Books I'm Reading Lately, Companion Planting

There's something about Winter that slows my brain down. I can stare at seed catalogs, make a gardening calendar, and attend to basic preparations. But no matter how hard I try to read about gardening techniques, I can't seem to retain the information. Good news, though. It's springtime again and the library has fielded some really great gardening reads. I'll be sharing some of them here, though with much shorter commentary than I had used in the past. I'm just too busy running around to get hung up in the details. 

Companion Planting Reads:

“Complete Guide to Companion Planting” by Dale Mayer ISBN 9781601383457

Thorough and concise paperback resource. Part of the “Back to Basics” series. Discusses plant companions but also “critters” helpful and harmful. Assumes a very basic knowledge of gardening so occasionally tedious in explanations for the more experienced gardener. Very holistic approach to gardening.

“Mix and Match Guide to Companion Planting” by Josie Jeffery ISBN 9781607746331

Flip book style guide featuring aboveground, central, and belowground crops. Includes comments on 75 plants with full color photos. Great for visually mixing plantings. Not as useful for finding companions for established garden plan.

Books I've Been Reading, Herbs

“Herbal Antivirals” by Stephen Harrod Buhner ISBN 9781612121604

The book focuses on the use of a handful of herbs for the purposes of antiviral use. The book starts with a “justification” titled “why this book exists.” The book is written from an alarmist point of view. The book is a blend of formal and informal writing, using the latin names for various subspecies mixed in with conversational style. The conversational style is so casual it’s difficult to feel the author speaks with authority. This book isn’t suited to the beginner herbalist.

“Your Backyard Herb Garden” by Miranda Smith ISBN 0875969941

Like most herb gardening books, this book starts with gardening basics (soil, choosing locations, care, etc.). A full ⅔ of the  book, however, focuses on herbs. 52 herbs are listed and discussed with pictures and full explanations. The list includes the commonly used herbs (basil, cilantro, lavender, oregano, etc) but includes some lesser known but still available/useful herbs (valerian, wormwood, pennyroyal). Each herb listing has a concise and informative page including everything from a description to harvest to usage. A great resource for the 52 herbs included in the book. A good reference book for the general herb gardener.

Books I've Been Reading, Small Spaces

“Sugar Snaps and Strawberries” by Andrea Bellamy ISBN 9781604691245

Majority of the book functions as an introduction to gardening in a general sense. Some space devoted to “Finding Space” and overall the book shows a respect for space. The book has a lot of empty page space. Pages with large blank areas and large photos showing repetitive information. Overall not a great complement for an experienced gardener’s library.

“Vertical Vegetables and Fruit” by Rhonda Massingham Hart ISBN 9781603429986

A book truly dedicated to vertical gardening techniques. Lots of great tips for vertical growing. It doesn't always translate well into small spaces but the ideas can be adapted. The book assumes  the reader has a reasonable experience with gardening and skips the usual very basic how to instructions.