How to Become a Gardener is a no-nonsense, well written, beginner accessible guide to getting started with food gardening and improving personal and community food security written and curated by Ashlie Thomas. Released 1st Nov 2022 by Quarto on their Cool Springs Press imprint, it's 208 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formast.
Food security and transportation costs and availability are real and immediate concerns for the vast majority of people worldwide. We only have to look at the supply issues of the last few years to see how vulnerable we are to interruptions and resource scarcity. It's not possible to be self-sufficient with toilet paper and toothpaste (well, not really), but providing for part of our food needs ourselves is a great way to reduce some stress, gain valuable skills, and gain a fun and relaxing hobby.
The author has a great encouraging writing style and she is willing to share her experience to help other would-be gardeners improve their outcomes. The book contains tangible advice for starting, sourcing materials, planning, seed starting, growing, harvesting, troubleshooting and compensating for less than ideal results, but it -also- contains a lot of useful and thought provoking philosophy and interesting info for ruminating about our consumerist lifestyle, our definition of community, and how we can be less dependent on unstable supply chains for our daily nutrition. Plus it's good fun and healthy exercise.
Five stars. This would be a superlative choice for public or school library acquisition, activity groups, community garden collections, and home use. There is an emphasis on urban and to a lesser degree suburban gardeners, but there are valuable takeaways for gardeners in other situations.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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