The Kew Gardener's Guide to Growing Vegetables

This is a book that every Gardener should have! This book is packed with valuable information. The book starts by giving an introduction to growing vegetables and then goes on to teach you how to make raised beds, wildlife friendly gardens, rooting, seed saving and more. I highly recommend this book. This book would make a wonderful gift.

This is a delightful British book that teaches you how to grow common and uncommon vegetables of all kinds. There are so many veggies covered here that I grow in my garden or want to grow and never find in American garden books -- artichokes, parsnips, tomatillas, pak choi, soybeans and on and on. Lots of the ones covered are also wild vegetables that you can forage like miner's lettuce, watercress, sorrel, jerusalem artichokes, seakale and American groundnut. Many southern staples are included here that are often left out of American gardening books too, such as peanuts and okra.

Lovely botanical illustrations are included of the plants along with garden info, hardiness ranges (keep in mind it's designed for British readers but it can be easily converted), and so on. There are also lots of projects such as forcing rhubarb, saving seeds and building a root clamp.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

A very informative book.
Great introduction detailing all you need to know in general about planting vegetables.
Each vegetable is illustrated with colour photos and/or colour illustrations with information on where and how to grow each vegetable plus tags on each page detailing further information on each one ie position; hardiness; edible parts etc.
Additional information such as the various projects are well described and illustrated with step by step instructions.
A very handy guide at the end detailing what should be done in your vegetable garden at each season.
A worthwhile book to invest in for any serious vegetable gardener.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book.

This is a wonderful addition to the Kew Gardener’s series. This one focuses on growing vegetables, and oh my word, did I learn so much! I understand now why my carrots were stunted, my oregano died and my potatoes grew. If you’ve been confused by why you followed the simple instructions on the side of a seed packet or the plant pot from the gardening shop and your veggies didn’t thrive, this is for you!

Each vegetable gets it’s own page explaining the kind of vegetable, where to grow it, how to grow it and other interesting elements about it. It’s detailed, clear and insightful. Additionally, there are several practical how-to pages for home vegetable growing projects. It also includes general vegetable growing information such as crop rotations and what to plant when.

I’ve not been able to put into action much of what I’ve learnt yet but I look forward to, if you are trying to grow your own veggies, this is one to read! It’s a five out of five on the enJOYment scale and highly recommended!

I really enjoyed this guide. I am new to gardening and have recently decided to try my hand at vegetable gardening. I will definitely buy this one as a physical copy to refer to it when I am deep in gardening in the summer. Highly recommend!

Great little book on vegetable growing, covering basics, problems, and walks you though many different common vegetables.

The Kew Gardeners Guide to Growing Vegetables is a super book. Its one of a range from Kew with different topics. Having read this one I am now interested in getting the others too as they are full of great information.

Its informative and easy to read. A book that you will go back to time and again for reference during the gardening year.

Well written and also well laid out its super. It explained things really well. I have always forced my rhubarb and didn't know the science behind it!! (Just did it cause my Dad told me to). I now know exactly why I do it.

Will definately be using this book time and again.

Thanks to Net Galley and Quatro Publishing for the ARC copy.

A wonderful reference guide written by the Kew’s Gardener.
Having grown up by parents who cultivated tomatoes and all the other types of vegetables, I truly loved this book, I even discovered new varieties and got some serious inspiration for my terrace’s area.

I loved the projects included as they give easy inspiration for new ideas.
Clear and easy yet with great resources for any type of gardener, this book is a real bible!

This book is a good primer on vegetable gardening, and includes profiles of a wide variety of vegetables. Each profile provides a nice summary of "vital statistics" for that species, as well as information on where & how to grow it. A color illustration of both the plant and its product is included. In addition, there is basic information on scheduling, troubleshooting and basic gardening techniques, as well as several interesting project sections (e.g., creating an asparagus bed or "festive vegetables). One thing that's missing from the information about plants is the time to harvest, which I think would be very valuable for beginning gardeners.

The Kew Gardener's Guide to Growing Vegetables is a extensive book that contains over 60 vegetables to grow in your back garden or if you have one, an allotment. It all appears to be written in a way a novice gardener could understand and get start with.

The book covers what to grow and where, how to prepare the plot, the different types of crops, be it annual, perennials or biennials, how to choose and buy, sowing and crop rotation, protecting and watering plants.

When it comes to the plant, each page contains lots of information on that plant including where and how to grow, plus a growing tip and a quick glance tag showing the height it grows to, spacing between plants, hardiness, position, edible parts and when to harvest. also at the top of each vegetable, it states if it is a root, brassica salad, fruiting vegetable and legume.

This book also contains 12 projects for the garden which include:
Raised beds
asparagus bed
vegetables as a decorative display
wildlife friendly
root clamp
sweet potato slips
rooting watercress
windowsill salads
forced rhubarb
seed saving
festival vegetables
natural supports for broad beans

The book also contains a section on troubleshooting for situations such as pests, diseases and disorders . Also included is a section by season on what to do when in terms of growing, maintaining and harvesting.

I received this book from Netgalley in return for a honest review.

