Jean Ann Van Krevelen is continuing the long tradition of sharing gardening tips and home-grown recipes with her new book called “Grocery Gardening.”

It may be difficult to decide where to keep your copy of the new “Grocery Gardening” book. Some of you will certainly want to keep it with your other gardening resources, but others will want to keep it handy in the kitchen.

Maybe you need to buy two copies.

Edible gardening is in fashion again and there are more new gardeners planting seeds and growing gardens than ever before.

“We’ve seen a resurgence of interest in edible gardening, but many new gardeners aren’t sure what to do with their bounty,” says author Jean Ann Van Krevelen.

“It’s very different to grow a couple of zucchini vines and harvest the squash than it is to pick up two at the store.”

For the first time, Botanical Interests has produced a print catalog that features all of its seed offerings with its signature botanic illustrations.

I’ve been keeping up with new developments at Botanical Interests by following @BotanicalSeeds on Twitter. And I’m so glad I did.

If I hadn’t been following along, I wouldn’t have known the Broomfield, Colo., online seed company produced its first print catalog this year.

The catalog arrived in the mail this week, and I have to say it’s one of the prettiest catalogs I’ve ever seen. Each of the catalog’s 28 pages is filled with full-color botanical illustrations–the same ones the company uses for its one-of-a-kind seed packets.

A new line of seeds being introduced this year is called “The Botanic Gardens Series Seed Packet” line. Botanical Interests is working with botanic gardens throughout the country to protect native North American species that are rare and potentially endangered. The seeds from this new line will help prevent plant species from being lost to us forever.

The 2010 gardening book season is in full swing and these three new titles will help gardeners of every level grow great gardens.

The first crop of gardening books to review arrived in my office this week and now I can’t wait for the growing season to begin.

I’m sure every gardener will find something they can put to use in each of the three new titles from Cool Springs Press, whether it’s a fabulous new recipe, a way to avoid plant problems or how to pinch a few more pennies.

I plan on writing complete reviews of each book over the next several weeks, but thought you might like an overview, just to whet your appetite.

Each attractive cover has an intriguing title, is aimed to a specific audience, and loaded with full-color photos, illustrations and all kinds of interesting tips, tricks and ideas. These are guaranteed to make gardeners want to get growing immediately.

Chioggia beets are an Italian heirloom beet first introduced to U.S. gardeners in 1865. (Image provided by Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.)

The January issue of Sunset Magazine features 10 feel-good foods for adding a little zip to menus for the New Year. Along with fresh sardines, artisanal tofu and bison are veggies like Chioggia beets, scarlet runner beans and quinoa.

The article promotes the feel-good factors of adding these new tastes to our diets, but doesn’t mention an added benefit: each of these can be grown in home gardens.

For example, Chioggia beets (pronounced KEE oh gee ya) are a small, pretty beet that can be grown just about anywhere.

Jere Gettle, owner and founder of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, has offered the beet seeds in his catalog for the last 10 years.

“They are so beautiful and taste so good, we grow them here every year,” he says.

Parsnips are now in season and every kitchen can find a use for this very versatile vegetable.

If you planted a fall garden with vegetables grown for their roots and shoots, you’re probably now harvesting the fruits of your labor.

As for the rest of us (who dragged our feet on planting until it was too late) we’ll have to satisfy our need for winter veggies by stopping by the produce department at our local grocery store.

But after paying nearly $2 a pound for organic parsnips this week, you can bet I’ll be making room in my garden–and time in my schedule–for some fall planting this season.

Actually, it’s worth it. Cold-weather vegetables are high in fiber, low in calories and loaded with vitamins and minerals. Some favorites, like broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, feature cancer-fighting phytonutrients, too.

The 2010 Seeds of Change catalog offers seed for both the home gardener and the market grower, including the new All Lettuce Mix pictured on the catalog cover.

From an organic gardener’s point of view, there’s a lot to like about Seeds of Change.

Since 1989 the company has supported sustainable organic agriculture and all of its flower, vegetable and herb seed are 100% certified organic–1200 varieties in all.

