Plant Grow Harvest Repeat: Grow a Bounty of Vegetables, Fruits, and Flowers by Mastering the Art of Succession Planting

Seed to Fork blogger Cowden debuts with a comprehensive guide to succession gardening, a method that focuses on how “various ecosystems succeed one another across generations.” The program involves fostering “plant diversity of both perennials and annuals to weather seasonal challenges with ease,” Cowden writes, and after surveying what lessons the wild has to teach about growth (prairies grow “modestly in the shoulder seasons and robustly in summer”), the author moves to the home garden, for both food and flowers. She offers advice for interplanting (rather than overplanting), interspersing flowers (marigolds make “willing companions” in food gardens), direct sowing (it’s a “marathon, not a sprint”), getting the right amount of sunlight, and gardening year-round (“let your seasons bump into one another”). As well, Cowden provides directions for making organic fertilizer and for no-till soil tending, and attracting insects and pollinators. The photos are gorgeous and inspiring, as is her writing: “The garden is never static except in photos,” she writes, and “succession gardening is a way of life, an act of hope and renewal.” This master class will entice seasoned gardeners and newbies alike. (Mar.)