Joseph Tychonievich, a gardener and author of several gardening books, teams up with illustrator Liz Anna Kozik, who has provided the artwork for several science and leaning-centric comic books, to tell the story of a pair of neighbors, one who has a green thumb, but is bad with computers, and another who is tech savvy and has just decided to start her own garden.
Mia, the younger of the neighbors, finds herself jealous of George's bountiful backyard filled with tons of different kinds of fruits and vegetables. When the two become friends over some errant computer issues, George starts to mentor Mia on converting her small backyard into a garden of her own.
The Comic Book Guide to Growing Food is broken up into 10 chapters, each detailing a step in creating and maintaining a well-balanced and properly established garden. While Mia is quick to jump at the idea of digging up her backyard and planting whatever she wants, George quickly slows her down and runs through several preparation steps before even making the garden, much less planting the vegetables themselves.
First, George will explain how to look at the yard you have and determine the best place, and size, for your new garden. He even goes into considering if you should use containers and, if you don't have a yard, where you can find places inside to put the pots. The pair then go on to discuss what are good beginner vegetables to start with and why these are the best options.
After that, the book goes into determining the best time to actually plant your vegetables based on your local area's climate, as well as how to get your soil tested so you know what you need to add to your fertilizer in order to get the optimal mix for the vegetables you plan on planting. Only after all of this prep work does George let Mia actually start building her backyard garden.
From there, George urges Mia (and the reader) to visit local nurseries over big-box stores as they should have a better selection of plants, along with a more knowledgeable staff, and then the pair start to plant her first seedlings.
The book's story and lessons continue with discussions about identifying various pests and diseases that could infect a garden and the best ways to handle the various invaders that could hurt your harvest, as well as weeding and mulching your garden to keep it healthy. The comic wraps up with chapters focusing on actually picking the vegetables and even a few recipes that can be made with the vegetables George has recommended.
The Comic Book Guide to Growing Food presents what could be a daunting topic for beginners in a way that is easy to understand without feeling patronizing. After reading this book and going over Kozik's online portfolio, it is clear the illustrator has a unique style that has a charming quality to it. While this text could easily have been an article on Tychonievich's website, presenting the concepts in the form of a budding neighborly friendship makes the many details conveyed easier to digest. The Comic Book Guide to Growing Food feels like just the right how-to book for someone who is thinking about upturning their backyard in order to become self-sufficient in vegetables, especially since the book encourages new growers to slow down and tackle the job in a way that is easy to maintain until you become a more practiced hand.
