Veggie Garden Remix Book Review and Giveaway

I can't think of a gardening book that has generated more interest and excitement this spring than Niki Jabbour's Veggie Garden Remix. 

This, her third book, has garnished terrific reviews in both the print and online press. Readers on Amazon have given it 5 stars, and on Goodreads, it has been given a 4.5 star rating.

The Year Round Vegetable Gardener, © 2011 Niki Jabbour. Published by Storey Publishing

Used with permission of the author.

The Year Round Vegetable Gardener, © 2011 Niki Jabbour. Published by Storey Publishing

Used with permission of the author.

All the positive buzz not surprising. 

Niki created a reputation for being an innovative gardener early in her career with the publication of The Year Round Vegetable Gardener.  A few years have passed since its publication, but I still remember being amazed the first time I saw pictures of Niki in foot-deep snow harvesting fresh vegetables from her cold frames. At the time, I don't think most gardeners had any idea that cold frames had the potential of extending the growing season that far into the depths of an icy Canadian winter.

Photo of Niki Jabbour by James Ingram of Jive Photograph. Image from Veggie Garden Remix © Storey Publishing 2018. Used with permission of the author.

Fast forward to 2018 and Niki is back with another book that again may have a big influence on the way we grow edibles. This time it is less about how you grow vegetables and more about what you grow in the first place.

As Niki tells the story, it all began with a five-foot snake gourd she had grown as a Halloween decoration. When her mother-in-law dropped by Niki's garden one day, she recognized the long, thin gourds as a summer squash she had enjoyed back in her Lebanese homeland. Niki was surprised to discover unusual gourds were edible and was thrilled to have the opportunity to share them with her mother-in-law who hadn't had the pleasure of eating them in decades.

Niki's garden in Nova Scotia. Photograph by Niki Jabbour

Up to that point, Niki had grown a traditional range of vegetables in her garden, but the snake gourd made her wonder if it were possible to branch out and grow other global edibles from places like India, Mexico, Thailand, Argentina, Italy, Japan and China. Very quickly she discovered that many unconventional edibles–pak choi, edamame, mibuna, bitter gourds, daikon radishes to name just a few– thrived in her Nova Scotian garden. 

Niki began to question the limitations of traditional vegetable crops. Why grow standard spinach when she could experiment with an array of greens like amaranth, orach, hablitzia and molokhia? They're far more heat tolerant than spinach and produce fresh greens all summer long.

Cucamelons. Photograph by Niki Jabbour

And why grow ordinary cucumbers when she could play with bit-sized cucamelons that had the familiar taste of cucumbers, but with an interesting a citrus tang. 

"Play" was the key to this new outlook. It's fun to be adventurous in the garden and try new things.

Another view of Niki's garden later in the season. Photography by Niki Jabbour

The challenge for Niki was to convince other gardeners not just to grow off-beat and sometimes odd-looking global edibles, but to want to eat them in the first place. We are creatures of habit. We want our food to be comforting and familiar. When faced with something new, we judge it with our eyes. 

I think Niki has handled the challenge well by dividing her book into segments that pair standards edibles with their global relatives. For instance, she suggests that if you like broccoli, you'll like Piracicaba, Spigariello Liscia and Romanesco. 

A rainbow of carrots. Photography by Niki Jabbour

Like standard orange carrots? Then give these more unusual and delicious alternatives a try.

Some of these global crops hail from warmer climates, so Niki has added in a handy count of the days until harvest. She also provides some background on each of the edibles and growing tips that take the mystery out of the unfamiliar. 

This is by far the most stylish of Niki's three books. The design is smart and cohesive. The photography is just beautiful.

As always, Niki's writing is light, informative and entertaining. You can easily dive in and out of the book as time permits, or you may find yourself hopelessly drawn-in and read the whole book cover to cover. 

Many thanks to Thomas Allen & Sons for providing a copy of Veggie Garden Remix for me to give away. Because this book will go to a winner through the mail, we will have to limit entry to readers in Canada and the USA. 

Please leave a comment below, if you would like to be included in the book draw. The contest will remain open a little over a week (until Sunday, June 9th). If you are not a blogger, you can enter by liking the Three Dogs in a Garden Facebook page (there is an additional link to the Facebook page at the bottom of the blog). You are also welcome to enter by sending me an email (jenc_art@hotmail.com).

