This book has an amazing compilation of knowledge on gardening. As a beginner gardener, I really enjoyed all of the different layouts, descriptions of why you plant certain things together (companion gardening) and just taking the guesswork out of when to plant and harvest. I especially liked the easy start options by simply cutting open a bag of soil and planting directly in it! Then, each year you can build on the previous year’s experience with a slightly more advanced layout or stick with the simplicity of the previous year. I’m looking forward to starting with year 1 of the bag garden. The author has thought of everything! I will say , the reason I docked a star is for the formatting issues on the kindle version. This book even outside of formatting issues is probably best purchased as a physical copy.

As someone new to gardening, I found this book so thorough and extremely helpful. It's one of those books you'll want the hard copy of just in case.

This was a very informative book! There were many plans to help gardeners, whether they are experienced or not. The different garden plans were very well explained and the pictures of each plan helped to explain how the layout worked in the different years of planting. I was glad that the author added information on insects but I wish she would have also added how to keep animals out of her garden. I am very excited about using some of the tips in my garden at home!

A good starting point for novice vegetable gardeners. Lots of ideas on how to set up beds and in different areas of your yard. I did find that some of the plans required a lot of space when they were complete. Barbara Pleasant gave sprinkled many great tips and tricks throughout the book. I would have loved to see a section on urban gardening since I think many people would like to try growing their own food on limited space. I also would have liked to see more about colder climate planting because I'm in Canada and I have a short growing season where I live.

Excellent, excellent, excellent! Starter Vegetables Gardens 2nd Edition by Barbara Pleasant is fantastic. The layout is eye-catchng and the table of contents is direct, and concise and the titles made me smile. Such as "The Front-Food Supply, Designing Big Beautiful, Big Flavor Gardens, Water: Make Every Drop Count, etc.

Barbara digs right in making the beginners feel confident. She makes it as easy as splitting a bag of potting soil and planting pea seeds. I haven't seen that before but now I want to give it a whirl. She does cover a lot but because it is a beginner gardening book on growing vegetable gardens there isn't a lot of depth but enough to give the beginner enough information to get started.

I appreciated immensely the Year One, Two, Three concepts! Beautifully done graphics and captured how once you start don't take on more than you can manage but begin and expand each year as your knowledge grows and as we all know we will get more versed and venture out more. I remember the first time I grew an artichoke from seed and my plants got huge and I actually grew artichokes I knew by then I had some knowledge and begin venturing and much more gusto in just trying and not worrying about failure. Barbara gives that confidence for the startes in her book.

There are a few things I would like to add as a seasoned vegetable farmer and I am taking into account that the list is still helpful but Barbara listed the Top Ten Insect Pests and sowbugs and earwigs were not listed when they are so detrimental to vegetables, especially direct-sown seeds trying to get a start when they are young and tender shoots. Bug again A LOT is covered and one can't cover everything but for me, they are two of my top ten pests but this is just a minor thing.

Again I want to give such a huge love for this book and thank the publisher Storey Publishing for publishing another outstanding book and NetGalley for this opportunity to read and review Starter Vegetable Gardens 2nd Edition by Barbara Pleasant.

I love this book so handy to have on your shelves
It is American based and i am UK but i love the design amd thought put into it
I have my own UK allotment and the way the authors input into different months, tools needed, skill levels, accessibility ie front garden or family garden is amazing
I like how it does the 3 year rotation
Good advice in pest control

The diagrams are nice and clear easy to follow
I will defo be buying this full copy once realised in 2023

A great book for beginners and more. Lots of great garden plans, from incredibly simple to more complex. Great tips on when to plant and how to use succession plantings to get more from your space. Goes into more complex ideas as well, including season stretching ideas using cold frames and more. This is a book you can dip into and get some ideas without feeling overwhelmed. Only quibble is the mention of “double digging” the soil. Would hate to think of any new gardener thinking they have to dig up 18 inches of soil. Add your compost and soil on top and don’t waste your energy on double digging! This is a book I’d recommend to any new gardener, with that one caveat.

Starter Vegetable Gardens, 2nd Edition 24 No-Fail Plans for Small Organic Gardens by Barbara Pleasant
Lots of color photos throughout. Table of contents shows chapters in different colors to help you navigate more easily.
Introduction discusses how to start right now. Work isn't terribly hard but you are growing your own food.
This book is for all levels of expertise. Summarizes the chapters of the book so you know which section you need to start at.
I like reading the whole book although I've been gardening since I was a child. Book is broken up into starter gardens and follows them for 3 years.
Instructions exactly for what you need to set it all up, measurements and equipment needed are listed.
Also instructions throughout the process til it's time to harvest and even that is given in details, easy to follow and actually do yourself.
Love how they specify seeds you will need also.
Love sections on seed growing as that's the method we use.
Also guidance on what to plant as per your planting zone, very helpful!
Also how to harvest and preserve is included. SO VERY RESOURCEFUL INFORMATION.
Received this review copy from Storey Publishing, Storey Publishing, LLC via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.
#StarterVegetableGardens2ndEdition #NetGalley.

It’s time to start planning for Spring gardens. Starter Vegetable Gardens is just the book to help you get started.

