Margaret Roach’s Magical Garden
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Today, Margaret Roach’s all-new 21st anniversary edition of her first award-winning book, A Way to Garden, makes its way into the world.
It’s 300+ pages, nearly twice as thick as the original, packed with color photos, and totally revamped to reflect forty years of wisdom and insight, most importantly the changes in how Margaret gardens today. For gardeners of all kinds and at all skill levels, it’s a dream, a treasure trove of knowledge. Some highlights for me include:
- 18 Seed-Starting Tips
- 13 Things About Growing Tomatoes
- Organic Lawn Care
- A Must-Have Rose
- Not Your Average Morning Glories
- Growing Potatoes
- Making Compost
I could list so much more, not to mention the touching stories (like one about sisterhood, which made me cry).
Though my garden is wee, Margaret and her website are a constant source of inspiration and a resource I turn to again and again. She taught me how to freeze parsley (and other herbs) and the trick to growing cilantro — hint, as Margaret says: “sow, sow, sow again.” She also introduced me to Craig LeHoullier, his book, and Dester tomatoes, which my husband started from seed a few weeks ago in our basement. I cannot wait for summer.
I recently visited Margaret and her garden, and I’ve included a few snaps below. But before you get lost in the wonderland that is Margaret’s backyard…
A Few Things:
- Margaret is hosting a big giveaway featuring some of her favorite garden gear.
- May 11th: Visit Margaret’s Garden, Take a Class, Buy Plants, Listen to a Lecture, & More (Come! I’ll be there, too!)
- Read more about Margaret’s book here (or in The Washington Post!)
- UPDATE: GIVEAWAY is CLOSED. WINNER IS KATHRYN RICHTER.
To enter to win a copy of A Way to Garden, leave a comment below. Tell me your favorite vegetable and your favorite way to cook or eat it. Good luck! - ALSO: Instagram Friends: There is giveaway over there, too: a signed copy of A Way to Garden
Some snaps from Margaret’s garden: A sea of hellebores.
Backyard pond, where Margaret’s friends are known to take baths, and …
… where Margaret finds salamander egg beds while skimming leaves.
Margaret’s 125-year old apple tree.
Voodoo lilie bulbs.
Margaret and her book! Get yours: A Way to Garden
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
197 Comments on “Margaret Roach’s Magical Garden”
Garlic scapes sauted or grilled or in a vase!
Carrots have got to be my favorite vegetable! Roasted with olive oil, steamed with butter, or eaten raw as a vehicle for hummus! Shaved into salads or grated into cakes! Or crunched by themselves of course!
my favorite spring vegetable is asparagus, love it simply grilled with a drizzle of lemon juice
I love to listen to Margaret’s podcasts. Fresh tomatoes with basil are my favorite to grow and to eat.
I don’t think I can truly choose a favorite veg, but right now I’m loving our prolific miner’s lettuce plants. They are so cute with their tiny white flowers and such a sweet and tender green to munch in the garden or in a salad.
Broccoli roasted in the oven with olive oil and fresh seasonings!
Asperagus, fresh from my garden. Cooked anyway I can think off, but maybe roasted on pizza as my absolute favourite.
Brussels sprouts are my favorite! Roasted with Pancetta, using the Ina Garten method :o)
A raw summer tomato, still warm from the sun, sliced, with good mozzarella, fresh basil, EVOO, and balsamic vinegar.
I love many veggies but one of my absolute favorites has to be grilled sweet corn with butter, lime juice, chili flakes and cilantro. Oh my! I can’t wait for corn season!
Tomatoes. Done up in a summertime sandwich with mayonnaise, salt, pepper and a slice of cooper sharp cheese. Yum!
One year I will make it one of Margaret’s garden days!!!
I love onions of any style in any thing! I was long embarrassed because ladies aren’t supposed to love onions, but I’ve grown out of that. If there are pickled onions on something I am especially excited!
Tomatoes! All kinds and varieties of tomatoes (including a few from Greece)!
Raw, roasted, cooked to make tomato sauce, I love them in any possible way! ♥
I live for summer tomatoes – technically a fruit but still one of the best things about summer. My favorite way to eat them is sliced with salt and pepper (or Spike seasoning) on top of a toasted English muffin spread with cream cheese. So. Good.
First off, great photos. Looks like a plot of heaven to me. I love Margaret. There’s always something either useful or comforting in her blog because Nature is a great healer. As to my favorite vegetable, I think I’d have to say the onion. I use them all the time: fresh, pickled, caramelized, chopped in soups or with other vegetables. I’ll even slice a nice sweet one very thin and slap it between two pieces of buttered bread with a little salt and pepper and, bang, I’m in heaven. Of course, I only do this when I’m not going to be breathing on other people. Aside from all that, they are good for a person.
Though tomatoes might skew to the fruit side of categories if we’re being picky, thick slices of tomatoes on open-face sourdough, pesto, and mozzarella sandwiches melted under the broiler are one of the best parts of summer. Also, grilled, smoky slices of zucchini mixed with cannelloni beans and a dressing of pesto and white wine vinegar. So amazing. Sorry- that’s two veggies…
Favorite vegetable – that’s a tough one as it depends on the season! Asparagus in the spring is lovely when roasted; summer’s bounty – all veggies and so many ways to eat them, raw, sautéed, grilled and my favorite just picked fresh out of the garden; fall/winter – squash and brussel sprouts – both roasted!
My favorite thing to grow is arugula from seed or starts. Just picked from the garden makes every meal special. I put it on everything. And, it is easy to grow!
Asparagus drizzled with EVOO, broiled for 8-10 minutes. Remove from broiler and dust on Parm, kosher (or Maldon) salt, and balsamic. Broil for another 2-3 minutes. It’s absolutely divine!!!
I love green beans. I saute green beans and garlic in some coconut oil. I saute for around 6-7 minutes. The last minute I sprinkle with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. Yummmmmm
Carrots, roasted with honey and cinnamon, hands down! Tomatoes follow right behind. So jealous you got to visit Margaret’s garden. Her blog is wonderful, isn’t it?
We love fresh tomatoes and basil – nothing better in the summer!
Arugula! Dressed with fresh lemon, olive oil and a shaving of pecorino!
Just one vegetable? Why you torture us?? lol. Okay, I would love to say something sexy, like nettles or garlic scapes but honestly? I eat more cauliflower than I care to say. Roasted. Salt and olive oil. Nothing sexy, but sooooo SO good!
Thanks for this lovely post. Leeks. Caramelized and salty.
They are all so good, but Tomatoes have a kind of special place.Alone with good salt and pepper or in a salad with basil and cheese.SO SO good.
Tomatoes! There is nothing more glorious than home grown tomatoes right off the plant, or sliced with mozzarella and drizzled with olive oil and good balsamic, or pretty much anything else you do with them!
Tomatoes!!
Fresh from the vine….warm and juicy with just a pinch of sea salt.
Or a big tomato pie!
Mmmmmm, summer.
Thanks for showcasing Margaret’s wonderful book! I bought her original version, loaned it to a friend, lost it, and would love to own her new edition. To answer your (difficult) question: I love growing my own potatoes so that I can harvest them when they are small and thin-skinned and moist, and I simply steam them and toss them with olive oil and snipped herbs. I could eat them three times a day, and sometimes I do.
Roasted cauliflower. Thanks!
Tomatoes olive oil and mozzarella!