The Curious Kitchen Gardener

I love everything about this book. It holds such help information that is easy to read. Love that it is colourful and a great way toreduce costs by making things yourself.

As someone with a small garden on a budget, this is a great tool for me to reference and get more bang for my buck with meals. I love the recipes and that more things are edible than I thought!

What an interesting book! This is an introduction to uncommon plants and how to prepare and eat them. The author covers everything from sweet violets to Jerusalem artichokes, each with a discussion of where to find, how to identify, planting/harvesting, preparing, and an original recipe to try. The green sorrel soup caught my eye, but there’s so many recipes I’d love to try from this guide and cookbook. A great gift for both the gardener or adventurous cook.

*This book was received as an Advanced Reviewer's Copy from NetGalley.

This book was interesting mix of plants that I had definitely heard of and a few I definitely had not. Some of them easier / more approachable to get, even if from a grocery, and some that were definitely harder to obtain.

Ziedrich takes a handful of interesting edibles and talks through their history; origin, uses, and cultivation. She then provides a recipe at the end of each section so you know how to use the plant. This can range from the common (lavender) to the uncommon (Shiso, walking onion, etc.).

While I haven't tried any of the recipes yet (due to availability of the items), I did take several notes on what I could plant in my garden for next year. For some of the more common items, like the parsnip, I may get to trying the recipe eventually, but I'm currently on a cooking hiatus after moving. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself.

I do think the book was interesting, and while I would have preferred a few more recipe options, I approached this as more of a garden planning book than a cookbook.

Review by M. Reynard 2024

As an avid gardener and home cook, I thought this book was super neat! This book is for people who like to grow things that they can't find in a grocery store simply out of curiosity, and then want to find a way to eat it. I really like how the recipes/cultivars are diverse in what cuisine they're inspired by, and not all of them are considered to be traditional western food. It may be very difficult for a home gardener (especially a new gardener/novice home cook) to utilize these recipes as some of the plants require special order or careful planning in order to successfully grow them. I do like though that a lot of the notes offer suggestions for substitutions or different ways to utilize the plant, but again that could make it confusing or more tedious for someone who is newer to cooking. This book would be more ideal for someone who enjoys seasonal cooking and is experienced in gardening.