If you are as passionate about growing your own sustainable organic food as I am, you must buy the newly released book,  Grocery Gardening: Planting, Preparing and Preserving Fresh Food by Jean Ann Van Krevelen, with co-authors Amanda Thomsen, Robin Ripley, and Teresa O'Connor. Grocery Gardening is paperback, lists for $19.95, and is published by Cool Springs Press.

I have been looking for this type of book for a long time. One that takes me from vegetable garden to kitchen to cellar pantry. It is a little bit garden-growing guide, a little bit "fab" cookbook, and and a little bit good ol' homestead manual all rolled into one.

Grocery Gardening acquaints you with a nice detailed selection of herbs, fruit, and vegetable edibles. For each edible, you are given key steps for planting and growing, different varieties available, proper harvest time, and preserving methods for extra bounty. In addition, there are focused chapters on the basics of gardening, how to buy quality produce, preserving methods, and organic pest management.

Each colorful edible is presented in a unique Grocery Gardening format, simple yet comprehensive with added nutritional tidbits, edible trivia, accompanying mouth-watering recipes, specific pests to watch out for, and preferential preserving methods. If you need more reasons to buy Grocery Gardening, how about these recipes. Rhubarb Cake with Citrus Glaze. Rock Star Salsa. Fig and Arugula Composed Salad. Shepherd's Pie with Carrot and Sweet Potato Topping.

It is evident that author Jean Ann Van Krevelen, and co-authors Amanda Thomsen, Robin Ripley, and Teresa O'Connor of Grocery Gardening are quite talented and gifted in their own garden expertise and garden communications. In fact, I call them pioneers in "garden social media." You might be interested to know that they all met on Twitter, have never met each other in person, and their garden passion fueled them to write this book together in sixty days.

Whether you are a veteran or a "newbie" vegetable gardener, you will want to have Grocery Gardening: Planting, Preparing and Preserving Fresh Food by your side.

Please share if you plan on growing edibles this year. Please comment on your experience eating edibles straight out of your garden. Is it the satisfaction of connecting with the land? The incredible difference in taste? The convenience of walking to your garden, rather than hopping in your car?

Thank You for Visiting VGG Sponsors!

San Diego Horticultural Society announces its Spring Garden Tour, Saturday March 13, 2010. Tickets are $15/members, $20/non-members. To purchase tickets and more detailed information, please go to www.SanDiegoHorticulturalSociety.org