Garden Wisdom and Know-How

Garden Wisdom & Know-How  - Everything You Need to Know to Plant, Grow, and Harvest
Published at Black Dog & Leventhal
About the book

The latest addition to the bestselling Wisdom & Know-How series is a complete home reference for everything you need to know about gardening - from soil and fertilizers to growing flowers and vegetables.

Garden Wisdom & Know-How is a large-scale practical guide to planting and maintaining a garden, indoors or out. The chapters are organized by topic—garden techniques and tricks, the flower garden, the edible garden, container gardening, garden design and landscaping, attracting wildlife, and so on—and packed with information. Readers will discover tips and techniques for maintaining a garden year-round; harvesting herbs; designing by bloom season; turning garden refuse into garden rewards; building teepees, trellises, and other plant supports; and much more.

Featuring handpicked selections from dozens of publications from Rodale Books, this massive collection is full of indispensable and trusted advice from some of the most respected gardening authors in the world. And with hundreds of black-and-white illustrations and photographs as well as step-by-step projects, key gardening resources, and essential information on countless plant species, Garden Wisdom & Know-How is a must-have volume for both the aspiring and the experienced gardener.

My Thoughts

Are you looking for a book that will help you with every aspects of your gardening activities?  If so, I think I have the book for you.  The Garden Wisdom & Know-How is the book that will help you with planting, grow and harvest your garden.   It contains a ton of information about almost everything that could happen in a garden.

Not only will is provide information about planting and caring for any type of gardens but it will instruct you on how to care for your lawn as well.    Did you know that mowing in a round or oval pattern saves time and effort simply because you don’t waste energy turning sharp corners?   Interesting isn’t it?   That’s the kind of information you will find in this book.

The book will provide more than 7354 charts, lists, tips, instructions, diagrams, and illustrations.  It covers everything you need to know about gardening whether inside or outside.

• Getting started –introduction to planting and soil, compost and tools information.
• Gardening Techniques and Tricks – see, buying, planting, mulch, propagation, pruning, seasonal care, watering.
• The Flower Garden – bulbs, perennials, annuals, roses.
• The Edible Garden – vegetables, fruits, herbs.
• The Landscape Garden – lawns, groundcover, trees and shrubs, vines.
• Gardening Indoors – houseplants, containers and pots.
• Gardening to attracts wildlife – butterflies, bees, birds and small animals.
• Garden design and Landscape – designing gardens and structures.
• Garden Projects – plant projects, garden structures, for the home.
• Weeds, Pests, and Disease – weeds, animal pests, insects, mites and diseases.

As a homeschooler, I am very interesting in learning and teaching my kids about tending a garden.   In this book I have all the information I need to care for a garden from start to harvest.   My favorite sections are probably the one which tells me how to attract butterflies which also contains information on raising butterflies as well as become a caterpillar detective and how to attract songbirds and hummingbirds.   

Though I am impressed with the information found in this book, there is one thing that bug me a lot…. the size of it! This book is gigantic and not easy to carry with you.   However, it is a wonderful reference for someone who is looking to have everything in one book.    I mean with all the information it contains what are the chances that you won’t find what you are looking for in the chapters?  The more I explore this book the more I wish I had a bigger acreage of land.    I see all the possibilities for gardening and more for our family.     But I will be content with what I have and plan according of our backyard.   I only wish they had tips and tricks on how to keep rabbits away from a vegetable garden…. because we do have some coming in our backyard –and yes we live in the city!

Garden Wisdom & Know-How is available at your favorite bookstore, even amazon.ca

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book for review purposes from Thomas Allen. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

Garden Notes

Garden Notes
Published at Cico Books

About the Notebook

Are you planning on starting your first vegetable garden, or a veteran vegetable grower? Whether you're looking for a place to plan your plot layout and crop rotations or somewhere to record the results of experimenting with different seed types or varieties, Garden Notes is here to facilitate your every need. With a specially designed seasonal growing diary for planning out your year of planting, tending and harvesting your crops, and blank pages for sketching new plot configurations or scratching down ideas, this journal will fast become an invaluable companion in the garden. Also included is helpful advice on planning a vegetable patch, where to plant and when, and a 12-month planner – all the bits and pieces that will make you the most organized gardener on the block!

My Thoughts

Gardening is something we would like to do more.   Right now, our backyard is not prepared for such an activity.  I would love to start this year but I don’t think it will happen.   However, I know that my husband is also interested in becoming a bit more self-sufficient with a veggie garden.   

