Extreme Gardening


Book Description

Explains how to grow organic foods in desert climates, with sections devoted to vegetables, fruits and nuts, and controlling extreme pests organically.




The Humane Gardener


Book Description

In this eloquent plea for compassion and respect for all species, journalist and gardener Nancy Lawson describes why and how to welcome wildlife to our backyards. Through engaging anecdotes and inspired advice, profiles of home gardeners throughout the country, and interviews with scientists and horticulturalists, Lawson applies the broader lessons of ecology to our own outdoor spaces. Detailed chapters address planting for wildlife by choosing native species; providing habitats that shelter baby animals, as well as birds, bees, and butterflies; creating safe zones in the garden; cohabiting with creatures often regarded as pests; letting nature be your garden designer; and encouraging natural processes and evolution in the garden. The Humane Gardener fills a unique niche in describing simple principles for both attracting wildlife and peacefully resolving conflicts with all the creatures that share our world.




Extreme Horticulture


Book Description

A photographic survey of gardening and the natural landscape at its most bizarre and exuberant.




The Cloud Garden


Book Description

"The Darien Gap is a place of legend. The only break in the Pan-American highway, which runs from Alaska to the tip of South America, it is an almost impregnable strip of swamp, jungle and cloud forest between the vast landmasses of North and South America. Stories of abduction and murder there are rife and in recent years more people have successfully climbed Everest or trekked to the South Pole than have crossed the Darien Gap. In 2000, Tom Hart Dyke, a young botanist, set off to Central America with one thing on his mind- orchids. He knew that in order to find the rare and beautiful species he so fervently admired, he would have to visit some of the most inhospitable places on earth. Unbeknown to Tom, another young explorer, Paul Winder, was backpacking through the area at the same time. Though he sometimes worked freelance in the City of London, Paul was a fearless and intrepid traveller, happier scaling volcanoes than lounging on beaches. In every bar and cafe along his route, rumours abounded of the Darien Gap - and the more he heard, the greater became his desire to make the journey. Pure chance brought Paul and Tom together in northern Mexico; they formed an instant bond




Microsoft Windows XP Unleashed


Book Description

While what you create using your computer is a unique expression of who you are, how you use your computer probably isn't. Nearly every Windows XP user follows the same Start menu path to launch programs, uses the same standard techniques in programs like Windows Explorer and Outlook Express, and performs the same customizations that don't go much beyond changing the wallpaper. However, there are those of us who qualify as the "post-novice" user, who think that doing things the "official" way is too slow, less efficient and less powerful than there is potential for with Windows XP. Microsoft Windows XP Unleashed will take you beyond the standard-issue default settings and program wizards to shortcuts, new customization techniques, workarounds for common problems, and warnings on how to avoid the pitfalls of Windows XP, including those associated with Service Pack 2. Along the way, you'll learn about all kinds of insider details, undocumented features, powerful tools, and background facts that help put everything about Windows XP into perspective.




A Way to Garden


Book Description

“A Way to Garden prods us toward that ineffable place where we feel we belong; it’s a guide to living both in and out of the garden.” —The New York Times Book Review For Margaret Roach, gardening is more than a hobby, it’s a calling. Her unique approach, which she calls “horticultural how-to and woo-woo,” is a blend of vital information you need to memorize and intuitive steps you must simply feel and surrender to. In A Way to Garden, Roach imparts decades of garden wisdom on seasonal gardening, ornamental plants, vegetable gardening, design, gardening for wildlife, organic practices, and much more. She also challenges gardeners to think beyond their garden borders and to consider the ways gardening can enrich the world. Brimming with beautiful photographs of Roach’s own garden, A Way to Garden is practical, inspiring, and a must-have for every passionate gardener.




The Garden Guy


Book Description

This sequel to the best-selling book Extreme Gardening is jam-packed with more of Owens's great gardening ideas that work in the desert areas. Broken down by months in an easy-to-read, handy organic gardening manual--a calendar of what to do and when to do it.




Hellstrip Gardening


Book Description

Presents a guide to creating a garden in such unused spaces as land beside a driveway, next to steps, or between the sidewalk and the street curb, discussing how to prepare the soil and listing the varieties of plants suitable for these conditions.




No Work Vegetable Gardening


Book Description

No Work Vegetable Gardening The Easiest Way To Get Fresh Tasty Veggies For Your Whole Family -- How to Start a Garden Series -- Want great tasting veggies from your own garden but cringe at the thought of doing all that back-breaking work of maintaining your garden? Don’t know how to start a garden? or If you're currently gardening with chemicals and have decided that gardening organically would give you plants with better nutrition and better taste but you don't want to hang up your tools for 7 years waiting for your soil to heal. GREAT NEWS! NO WORK VEGETABLE GARDENING by Joyce Zborower provides simple, easy-to-follow instructions for building and planting a new organic gardening bed right over an old chemical bed, a grassy spot that's never been planted before, a rocky area or even in a raised planting bed so you won't have to bend over to harvest your goodies. And once the bed is ready and planted, any further work on your part is very minimal. And there are full-color photos to show you exactly what to do. Is it really "no work?" . . . No, but it's as close as you'll ever get without hiring someone to take care of it for you. Other information about No Work Vegetable Gardening Genre -- Gardening/vegetables Tags -- How to start a garden, raised vegetable garden, square foot gardening, planting a vegetable garden, backyard garden, home vegetable garden, vegetable gardening Here is an excerpt from No Work Vegetable Gardening . . . Many years ago when I was just beginning to learn about organic gardening, I read Ruth Stout’s classic No Work Garden Book in which she recommended 9-or-so inches of hay as a year-round mulch. I busted my you-know-what dragging home 80-90# bales of hay two at a time in the trunk of my car, somehow maneuvering them into my backyard and spreading the hay in my garden, only to find several months later that I had weeds in my yard that I had never seen before in my whole entire life! It took years to get rid of those weeds. In my opinion, in rural areas, hay is fantastic; it’s great for the plants. I just don’t want to have to deal with those field-weed-seeds again. There are other ways to get the “browns” needed for the beds. One of our best sources for good, clean “browns” is that mountain of junk-mail that comes to your house every day. Discard the colored and/or glossy pages (possibly toxic ink), get yourself a quality paper shredder – the smaller the pieces, the quicker they will decompose – and simply run it through the shredder every day instead of throwing it into the garbage or recycling bin. In effect, it is being recycled – into your vegetables. Same with newspapers. You’ll soon have more “browns” than you’ll know what to do with! Mix them with other organic matter when adding them to your bed as they tend to ‘mat’ when clumped together and may form a barrier for plant root growth. Or, use them on top as a final mulch. Another is leaves. Gather them in the fall and store them in those large, black plastic bags somewhere hidden from view in the back yard until they’re needed. Neighbors may even offer to give you theirs. End of Excerpt




The Timber Press Guide to Vegetable Gardening in Southern California


Book Description

Grow your own food in the Golden State! There is nothing more regionally specific than vegetable gardening—what to plant, when to plant it, and when to harvest are decisions based on climate, weather, and first frost. The Timber Press Guide to Vegetable Gardening in Southern California, by regional expert Geri Miller, focuses on the unique eccentricities of California’s gardening calendar, which include extreme temperatures and low rainfall. The month-by-month format makes it perfect for beginners and accessible to everyone—gardeners can start gardening the month they pick it up.