14 Best Vegetable Gardening Books for Beginners and Experts

Basic gardening with beautiful flowers like dahlias and roses will help give your yard an appealing look! But, if you intend to live a self-sufficient lifestyle and provide for your family, a vegetable garden is what you need. 

Maybe that’s why you’re here! You may want to know more about growing fresh garden vegetables – but you’re not sure where to begin?

If so, then continue reading!

We have compiled an impressive list of vegetable gardening books – so you can set up and maintain your vegetable garden without second-guessing.

These are our top gardening book recommendations – ranging from beginner-friendly to more advanced.

For Gardener Beginners

These are our favorite gardening books for new gardeners and homesteaders.

# 1 – The Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook

Between juggling work, family, pets, animals – and your daily homestead tasks – who has time for gardening?!

If you have trouble managing a weekly schedule filled with household chores, then this book gives you considerable relief. By browsing this book of 200 pages, you will realize how easily vegetable gardening breaks down into a seamless practice. It’s possible!

The father-daughter duo of Ron and Jennifer Kujawski wrote the book. I love that they carefully walk you through how to make to-do lists each week. And – how to execute them!

The handbook also gives you practical advice, strategies, and techniques for successfully growing vegetables. You even get pages that can keep three years worth of notes, which will aid you in your learning experience.

Overall, it’s an excellent read for beginners who want an actionable gardening plan.

Read More – 5 Must-Grow Vegetables for Warm Climate Gardens!

# 2 – What’s Wrong With My Vegetable Garden?

You started a vegetable garden, and everything appeared to be okay for the first few weeks. But – then suddenly you notice a multitude of growing or planting problems! 

Can you relate?

If you are new to maintaining a vegetable garden, diagnosing plant problems is like a wild guess – at best! Are bugs eating your plant leaves? Do leaves look diseased, wilted, or faded? Maybe a lack of nutrients is to blame – or something else? It’s so tough to decide!

This book will help you get to the root of the problem and quickly address it. Authors David Deardorf and Kathryn Wadsworth will give you clear information on creating the best vegetable growing conditions – and illustrated guides that will help you identify what is hurting your plants. 

# 3 –  Four-Season Harvest

If you ever thought that gardening stops during the cold months of winter, then think again! Eliot Coleman has experience gardening in the most severe weather conditions during the winter season.

It is revealed in this book that most parts of the United States get more winter sunshine than southern France.

The challenge is best utilizing that sunshine for greenhouse plants, which Coleman brilliantly breaks down in this book. The book doesn’t read like a technical handbook – and it’s more of a cold hard facts kind of book written in a conversational tone. If that is the tone you prefer in a book, then you will enjoy reading this one!

Read More – Organic, No-till Farming Explained!

# 4 – Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners

If you are looking for something in-depth about saving vegetable seeds and how to grow vegetables properly, this is the book to consider. Author Suzanne Ashworth created this guide that describes techniques on how to save seeds of 160 different vegetables.

This guide has the reputation as one of the most helpful gardening guides available for beginning gardeners to learn how to produce store seeds on a minimal scale.

I encourage you to read the guidelines about preserving seeds for germination and how to get seeds to yield fresh vegetables with optimal efficiency. Readers get 228 pages filled with insight on what makes vegetable seeds tick – and what you can do to keep those seeds happy!

# 5 – Greenhouse Gardening for Beginners

Author Jason Johns provides a solid 160-page scope of making a garden inside of a greenhouse successful.

Ranging from what kind of greenhouse you should buy to how you should take care of a greenhouse, this book will give you the tips you need to maintain a serviceable greenhouse garden in its early years.

Irrigating your greenhouse so that your plants will get watered automatically is a critical factor in greenhouse gardening, and this topic is covered extensively in this book. Securing your greenhouse from hardy winds and cleaning your greenhouse to fight off pests and diseases are also discussed in this book.

If you need an entry-level book for greenhouse gardening, you will find one great candidate in this book. For sure!

# 6 – Small-Space Vegetable Gardens

Eager to start a vegetable garden at your urban home, but you feel cramped for space? In 411 pages, Andrea Bellamy methodically breaks down how you should take advantage of the small space you have.

Balconies, patios, community garden plots, and small yards are all covered in this book. In some cases, you could also start a vegetable garden along a parking strip!

Also described in this book are potential factors that could harm a vegetable garden, including pollution and pests. This book is excellent for beginners needing to ace the gardening fundamentals like garden composting and which plants are appropriate to grow in their hardiness zone. 

Read More – 9 Best Fruit Trees for Zone 4 Gardens!

# 7 – Raised Bed Gardening: Growing Vegetables for Beginners 

Depending on where you live in the United States, it can simply be too difficult to dig into the ground. That usually spells trouble for your vegetable gardening dreams! One solution that many gardeners love – is to start a raised garden bed. 

Author Kendra K. gives you a chapter by chapter rundown of why raised bed vegetable gardening is important, how you need to prepare the site and soil of a raised bed, and what exactly are the best vegetables for a raised bed. One good thing to know about using a raised bed for gardening is that it will take the stress off your back.

Hey, they don’t call some backyard tasks back-breaking work for nothing!

For Experienced Gardeners

These are our favorite gardening books for more experienced gardeners and homesteaders.

