Misilla dela Llana - Four-Season Food Gardening: How to grow vegetables, fruits, and herbs year-round

I spent my early childhood in the Philippines and have vivid recollections of the fruit trees that surrounded our home. Often food was scarce, but the trees provided us with succulent mangoes, although some were eaten immature as they were preferred for their crispy texture and tart, unripe fruit. Guava trees boasted sweet and pleasant berries that were eaten almost daily during the season. Banana plants were adjacent to our backyard, as well as coconuts from palm trees that naturally grew on the side of the dirt roads. When we moved to the States, my mother thoroughly enjoyed gardening, and I recall the flower beds cultivated with an array of vibrant tulips.

I remember the summer I picked a yellow pear tomato for the first time, and it was perfectly ripe and sweet! Our backyard was also home to a thicket of native Pacific blackberries. These prickly shrubs flourished with plump and juicy berries which were carefully handpicked every summer for mom to make jars of tangy-yet-sweet blackberry jam. One of my first summer jobs was picking blueberries at a local berry farm with my siblings and friends to earn money to buy school clothes and supplies. I thought then that the acres of various types of blueberries were amazing! Some berries had a diameter of a U.S. quarter, and a few were much smaller, but very tasty and sweet. Harvesting fruits at local farms later became a tradition with our own children. Autumns are spent picking apples, pears, stone fruits, and fall vegetables in my parents backyard as well as at my aunt and uncles property. The experience of seeing, harvesting, and tasting freshly picked food naturally instilled the value and importance of learning to grow my own edible landscape. A garden will not only give you fresh and nutritious food, but its also a place for reconnecting with nature. Gardening promotes learning and empowerment. It is calming, good for the body and mind, and so much more.

Today I live in the beautiful Northwest, a temperate climate with four distinct yet subtle seasons influenced by the Pacific Ocean. Our maritime environment means a long spring with ample rain and a typically warm and dry summer. Its generally cool in winter, but it does not reach the extremes. Because of the moderate and mild seasons, its safe to say that we can grow edible crops year-round, but we do require protection such as row covers in fall through early spring. However, I know that not all gardeners live in a similar climate. Because of this, growing a four-season vegetable garden will require more or less effort, depending on where you live. This book is meant to offer insight, ideas, and inspiration for ways you can grow edibles year-round, no matter what kind of climate you call home.

My mother always planted a garden consisting of vegetables, berries, herbs, and fruit trees.

We plant several varieties of cold-hardy leafy greens such as kale, tatsoi, spinach, collards, and Swiss chard to help extend our harvest season.

Setting up season extenders is a handy way to lengthen your growing season.

In the last few years, we have had more snow and colder days than usual, causing some hardy crops, including perennial tree collards, to perish during winter. A thick layer of mulch provides insulation, although long-standing snow on the ground and extremely cold temperatures may severely damage or even kill semi-hardy crops.