About the Author:

Niki Jabbour is the award-winning author of Niki Jabbour’s Veggie Garden Remix, The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener, and Groundbreaking Food Gardens.

Her work is found in Fine Gardening, Garden Making, Birds & Blooms, Horticulture, and other publications, and she speaks widely on food gardening at events and shows across North America.

She is the host and creator of The Weekend Gardener radio show. She lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is online at SavvyGardening.com.

Two Gardening BFF's Speak at Canada Blooms

There is fresh snow on the ground that like a meringue has a thin crust with a soft, pillowy interior. 

But if you look beyond the new snow, there are slight hints that winter is finally coming to an end. The temperature has warmed slightly, if you can call a temperature that is still in minus digits "warm", and there is more sunlight at the beginning and end of each day.

Now is the perfect time to start thinking about what you want to do in the garden this spring. If you are planning on growing some vegetables for the first time this year, you're not alone. Sales of vegetable seeds now outsell that of flower seeds.

Niki Jabbour, author of the book Ground Breaking Food Gardens, has become one of Canada's most popular gardening celebrities. Along with friend and garden writer Tara Nolan, Niki will be speaking next week on the inaugural day of Canada Blooms on the topic: Garden BFF's: How Edibles and Ornamentals Can Play Nicely Together.

Niki has lots great advice for novice veggie gardeners:

Pick the right site. The best place is a spot that receives plenty of sunshine- at least eight hours each day.

Consider your soil. If your soil is less-than-ideal, don't panic! Instead, build a raised bed to grow your vegetables, filling it with quality garden soil and compost.

Start small. I always tell novice veggie gardeners to keep it small! A manageable 4-by-8 foot raised bed or even a few pots of edibles will be much easier to care for than a large garden. Start with a handful of your favourite crops and once you've got a handle on planting, tending and harvesting, you can always decide to go bigger the following year.

Plant your menu. Grow what you like to eat.

Illustration courtesy of Storey Publishing © 2014 by Niki Jabbour, Groundbreaking Food Gardens, Storey Publishing

In her book Groundbreaking Food Gardens, Niki collected 73 themed garden designs from a diverse and varied group of gardening experts. Each of the book's plans includes a profile of the contributor, the concept behind their design, a beautiful illustration and a plant list. 

I am really looking forward to Canada Blooms next week. Touring the show floor and listening to Niki and Tara's talk on combining edibles and ornamentals promises to be perfect way to usher in a little spring.

Niki Jabbour and Tara Nolan will be speaking together at the Active Life Garden Solutions Theatre, Presentation Room, Hall B at 12 pm on March 13th. Their topic again is: Garden BFF's: How Edibles and Ornamentals Can Play Nicely Together.

Niki will also be speaking on the topic of her book Groundbreaking Food Gardens on the Unilock Celebrity Stage at 3pm on March 13th.

Niki is a garden writer and radio host from Halifax, Nova Scotia. In her first book, The Year Round Vegetable Gardener (Storey Publishing) Niki showed us it was possible to have homegrown, organic produce 365 days a year. Groundbreaking Food Gardens (also Storey Publishing) her second book, hopes to inspire the way you grow your garden.

Niki's radio show the Weekend Gardener airs live on news957.com and is also available in podcast form. Niki's work can also be found in Gardens East, Garden Making, Fine Gardening and Canadian Gardening magazines. Niki's blog is http://yearroundveggiegardener.blogspot.co

Tara Nolan is a freelance writer, editor and digital consultant. For over six years, Tara was web editor of Canadian Gardening.com. She is a member of the Canadian Garden Writers Association and is co-founder of the blog Savvy Gardening. Tara has written for many publications including the Toronto Star, Glow magazine, Elle Canada and Canadian Living. Presently, Tara working on her first gardening book.

And the Winner is...

To help with the draw for a chance to win a copy of Niki Jabbour's new book: Groundbreaking Food Gardens: 73 Plans that will change the way you grow your garden I employed the talents of my proudest creation, my son Daniel.

(There were over 20 entries from the blog post on Groundbreaking Food Gardens, as well as one from the Three Dogs in a Garden page on Facebook.)

And the winner is...

Mindy who has the blog named Rindy Mae. Congratulations! Mindy, I will be in touch shortly to get your mailing address.

Groundbreaking Food Gardens: Review and Giveaway

The central message of author Niki Jabbour's new book, Groundbreaking Food Gardens: 73 Plans that will change the way you grow your garden is that food can be grown anywhere when cultivated a little creative thinking.

