Chris McLaughlin has been gardening and studying plants for over thirty-five years. She’s the author of nine books: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Composting, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Heirloom Vegetables, Hobby Farms: Small-Space Rabbit Keeping, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Small-Space Gardening, Vertical Vegetable Gardening, A Garden to Dye For, Growing Heirloom Flowers, Raising Animals for Fiber, and The Good Garden.

Chris is the associate editor for From Scratch Magazine and a staff contributor to Vegetable Gardener.com. Her work has appeared magazines such as Urban Farm Magazine, Hobby Farm Home Magazine, The Herb Companion, The Heirloom Gardener, and Fine Gardening Magazine.

Chris is the mother of four, grandmother of five, and lives on a small flower farm in Northern California’s Gold Country with her family and more animals than she will admit to. Between breaths, Chris attempts to keep up with her own website, Laughing Crow & Company (laughingcrowco.com).