At last, homegrown food doesn't have to be humble. In fact, it can be downright exotic. A cup of coffee brewed from beans grown in the kitchen. Juice from an orange harvested from the living room. A salad sprinkled with pomegranate seeds or olives plucked from a tree in the dining room.

It's now possible in any climate, thanks to Growing Tasty Tropical Plants in Any Home, Anywhere, the breakthrough book by Laurelynn Martin and Byron Martin. In this practical guide the owners of the acclaimed Logee's Tropical Plants draw on a century's worth of family secrets for lush, exotic edibles, all grown in containers indoors. The book covers 47 varieties of fruiting plants -- from chocolate to cherries, from papaya to passion fruit, from grapefruit to guava. For each plant the Martins provide everything an enthusiast needs to know, including information on plant selection, planting, pruning, maintenance, and harvesting. They also provide guidelines for caring for container-grown fruit trees -- watering, pest control, pruning, fertilizers, and troubleshooting.

The book will have instant appeal to the ever-growing number of consumers interested in growing their own food, as well as houseplant enthusiasts looking for new and unusual (and productive!) plants. The Martins observed a 40 percent increase in fruiting plant sales from 2007 to 2008 alone, and their hotline is bombarded with questions about growing exotic fruits. There are simply no other books devoted to growing tropical edible plants indoors. This book, truly the first of its kind, is sure to be both an immediate hit and a long-term classic.

Now anyone can enjoy the challenge and satisfaction of growing tropical fruit...as close to home as it gets.