That’s our beautiful cucumber arbor from last summer’s garden. We also grew tomatoes, okra, green beans, squash, peppers, and some not so successful sweet potatoes. We’re getting ready to prepare the beds for this summer. There are still hundreds of onions still in the ground as well . . . winter gardens are wonderful in Mississippi.
My dad always gardened. So I grew up eating so many homegrown vegetables and fruits. I’m lucky now that My Guy grows this beautiful vegetable garden every year. But he did not start out gardening with his own family. The gardening book I see him reading on the front porch steps time and time again is Gardening in the South with Don Hastings.
I asked him today why he liked that book so much. He said he particularly liked the section on Gardening by the Seasons and there is also a section with lots of tips on planning your garden. The book, though published in 1985, has beautiful full-color photos. The only thing he didn’t like about the book was that Don Hastings does not like okra. I don’t like that either. Okra rocks!
You know every gardener has his or her favorite reference guides. Since I love to grow herbs . . . and I even blogged about this last year . . . I’ll share my favorite herb book thus far: Southern Herb Growing by Madalene Hill. The book is an extensive reference for many herbs regarding the planting, harvesting and use of herbs. In addition, Ms. Hill tells the story of how her family opened a restaurant in Texas which used all of the wonderful herbs in her garden. It is a sweet and sad story. All gardens I suppose have story . . . and this one certainly does.
Besides growing herbs, I love growing flowers and Zinnias are my absolute favorite. They are such hardy plants for the south, their blooms are so showy, making for wonderful cut flowers.
What’s your favorite gardening book?
