalley.*

No matter how small your space is you can always find ways to have an urban garden. I have resided beds and containers so I had to see if this book could help me advance more into smaller spaces since my husband always complains about mowing around my gardens. LOL

This book is very detailed and will help you get into the new age of urban gardening, it’s so much better to know where your food is coming from and gardening in any form can help relieve stress. You get great images along with detailed information that will walk you through step by step and if you look up the author he also has a website with tons of information that will help you.

I highly recommend this to anyone that is new or advance gardening.

A very thorough look at vegetable gardening in a small space. Covers a lot of ground and has a lot of really good tips!

As a professor who teaches horticulture, I can attest to the fact that most people don't have access to a significant area for a garden. Most of my students did their gardening on windowsills or balconies. So, this is a timely book that provides lots of options for just about any individual who wants to garden.

The book begins with a chapter on gardening basics for the beginner. The author has concisely covered the basics and peppered the pages with gorgeous photographs that will inspire! He uses analogies to help us to understand the basic science behind gardening. This section covers all necessary topics for the beginner in a very efficient manner.

The next part of the book contains sections on container gardening, raised bed gardening, vertical gardening, indoor edibles, balconies/rooftops, and hydroponics. The final section focuses on pests and diseases. Each of these sections is lavishly illustrated and contains practical advice for beginning each type of gardening format. Instructions are complete, yet concise.

Love this book!

Field Guide to Urban Gardening offers great tips on how to use resources at hand to grow an urban garden, regardless of where you live.

This book covers a wide range of topics such as Container Gardening, Vertical Gardening, Indoor Edibles, Hydroponics, correct soil compositions, composting techniques, dealing with pests, and more. It also covers soil types and offers simple soil tests to determine your soil type.

The author provides ideas for creating your garden with a wide variety of edible plants. He also addresses problems faced when growing an urban garden (such as pests, diseases, and nutrient deficiencies) and offers solutions to encounter these problems. The book is filled with vibrant photos to guide the reader.

Would recommend to anyone looking to start a garden but is pressed for space.

Many thanks to Kevin Espiritu, Quarto Publishing Group - Cool Springs Press, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Field Guide to Urban Gardening is a new gardening and tutorial guide to maximizing yields and utilizing every space to produce food, flowers and greenery with diverse techniques like hydroponics, vertical gardens, balconies, rooftops, and indoors. Due out 14th May 2019 from Quarto on their Cool Springs imprint, it's 224 pages and will be available in paperback format.

In times of increasing food insecurity and distrust/boredom with the incredibly limited selections available to most people who live in urban areas, coupled with the psychological and health benefits of being in contact with growing plants and having more control over our food as well as the sense of accomplishment that comes from being more self sufficient, it's easy to see why more people are making a conscious choice to garden. People in urban areas face more challenges finding space to grow anything as well as challenges associated with water and light conditions. This book gives a lot of really creative solutions to those problems (and more).

This book is seriously packed with information. The chapters are formatted well and follow a logical progression. The introduction and background chapters cover what gardening problems are especially challenging for small spaces, getting started, a survey of equipment, possible regulations which must be taken into consideration, and more. The author listed several considerations which hadn't even occurred to me.

The following chapters cover specific types of gardening: Containers, Raised Beds, Vertical Surfaces, Indoors, Balconies, Hydroponics, as well as a good Troubleshooting chapter.

The author has also included a nice resource list (with links), aimed at the gardener in North America. There's also a sidebar with metric conversions and an index.

The book is well photographed (many are stock photos, but they are clear and illustrate the plants and techniques well).

Four stars. Full of information.

This book is great! I have been wanting to make an herb garden...and this has so much information about it...from to the soil to the different options of gardening. It's great that it defines what gardening without soil is (hydroponics and aeroponics) and how do to it simply. Those two sound daunting to a newbie at gardening.

And the pictures are so nice and pretty and detailed (like the soil) so you can have an idea on how it will look. It is well written, with lots of information, not quite organic but that's ok. And it has a nice layout that makes it easy to read. I think I want the actual book though instead of the ebook. I want to jump in right away.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for a copy of this book!

Such a well done guide to gardening for a beginner to your average gardener. Learn to use resources you already have to create growing places in any type of space you have available. This book covers topics like raised bed gardening,hydroponics,correct soil compositions, micro greens, dealing with critters and bugs and many more topics. Lots of pictures included, which I feel, always adds to the visual appeal of what you are trying to create. I was pleasantly surprised on how many topics were covered. Highly recommend!

I LOVED everything about this book! Beautiful photographs, written simply, gives enough informations and visual support for anyone to feel prepared to venture into the world of gardening! I have been gardening since I was a kid, yet, it was something that was passed down from generation to generation without much science to it. This book gives me enough science to boost my gardening skills by a lot without feeling overwhelmed. I will still very likely not immediately jump into hydroponics, but I am glad to know it is a possibility! I appreciate the review of a variety of containers commonly used for gardening - what is safe vs what should be avoided. I would highly recommend this book!

This book has some great tips and how-tos for everyone who may be pressed for space with their garden. I'm looking forward to implementing some of what I learned in my garden soon.

This is a big A+ on information. If you can ask a question about gardening, this likely has the answer. It was lacking a pit about non seed propagation though, but since the focus was mainly on edible plants and not houseplants or trees, I can see why. There is a ton of illustrating pictures, and unique ideas for planters. Some of them, like reusing plastic bottles to make greenhouses/shields for plants I already do, and now feel oddly validated for it. I'm going to try the hair solution for fending off squirrels, but I know some pretty persistent squirrels. I don't eat coconuts, but I feel like I need to start to get a collection of coconut shell planters. If you have questions about grow lights, and hydroponics those sections were also very easy to follow. I highly recommend this for beginner gardeners, or intermediate ones that like to try something new.

There’s a lot of good information and tidbits stuffed into one tidy book. No matter how small the space, food or flowers can be grown there. Kevin Espiritu shows us how to leverage small spaces and choose the right methods and gardening tools for success. I am pleased I picked up this book. There are a lot of great photos, great designs and great ideas for the urban gardener.

So much great information from the plants to put in different planters, which vegetables you can grow while living in an apartment, when everything needs to be planted, and the fundamentals of hydroponics. I really learned a lot about urban gardening and look forward to trying some of the tips.