It’s hard for me to believe that there are blizzards happening back east. It feels like spring where I am and I’m starting to get inspired to get out in the garden. For you east coasters, these books might be a much needed boost to get you through, and for those of you out here in the west, I think you’ll find these books will add a whole new set of skills to your list- even if you’ve been gardening for a long time!

Canning & Preserving: All You Need to Know to Make Jams, Jellies, Pickles, Chutneys & More by Ashley English is available here through pre-sale, and will hit the stores in April along with Keeping Chickens: All You Need to Know to Care for a Happy Flock. These books are a part of her ‘Homemade Living’ series and look really adaptable for both country and city living, I can’t wait to make them my late night reading. You can check out more of her work on her great blog Small Measure.

Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces by Gayla Trail is now out and you can buy it at your local independent book store, of course, or from here. Gayla started the amazing online gardening site You Growl Girl where there is information about any and everything you can think of related to gardening. There are a lot of forums on there so you can actively engage with other gardeners– really while it’s snowing it’s a perfect way to spend the day!

Alys Fowler’s book Gardening Anywhere: How to Grow Gorgeous Container Gardens, Herb Gardens, Kitchen Gardens and More- Without Spending a Fortune is a really resourceful and good looking book. Alys trained at the NY Botanical Gardens and has the uncanny knack of making even daunting tasks seem easy. All while apparently wearing adorable dresses. Her book is available here, from Chronicle Books.

Hopefully that will get you started and inspired! xo