A good gardening book with plenty of ideas for protecting plants from weather and pests. Bought this one.

My first from this author but definitely not my last. Grow under cover offers an in depth look at growing crops under many different covers. Plans, details, and how to’s in a variety of cover crops.

What did I like? Everything... book is very diverse and goes from cheap covers like cut milk jugs to expensive glass green houses. A ton of details went into this book and boy am I glad she decided to share. For my first garden however I am just going to let stuff grow to see what stuff I’m dealing with but next season I plan to try cover crops. The south has a long growing season but I’m going to file this away. Kudos to the author... great book.

Would I recommend or buy? Yes definitely a wish list item. Anyone living in colder climate would benefit from cover crops and this book has a wide variety of ideas! Five stars... great book!

I received a complimentary copy to read and voluntarily left a review!

Again a very informative book by Niki Jabbour, this one about all one needs to know about growing under cover.
With our climate in Australia, we decided that most of our vegetables (and other plants) do far better under cover and we have three large poly tunnels which provides us with much food in summer that we need (high heat is our problem). This book cover everything one needs to know about plants in various covered structures from clouche, cold frames to large tunnels and bio shelters.
The book starts with chapter on choosing shelters for your specific need, goes on to small hoops tunnels, clouches and cold frames to larger structures such as poly tunnels and bio shelter amongst the areas covered.
There are chapters on growing, setting up systems (watering and such) and disease, pests and pollination.
The book ends with an assorted of vegetables to grow with lots of information and photos
A really good book given the fact that our season are being a little crazy lately, and some of us still like to be self sufficient to a degree.

I always love reading and reviewing Niki Jabbour's books, because they are so beautifully illustrated and they are easy to read, with lots of information. She is very good at telling stories, instead of just stating facts blandly. As usual, I want to buy this book to add to my extensive gardening library.
A good part of this book is devoted to choosing the right covers and explaining the various options. For anyone who takes gardening seriously, that's a good thing. She does not gloss over this important aspect and describes all types of covers from simple cloches to geodesic domes.
The section on growing is also very nicely done, with logical organization of topics and complete coverage of all aspects from pruning to mulching to temperature/humidity controls. And, there's even a section on controlling common diseases and pests.
The second part of the book contains profiles of vegetables to grow under cover. Each profile contains helpful information on planting, growing and harvesting that vegetable, plus cover strategies specific to that particular plant. Vivid photos accompany each profile, as well.
For anyone who wants to start gardening, I'd highly recommend Niki Jabbour's books. This one is no exception. An outstanding guide to gardening under cover! I'd give it 10 stars if I could!

Growing Under Cover by Niki Jabbour is a guide for how to grow vegetables all year round under cover, with an aim to have a pest free garden.

There's lots of photos, and information on how to grow vegetables from seed in the ground, and when the best time is to start growing things.  It also gives you a guide for where to start with covers.

I felt this was a good book with instructions, and gave me a good starting point for what I should start looking for.

 Growing Under Cover  by Niki Jabbour was published on 22nd December, and is available to buy from  Amazon,   Waterstones  and  BookShop.org .

You can follow Niki Jabbour on  Instagram ,  Twitter  and  Facebook .

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to  Storey Publishing .

This book is very informative and the author does give a lot of options: from small hoop tunnels to huge greenhouses you buy in a kit and put together yourself. How able you are to make any of these creations likely depends on your circumstances and therefore I found everything was not as simple as laid out by the author. I also wish there were more images of the materials and images with step-by-step instructions instead of oversimplified paragraphs that make it sound like a lark to make these items.

The book starts with small hoop structures and gives options including making the hoop tunnels from 9 gauge wire, PVC pipes, metal pipes, and concrete mesh tunnels. These will require a) a vehicle that can transport the materials (my Toyota likely won't be transporting the concrete mesh or pipes). Some will require wire cutters and others will require a bending apparatus secured to the ground. All these structures seem to have been built on top of raised beds so you will also need to have made or delivered the wood frames to support the hoops (especially the concrete mesh required it). Again, I felt limited by having a smaller car and not a truck to carry the wood needed to make the raised beds. But the author does a good job of giving options, even for the various types of covers you'll need and with recommendations for e.g., places with heavier snow and frames needing more support as a result.

Cold Frames are the next section: boxes with covers for smaller plants and seedlings. These have several options for materials: brick, wood, cinderblocks, polycarbonate, even straw bales. Unfortunately, only a few examples are shown but there are some interesting options, such as turning an old window into the top of a cold frame. There is even a section on adding a cold frame top to a raised bed or planter (small size). Because cold frames are enclosed, they have special care instructions to ensure that the soil is well and the plants properly protected from too much/too little water, too much/too little heat, etc.

