Home & Garden Highlight: Homegrown Vegetables

Growing your own vegetables and fruit is an exciting experience. Seeing the first signs of growth to the flowers and buddings of fruit, can honestly make you giddy. And there is a special type of pride you feel when you can pick a tomato or a cucumber from your own garden and feed yourself and your family.

Growing your own vegetables and fruit is far easier than what some might think. And contrary to what is often seen of vegetable gardens, which often show large expanses of space and rows upon rows of tilled soil, you don't actually need a lot of space. You can grow plenty using pots on a patio or balcony, or even on your windowsill. Thankfully, San Jose's weather is forgiving, so starting your own vegetable garden can be done practically whenever you want. And, with guidance from books available in our collection, you'll be reaping the literal fruits of your labor in no time at all!

Recommended Reading

Grow Easy: Organic Crops for Pots & Small Plots, book cover

Grow Easy: Organic Crops for Pots & Small Plots by Anna Greeland

A new generation of gardeners are hungry for the know-how to transform their balconies, front steps and back gardens into spaces to grow edibles. Anna Greenland, rising star of the organic grow-your-own scene, offers the jargon- free information, inspiration and confidence you need to get growing from scratch with absolutely no prior knowledge. Growing in an organic, sustainable way is central to this book and it doesn't need to be difficult or costly with Grow Easy at your side.



Easy Vegetables: Essential Know-how and Expert Advice for Gardening Success, book cover

Easy Vegetables: Essential Know-how and Expert Advice for Gardening Success by Jo Whittingham

Ideal for first-time gardeners, Grow Easy Vegetables contains everything you need to know to sow, grow, and harvest your own crops at home. Try your hand at more than 40 different varieties that have been specially selected for successful growing, including both vegetable garden must-haves and novelty crops like tomatillos and rainbow sweetcorn. Step-by-step images show you everything you need to know, while expert tips help you troubleshoot as you go.



Micro Food Gardening: Project Plans and Plants for Growing Fruits and Veggies in Tiny Spaces, book cover

Micro Food Gardening: Project Plans and Plants for Growing Fruits and Veggies in Tiny Spaces by Jen McGuinness

Author and small-space gardening pro Jen McGuinness introduces you to a world of miniature edible plants and dozens of DIY projects for growing them. Not everyone has room to grow a full-sized tomato plant or a melon vine that takes up more room than your car, but everyone has space for a micro tomato that tops out at the height of a Barbie doll or a dwarf watermelon with vines that won't grow any longer than your leg. From miniature herbs and salad greens to tiny strawberry plants, baby beets, and mini cabbages, you'll quickly discover that micro gardening offers a surprisingly diverse and delicious array of edible opportunities. Plus, with step-by-step instructions for a plethora of DIY micro food gardening projects, you'll be up and growing in no time at all. Whether you micro garden on a high-rise balcony, an itty bitty patio, a front porch container, or even in a basket on the handlebars of your bicycle, there are mini food plants ready to start cranking out fresh produce just a few weeks after planting.



Further Reading

The Healthy Vegetable Garden, book cover
The Modern Homestead Garden, book cover
The Beginner's Guide to Growing Great Vegetables, book cover
 The Urban Vegetable Patch, book cover
Growing Vegetables, book cover
Plant Grow Harvest Repeat, book cover