Look how cute this gardening book is – set up as a deck of cards rather than an actual book, P. Allen Smith’s Container Gardens Deck: 50 Recipes for Year-Round Gardening, allows you to browse easy-to-follow container garden recipes.

Each card includes plant lists, step-by-step instructions, and a diagram showing you how to design your garden. Like cooking recipie cards these garden recipes are printed on tabbed cards. I like the idea of cards vs. pages. You can easily take them to the nursery or to a community garden with you vs. carrying around a hefty book.  Plus if there’s a …read more

I recently heard about Container Gardening for Health: The 12 Most Important Fruits and Vegetables for Your Organic Garden, a book that covers the most important crops to grow organically based on the “Dirty Dozen” list. This is a list created by The Environmental Working Group that tells consumers which fruits and veggies are best and least important to buy organic. The EPA just updated the list in spring of 2009, so this book which came out also in the spring contains the most current Dirty Dozen info.

I like the idea, because not only are the Dirty Dozen list items …read more

I love almost all books, but of course if you garden, some killer gardening books are great to have. I usually check out books from the library vs. purchase, but I do own some of my favorites. My fave gardening books include…

Heat-Zone Gardening: How to Choose Plants That Thrive in Your Region’s Warmest Weather: I bought this a long time ago when I thought I was moving to Arizona, but I didn’t. However, it actually came in handy in Humboldt (even though it’s not hot) and it really came in handy when I moved to New Mexico. It’s not just …read more

Just in time for the beginning the growing season in most of the United States, Foma Publishing is making available a free, downloadable ebook about all a beginning gardener needs to know about growing organic vegetables. To get your copy, visit this link and follow the instructions.

Included in the book is information on why you should garden organically, deciding what to grow, planting your garden, buying organic products and supplies, troubleshooting your garden, harvesting your vegetables, and storing your organic vegetables. There’s a lot of good tips included.
(photo courtesy of Foma Publishing)

 
When I wrote the post, Thoughts of Gardening for Young and Older, I planned a companion one with books and resources about gardening.
Whether you’re gardening by yourself or as a family, here are some books and resources that may be helpful.  More people than ever are likely to plant gardens and raise their food this year, along with some flowers to boost their spirits. 
Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children by Sharon Lovejoy
Gardening with Kids by Catherine Woran and Martyn Cox
Gardening with Children (Brooklyn Botanic Garden All-Region Guide)
Seedfolks, a novel about planting and gardening and togetherness by Paul Fleischman
ToySmith …read more