Niki Jabbour, author of Groundbreaking Food Gardens

Those of you who have follow this blog will know that I have been a fan of Niki's writing for sometime. 

She's a smart, passionate Canadian gardener whose innovative use of cold frames to extend the gardening season inspired hubby and I to design a way to transform one of our raised beds into a cold frame each fall. 

It takes less than an hour to transform the raised bed into a cold frame. You simply fit the cold frame sides into position like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle (no nails) and attach the three plexi-glass doors on hinges. We store the component pieces in a shed during the summer. If you missed my posts on our cold frame design here are the links: About the Cold Frame and the "How to" post.

In her continuing search for inventive ways to grow food, Niki has collected 73 themed garden plans from a diverse and varied group of gardening experts.

The list of contributors is impressive and reads like a who's who of the gardening world. There are well known American writer's like Amy Stewart, whose "Cocktail Garden" is filled the ingredients sure to add a fresh zip to evening cocktails. 

The book also contains original designs from prominent Canadan writers like Marjorie Harris, who offers a "Partially Shaded Vegetable Plan" for less than ideal light conditions, and Liz Primeau, whose "Garlic Sampler" mixes a flavourful range of garlic bulbs, with plants like thyme to suppress weed growth, and keep your garlic patch low maintenance. 

Each of the book's plans includes a profile of the contributor, the concept behind their design....

Illustration courtesy of Storey Publishing © 2014 by Niki Jabbour

Groundbreaking Food Gardens, Storey Publishing

a beautiful illustration...

Illustration courtesy of Storey Publishing © 2014 by Niki Jabbour, 

Groundbreaking Food Gardens, Storey Publishing

and a plant list. 

The design themes vary widely in style and include everything from a "Chicago Hot-Dog Garden" from writer Amanda Thomsen (author of Kiss My Aster) to an "Elizabethan Garden" by Stephen Wescott-Gratton, senior horticultural editor of Canadian Gardening magazine.

Challenges like size and location are also addressed with ideas like a rooftop farm and an apartment balcony container garden by Canadian garden writer Andrea Bellamy.

Even if you are not looking for a whole new garden design, there are an abundance elements that you can adapt to an existing garden.

Illustration courtesy of Storey Publishing © 2014 by Niki Jabbour

Groundbreaking Food Gardens, Storey Publishing

This "Comfrey Tower" contributed by author and blogger Emma Cooper caught my interest. 

It produces a "comfrey tea" that is rich in potassium and nitrogen. (Comfrey is a deep-rooted, leafy perennial that is rich in these nutrients.) 

Here is how Emma's Comfrey Tower works in a nutshell: Comfrey leaves are loaded into the top of an 8" PVC pipe. The rotting leaves form a "tea" that drips down through a mesh screen into a bucket at the base of the tower. When diluted with water, the Comfrey "tea" makes an excellent fertilizer for food crops like tomatoes, fruits and peppers which love the high-potash feed.

For so many of us, it has been a long winter and a cold, wet start to the gardening season. 

I think that exciting 2014 book releases like Groundbreaking Food Gardens may be the perfect inspiration to finally get things growing this spring!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

I have a copy of Groundbreaking Food Gardens which I am going to give away in a draw.

To enter the book draw, please leave a comment below. I ask all entrants to make sure there is some kind of link available to their email address. (I need to have a way to get hold of you should you be a winner!)

The Groundbreaking Food Gardens book draw will remain open for one full week.

About Niki Jabbour:

Niki is a garden writer and radio host from Halifax, Nova Scotia. In her first award winning book, The Year Round Vegetable Gardener (also Storey Publishing) Niki showed us it was possible to have homegrown, organic produce 365 days a year. 

Niki's radio show the Weekend Gardener airs live on news957.com and is also available in podcast form. Niki's work can also be found in Gardens East, Garden Making and Canadian Gardening magazines. Follow Niki's adventures on Facebook or at http://yearroundveggiegardener.blogspot.com

Canadians can purchase of Groundbreaking Food Gardens by clicking here.

You may also purchase a copy of the book on Amazon.com by clicking here.

Building a Cold Frame

The month of October was swallowed whole by family matters. First my father-in-law passed away and then seventeen days later my mother-in-law slipped quietly away in her sleep. They were always good to me... to us all and I find myself tearing up just typing these words.

For me, one of the ways grief expressed itself was a terrible tiredness that made me want to avoid anything routine; including the computer, the internet and blogging. It has been weeks since I posted anything. 

