I love to read. I keep dreaming about gardening. Here are some books that I want to read.
The Quarter-Acre Farm: How I Kept the Patio, Lost the Lawn, and Fed My Family for a Year by Spring Warren
I started reading the preview of this on Amazon (yeah, that’s their little preview logo above) the other day and got completely absorbed in it. I think the title is pretty much what you need to know about this book. There are also recipes. I laughed at the part where she ate only zucchini for what seemed like months and lost 15 pounds and was so healthy her husband was worried. I’ll probably pick this up on Kindle soon. I don’t think it’s going to be earth shattering or anything, I just think it’ll be an amusing read.
The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses
I’m fascinated by the idea behind this book. I want to learn how to harvest vegetables year round! I fear that the space requirements will be more than we will have access to. But I’ll just have to read this to find out I guess. I’m guessing a small greenhouse, cold frames, and row covers will be what we can manage. We’ll be eating a lot of kale and cabbage next year if I have anything to say about it. Until we hate kale and cabbage, most likely.
The Complete Book of Potatoes: What Every Grower and Gardener Needs to Know
Potatoes! I love potatoes, actually. I jokingly blame it on my Irish ancestry. Give me some potatoes, and I’m a happy gal. They also go great with cabbage or kale! Colcannon anyone? But, the one time we tried to grow potatoes, we ended up with 3 tiny baby potatoes about the size of a matchbox car. Seriously. So, I think I probably need to read this book and figure out what I did wrong. I really, really, really want to eat potatoes that I grew myself.
The Rancho Gordo Heirloom Bean Grower's Guide
I really want to grow my own beans. I like eating beans a lot and I know I’d get such a kick out of eating beans that I grew myself. I’m silly like that. I’ve read that beans take up a lot of space. But they are also really good for your soil, they are some of the few plants that fix nitrogen into the soil. For some reason I’ve known that fact for most of my life, even though when I was a kid I had no idea what that meant really. This looks like a really pretty book. And, I usually prefer the pretty books over the not pretty books. Go ahead, call me a snob. I can’t help it, I’m a really visual person.
Aquaponic Gardening: A Step-By-Step Guide to Raising Vegetables and Fish Together
I’m really curious about this. I’ve seen it done at the GrowHaus here in town. Last time I was there, they were raising tilapia and trout, and growing the most amazing vegetables. I’ve heard that tilapia are super easy to grow. You can even just raise them in a pond. I need more information.
Any good gardening books on your radar? What should I be reading?
An Elemental Life 