Independence Homestead

I was recently inspired by reading Niki Jabbour’s Groundbreaking Food Gardens: 73 Plans That Will Change the Way You Grow Your Garden. At first I was skeptical as I didn’t see how a book that included 73 different garden plans could do justice to any of the plans. After reading just a few pages, though, I was pleasantly surprised. While a few plans are explained in abbreviated form, the majority of garden plans are present in a very thorough manner. A drawing of the garden, with a key of what plants are where, is included with almost every garden plan. Each plan also has a few pages of background and explanatory text included. Enough information was included that I would feel comfortable replicating any of the gardens in the book.

I will probably take ideas from several plans and include them in the garden that we are creating in our backyard. We emphasize organic, permaculture principles, which many of the plans included. I think anyone with any type of gardening situation could find something relevant, though. Gardens were presented for a variety of environments in terms of climate, shade, space, etc. Niche gardens such as the cocktail garden, which focused on ingredients for cocktails, show that gardens should be tailored to what you need and fun! This book was strong in both content and inspiration, a perfect read to help gardeners plan for this spring!