Larger structures is the third section: polytunnels, bioshelters, and geodesic domes. These are pretty much kits you buy and assemble yourself. Tips for assembly, choosing the right site, bylaws for temporary structures, prepping the site, are given. There are also comparisons of the benefits/weaknesses of each of the type of structures.

The next section covers using those structures: creating raised beds, soil concerns, raising seedlings, growing vertically, mulching, planting for Winter, overWintering, crop rotation by year, and even a Calendar for how to make the most of your structures month-by- month.

There is a small section on the systems needed to keep the crops healthy: how to capture heat, ventilate, shade, irrigate. That section is followed by a lot of great information on preventing diseases, pests, and poor pollination. Insect pests are identified with recommendations, mold and rot are pictured and with tips, and then a section on encouraging pollination and hand pollinating when needed.

The last section covers a long list of plants that love growing in covered beds. From artichokes to tomatoes, you'll get images, tips, planting/growing/harvesting instructions and more. It's a nice addition to ensure that the plants you do grow do well.

In all, I have to admit only sections were applicable and I found that it really wasn't as cut and dry and easy to create these structures as the author made it out to be. If you have a truck and a close hardware/lumber yard, then you should be fine bringing the materials home and creating the raised beds and then coverings for them. If you are a single parent with a small yard and small car, it might be a bit more difficult and frustrating. As well, I really wish the author had taken the time to picture the items needed - they are listed but few pictured. As well, there are few, if any, step by step instructions for building the structure. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

A comprehensive guide to a smart way to extend your growing season, both at the start and the normal ending with covers. Not only do the cover help with weather, they can also deter pests.
An intelligent primer that gives you the questions to ask yourself to determine your needs and custom fit the cover to your situation. I was impressed by the options offered and the clarity offered in the instructions for a custom build of some of them.
Great information on planting cycles, mulching and different beds. Suggestions for heat, humidity and ventilation and suggestions for handling them in an intelligent manner.
Different specific vegetables are covered as well as some diseases and pests. I would recommend to anyone as there is a wide variety of solutions for any size garden.
I requested and was granted a NetGalley ARC to peruse and offer my opinion freely.

A great book with basic gardening advice including raised beds, using covers to get a jump start on spring, vertical growing, mulching, winter plans, crop rotation, cover crops. A great source of information or if you want to start. Also lovely pictures.

Growing Under Cover is a great guide to using different kinds of covers for varying reasons. I was most interested to learn about protecting my garden from pests. But, I learned so much more. Lost of info about mulching, covers, watering, overwintering, and composting. It has wonderful photos as well. I will definitely be using this book come spring. Bring on the garden season!

Thanks to netgalley and Storey Publishing for the arc

This was a useful look at why, how and where to use various covers in your garden - everything from simple one-plant cloches to full greenhouses. Good details on the benefits, variations, and even which plants thrive in these covered environments. I do wish there were more resources about where to get or tips on building some of the larger structures.

#GrowingUnderCover #NetGalley

Special thanks to NetGalley and Storey publishing for providing me with ARC.

I love Growing vegetables and fruits, my grandpa was a farmer, he teaches me alot. We have a land that we growing vegetables like* Onions, potatoes* and fruits like * guava*.

I enjoyed this book so much, i learned alot of ways about growing because in summer the weather became so hot that all the vegetables die so easily, so if you like growing, this book is for you 😉

Once again Nikki Jabour has delivered a superb book; regardless of what climate and conditions you garden in, this book offers useful and practical tips to suit all budgets.
The first section describes various types of covers, from simple fleece over hoops (some very useful tips here!) to cold frames, to amazing structures like geodesic domes. Covers are recommended for protection from cold and heat and from insects. It includes useful tips for controlling humidity, watering and pests and diseases.
The second section provides specific details on growing vegetables under cover, with tips on when to plant as well as strategies for covering.
This is an excellent book. It is informative and Nikki Jabour’s easy style of writing makes it a really interesting and easy book to read. I would recommend it to all keen vegetable gardeners, regardless of climate or size of plot.

Note: I will post my review to Amazon UK, once the book is published in the UK

I’ve had a lot of trouble this year with animals and weather in my garden. I have raised beds so I found a lot of interesting possible solutions to many of my problems. Niki Jabbour starts off with simple covers…from easy to make frames and plastic, to mesh, and materials…and for the pests she suggests little wire baskets, which I immediately ran down to the Dollar Tree and bought 20 of. She also moves on to more elaborate structures. All in all, a very informative book.

