Author Albert Speaking Jan. 16

North County gardeners are in for a treat: top garden author and web publisher Steve Albert is the speaker at the free Jan. 16 meeting of the Windsor Garden Club. Albert is the author of “The Kitchen Garden Grower’s Guide,” a vegetable and herb growing encyclopedia which has ranked among Amazon’s top vegetable gardening books. An updated 10th anniversary edition of the book will be published this year. Also scheduled for publication this year is his new book, “Starting Your Vegetable Garden.”

He is also the publisher of a gorgeous website Harvest to Table (harvesttotable.com). It’s ranked among the top 20 vegetable gardening sites on the web and visited by more than 10 million gardeners every year.

He lives in the Sonoma Valley where he grows vegetables and fruits. He’s designed edible and flowering gardens for clients around the country. He’s has lived and gardened in many regions of California and in Massachusetts, Florida, and Iowa.

Albert has taught in both the landscape design and writing programs at U.C. Berkeley Extension for 25 years and has been a certified California nurseryman for 30 years. He was a Sonoma County Master Gardener for more than 10 years where he served as a director and organization president.

He was a journalist for Time-Warner, Inc., for many years. He holds graduate degrees from U.C. Berkeley and the University of Iowa.

He’ll be speaking Jan. 16 on “Planning Now to Have Your Best Year-Round Food Garden in 2018.” The event runs from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the community room at the Windsor Senior Center, 9231 Foxwood Dr., in Windsor. Presentation begins at 6:45 p.m. and Albert will be taking questions afterwards.

Anyone dreaming of summer gardening will have a field day wandering Albert’s website or his book. In addition to practical planting and “how to grow” guides, he writes on how to cook what you grow, too.

Everything from blueberry pancakes fresh apricot tart to vegetable stew to grilled chicken kebabs to hearty ham and cheese gratin. His book features the same “planting to plate” approach.

“The Kitchen Garden Grower’s Guide” outlines how to plant, how to grow and care for crops, how to harvest, how to store, and how to prepare vegetables and herbs. From asparagus and beet greens to Belgian endive and strawberries, his book focuses on how to organize a small garden close to the kitchen that will yield a fresh-picked-at-the-peak-of-ripeness small crop of a gardener’s favorite things.

Find out more about the Windsor Garden Club at www.windsorgardenclub.org.