Little Herb Gardens: Simple Secrets for Glorious Gardens--Indoors and Out a Garden Style Book

I got this book for my mom for mother's day and ended up reading all the way through it before I gave it to her. It has great ideas for various containers and gives good details for each different herb. Well rounded, detailed, and focused.

This is such a nice book and nicely put together. Whether I read or just browse through it, it just makes me feel good.

First let me admit I am biased, since this gem is written by someone I know and admire, here in Northern California. But it nonetheless a gem of a book with superb photographs as well as excellent advise on Do's and Don't of raising a variety of herbs. I also like the book because it shows that one can successfully raise year round fresh herbs, and do so on an acre or on a small patio. And the author also covers edible flowers another favorite of my families.

LITTLE HERB GARDENS is a great book for the novice. The authors have assembled a lovely collection of photographs and interspersed them with succinct text that explains how to identify and select easy to grow herbs; when and where to buy them (spring, fall, summer, nurseries or catalogs, plants or seeds); how to pot them (containers, soil, etc.); and where to place them (balconies, patios, or in small gardens).This little book will inspire you to create a green space in a kitchen window, an assemblage before a patio or balcony door, or a collection of pots on the balcony. Herbs grow best in full sunlight, so if your balcony faces south, you are in luck. If you live in a town house or have a small patch of ground you can think more expansively, but this book does not really deal with garden design, or the issues associated with herb gardening. Herbs are frequently garden thugs that run amuck in the open. I suggest you find a more in-depth book such as RODALE'S ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HERBS if you intend to go beyond pots and are thinking of growing mints, yarrows, violets, or some of the other "easy" to grow herbs suggested by this book. RODALE'S book also covers the poisonous aspects of herbs. (Some of them can kill you.) The last section of LITTLE HERB GARDENS briefly covers kitchen uses of herbs including making herb-infused vinegars and herb-flavored sorbets. If you want to know more, once again you will have to turn to something more comprehensive such as THE COMPLETE BOOK OF HERBS by Lesley Bremness. Even if you can't grow herbs, you can buy them at the farmer's market and some food stores. LITTLE HERB GARDENS is not the only book available for learning how to grow herbs or use them, but it will get you started.

This book has it all--eye-pleasing photography and concise, useful information. The heart of the book is an herb-by-herb description of how to grow the plants. It's organized in a unique way according to where you could keep them--windowsill or fire escape, inside porch, outdoor pots, pantry, etc. There are suggestions for special ornamental techniques (such as topiary) and recipes for culinary herbs. Finally, the book lists seed and plant sources in the U.S. All in all, a real pleasure to read.