My Favorite Gardening Books for Inspiration

We are in the depths of January and the days are barely over 41°F. There is not much going on in the garden, but I am in garden-planning mode. January is the perfect time to get your plans together, order seeds, and reflect on the previous growing season. Asking questions like what worked, what didn’t work, and what do I want to grow this coming year? I love checking out and flipping through gardening books this time of year for inspiration. Today, I want to share with you which books I return to every year for gardening inspiration!

Vegetable Gardening in the Pacific Northwest by Lorene Edwards Forkner

This is one of the books that I own and it is my most trusty handbook regarding the timing of seed starting, when to plant things out, and various garden jobs for every month!

Composting Basics 2nd Ed. by Eric Ebeling, Carl Hursh, and Patti Olenick

I checked this book out so often from the library that I decided to finally buy it for myself. This has inspired me to start my composting journey. It makes it feel less complicated and overwhelming and that’s just what I need when deciding to start something new!

The Beautiful Edible Garden by Leslie Bennett and Stefani Bittner

Inspiration abounds in this book. It is full of information and ideas on designing a beautiful space using edible plants. I love flipping through it as I day dream about warmer weather and how I can upscale my own space!

The First-Time Gardener: Growing Vegetables by Jessica Sowards

Jessica from Roots and Refuge Farm wrote this book a few years ago and it is the best comprehensive beginner guide to growing vegetables that I have found! Her approach is so encouraging and lays out step by step on how to plan and plant a garden!

Easy Garden Projects by Country Gardens

One of my gardening goals for this year is to add more whimsy and magic to the garden in the form of DIY projects! This book is full of various projects and I get so much inspiration going through this book!

The Edible Garden by Country Gardens

The Edible Garden is full of inspiration on how to create a beautiful edible garden no matter what size space you have. It has all the basics on what you need to get started, seasonal crop guide, and even recipes for how to use your harvests!

Gardening on a Shoestring by Alex Mitchell

While I want to add more whimsy and magic to my garden, I also don’t want to spend a fortune and this book has so much inspiration for just this. There is tons of upcycled project inspo in this book and I can’t wait to try some of them this year!

Raised Bed Gardening by Simon Akeroyd

This book is full of useful information about raised-bed gardening and figuring out what type of raised beds work best for the space that you have. There are ideas on all sorts of different raised bed garden designs, crop rotation, and more!

My Favorite Gardening Books for Inspiration