'Grow It Yourself Vegetables' by Andrew Steens

If you thought growing food for you and your family was too hard, pick up Andrew Steen’s book and get ready to be surprised.

Andrew shares his life-long passion for home-grown products and his outstanding gardening knowledge in Grow It Yourself Vegetables.

As you read it you’ll be drawn into the satisfaction of DIY gardening. A down-to-earth practical guide to growing vegetables for you and your family. Internationally best-selling author and industry-acclaimed gardening guru Andrew Steens is your right-hand man in the vege patch, and here he gives expert advice that will inspire you to give it a go and grow it yourself.

Packed with information, this book’s rightful place is in the garden shed, but keep it handy, as Andrew’s advice is perfect for the novice gardener and those more experienced will learn a great deal too.

Grow It Yourself Vegetables also includes:

-An A–Z of the vegetables best suited to New Zealand gardens, with quick reference to sowing and harvesting for each of the 33 crops.

-Handy sowing and harvest charts by climate zone give you detailed information about what grows best where and when — minimising the risk of shrivelled produce and unproductive gardens.

-Garden management information including planting plans, preparing the soil, watering, feeding and sheltering your plants, and fending off pests and diseases. There are also tips on companion gardening, green crops, planting by the moon and weed control.

Andrew Steens is a soil fanatic, a professional horticulturist with extensive experience across the landscaping, fruit, vegetable and flower industries in management, production, education, consultancy and marketing – as well as being a keen gardener with a half-acre property north of Auckland.

He is passionate about plants and devotes nearly every waking moment to growing or thinking about plants – it’s not just his hobby, it is his life! He’s received the Sir Victor Davies Award for outstanding plant knowledge, has won several medals at the Ellerslie International Flower Show and has published two books on bromeliads.

Andrew is currently managing director of CropLink Consulting Ltd, which provides consulting services for numerous horticultural crops, and he is often called on as an expert witness for crop damage claims.

Andrew’s commitment to sustainability, his passion for home gardening and his experience in horticulture are all brought together in this book.

Grow It Yourself Vegetables by Andrew Steens is a David Bateman Ltd paperback priced at $39.99 published in August 2010.