So when I saw this Garden Notes I was curious to see how someone can use a notebook to keep track of their garden plans. Illustrated with vintage images of seed packs and drawing of vegetables and flowers this cute notebook will make your gardening dream a reality.   The book starts with the plot information which help you to note the location, dimensions, soil type and direction of the sun.   You even have some special sheets of paper to plan the plot – what will you plant where kind of thing. 

Chapter two will make you dig into the planting pages – flowers, trees and shrubs, herbs, fruit as well as vegetables.   You have all the pages necessary to jolt down the information about them.

Flowers: Keep track of your annuals, perennials and bulbs with the name, variety planted, seeds sown, germination period, seedling planted out, location and more

Trees and Shrubs: What kind of tree/shrub have you planted lately?   Keep track of it with this notebook.  You can store the name, variety planted, date planted, pruning and more.

Herbs: In this section you can track the name, variety planted, seeds sown, germination period, seedling planted out.   I suspect that we will use this section more because we love having herbs.    We are eyeing cilantro as one of the main herbs we would like to have this year.

Fruit: Oh!  I so wish I would have enough space in my backyard to plant a fruit tree.   This section will help you keep track of the fruit name, variety planted, pruning and harvest.

Vegetables: Root vegetables, legumes, brassicas, salad leaves, onions, and other vegetables are covered in this section.  Once again, you can track their name, variety planted, seeds sown, germination period, seedling planted out and harvest.

Finally, there is a weekly diary for the whole year where you can jolt down anything about your garden – invading insects, birds that came to visit, what you did to protect the garden. 

Also included in this notebook, you have a Keeping Organized section which allows you to write down the visits you have done to other gardens, an address book of the places where you can purchase plants,  and a section to write down the useful gardening websites you have found on the internet.   They even included a plastic sleeve to insert the seed pouches you want to keep.

Garden Notes is probably a great tool for a gardener.    You would have everything under one book.   If you know someone who loves to garden, think  how useful this book might be for him/her.    Wouldn’t it be a great gift for that person?  Though I doubt we will build a garden this year for specific reasons, I am keeping this book close by because when the times come I will be ready for our first year of gardening!

Garden Notes can be found everywhere where you can buy journals and notebooks.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book for review purposes from Thomas Allen. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

Brothers at Bat

Brothers at Bat
Written by Audrey Vernick
Published at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

About the book

The Acerra family had sixteen children, including twelve ball-playing boys. It was the 1930s, and many families had lots of kids. But only one had enough to field a baseball team . . . with three on the bench! The Acerras were the longest-playing all-brother team in baseball history. They loved the game, but more important, they cared for and supported each other and stayed together as a team. Nothing life threw their way could stop them.

Full of action, drama, and excitement, this never-before-told true story is vividly brought to life by Audrey Vernick’s expert storytelling and Steven Salerno’s stunning vintage-style art.

Who is Audrey Vernick?

Audrey Vernick is the author of the picture books Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten?, She Loved Baseball, and Brothers at Bat, as well as the novel Water Balloon. She has published short stories for adults and twice received the New Jersey State Council of the Arts' fiction fellowship. She lives with her family in New Jersey.Visit her at www.audreyvernick.com.

Our Thoughts

Have you ever heard of a baseball team made up by all brothers?   No?   Well let me tell you about the Acerra Brothers which are feature in the book Brothers at Bat. Born in a large family the brothers had only one thing in mind – BASEBALL.   They could play all day long…    Through the years of playing baseball against other town teams, going through the war and coming back to baseball after, the Acerras have earned the respect of many baseball fans and recognition from the Baseball Hall of Fame as well.

In Brothers at Bat, you will  read about the story of the Acerra family – well mostly the brothers – and follow them through the years from 1920s to 1997 when they were honored in the Baseball Hall of Fame.    The family had tragedy as well when one of the brothers received a baseball in the eye  and sent out six brothers to the war.   But baseball was always part of their lives.   And even when the family expanded with marriage baseball was still a big part of their activities.

The Acerra Brothers played their last game back in 1952 but they had made history already.   In 1997, they were honored in the Baseball Hall of Fame and family members came from everywhere to attend the ceremony.   And while going back home, their bus broke down and while they waited for another bus to come you could see generations of Acerras playing baseball in the field.   That’s dedication to a game!

Still don’t believe me?   Look at this family picture to see how passionate the boys were about baseball.

Brothers at Bat is a wonderful historical children book that every one will enjoy.   My kids grabbed the book one day and the oldest read it to his younger siblings.   They all loved the story and the colorful vintage art.    I am not a baseball fan per say but this book was interesting to read.   I would highly recommend it to anyone for a reading period with their kids.   It’s always good to learn about history and this book will bring history a reality for your kids.

Brothers at Bat is available everywhere even amazon.ca.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book for review purposes from Thomas Allen. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.