We're breaking from the norm a bit and recommending a non-cookbook!
But with so many of us tending herb and produce gardens this summer, we thought this one was worth the divergence.
Gayla Trail is a gardener extraordinaire and her book, You Grow Girl, is perfect for newbie gardeners. She covers gardening from seedling to harvest (and beyond), with particular focus on container gardening and caring for our favorite edible plants and veggies.
Read on for our full review!
Trail's book starts off with planning your dream garden and takes us through planting, pest-control, harvesting, and preparing your garden for winter. This logical, step-by-step progression is exactly what we need right now!
Photos and illustrations clearly demonstrate each technique or concept, while sidebars give us extra facts and info. The basic lessons are supplemented with fun side projects like assembling a window box, a recipe for green tomato chutney, and making a cat garden.
The section on plant diseases and insects is particularly helpful (though she didn't talk about spider mites!). Trail gives explanations for identifying common ailments with details on how to avoid or solve each problem. She also includes recipes for organic "pesticides" and other tricks to try before turning to commercial products.
As we mentioned above, we also appreciate her equal treatment of container gardens and yard gardens. Trail gives lots of tips on container garden alternatives to yard-plants as well as plenty of recommendations for edible plants that actually grow best in containers.
You Grow Girl is a good one to read start to finish, but makes a fine reference book as well. We're keeping it close by as we nurture our plants through the summer!
You Grow Girl by Gayla Trail is available for $10.88 on Amazon.com.
For extra tips and advice, visit Gayla Trail's website: YouGrowGirl.com.
Related: Protecting Seedlings with a Pop Bottle Cloche
(Image from Amazon.com)
Copyright © 2008 Apartment Therapy
I love this book! I kept checking it out from the library, so I finally broke down and bought it. It helped me go from not knowing diddly about gardening, to feeling like I have a relatively decent understanding of the basics - as long as I have the book to refer back to, until I learn it all second-nature! ;D
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I'm going to buy this book right this moment. Looks like what I've been looking for.
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