Grow What You Love

An accessible guide that shows how easy it is to grow your favourite produce. Grow What You Love is designed to be a simple guide to growing vegetables, herbs and more that will add to the flavour and variety of fresh produce choices throughout the year. Aimed at novice and experienced gardeners alike it will be an image-driven, how to adventure from an expert gardener and communicator with an enthusiasm for an authentic life. The colourful book will begin with an exploration of Emily Murphy’s approach to gardening and how it can fit into modern life with little time and effort. She will go on to give advice on how best to choose food plants that readers love or can discover, and follows with simple methods for garden-to-table growing, including a selection of her favourite seasonal recipes. The result for readers will be a garden-fresh bounty for any time of the year. The book will feature three elements interspersed throughout: The Plant Directory Plants from a dozen categories will invite readers to choose, mix and match to their tastes. Examples are Tender Herbs, Woody Herbs, Root Vegetables, Beans, Tomatoes, Summer Squash and Cucumbers, Winter and Summer Salads, Berries, Hardy Greens, Edible Perennials and Flowers, andCompanion Plants. Each plant choice will include an introduction to the vegetable, bush fruit or herb, recommendations on the author’s favourites, and growing instructions. These will be clearly laid out in straightforward texts organized into Plant, Fix, Pick, and Varieties to Try. The Simple Act of Growing will include features on plant diversity, organic growing, companion planting, saving seeds and more. Emily is an experienced teacher of organic gardening to all ages. She knows how to present information in clear and engaging language. Throughout the book she will explain how to attend to all garden needs, for example, Garden Anywhere; Soil Building and Composting; Sow Seeds, Grow Cuttings and More; Smart Watering; Cultivate, Prune and Follow Nature; Prevent Pests; and Continue Growing. Seasonal Recipes. Emily’s online and print coverage often features her simple and tasty recipes, which include preserves. A selection of her best will be interspersed throughout the book. Examples are Fava Beans, Greens & Fresh Herb Toasts; Best-Ever Blueberry Pie; and Spring Greens with Jicama, Cilantro & Lime. Emily is an expert gardener with extensive experience. In Grow What You Love she will demonstrate how easy it is to grow fresh foods in abundance using minimal time, and even in minimal space. It is sure to be a perfect choice for today’s readers that enjoy fresh homegrown organic produce. The author’s built-in online audience — www.passthepistil.com, social media (Instagram 13,400, Twitter 7,444 and 44,600 Likes, 238 YouTube subscribers)— and on television and in the traditional press (such as Garden Design Magazine) will contribute to the book’s presence and support the concept and message of Grow What You Love.

A beautiful publication... Each page is filled with colorful and uplifting images. Each chapter is dedicated to teaching the reader how to dive into their passion and grow what they love.--Bren Haas "Creating Living with Bren Haas Blog" (2/26/2018 12:00:00 AM), A nice volume for anyone looking for inspiration and motivation to start a garden.--Kristina Sepetys "Edible East Bay Blog" (4/11/2018 12:00:00 AM), Beautifully put together... It's pure gardener's eye candy... Murphy writes as though she is sitting across from you, chatting over a basket of fresh produce... It's a lifestyle book with the message: get out there, plant something, eat every part of it, and enjoy the process.--Christy Wilhelmi "Gardenerd.com" (3/13/2018 12:00:00 AM), Beauty, clarity and simplicity are hallmarks of this guide to growing vegetables, herbs and small fruits -- beginning with the table of contents, laid out to allow for a speedy zeroing in on a topic of immediate interest. That might be edible flowers, summer greens, berries, or one of the recipes... Each section of the book is easily scanned and presented in a pleasantly chatty, common-sense style, as in wise tips for setting out on the gardening path... The main, central section is a directory of plants divided into 12 types that include winter greens, root vegetables, berries, pods and beans, and so on. For each individual listing there is a roster of varieties to consider and concise information on where and how to plant, when to pick, and how to use. In the perennial herbs section, for example, thyme is described as a strong, earthy herb that pairs well with squash, onion and potatoes. Before and following the directory, basics are covered: composting, soil types and fertility, container gardens, common pests. Seed-sowing basics includes a recipe for making your own seed starting mix. Among the six workshops scattered throughout the book is a step-by-step, colour-illustrated guide to rooting stem cuttings... Filled with inspiring photos and easy-reading, helpful information. It's a useful pleasure.--Helen Chesnut "Times Colonist" (3/24/2018 12:00:00 AM), Emily's colorful photography and accessible text guides the novice and experienced gardener to consider a different path when growing things -- to grow what you love and fit it in to the modern lifestyle... The book instantly comes alive as you read the first few pages. I felt as if I was sitting across from Emily, as I read (in her conversational tone) how her book is more than just about gardening or food-making: It's about cultivating joy and growing all parts of your life.... Gardening books sometimes fall neatly and squarely into one category: either it's directed at the beginner gardener or it's an expansive detailed publication for the advanced gardener. What I like best about Emily's book is that it bridges both realms: it offers practical advice for those new to gardening and offers ideas for more experienced gardeners. Emily Murphy's love of learning and growing plants not only exudes from the pages of her new book, but also the fact that she cares -- and wants others to be successful... Emily has several garden-to-table recipes for readers to try, whether they grow the food themselves or buy it at the farmer's market... Filled with gorgeous photography and an easy conversational style, Grow What You Love is destined to join other great gardening books on my bookshelf.--Jen "Frau Zinnie Garden Blog" (3/2/2018 12:00:00 AM)

Emily Murphy is the author of the foodie-centric garden blog Pass The Pistil, and one of Garden Design Magazine’s “most loved” recent blogs. She is a web series host, a contributor to Better Homes and Gardens, a garden design and organic gardening consultant and a teacher of organic gardening. Emily holds a degree in Ethnobotanical Resources from Humboldt State University where she also studied botany and environmental science.