Due to our unusually cool spring, my garlic harvest was a couple weeks late this year. But now I’ve got 300 heads of that health-supporting, culinary spice curing under the shade of my front porch. Much of that harvest will be used in cooking and fermentation (e.g. lots of kimchi) throughout the year ahead. I’ll also share some garlic heads with friends and family as part of our informal gift economy.

The very best of my garlic, though, will be saved to plant in October to grow the following year’s garlic crop. By continually selecting and planting the absolute best specimens of your harvest, you can continue to improve the quality, health, flavor, and beauty of your future plants.

Also, while I was harvesting, I took a little break to make a short video to share with you. This video includes a look at hardneck and softneck garlic varieties, tips for planting and weeding, details on harvesting, a quick how-to on curing. Plus, at the end, I share my simple secret for soil maintenance.

While I have your attention (and you are thinking of delicious spices and gardening) I also want to share some other really exciting news!

My first gardening book, Grow Your Own Spices (Harvest homegrown ginger, turmeric, saffron, wasabi, vanilla, cardamom, and other incredible spices — no matter where you live), is now available to pre-order.

This is a gardening reference book that gives you detailed instructions on how to grow spices outside their native habitat and climate. It’s loaded with full color photographs and illustrations. Plus, along the way, I try to cover as many beginning and advanced gardening skills as possible so you can successfully grow spices while also expanding your overall gardening knowledge.

Yet, this is so much more than a gardening book. It’s also a celebration of cultures around the world and a resource for discovering new ways to use spices to improve your health and well-being.

Lindsey Feldspauch — an amazing herbal medicine teacher, registered herbalist, plant lover, writer, and extraordinarily caring person — partnered with me to provide health-supporting tips for using spices in simple, powerful ways. I learned so much from her during the writing of the book that I can’t wait for all of you to be able to read these tips too.

So… I will be be sharing some previews of segments of the book and offering more information on growing spices in upcoming posts. That way you won’t have to wait until the December 8th release date to start putting some of this great information to use in your kitchen, garden, and in promoting better health.

In the meantime, I want to start by sharing the absolutely stunning cover design for the book. It features the luminous artwork of landscape designer and illustrator Greta Moore. Lots more of Greta’s botanically accurate and artistically beautiful illustrations appear throughout the pages of the book.

Finally, I had the extreme good fortune of being guided through the writing and publishing process by my editor Jessica Walliser. Jessica is a gardening guru, radio personality, award-winning gardening book author, and member of the all-star gardening power trio responsible for the incredibly informative SavvyGardening website.

Thanks to Jessica’s expert guidance, Greta’s gorgeous illustrations, Lindsey’s practical herbal medicine knowledge and outstanding research skills, and the support of the Quarto/Cools Springs Publishing team I am so proud to be able to begin to share details from this book with you. Stay tuned for more exciting book reveals in the coming months leading up to publication!

Also, I would really appreciate if you would share this information with anyone you think might enjoy it (or with your entire social networks just in case). Books like this one can only become successful with the support of wonderful readers like you to make sure word gets out.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the video!