March 30, 2025 – Spring is officially here, and that means many people are getting ready to get into the garden. While you fight the temptation to start planting too early, dive into these books to inspire you and to prepare for the growing season.
Want more gardening inspiration? Attend the upcoming series of free talks with the Linn County Master Gardners each Monday in April. Talks are 6:30-7:30 pm at Ladd Library. Topics are Air Plants on April 6, Lifelong Gardening on April 13, Hort 301 on April 20, and Spring Ephemeral Wildflowers on April 27. Find all the details on our calendar.
"The Regenerative Garden: 80 Practical Projects for Creating a Self-Sustaining Garden Ecosystem" by Stephanie Rose (2022)
Discover how to work with nature, instead of against it, by employing permaculture techniques to create a garden that is not just more beautiful and productive, but also more resilient. While the word permaculture might sound intimidating, the principals behind it are not. The main goal of permaculture is to turn your space into a functioning ecosystem that's less reliant on external resources and better able to sustain itself through many seasons of growth and change as it resists pests, diseases, and climate extremes.
"Start with Soil: Simple Steps for a Thriving Garden" by Juliet Sargeant (2025)
Any thriving garden starts with good soil: whether you're growing vibrant herbaceous borders or bountiful vegetable beds. And while gardeners all appreciate the soil beneath their feet, many are still perplexed by how it works. In "Start with Soil," award-winning garden designer Juliet Sargeant challenges you to take your soil seriously, reveals its hidden wonders and gives you the tools to improve your soil health and harness its power.
"Martha Stewart's Gardening Handbook" by Martha Stewart (2025)
Master the art of gardening with Martha Stewart's Gardening Handbook: an in-depth guide that will teach you the knowledge and skills to cultivate a flourishing garden. From understanding soil composition to learning about different types of plants and gardening methods, you’ll discover the secrets to creating a stunning outdoor oasis.
"The Cook's Garden: A Gardener's Guide to Selecting, Growing, and Savoring the Tastiest Vegetables of Each Season" by Kevin West (2025)
From gardening basics and advice on harvesting, to delicious recipes showing how to make the best use of produce in any season – including primers on freezing surplus vegetables, making pantry staples such as canned tomatoes, and effectively using stored produce – this book promises to inspire anyone, even if their growing plot is as small as a window box in a city apartment. West's erudite yet practical guide is interwoven with meditations on the beauty, poetry, and spirituality inherent in growing and preparing one's own food.
"Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden: A Guide to Creating Sustainable Outdoor Spaces" by Kendra Wilson (2025)
In "Gardenista: The Low Impact Garden" author Kendra Wilson covers everything you need to know to create a garden that's good for the planet and to create beautiful and well designed outdoor spaces. This comprehensive guide to eco-conscious gardening features in-depth garden tours of all sorts, from a wildflower prairie in the Midwest to an indoor outdoor garden in London, a forest garden in Vancouver to a permaculture garden in Australia. There are breakouts on specific garden types, like front yards and rooftop gardens, as well as practical advice on green approaches to key garden elements, lawns, soil, trees and shrubs, water, and even pools.
"The Essential Guide to Bulbs: How to Grow a Bounty of Beautiful Bulbs in Gardens and Containers" by Jenny Rose Carey (2025)
Bulbs are essential for any gardener who wants a garden full of flowers, humming with pollinators, and blooming consistently for many months. When planted correctly, bulbs bloom in sequence, one after another. From longtime gardener and author Jenny Rose Carey, this book is borne of a lifetime passion for bulbs, offering friendly and accessible insight based on her expert experience and many years gardening in both England and the east coast of the United States. No matter where your garden is located or the variables thrown your way as a result of our changing climate, this book is an essential guide for how to choose, plant, and care for your bulbs, and find joy in the process.
"The Preserver's Garden: How to Grow a Garden for Fermenting, Canning, Pickling, Dehydrating, Freeze Drying, and More" by Staci & Jeremy Hill (2025)
Growing a garden with the intent to preserve the harvest and improve your self-sufficiency is an entirely different world than growing food for fresh consumption. When growing for preservation, your efforts need to be focused on the promotion of uniform ripening, high yields, and flavor that remains stable through the preservation process. Since the end goal is to have plenty of food to eat for months to come, how do you know how much to plant, which varieties are best, and which preservation method is ideal for each different vegetable and fruit? In "The Preserver’s Garden," you’ll learn all that and so much more from a modern farming family with a pantry lined with jar after jar of preserved homegrown treasures, a fully stocked freezer, and endless bags of dehydrated and freeze-dried goodies.
"Grow Cook Eat: A Food Lover's Guide to Vegetable Gardening, Including 50 Recipes, Plus Harvesting and Storage Tips" by Willi Galloway (2025)
The conscious foodie’s guide to growing and harvesting their own urban vegetable garden – featuring 50 profiles of common vegetables and herbs, plus 50 recipes for garden-to-table meals you’ll want to make again and again. From sinking a seed into the soil to enjoying a meal made with produce harvested right outside your door, this gorgeous kitchen gardening book is filled with practical, useful information for both novices and seasoned gardeners alike. "Grow Cook Eat" will inspire people who already buy seasonal, local, and organic food to grow the fruits and vegetables they love to eat.