The Prairie Gardener's Go-To for Vegetables - (Guides for the Prairie Gardener) by Janet Melrose & Sheryl Normandeau (Paperback)

About the Book

All the most common questions about growing vegetables in the prairies are answered in this first installation of the new gardening series, Guides for the Prairie Gardener.

Book Synopsis

All the most common questions about growing vegetables in the prairies are answered in this first installation of the new gardening series, Guides for the Prairie Gardener.

Too often people think of vegetable gardening in the prairies as challenging, but certified master gardeners Sheryl and Janet are here to show you how rewarding it can really be.

From planning to planting, they encourage you to take a hands-on approach with your prairie garden. They let you know when--and how!--to transplant your carefully nurtured seedlings in the spring, ways to shelter your plants from that inevitable July hailstorm, and how to determine how much irrigation is necessary in the arid prairie climate. They help you figure out if you should prune your tomatoes, how to hold up your pumpkins off the ground, and maximizing your harvest by planting in succession. And they show you how you can directly influence the quality of your produce, minimizing problems such as woody radishes, buttoning cauliflower, and split cabbage heads.

They cover all your most common questions about cultivation practices, preventing damage from frost, flood, and drought, harvest and storage, and they cover your questions about the veggies you love to grow:

• Garlic, Onions, and Leeks
• Lettuce
• Brassicas
• Carrots, Celery, and Beets
• Legumes, Corn and Other Warm Season Edibles
• Tomatoes and Peppers
• Potatoes
• Squash, Pumpkins, and Cucumbers

Whether you've just acquired your first garden space, or you've been growing vegetables for decades, gardeners are always learning and experimenting, building on the wisdom gained on their own or from others. With Sheryl and Janet on your team you're that much closer to achieving success in your prairie garden!

Review Quotes

Praise for the Guides for the Prairie Gardener series

"This guide to a very Prairie topic is a great resource for gardeners everywhere." --Quill & Quire

"Herbs offers highly local advice on how to grow herbs for your kitchen in our climate." --Savour Calgary

"This go-to paperback addresses many issues of perennial plants that will prove extremely useful to gardeners." --Calgary Horticultural Society

"Helping gardeners across the prairies succeed in growing food, flowers and everything in between." --Medicine Hat News

"Melrose and Normandeau answer all the questions that the two experts could think of when it came to horticulture on the prairies." --Edify Edmonton

"The Prairie Gardener's series offers knowledgeable yet accessible answers to questions covering a broad range of topics to help you cultivate garden success. Get growing!" --Lorene Edwards Forkner, gardener and author of Color In and Out of the Garden

"This is a beautiful and incredibly well-written series of books on earth-friendly gardening. Lavishly illustrated, with photos in every segment, the books are a pleasure just to leaf through, but the accessible writing and level of expertise makes them essential to any gardener's library. Although they're geared to prairie gardeners, I found great information that transfers anywhere, including where I live, in the Sierra Foothills, and will enjoy them for years to come. Well-indexed, to help you find solutions to elusive problems. Highly recommended!" --Diane Miessler, certified permaculture designer and author of Grow Your Soil!

"All your gardening questions answered! Reading the Prairie Gardener's series is like sitting down with your friendly local master gardener. Delivers practical guidance that will leave you feeling confident and inspired." --Andrea Bellamy, author of Small-Space Vegetable Gardens