The company has a large seed donation program and it also donates 1% of net sales to help organic growers around the world.

The Seeds of Change catalog is filled with heirloom, traditional, medicinal, rare and new seeds. New introductions this year include 6 salad mixes, White Sicilian Garlic, Dark Star Zucchini, Totem Strawberry and Fordhook Giant Chard–to name just a few.

Unusual varieties, like Red Swan Beans, share catalog space with old favorites like Kentucky Wonder green beans. Heirloom tomatoes include dependable growers like Stupice, tasty Brandywine and rare black tomatoes like Paul Robeson.

Brian, the Garden Gnome, will no doubt bring good luck and more wild birds to my organic garden this year.

Happy New Gardening Year to you! I hope your year is off to a great start.

If you’re like many other gardeners, you spent some of the cold days of December thinking about your 2009 garden and planning ahead for the 2010 growing season.

Some of the resolutions gardeners posted here for our resolutions contest in December, appeared on the Baltimore Sun Newspaper’s website in Susan Reimer’s “Garden Variety” blog on January 1.

I think every gardener can relate to other gardener’s resolutions. Who hasn’t vowed to set a garden budget and then blow it at the first garden sale in spring? I’m also guilty of going plant crazy, buying too many beautiful plants and then searching for a spot to plant them.

Research shows that cruciferous vegetables, like Brussels sprouts, contain certain chemicals which are thought to prevent estrogen-related cancers.

Seeing the tall stalks of Brussels sprouts at the farmers’ market last weekend, reminded me this veggie was once considered a banned substance at our dinner table.

I’d given up serving them until I started roasting the sprouts in a hot oven with a little olive oil, fresh garlic and oregano. Roasting brings out a nutty flavor that is a perfect complement to other fall foods and their crisp texture is a pleasant surprise.

Cruciferous vegetables–like Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage–are members of the mustard family (Cruciferae or Brassicaceae) and they get their name from their cross-shaped flower petals.

Your mom was right when she told you to eat your Brussels sprouts. These cool-season vegetables are garden-variety superheroes when it comes to fiber and vitamin C.

Brussels sprouts grow on tall, thick stalks and when they’re ready to harvest they resemble small trees loaded with miniature cabbages.

It was a subfreezing Saturday morning at the Cherry Creek Farmers Market in Denver, but this stalk of Brussels sprouts gave Adrienne Hott something to smile about.

Last Saturday I had the chance for a one-on-one Tweet up with Jean Ann VanKrevelen, Portland food writer, director of social media for Cool Springs Press and co-author of the forthcoming book, “Grocery Gardening: Planting, Preparing and Preserving Fresh Food.”

Jean Ann (@JeanAnnVK) was in Denver for a family event and looked for fellow garden writers on Twitter, where she found me @WesternGardener.

We met at the Cherry Creek Farmers Market, despite the subfreezing temps that made for frozen fingers and wilted lettuce.

Jean Ann brought along her niece, Adrienne Hott and Adrienne’s husband Chris, who were visiting from Phoenix. They were exceptionally good sports humoring Jean Ann and me as we admired the glorious fall vegetables including perfect pumpkins and colorful winter squash.

Chesnok Red is a purple stripe, hardneck garlic, perfect for planting now and harvesting next year.

If you’re looking for a simple way to get a head start on next year’s gardening, plant garlic. Planting now means you’ll be rewarded next summer when your own garden-fresh garlic is ready to harvest.

If you’ve followed my garlic-growing trials, you know that I took it as a personal gardening challenge to find ways to improve my garlic yield. I didn’t want to just grow more garlic, I wanted to grow bigger heads of garlic, too.

When I dug my garlic in late July, I was happy with the results and now I think I’ve cracked the code to growing great garlic.

First, start with good quality seed garlic. Tagawa Gardens in Aurora, Colo., had so many different varieties, I spent nearly 15 minutes reading the descriptions and making my choices. I bought Inchelium Red, Music, Chesnok Red and Romanian Red. I guess I like red garlic!