We’re fortunate to have Susan Hadacek, master gardener, on staff. Below are some of her favorite recommended books for all things gardening.
Highlights from the Team – May 2025
05/22/2025
Contributions by Susan Hadacek
We’re fortunate to have Susan Hadacek, master gardener, on staff. Below are some of her favorite recommended books for all things gardening.
A Garden Can be Anywhere
By Lauri Kranz with Dean Kuipers“
Edible Gardens LA founder Lauri Kranz shares her secrets for planning, planting, growing, and maintaining luscious edible gardens, no matter the setting or size of the plot.”
Floret Farm’s A Year in Flowers
By Erin Benzakein
“Brimming with gorgeous photography and practical design techniques, this new book by beloved flower farmer and floral designer Erin Benzakein illustrates beautiful seasonal bouquets that anyone can make and everyone will enjoy.”
Gaia’s Garden
By Toby Hemenway
“Brimming with gorgeous photography and practical design techniques, this new book by beloved flower farmer and floral designer Erin Benzakein illustrates beautiful seasonal bouquets that anyone can make and everyone will enjoy.”
Golden Gate Gardening
By Pam Peirce
“Golden Gate Gardening offers encyclopedic coverage of gardening principles and practices specific to the Bay Area and the Northern California coast.”
Regenerative Agriculture
By Richard Perkins
“Regenerative Agriculture offers a clear and pragmatic approach to designing, installing and managing profitable small farms, and is built around Richard Perkins’s tireless work to restore the dignity to rural stewardship through intelligent human-scale farming.
Teaming With Microbes, The Organic Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web
By Jeff Lowenfels & Wayne Lewis
In Teaming with Microbes, “you’ll discover that healthy soil is teeming with life—not just earthworms and insects, but a staggering multitude of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms.”
The Complete Gardener: A Practical, Imaginative Guide to Every Aspect of Gardening
By Montagu Don
“Written with passion and packed with practical information, Monty Don’s The Complete Gardener is a must-read for anyone who wants to learn how to garden.”
The Market Gardener, A successful grower’s Handbook
By Jean-Martin Fortier
“The Market Gardener is a compendium of Jean-Martin Fortier’s proven horticultural techniques and innovative growing methods. This complete guide is packed with practical information.”
The Secret Life of Compost
By Malcolm Beck
“Malcolm Beck’s Garden-Ville is one of the largest commercial composting operations in the country. [In The Secret Life of Compost], he shares his insight into the processes of decay that can transform everything from lawn trimmings to sewer sludge into life-giving earth.”
The Worm Farmer’s Handbook
By Rhonda Sherman
“The Worm Farmer’s Handbook details the ins and outs of vermicomposting for mid- to large-scale operations, including how to recycle organic materials ranging from food wastes and yard trimmings to manure and shredded office paper.”