The Kew Gardener's Guide to Growing Vegetables is a new volume in the series of plant/culture books from Kew Royal Botanic Gardens. Due out 3rd March 2020 by Quarto on their White Lion imprint, it's 144 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

Whenever gardeners think about inspiration and knowledge on a worldwide scale, the Kew gardens are at the very top of a very short list. They've been going strong for almost 260 years at this point. This book includes an herbal compendium for the culture and care info of the most commonly cultivated vegetables arranged around projects to grow and maintain them in good condition. The projects are varied, practical, and do-able(raised beds, perennial beds, wildlife friendly plantings, windowsill plantings (fresh greens in winter and early spring are the best thing I know), trellis and supports for vining and sprawling plants and more).

The graphic layout is appealing (see cover) and contains many charming retro botanical print inspired artworks. The photographs are clear, lush, plentiful, and really well done. Leafing through the book in midwinter is guaranteed to get any gardener's fingers itching to dig in the dirt. It's bursting with colorful plants in rude good health in beautiful display. Individual plant profiles also include information about lesser known cultivars along with good tips for culture, harvest, and use. There's quite a lot of good information here for gardeners from beginner to expert. Tips and tricks are highlighted in sidebars or bubble graphics throughout the text and include small projects like forcing rhubarb, extending harvest seasons, succeeding starting from seed, and more. Small historical tidbits on the plants and uses throughout time are included in the profiles for individual vegetables.

This would be a nice addition to the gardener's repertoire. Worth noting for readers in North America that most of the culture advice in this series is slanted toward growing conditions in the UK. It will translate perfectly well to the areas of the rest of the world which have similar conditions but adjustments might need to be made for readers outside those areas.

Four stars. I especially liked the inclusion of more unusual vegetable varieties which deserve more popularity, like celeriac, groundnuts, artichokes, sweet potatoes, jerusalem artichokes, and more.

This is like a "bible" for gardeners. It is full of art and descriptions.
It is written in an interesting way with information, but not too much.
I absolutely adored it and will definetely get myself a physical copy too.

This book is a wonderful one volume resource for new and continuing gardeners. Lushly illustrated with photographs and masterful paintings. I particularly liked the full page entries for individual crops, organized for ease of decision making. Projects are interspersed throughout the book in a way that invites the reader to jump up and go do! And the peek at crops commonly grown in the U.K. was absolutely fascinating. I hope my library will pick up this series of books! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance read.

Very interesting and informative read. As a beginner this book was ideal to help. It would be great to have in the house and refer back to through the growing season. Great asset to have for any Gardner

Even the most experienced gardener is always looking for new or better ways to make our gardens grow bigger and better vegetables. While this book targets the area around the Kew Gardens, the information can be applied worldwide. Living a more back to basics life can be expensive if you do not know what will grow well in your area and what will produce the most for your efforts. This is a wonderful reference guide and gave me many good tips to help me keep more of what I grow.

I spend every January perusing seed catalogs, making this year's garden plan, and reading new gardening books before starting seeds in February. The Kew Gardener's Guide to Growing Vegetables was chock full of useful information. From preparing your soil to making raised beds, crop rotation, watering, mulching, and much more, this book explained every aspect of growing a successful garden.
Wonderful pictures and each plant mentioned tells you where to grow, how to grow, and a growing tip. I'm planning to add tomatillos to my garden this year and the author's tip was one I didn't know. “Tomatillos need cross-pollination to set fruit, so grow several plants.” This information wasn't on my seed packet, and I definitely would have been disappointed if I only planted one as a test!
I took quite a few notes as this was a digital review edition, but I look forward to adding a hard copy to my gardening bookshelf. There are some plants included that I rarely see in US books, so this will be quite a handy guide.

I have very little experience with gardening but after spending several days daydreaming together with friends about fleeing to the countryside and living on a farm I tried my luck in getting access to this book so that I could at least learn the basics of growing vegetables.
The Kew Gardener's Guide gave me a wonderful overview about everything you would need to know suited even for people like me who struggle to keep a cactus alive.
There are both beautiful illustrations and helpful photographs, which gives this book firstly a nice aesthetic and secondly makes it easier to read and understand.
There are little boxes with tips and explanations besides the main text, which helps as well.
The guide is written in a clear and easy to understand language, covering all basics without making you feel stupid for not knowing about these things.
The guides to individual vegetables are concise and follow a set pattern so you always get a good level of information about each of the examples. There are pages for well known and some lesser known vegetables and I think everyone can probably find at least a handful they are interested in here. i also really liked the ideas for projects presented.
The book is also suitable for audiences around the world because units like temperature are written in Celsius and Fahrenheit etc.

Copy in exchange of an honest review.

I'm hunting for the perfect growing vegetables book. I take ideas from everyone and this is one of the best.

The variety in this book is amazing and useful for everyone. The pictures are beautiful and helpful to understand the content better.

I will recomend this book.

I don't usually grow vegetables but I was interested and I'm more than happy I read this book.
It's useful, well researched and the explanations are clear.
An excellent guide, easy to understand.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

As always with the Kew books, another lovely, easy-to-read, high-level look at growing plants. I loved the plant-specific pages outlining planting and growing tips for a wide variety of vegetables, many of which are uncommon here in the U.S. I also liked the instructions for making a root clamp, and intend to try it for my root vegetable crops this year (hopefully it will stand up to Colorado snow).

Very useful book bursting with easy to follow information on growing a variety of vegetables. At a time when people are becoming much more health aware, and when plant based eating is hugely popular, there will be a big market for this book. It is also from a trusted source so it will appeal. All the basics are included complete with excellent illustrations, but this is also extended into more unusual vegetables, additional projects and a bit of foraging. A good reliable, easy to follow book for anyone wanting to have a go at growing their own.