- Tips for the Lazy Gardener by Linda Tilgner. Ms Tilgner is full of terrific ideas and tricks to help your garden flourish. At first glance, the reader may notice that many of her suggestions are a lot of work, but her reasoning is that when a lot of preparatory and maintenance work is done, the garden will be less work in the long run. A note to urban gardeners: Tilgner suggests connecting with neighbors and others who may be glad to get rid of their grass clippings, coffee grounds and other potential compost boons. One footnote here. As I told Immanuel about my reading material, he remembered a sweet story of going to the local restaurants with his wagon to get used coffee grounds for his grandmother’s garden. A+++
- Extreme Gardening by David Owens. David Owens gave me my favorite foliar spray recipes. For example: 1 tblsp apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup hydrogen peroxide, 1 gallon water. As we live in a desert with alkaline soil, the plants really perk up after a spray of this in the early morning. I liked the easy layout of his book too. Pertinent info is easy to find in his large print lists, which include a paragraph about each plant. This is a great ongoing reference, and I will be running back to it when I need info about a particular plant.
- The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control, edited by Barbara W. Ellis and Fern Marshall Bradley. This reference book is a terrific source for practical gardening and pest control. I especially love it as there are lots of beautiful color photos illustrating the insects and the kind of damage they cause to plants. If I were to recommend one gardening reference book, this would be the one. The editors make many recommendations for growing a healthier and more disease-resistant garden, as do all the authors mentioned, and they all seem to agree that the use of poison sprays does more harm than good.
- The New Organic Grower by Elliot Coleman. This book is full of information, but I want to preface this review with one comment. Coleman is a professional gardener, so this book is full of information about how to run a small five acre farm. He talks about soil blockers and special tools, and much of his info doesn’t apply to me, the small gardener. However, he is highly respected in the growing community and his tools and suggestions are now a major part of many organic grow operations. He also discusses greenhouse gardening and maintenance.
SInce 1978
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