There are different plans for the amount of space you have and the type of vegetables that you want to plant. Then there is a starter plan, Year 2 plan and Year 3 plan. So you can start off more simply and then add more types and space each year, if you wish.

Having a successful garden year after year feels really complicated to me. So much to do and think about. I really liked how this book helped to continue planning over time.

The only issue I had with this is I didn’t see any zone info so I don’t know if I need to adjust the seasonal plans for my warm zone. Or if I need to adjust certain plants because of how warm it is here.

I think that’s a pretty important piece of info. Perhaps it’s there and I missed it but if it was overlooked then it should be added.

Thank you to #StoreyPublishjng and #NetGalley for this review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book helped me start my homesteading journey. It answered all of my questions on whether or not I should start with raised beds or stick with grown gardening. Even helped me plan out my little spot for gardening. Overall, this is a wonderful book for anyone who is just beginning to garden and wants to learn the basics without much of a plan of where to start. :)

So this book is set up to talk to you about your first 3 years of having a garden. Throughout the book it has multiple different garden setups and how you can use those setups and expand them every year. With each of the garden setups it tells you what you should plant how much dirt you'll need and give you tips and tricks along the way to help maximize your garden and time.
So I'm on my third year gardening and I found this book very helpful. I enjoyed that it gave specifics when it talked about size of garden beds and how much plants and dirt you would need because figuring that out is always the hardest. I still feel like I'm learning so much about gardening and this book is definitely going to go in my stack of books to reference to.

~~~ I received a copy of this book via NetGalley ~~~

I'm an amateur gardener and am always looking for tips on how to improve my vegetable garden. I found that in this book Starter Vegetable Gardens, 2nd ed: No-Fail Plans for Small Organic Gardens. It was full of lovely photos and tons of tips and how-to's. I think any gardener- starter or otherwise would enjoy and gain knowledge from this book.

Interesting book. Comprehensive and with a great plan and lay out. Great for a starter gardener as well as the more experienced gardener. It gives step-by-step instructions for all kinds of gardens with detailed illustrations.
I had a digital copy which i did find harder to look at so a hard copy would be better in my opinion. Great all round book.

Got someone interested in starting their own veggie garden? Or are you wanting a small patch to grow your own tomatoes and peppers? Either way, this is the book you need! The book helps you start by offering you a 'plan'- just like a basic pastry dough recipe- it's a garden plan that works every time. But yes, you can alter it to suit your needs and wants just like a traditional cooking recipe! The book offers three types of garden plans: bag garden, border garden and full veggie garden. Not only is it base don your needs, but your space!

She also gives you three year options- so you can see how you can grown and add to a mature garden! I really liked the "yield graphic' which lets you see how much veggies you will get based on how many plants/size is planted, and broken down by season- that's a question many gardens to be don't think about! I LOVE the idea of a bag planting- it is SO easy, and no garden area needs to be prepped- it's perfect for those who don't have the time (or tools) for full garden prep! I also love that the plans include STEPPING areas, so that you can walk around your plantings to harvest them! That is something we frequently forget about, until it's with crush a plant to harvest from others, or leave the harvest on the plant!

All in all this is a pretty good book to get you started on your way to having your own veggies! Pair this book with a garden center gift card, and you have a gift that will reward the recipient all year long!

I'm not a starting gardener, but I am intrigued with this book and will be using tips and techniques shown here. Not only for the beginning gardener, but a book for every vegetable gardener. Thank you!

A thoroughly well thought and well researched, amazing book - it's been one of the most helpful little gem (no pun intended heh!) I've read in a while. Comprehensive with a step by step instruction and some really easy tips to follow, this book can be used in pretty much any garden, it makes it so accessible to all.

I particularly enjoyed the illustrations, the lists of where to get stuff and then watering, fertilising, harvesting etc, its a real treasure to start with for a beginner but it can be used for someone like me who has a little bit more knowledge.

There has been such a lot of effort put into this book that I love it, I will definitely be buying it to sit on my new book shelf!

I received a free ARC from netgalley in return for this review.

I found this book to be highly informative on different ideas to not only plan gardens in specific ways to increase yield, but also how to boost the soil, management of bugs and little tips to bring beauty to a vegetable patch whilst also improving the health of the plants. Barbara pleasant has made sure that this in depth book covers all topics Needed by a rookie gardener, with tips on how to improve over time and may even have information beneficial for veterans. I have definitely picked up a few tips for my beginner garden!

I have a veggie garden that is not doing great and this book was definitely helpful with that! I found some good tips and tricks to get a better garden going.

I really enjoyed this. I found the instructions extremely clear, and the drawings simple enough to give me a greater comfort level than I was expecting. It shows what I've been doing wrong with my side garden- and the ideas to try again in a sunnier location, with hopefully not too much more investment of my (limited) time. I love the idea of gardening a lot more than the execution, but this makes it seem quite doable over a 3-year period of building skills and size!

Starter Vegetable Gardens is a great, simple book with layouts, plans, and advice on veggie gardening. If you have the desire to have a well planned garden and grow vegetables, this is probably the book for you.