Editors of Cooking Light - Cooking Light Pick Fresh Cookbook

There is no match for just-picked seasonal fruits. Naturally sweet and naturally good for you, these jewels belong on every table.

Local vegetables are one of the seasons triumphs, offering vivid color and unmatched flavor.

Whether used by the pinch or by the bunch, fresh herbs infuse any dish with unparalleled aromas and flavors.

This how-to guide gives you the basics on starting your garden, whether you have backyard space to spare or a small spot ready for a container garden.

Since I f irst joined Cooking Light years ago, Ive done an about-face on food and gardening. During my 10 wonderful years in the magazines marketing department, I talked about food, researched food, traveled to great food events, and ate at wonderful restaurants with famous chefs...but I had a full suitcase and an empty refrigerator. Childhood memories of picking fresh berries on our farm left me wanting a taste of that again.

So I decided to give up suits in favor of rubber boots. I marched into a retail nursery, wanting to start with the basics and learn everything about plants, while getting certified as a master gardener. Little did I know when I told the handsome manager who skeptically eyed my resume, I want to grow my own food. I want to start seeds. I want to tear up my lawn to plant a veggie garden, that wed soon be married and working together on his nursery and farm.

Today our life at Maple Valley is what youd imagine: exhausting and exhilarating. Our vegetable garden feeds usand the recipe-testing needs of the Cooking Light Test Kitchen staff. We pick lettuces for lunch salads and plant fig trees for future preserves. David and I pore over colorful tomato descriptions and swear with a vengeance that we will not grow 92 varieties again this yearand then promptly plant 120! Has our love of food encouraged us to garden and enjoy so many varieties and flavors? Or has our love of gardening and basket-bursting harvests directed whats on our dinner table?

However you come into this book, from a love of recipes or an interest in growing the ingredients, we show you how to choose, grow, store, and prepare 50 of the gardens most popular harvests. We also give detailed recipes for season-to-season garden plans that can be mixed to match your taste buds.

Grow your own tomatoes on your patio. Get dewy squash blossoms from your local farmers market. Try your hand at a raised-bed garden, or interplant a few veggies in your landscape. Starting with fresh ingredients makes even the most simple meal stunning. You get a taste of satisfaction, better nutrition, and a little bit of sunshine, all in one amazing bite.

Mary Beth Burner Shaddix

Cooking Light Gardener