The Nitty-Gritty Gardening Book

You can garden in any season with these fun projects. You don't even need a garden space—just some containers to set in a sunny spot. Colorful photographs and step-by-step drawings make each project easy to follow for gardening success.

Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year Booklist Top 10 Project Books for Youth ACL Distinguished Book

“"Cornell offers plenty of compelling reasons to give gardening a try, and she invites readers with all different levels of experience, space, and tools to garden with her throughout the seasons. An introduction hits the basics, such as evaluating your climate zone, available space, and soil. Four chapters, one for each season, include three projects each. Many of the projects require very few special supplies, and some encourage reusing items that may be bound for the trash. Both food and flowers are the fruits of all the projects, including growing your own avocado plant, making a strawberry basket, and forcing daffodil bulbs. Color photographs, worthy of glossy gardening magazines, are shown alongside drawings of each step of the projects, making them easy to follow even for young readers. Back matter includes more gardening websites to explore and links to suppliers of gardening supplies. This book encourages budding horticulturalists with the notion that gardening doesn't have to depend on having access to the perfect climate and location." --Booklist”

"These simple, inexpensive seasonal projects are designed to inspire minds, busy hands, and yield edifying results....[K]ids will gain a sense of scientific wonder watching their completed activities come to fruition."―School Library Journal

"[G]arden projects for preteens are always welcome, and Cornell includes excellent resources for further endeavors." —Kirkus Reviews

"This book encourages budding horticulturalists with the notion that gardening doesn't have to depend on having access to the perfect climate and location." —Booklist

Kari Cornell is a freelance writer and editor who lives in South Minneapolis with her husband and two young boys. When she's not working or spending time with her family, she loves to cook, tinker in the garden, knit, or run. She feels fortunate that she's been able to combine many of the activities she likes to do in her free time with her day job. Cornell is the author of several cookbooks for children, including Cooking the Turkish Way and Cooking the Indonesian Way. She is the co-author of Growing with Purpose: Forty Years of Seward Community Cooperative Jennifer S. Larson has written many nonfiction books for young readers.

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