If you want the freshest fruits, vegetables, and herbs around, why not grow them yourself? Home gardens are a great way to slash your grocery budget and eat great food throughout the year. Vegetable, Fruit, & Herb Gardening from Better Homes and Gardens is packed with simple step-by-step guidance on starting your own easy and affordable kitchen garden.

The book includes explanatory diagrams, photographs and charts, and clear instructions that make planting, feeding, and harvesting your garden a breeze. This easy-to-follow guide covers it all-from container gardens, to large-scale garden projects, to a little herb garden on the balcony.

• Features more than 150 encyclopedia entries of vegetables, fruits, and herbs with step-by-step instructions on planting, growing, and harvesting
• Illustrated with more than 450 beautiful full-color photographs that offer helpful guidance and plenty of inspiration
• Includes special sections on storing your harvested foods as well as tips on composting and helpful seasonality charts
• Offers garden projects and planting plans with shopping lists for tools and plants.

Whether you want to start a major new edible garden project or just add a little fresh produce to your pantry, Vegetable, Fruit, & Herb Gardeningis the easy-to-understand, comprehensive guide you need.

Explore the many benefits of homegrown produce.

Grow your own.

What to grow.

Getting started.

climates and seasons.

Let climate and seasons guide your planting for a bountiful harvest.

Know your zone.

Edibles and climate.

Extend the season.

growing produce in pots.

Container gardens make it possible to harvest fresh food outside your door.

Anywhere gardens.

Container design.

Plant a pot.

Container care.

edibles in the landscape.

From backyard vegetable gardens to fruit trees as front yard accents, edibles are at home throughout the landscape.

Site selection.

Traditional garden.

Edible landscaping.

Small spaces.

good earth.

Fertile, workable soil produces the tastiest fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

All about soil.

Nutrients.

Soil solutions.

Hardy tree fruits, citrus, and fruiting shrubs are covered in this in-depth guide to growing fruit.

ALL ABOUT PRUNING.

Spur fruiting trees and shrubs to produce abundantly with a few basic pruning practices.

Getting started.

Fruit trees.

Brambles.

Small fruits.

WATER SMART.

Provide plants with the water they need to thrive while conserving the valuable resource.

When to water.

Ways to water.

Water smart.

VEGETABLE ENCYCLOPEDIA.

Each entry describes when and how to plant, how to manage pests, and harvest tips.

Favorite vegetables, such as tomatoes and peppers, are highlighted as well as lesser-known plants.

GARDEN PESTS.

Prevent and manage common garden pests with easy tips and the pest encyclopedia.

All about pests.

Pest prevention.

Pest encyclopedia.

PLANTING TIME.

Starting plants from seed or transplants is easy with these growing tips.

How to start.

Planting indoors.

Planting outdoors.

Seedling care.

HERB ENCYCLOPEDIA.

Culinary herbs are productive and easy to grow. The encyclopedia covers planting basics and shares tips for usingherbs in the kitchen.

GARDEN PLANS.

Use these easy-to-follow planting plans to create your homegrown feast.

Container gardens.

Inground gardens.

Herb gardens.

Zone map.

Frost Maps.

Resources.

Index.