Book Review: Books for Cooks 2010

Growing Tasty Tropical Plants: in any home, anywhere.

by Laurelynn & Byron Martin
Storey Publishing, 160 pp., $18.95 (paper)

I could not be more excited at my discovery of this nifty little book! The Martins, whose family has owned Logee's Tropical Plants in Connecticut since 1892, share a century's worth of secrets for growing exotic edibles in containers, covering 47 varieties of fruiting plants. While the book includes common fruits such as citrus, which I have grown successfully in containers and in the garden, it also includes some oddities like the Australian finger lime and Buddha's hand citron, providing careful care guidelines for successful growing. Less common fruits that grow in our area are also covered, such as papaya, pineapple, passion fruit, and pineapple guava (mine finally fruited after seven years, hooray for hand pollination!). Each plant description includes information on plant selection, best varieties, planting, pruning, and maintenance for successful production and harvesting year round. Drawings and full-color photos abound for easy identification and as a guide to shaping your trees for optimal fruit production and specific species aesthetics. There's also ample information on watering, pest control, pruning, fertilizing, and troubleshooting your own indoor orchard.

But for me the fun begins with the really strange offerings like dragon fruit, coffee, and even cacao, miracle fruit, and black pepper. It includes a few recipes to process your tropical harvest and explains step-by-step methods for fermenting cacao beans to make cocoa nibs, curing your own olives, and roasting your own homegrown coffee. This book is the incentive I needed to finally build that greenhouse that's been in the planning stage for years.

As expected, most of the plants covered are available at Logee's nursery, but the book also provides a list of other resources and places across the nation to grant these rare and exciting botanical whims. No doubt this book will be an exciting gift to the avid gardener on your shopping list.