# 1 – Plant Partners

Companion planting is a tried and true gardening method that has lasted for many years, but how does it work? Jessica Walliser provides an abundance of research-backed by scientific facts that explains the rationale behind this method.

There are many benefits of companion planting! Count on reduced pest damage to the vegetable garden, reducing weeds, and significant improvements in soil fertility.

The general idea of planting two or more different plant species close to each other is the foundation of companion planting.

Walliser analyzes how plants affect each other in the same garden patch. One aspect includes the sharing of resources and the improved availability of nutrients and absorption. Outstanding book for experienced vegetable gardeners to review!

# 2 – The Suburban Micro-Farm: Modern Solutions for Busy People

Even if you have experience maintaining a vegetable garden out in the country – gardening in the suburbs is an entirely different ballgame! Amy Stross provides tips on how to do just that.

Shady and sloped yards are some of the tricky gardening topics addressed by Stross in this book, while she also shares easy permaculture techniques. Readers also get advice on making money off a micro-farm, which can come in handy if you need cash in a pinch. 

This book was the Gold Winner of the Nonfiction Book Awards 2018! And the Hobbies and Home category of the Foreword INDIE Awards 2018 – and the Silver Winner of the Green Living and Sustainability category of the Nautilus Book Awards 2018.

Read More – Worm Composting 101 – Using Garden Towers!

# 3 – Growing Vegetables in Drought, Desert & Dry Times

Perhaps you find yourself in a scenario where you have moved to a warmer climate area, and the summer season gets intense? Can you grow a vegetable garden in the middle of a rain drought period in a place like the Arizona desert? Maureen Gillmer believes you can! She offers you guidance on conserving water for your crops and the best time to water the garden. 

You also get a seasonal crop guide that helps you plan your garden and set realistic expectations. At the book’s core, you develop a better understanding of your local climate and what you can do with your vegetable garden, no matter how hot and dry it is!

# 4 – Veggie Garden Remix

So there are 224 unique vegetables from around the world that you may have never heard of before, which means you might need to rethink how you form your vegetable garden.

(Better yet, try fitting all 224 vegetables into your garden!)

Niki Jabbour does a fantastic job describing the benefits of these vegetables and explaining why they would be ideal for your garden. The vegetables you will learn more about in this book include rare delicacies, plus old-world variants of classic veggies like tomatoes and bell peppers.

Familiar with Black Zebra tomatoes, Sweet Chocolate bell peppers, and Palace King cucumbers? If not, you will become familiar with them after reading this book! In 2019 this book won the American Horticultural Society Book Award and the GardenComm Media Awards Gold Medal.

# 5 – High-Yield Vegetable Gardening

If you are already a professional gardener who makes a living growing crop, then you will love High-Yield Vegetable Gardening! This book shows you how to grow a greater quantity of vegetables no matter how big or small the size of your garden is.

Colin McCrate will share tips on maximizing the production of your vegetable garden as he breaks down the differences between one rural acre, a suburban quarter-acre, and a small city plot.

For example, McCrate illustrates on a map how to time the light to determine the best garden area for your vegetable crops. Along with maps are charts, tables, schedules, and worksheets that you can use in this book to keep track of your progress.

Read More – Intro to Mini LaMancha Goats!

# 6 – Vertical Growing

Knowing that you have little space to work within your yard, growing vegetable crops out too big and too suddenly would be a mistake. Weeding, watering, and all sorts of hard labor await you when handling large vegetable plots. Derek Fell clues you in on how beneficial vertical gardening is.

By minimizing the amount of floor space needed and focusing on climbing plants, you are (hopefully) less likely to deal with pesky insects and diseases. In 336 pages, you will learn how a vertical gardening system potentially reduces work, increases yields, and makes the harvesting process more enjoyable.

While this book shares tips on more than just vegetables, this is a fun way for taking the next step in your vegetable gardening journey. 

# 7 – Grow Cook Eat

If you have plenty of experience maintaining a vegetable garden, then you will quickly learn to love reading this book! This book presents some of the most delicious recipes for meals involving vegetables grown in your backyard garden. Nice!

Grow Cook Eat also helps you refine your gardening skills by giving you easy-to-follow instructions on how to take care of vegetable plants, both sensitive and hardy.

You also get advice on how to store food in a way that will maximize the flavor. Author Willi Galloway points out some of the most indicating signs of spring planting season, such as blooming chives. (I love putting chives on my potatoes!)

The Beauty of Vegetable Gardening

As you can see from all the above examples, there are many different ways to manage your vegetable garden. As a beginner, you can only learn what works and what doesn’t in a vegetable garden through trial and error. You won’t know the differences until you try.

If you are an experienced gardener, you will only need to brush up on the skills you already have and continue to develop new skills along the way. The beauty of vegetable gardening is to have fun while making adjustments to your plans outdoors.

Those adjustments may be few – or they may be many! But, enjoying the process is the most vital component. May you have a happy and healthy vegetable garden!

 Thanks so much for reading – and let us know your favorite gardening books?

We know there are so many hidden gem gardening books, and we can’t possibly read them all.

So – we love your recommendations!

Thanks again for reading!

Read More – 5 Homegrown Vegetables that Save You Money!

Last update on 2021-09-12 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API