Interesting read. I'm a beginner gardener but always looking for tips for getting a better harvest with less resources. Growing Under Cover explains a method of using various coverage options for not only extend the growing season, but to also have more control over the environment to enable the gardener to grow plants not commonly possible in their climate. The steps are given for starting small and simple and growing your efforts as you gain experience and desire for more. The longevity of various structures is discussed along with discussion on crop rotation for healthier soil and plants. Specifics for various vegetables are given. Overall, this was a very informative read and I may give covers a try next year.

Thank you to Storey Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I wish I had the time and energy to do everything Jabbour writes about in this book. So many options for growing things under cover. Great details to get you from Point A to completion. Straight forward and easy to understand. Highly recommend.

Growing Under Cover is a neat guide for beginners on covering your veggies, harvesting for longer, and getting better crops.
I really liked the tone of the book and how everything was explained. The author provides a very motivating plan on how to learn more about growing vegetables year-round and how to get into doing it. There's also lots of useful information like: possible materials, how to take care of your covers, their likely longevity, and appropriateness for different situations (after all, glass is much more durable than a polyethylene sheet, but not always better).
Unlike the first part of the book that's concentrated on how to choose and build your cover, be it a tunnel or a full-blown permanent greenhouse, the second part looks at veggies that grow well "under cover". Together with when and how to grow them, the author adds information on what cover techniques work best with each plant.
I wasn't too happy with the formatting of the text (two columns with small font), however the text was broken-up well with colourful headings and subheadings. There were also lots of beautiful pictures from the author's garden (and not only hers), which were put in nicely, without drowning the text.
Overall, a really nice read.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Storey Publishing for providing me with an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.*

This is an excellent book covering everything you'd need to know about using cold frames, greenhouses, row covers and other small and large scale methods of extending your growing season and protecting your garden crops with covers. Jabbour gardens in zone 5 Nova Scotia, which I appreciate as a zone 4 Minnesota gardener. The book is filled with gorgeous photos of her own gardens and structures instead of just relying on artificial stock photos. She offers step by step instructions on all kinds of projects and then provides additional information like detailed info on how to grow all kinds of garden veggies from artichokes to zucchinis. Well recommended.

I read a digital ARC of this book for review.

Growing Under Cover is a fact filled really useful treatise for extending and protecting garden harvests by Niki Jabbour. Due out 22nd Dec 2020 from Storey, it's 216 pages (print version) and will be available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

I've reviewed several other books by this author and have found that they've become staples of my gardening library. This one promises the same. As a gardener in a northern climate, if I ever want peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, or other such garden goodies (and I do, always) I have to extend my growing season and stack the deck a bit in my favor. Ditto with late-season hailstorms. This book is absolutely full of good usable advice and techniques for extending the season, protecting the garden from predation by insects/animals and environmental factors.

I liked the layout here, chapters are arranged thematically around two ideas: Semi-permanent structures and coverings with a really good sub-chapter on hoop tunnels and cold frames, and an herbarium with specific plants and varieties which do well under cover. The book is well photographed throughout. The photos are clear and understandable and (for tutorial photos) logically sequenced and followable.

The selection of plant profiles is comprehensive and includes lots of intriguing possibilities beyond the standard fare (eggplant, peppers, tomatoes). I confess I'd never really considered growing artichokes under cover before, and I will definitely find some space to increase our yields - they're monstrously expensive locally, and my family loves them in dips, salads, and everything in between. I'm also contemplating fennel (which we normally grow outdoors in limited quantity) as well as squash and watermelon (they just take up so much *space*).

This is a nice volume full of usable gardening advice, and a good addition to the author's oeuvre. It would be a nice selection for the allotment library, gardener's home library, public / school library, or gift for a gardening friend.

Four and a half stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I had just begun to learn about using hoop houses and used mine once, before blight struck my yard and I stopped gardening a a few years (beginning again next year!) I was amazed at how early I could actually start planting in NE Ohio! I planted small tomato plants in my yard the first week of March as the weather was pretty mild for a few days and placed my mini hoop houses over them. Even though it did snow once in a while, my plants survived unharmed and I had my earliest tomato ever on May 29! Couldn't be a bigger fan of them! I enjoyed reading this book about the various types. I realize this book will probably be of better use for a larger property (mine is a suburban postage stamp), it's ideas can surely be adapted to a smaller plot. Wonderful and loads of info. Plenty of pix, too, which I always appreciate when reading non-fic books of this nature.

This is a very extensive book, with simple techniques to improve any vegetable garden. The photos and other illustrations are very beautiful, and the detailed tips on several vegetables are very sensible. I was especially glad to see bioshelters and walipinis, which are much better than the "beautiful" standard greenhouses. The only thing I missed, was the Chinese style polytunnels with northern walls for heat storage. These have the possibility to roll up the cover both on the ground and on the top of the wall for ventilation.