Advance copy given in return for an honest review

A homey book that warms up gardening advice. This was a nice way to think about gardening in a more rounded way than just dry instructions. The layout is great for a beginning gardener and the pictures go along nicely and help enhance the experience. A good start, but does not go deeply into any of the topics, so someone with experience might find this lacking in detail.

Wow! What a fantastic book. This is perfect for anyone who wants to grow vegetables, whether you are just starting out or have some level of experience. It breaks everything down, from best time to plant by region, how to test your soil, how to build a raised bed garden, month by month planting guide, what things grow well together and what doesn't, and so on. The photos are incredible and so is the artwork. It just doesn't get more comprehensive than this and I found the book to be intuitive, easy to use, and well laid out. This is one you're going to want for your library collection AND your personal collection.

This is a great book for those who know nothing or very little about gardening, The author gives simple step by step instructions, as well as month by month information. The guidance about gardening in different regions of the country is very useful as well. I'm looking forward to trying this out soon!

My mother was a gardener and my grandmother before her. I grew up with an acre of ploughed dirt where I spent countless hours planting, weeding and harvesting. When I found myself with a south-facing apartment, I couldn't wait to start a bunch of container gardens and get back to enjoying fresh produce! Unfortunately, although Mother and Grandma made it look easy, there's a lot more to gardening than just sticking seeds in the dirt, which is where this book comes to the rescue. Although I was occasionally disappointed by the generalizations, I realize that if Lorene Edwards Forkner had taken the time to describe every climate, potential problem or plant type, this would be more of an encyclopedia rather than a beginner's guide. I still picked up some handy tips, though, and I'm more excited than ever to test out some seeds in my window boxes... as soon as the weather cooperates. Forkner's writing style is very reminiscent of a self-help blog, which occasionally is obnoxiously optimistic and features too many keywords, but overall reading this book was a pleasant experience, and I think it's a great first step for anyone who wants to get started gardening or brush up their current skills a little.

Enjoy this book on gardening. I am beginning my first garden so I am thankful for books out there to help me get started. I have so much to learn. The photos are beautiful and the information was very valuable to me.
Thanks for the advanced copy.

This is an excellent gardening resource! It lays a wonderful foundation by first explaining that "the best thing you can do is to develop an understanding of the climate and a "feel" for the weather of your growing region." I had never thought about the fact that which part of the region you would live in would affect your garden. I live in the Southeast, so of note to me was, "Gardening is a year-round activity in this region, and abundant rainfall makes for verdant growth." The author has wonderful advice like this for each region. She also includes a beginner's guide glossary, outlining common gardening terms and what they mean. For someone like me who has never done a garden, only taken care of plants, this is very eye-opening information. I never knew so much was required to do a garden.
Another topic the author covers is cool-season crops, warm-season crops, and even doing a crop rotation.
From the beautiful illustrations, the in-depth knowledge of gardening, including what to plant when, this is a must-have for the novice gardener, to the most advanced gardener. It will be a resource that you consult again and again.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book. I was not required to give a positive review but was happy to do so. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Beginner's Guide to Growing Great Vegetables is an informative book about how to have a successful garden. The book is broken down into sections for every aspect of gardening, such as planning your garden, soil composition, how and when to plant different categories of vegetables, yearly rotation of crops, and harvesting so that you can have fresh crops throughout the season instead of all at once. This book is for anyone interested in starting a garden. Whether you have large field plots for planting, or a small area on a deck or balcony, this will guide you for how to grow a successful garden.
Thank you to #NetGalley for an ARC of this book. I am looking forward to attempting my first small potted garden this year and feel that I now have the knowledge now to do it!

This was a wonderful, detailed look at what it takes to grow vegetables. As an aspiring gardener (with a very brown thumb) I am encouraged to give it another try, following the advice of this book!

Just a wonderful book for the garage for all ages. Just love the pictures. I'm going to introduce this to my special ed students.

This was an awesome guide book to growing my own veggies in my suburban backyard! I really enjoyed it!

I enjoyed this instructional book to help further my understanding of gardening and to help plan out the gardening year. It strengthened my knowledge of what to expect when and tips on how I can better grow my veggies.

A must have reference book for the home gardener. I loved how the book was laid out. The chapters detail what to do when by each month and region of the country. Lots of tips and how tos, even for the seasoned gardener. Pleasing illustrations.. Well thought out book.

As an educator, I would recommend this book as a guide to my students and for teachers who needs inspiration and guidance in how to get their own school gardens growing. Beginning gardeners will learn about hardiness zones, when and how to plant, will begin to notice the nuances of weather and seasons, and come to recognize the wild flora and fauna who live in their backyards. Whether you want to nibble fresh microgreens in the middle of winter, build a worm bin, or set up a hoop house/greenhouse, Lorene has solid advice and encouragement for you. In addition to the information rich month-by-month planner, the A-Z Almanac will be an oft-visited resource. This Garden Guide would be a welcomed gift for new homeowners.

The Beginner's guide to growing great vegetables is an amazing resource. I have been a gardener for five decades and I found I had much to learn from this book so the word beginner's guide may not really apply. It needs to be on each gardeners' book shelf for reference during the year. I loved the month by month breakdown of tasks and the helpful hints of what to plant together and ways to jumpstart the growing seasons. The shelf life of individual vegetable seeds and troubleshooting soil and watering issues was another topic covered in this resource. I would love to have this as my own personal gardening resource and to give as a gift to fellow gardeners.

This is a good basic introduction to gardening. It is well laid out with nice pictures. I found the suggestion to journal what happens in the garden and monthly "things to do" guides good suggestions. I wish it had a little more detail about what to do when you see problems or how to recognize when to harvest. For example, the carrots section tells you how to pull them out but now how to tell if those are ready which is what I have a problem with. I also have a problem with my squash flowering, but not producing the squash. I would recommend this for a first time gardener to get them started.

This is a great starter book for those who want to start with a small garden and then expand. The step by step, month by month directions, tips and suggestions are very well written and are easy to follow. Illustrations and photographs add to the overall aesthetic of the book and help the reader to learn alternate ways to start their very own garden.

This book could be used for lessons in reading, science, math, and writing. I really think this would be a good book for older students who are learning to read. The book has sections for gardening by the month but also information about different vegetables. This would be a great activity to do in the classroom and have students read the instructions. The book also encourages keeping a gardening journal which would help the students with writing. This would be a great book for the school library or as a classroom resourc.e

Such an excellent gardening guide. This is perfect for anyone exploring their own gardening practices!

The Beginner's Guide to Growing Great Vegetables is an absolute must have. I took so many notes from this book that I need my own copy. There are tips and suggestions for every month, things you should do for your garden based on the zone you reside in. The book also has beautiful full color photos and simple instructions to follow. I recommend this as a gardening bible to follow every year.