Cucumbers dripping on the vine, juicy tomatoes waiting to be plucked, fragrant basil bursting in bushes. There’s something magical about an edible garden. According to Los Angeles gardening guru Lauri Kranz, we needn’t live on a farm or even in a rural area to have one of our own. In her new book, A Garden Can Be Anywhere: A Guide to Growing Bountiful, Beautiful, Edible Gardens, Lauri provides all the proof we need.

As founder of Edible Gardens LA, Lauri has built some of the most gorgeous edible gardens we’ve seen — in small spots alongside tiny homes and even in full front yards in Beverly Hills. The self-taught gardener started off volunteering at her children’s pre-school and evolved her work to include well-known clientele, including James Beard award-winning chefs, celebs and pop stars.

A Garden Can Be Anywhere shares secrets for planning, planting, growing, and maintaining luscious edible gardens — no matter the setting or size of the plot. It also deserves a spot on your coffee table just for the gorgeous and inspiring photos. Co-created with her husband, a journalist who is a long-time advocate for sustainable agriculture, Lauri’s book offers a beautiful way to get back to nature. Here are a few reflections from Lauri that every home gardener should consider…

Find Your Own Favorites. Consider this a place to begin. You will find your own favorites, the plantings that bring you the most pleasure. One of our joys, as gardeners, is to look through the seed catalogs from the great seed houses — Uprising Seed Co., High Mowing, Adaptive Seeds, Hudson Vally Seed Co., Seed Savers — fueling our imaginations with possibility and wonder. A gardener is very much rooted in the present with an eye to the future and hope that work done today brings the bounty to come.

Order vs. disorder. Everyone brings their personal tastes and styles to gardening. Whether you want tidy rows or a wild jungle, find a balance that suits your taste.

Take Up Space. Plant high and low to save space.

Overgrown Is Okay. Letting plants go to seed brings beautiful flowers.

Feed Your Food. Maintain the garden by harvesting, weeding, pruning, and feeding with liquid seaweed.

Un-Contain Yourself. Plant an edible landscape all around the property. Don’t feel fenced in to one garden alone.

Bring on The Bees. African basil is good for bees — and the heart of all my gardens.

Go For Variety. Some of my other favorite plants to grow are fava beans, sun gold tomatoes and red cabbage.

Challenge Yourself. Plant what you love – and one thing you don’t.