The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener - Niki Jabbour

I ordered this book as soon as I had heard about it and waited anxiously for it to arrive since then. On one of my visits to the Bloominganswers website, several of the gardening enthusiasts were excited about the release of this book. I did a little research and found The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener described as an inspiring and informative read, providing you with the knowledge required to grow food for your family all year long. Perfect. Niki gardens in Halifax which is in fairly close proximity to where I am situated, except I am about 2-3 weeks behind Halifax, garden-wise. This is the first spring we have our cold frame operational and in place from the get-go. We had planted the frame with kale, scallions, arugula, lettuce, swiss chard, beets and, closely planted, beets for greens in the fall and enjoyed the harvest until about the middle of January when everything slowed down significantly. Some items perished, like lettuce, swiss chard and beet greens and others just stayed suspended in growth. We had a few lovely days with lots of sun and the temperature was kissing the plus side. After these warmer days I went out to the cold frame for some scallions that we have been harvesting all winter and was pleasantly surprised to see that the kale was looking lively and had even grown some new leaves. I was not really sure what I could start planting and when. Being new to the whole cold frame crops business, I wanted a book to take the guesswork out of such things for me. Niki's book was ideal. She has done the dirty work and presents tried and true methods, and timing, for planting. I suspected I could sow seeds awfully early in the cold frame, although I was not really sure how early and did not want to use all my seeds up in experimentation. It is fantastic to have access to a regional resource. The book provides information and tips on gardening year round, as the title clearly states, not only during the unconventional months.  It will probably take me a few years to perfect my methods and timing for my specific location, until then the information from Niki's book will certainly point me in the right direction. The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener pushes the boundaries of traditional gardening for every season. Niki embraces what she has, a somewhat short growing season, and makes the most of it using aids to prolong the harvest. I am always surprised at the amount of vegetables I can grow now, I am thinking I may be shocked at what we will produce in the future. We are already planning a new greenhouse and a few more cold frames for spring projects. Receiving The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener has motivated us with it's beautiful pictures of all kinds of crisp greens and other veggies against white snow. I have already read it cover to cover and I only got it in the mail yesterday, it is that incredible. I've already sown some seeds in the empty spots of the cold frame, I will be sure to report any success I have. 

Picking green onions recently from my frame.