Just few months ago, I have reviewed “Natural color” by Sasha Duerr. In some respects, "Harvest: Unexpected Projects Using 47 Extraordinary Garden Plants" Stefani Bittner and Alethea Harampolis is similar, and in some, those are two totally different books. Both are beautifully photographed and printed coffee table books in hardcover. They are perfect for a gift. But where "Natural color" was focused on collecting plants for dying fabrics, "Harvest" promotes planting your garden to have plant material available for all kinds of home projects. And utilizing the plant "from fruit to root", in many cases.

In "Harvest" you are going to find ideas and recipes for all kind of projects: for making food and beverages, skin care products, home remedies and flower arrangements (with all the details on how to arrange the branches for those who like me know nothing about good design!). And these are not the most obvious ideas, for example blueberries are used for natural dye and artichoke for a bouquet. Plants you would not normally think of eating are used as teas, or in butters or vinaigrettes! And of course there is plenty on edible flowers and ideas how to incorporate those into salads.

The plants in the book are organized by season: early, mid and late. Each plant craft or use idea is preceded by plant description, including gardening requirements like hardness zone, sun and moisture needs.

I really enjoyed reading the book, and I am glad I found it just in time to start planning my home garden for this season. I should be able to try many ideas soon!

I have received a free copy of the book for the purpose of this review from Blogging for books. The links in this post may contain affiliate codes.