Slowly, slowly I am slipping back into the comfort of old familiar habits. Now I find myself looking forward to catching up with good friends.

Wow! I can't believe it is already mid-November and fall is almost over!

The big Maple at the back of the garden always seems to be fall's swan song. It is the last tree in the yard to turn color and finishes the season with a crescendo of most brilliant yellow. 

Then there is frost and the Maple leaves fall like rain.

Last week hubby took some time off and we busied ourselves with completing a number of ongoing projects including this cold frame.

I first became interested in cold frames a couple of years ago. 

I was amazed and inspired to see how gardeners like Brenda (Gardeningbren in Nova Scotia) managed to extend the gardening season with the use of a cold frame.

Niki Jabbour, The Year Round Veggie Gardener

Niki Jabbour's blog The Year Round Veggie Gardener was also a real eye opener. 

Who wouldn't be impressed by that picture of Niki kneeling beside a cold frame in the dead of a Canadian winter?

Needless to say, when her book The Year Round Vegetable Gardener was published, I bought a copy.

Last fall hubby and I came up with a design to transform one of my raised beds into a cold frame. 

If I had a bigger garden, I probably would have built a permanent cold frame, but space in our backyard is at a premium and so I wanted to design a structure that could be a cold frame in winter and revert back to an ordinary flowerbed in summer. 

Here you can sort-of see the four raised beds last spring. (Oh how I now wish I had taken better pictures of this part of the garden last spring!) 

Overall my garden is a bit of a jungle, so I like the little bit of order and formality that the raised beds provide. 

There are lilac standards in the centre of two of the flowerbeds diagonally opposite from one another and...

decorative plant supports in the centre of the opposite pair. 

Hopefully next spring clematis will be clamouring up the plant supports and covering them with flowers about the same time that the lilac standards are in bloom. Fingers crossed anyway!

One raised bed holds my collection of herbs (as seen above). In another, I grew tomatoes and strawberries last summer. In the final two beds, I planted a mix of flowers.

Here we are in November.

Last year we constructed the sides of the box which transforms the one of these raised beds into a cold frame. Being busy, we ran out of fall before we could make the top. To get us through the last winter we ended up borrowing a few old windows from a neighbour. 

Last week, we finally completed the project and made the top doors.

The smart part of this cold frame design is that it takes less than an hour to transform the raised bed into a cold frame. You simply fit the cold frame sides into position and attach the three doors. (We store the component pieces in a shed during the summer.)

For purposes of demonstration, here we have detached one of the cold frame sides to show you how it all fits into place. In the shot above you can hubby fitting one of the sides into position to complete walls of the frame.

Because the sides fit together like a puzzle no nails are required to hold them in position. Any one of the side walls can be removed in a matter of minutes.

The final stage of the fall transformation from raised bed to cold frame involves the installation of three plexiglass doors.

It remains to be asked: why go to all this bother? I can think of so many good reasons:

A cold frame is certainly more affordable than a buying a full greenhouse, yet offers many of the same advantages. 

It also takes up a lot less space than a greenhouse and is the great option to consider for a small backyard.

As I indicated earlier in the post, a cold frames allow you to extend the growing season in a number of ways. 

My herbs are still going strong despite the fact that it's mid-November and we have had several killing frosts. And last spring the herbs sprouting new growth over a month ahead of the rest of the garden.

You can also grow a winter crop of vegetables in a cold frame (visit Niki or Brenda's blog for inspiration). 

Like a greenhouse, I found a cold frame to be a great place to start seeds. 

I have limited space in the house for seedlings. Last spring I was able to start some seeds inside the cold frame as early as late March/early April.

Rose Mossy Saxifrage, saxifraga x arendsii rose selection

I also found that the cold frame is a great place to park tender plants for the winter.  Thanks to the shelter it provides, the top of this birdbath planter came through the ravages of a Canadian winter beautifully.

Sometimes I have trouble over wintering Mediterranean herbs like thyme, but last year I had no problem with the most of the plants inside of the cold frame. (The exception were a few thyme plants that were right in the corners. There are some very small gaps where the structure fits together and they were big enough to allow cold drafts to sneak inside and affect the plants right in each corner.)

With under an hour to make the transformation, I have to say that I am rather proud of how easy we have made it to use a cold frame each fall and winter.

For more project details please see the Cold Frame How-to.