Root to Bloom

Root to Bloom equips readers with the knowledge and tools to grow, eat and celebrate every edible part of the plant (just as the nose-to-tail movement has recast people’s understanding and appreciate of meat).

The book will explore the lesser-used parts of a plant that are often snubbed in favour of the produce we’ve come to expect. It includes a comprehensive rundown of 35 edible plants (from coriander to onion to sweet potato), covering extra components of edibility, including flowers, roots and weeds. It educates people about ideal growing conditions, the nutrition level of the parts, as well as activities on how to prepare/preserve them for eating – with recipes (such as Japanese pickled sweet ginger, pickled nasturtium pods, and broccoli leaf coleslaw).

As well, it includes six breakout chapters on key related topics: medicinal; herbicides; skin care; weeds/foraging; the orchard; and preserving flowers.

About the Authors

In 2007, Mat Pember founded Melbourne’s The Little Veggie Patch Co, a business that specialises in the design, installation and maintenance of chemical-free vegetable gardens for urban dwellers. He has co-written 3 best-selling Little Veggie Patch Co. books.

Jocelyn Cross spent her childhood on a cattle farm in Buxton, Central Victoria, where her frugal mother made the most of everything on the land, from the blackberries that grew as noxious weeds, to the productive veggie garden, an orchard and their own beef and laying chickens. To Jocelyn’s family, understanding the provenance of their food was a necessity rather than a mindful way of life. After working for 15 years as an interior designer, Jocelyn decided to return to her farming roots on a whim and began Petite Ingredient, an organic edible own business, in a large greenhouse in the Yarra Valley.