Vegetable Gardening Book Suggestions for the 2020 Holidays 

Below is the 2020 edtion of my recommended books about growing vegetables in your backyard. This year I have added two new titles to reflect  increasing interest by some folks  either about just expanding their  backyard gardens or actually setting up  small farms of up to a couple of acres as their minds speculate about finding to a more isolated, albeit, a more sustainable existence...

If your mind is flirting with this, then take a close look at the Mefford and Fortier books noted below. Otherwise, my core collection remains unchanged covering an array of titles providing different approaches that gardeners of varying experience or atttention spans might find useful.

Like tried and true vegetable varieties, most of these books are not new, but remain in print or readily available from used book dealers because they continue to  serve gardeners well. 

I compiled my list  from examining a number of  "best" book lists from various gardening sites that I trust, personal familiarity with some titles and the personal recommendations from gardener friends.  Most of the entries appeared on at least two lists, and a few titles appeared three or more times.

I did not use either Amazon or Barnes & Noble lists as sources although I did use these sites to view  sample pages of some titles.  The books are available from these sources, but if you do become motivated to give one or more to a friend, I  suggest that you also check used book sources such as abebooks.com, alibis.com or  bookfinder.com etc. for lower prices. Happy shopping and gardening...

• Brie Arthur - Foodscape Revolution: Finding a Better Way to Make Space for Food and Beauty in Your Garden. St Lynn's Press, 2017. 

• Susan Ashworth - Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners. 2nd ed. Seed Savers Exchange, 2002. [If you are unfamaliar with Seed Savers, find out about it now at seedsavers.org.]

• Mel Bartholomew - All New Square Foot Gardening: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More in Less Space. 2nd ed. Quarto Publishing Group, 2013. [Many a backyard gardener consider this to be their 'best' vegetable growing  bible. Actually, any edition will do.]

• Andrea Bellamy - Small Space Vegetable Gardens. Timber Press, 2014. [Don't have a yard or can't get to a community plot, then how about using a roof top, patio or windowsill - great ideas here.]

• Eliot Coleman -  Winter Harvest Handbook:  Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep-Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2009. [n.b. Coleman  authored the classic, New Organic Grower (now in its 3rd edition). This one assumes you have a lot space for gardening.]

• Derek Fell - Vertical Gardening: Grow Up, Not Out for More Vegetables and Flowers in Much Less Space. Rodale Inc., 2011.

1. Fortier, Jean-Martin Fortier - . The Market Gardener: A Successful Grower's Handbook for Small-scale Organic Farming.  New Publisnger's Society, 2014.  A translation from French and first published in Quebec, Canada.  The focus is on farms of up to 1.5 acres that can be sustained without depending upon motorized equipment.

• Brad Halm & Craig McCrate - High Yield Vegetable Gardening: Grow More of What You Want in the Space You Have.  Storey Publishing, 2015.

• Toby Hemenway - Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home Scale Permaculture. 2nd ed. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2009. [In case you are not familiar with the term, 'permaculture' is about establishing and using techniques that promote sustainable and self-sufficient agriculture.]

• Craig Le Houllier - Epic Tomatoes: How to Selet and Grow the Best Varieties of All Time. Storey Publishing, 2015.  

• Wendy Kiang-Spray - Chinese Kitchen Garden: Growing Techniques and Family Recipes from a Classic Cuisine. Timber Press, 2017. [This is specialized and (warning) includes recipes; but I like Chinese food and Timber Press is very selective in its offerings.  To learn a little more about the author and the cuisine, checkout her blog: greenishthumb.]

• Ron Kujawski and Jennifer Kujawski - Week-by-week Vegetable Gardener's Handbook. Storey Publishing, 2010. [This book has now appeared on other lists. I reviewed it in February 2018, and now find myself referencing it regularly.]

• Bret Markham - Mini Farming: Self-sufficiency on 1/4 Acre. Skyhorse Publishing, 2010. [This might tempt you to buy that vacant lot next door...]

• Tara Nolan - Raised Bed Revolution: Build it, Fill it, Plant it - Gardening Anywhere. Cold Springs Press, 2016. [The author, a Canadian, founded Savvy Gardening that promotes innovative approaches to both ornamental and vegetable gardens.]

• Deborah L Martin -  Rodale's Basic Organic Gardening: A Beginner's Guide to Starting a Healthy Garden.   Rodale Press, 2014.   If I had to give one book to a city person who somehow found herself either with a backyard or stuck in the country and thought it would be nice to grow vegetables, this is the book I would give her. It's straight forward and the reader will not feel overwhelmed by information.

• The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Pest and Disease Control: A Guide to Maintaining a Healthy Garden and Yard the Earth Friendly Way. Rodale Inc., 2009.

• Andrew Mefferd - The No-Till Organic Farming Revolution: High Production Methods for Small Scale Farmers.  New Society Publishers, 2019.  

• Barbara Pleasant - Home Grown Pantry: A Gardener's Guide to Selecting the Best Varieties & Planting the Perfect Amounts For What You Want to Eat Year Round. Storey Publishing, 2017. [The author is a regular contributor to Mother Earth News and winner of three Golden Globe awards from the Garden Writers' Association.]

• Rodale's Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening. Rodale Inc., 2009 ["Rodale's own  gardening bible has been a mainstay for organic vegetable growers since J. L. Rodale published the original in 1959.]

• Edward C. Smith - Vegetable Gardener's Bible. 2nd edition. Storey Publishing, 2009. [A Vermonter, Smith has been writing for 30+ years and gardening for more. He also has a "bible" on container growing published in 2011.]

• Jessica Walliser - Container Gardening Complete. Cool Springs Press, 2017. [The author is a regular contributor to Savvy Gardening, a women's owned company out of Canada covering  all aspects of gardening.]

And,  in these times,  remember: 

No man is an island entire or itself; 

Every man is a piece of the contient, a part of the main,

If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less... - John Dunne