Designs, Recipes, and Heirloom Plants for Cooks Who Love to Garden
January 4, 2021
Garden designer Ogden (The Complete Kitchen Garden) puts “old-fashioned” vegetables center-stage in the garden and kitchen in this colorful design-compendium-cum-cookbook. Ogden touts heirloom plants, or those “not associated with large-scale commercial agriculture,” for their ability to provide “a deeper connection to the food you eat, the people you love, and the landscape that surrounds your home.” She covers growing basics for heirlooms in the cabbage, carrot, and legume family, among others, with instructions for soil (it “should smell slightly sweet and hold together when squeezed, like a good chocolate cake”) and compost (gardeners should “fill the bin with layers of green and brown, as if you were making lasagna”). She then offers 12 heirloom-based garden designs: of them, “The Color Wheel Garden,” is focused on the most nutritional varieties, and “The Permaculture Garden” highlights sustainable gardening. Nearly 50 rustic recipes, including baked beans and rhubarb pie, are organized according to their relationship to the major plant families. Ogden’s earthy sensibility is well conveyed in vivid color photographs. Perfect for cooks and gardeners alike, this useful look at vintage varieties puts a fresh shine on an old subject.