Today’s post is by guest Lisa who writes at Privilege.

Lawn mowers might be one of the most passionately discussed topics in the United States. First and second place may go to politics and religion, but try bringing up the subject of mowers at your next gathering. You may have to step back and let the sparks fly.

Some people love ride-on gas models. Sort of like the vintage car aficionados appreciation for the power of a ‘56 Thunderbird. Others argue for the minimalist push mower. But I tell you, in the pantheon of good design, there’s nothing, nothing, like a cordless electric lawn mower with a removable battery.

Pictured above is my battery powered lawn mower, poetically named the Black and Decker CM1936. I love it. I  bought my cordless lawn mower from Amazon.com, where folks give it great reviews. Impassioned, almost. The only other home goods I love as much as this mower are beautiful and impractical. I’m thinking granite counter-tops, slate tile, and antique Federalist hall mirrors.

Let me show you what it does. This is my lawn before mowing.

This is my lawn after cutting with my cordless lawn mower.

One might almost think that the sun came out and flowers bloomed as a result of my lawn grooming. I admit, that’s just an accident of Northern California morning fog.

So, should you be a sensible person who is only convinced by real data, herewith the Top Eleven Reasons To Buy A Cordless Electric Lawn Mower Like Mine.

1. There’s a recession on. Few of us have extra money to hire gardeners.
2. Gas mowers? There’s a limit to what the earth can sustain. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, emissions produced by gasoline powered motors are responsible for about 5 percent of the nation’s air pollution yearly.* The Department of the Interior’s Green Seal Program estimates that electric mowers emit 3,300 times fewer hydrocarbons, 5,000 times less carbon monoxide, one-fifth as much nitrogen oxide, and less than half the carbon dioxide as gas engines.**
3. Push mowers? There’s a limit to what aging bodies can do. I used to have a push mower. But I can’t push the darn thing up the little slope of my lawn any more.
4. This Black and Decker mower is on sale on Amazon for $398.54 down from $399. OK, so that’s not really a good reason. But compared to using a gardener, you can pay this purchase off in a matter of months. Compared to a gas mower, it might take a year.*** But it’ll be a nice year.
5. Electric mowers with cords may be even more environmentally sound, but you will find the cord to be So. Annoying. that you will never use yours. That’s truly environmentally unsound.
6. You can store the battery for this baby in the garage, plugged in, and then just carry it over to your mower when you’re ready to mow. Not too heavy, even for us midlife types.
7. The mower handle adjusts easily for comfort.
8. Stanley Black & Decker is a well-run American company with years of tradition on its side. I can’t guarantee that buying this lawn mower will help the US remain competitive, but you never know.
9. The wheel height adjusts easily so you can have exactly the lawn height you want. If that matters to you.
10. Electric mowers are quiet. Electric mowers do not smell bad. That’s two reasons for the price of one.
11. Because of reasons 5, 6, 8 & 9 you will mow your lawn more frequently, thereby ceasing to annoy your neighbors with unruly herbiage. Once I got a ticket for having weeds of a “downy and noxious habit” in my front lawn. No, I am not kidding.

I wish you all happy, quiet, environmentally-sound, economical-over-the-long-haul mowing. And the joy of owning something useful, aesthetically pleasing, and green.

*Via Garden Guides.
**Via Sea Coast Online.
***”Financially speaking, an electric mower makes common sense. They generally cost about half the price of a gas mower. Cordless models can run a bit more, but have an added advantage of no cord to watch over. The savings continue. An electric mower costs around $3 to $5 dollars to power for a year of use. Filling the gas tank just once on a traditional mower can easily cost that much. Over the expected lifetime of the mower, the savings become significant.” Via Helium.

Lisa writes the blog, Privilege, about style, some anxiety, the raptures of living and, sometimes, gardening. Visit Lisa’s most recent gardening post on cottage gardens.

Related posts:

1. Weekly Earth News 05/12/09
2. Nine Reasons to Nature Garden

Grow Great Grub – Organic Food from Small Spaces is a 208 page high color paperback book written by Gayla Trail and published in 2010 by Clarkson Pottter Publishers (part of Random House Inc).

What to Love

This book is so delicious I could eat it. Beware, the photos actually make your mouth water! Besides that, it’s is chock full of fabulous information to teach you to plan and tend a home vegetable garden and grow your own food, whether you have a windowsill, balcony, deck, rooftop, or garden.

Growing Great Grub is my #1 veggie gardening book pick. While it’s great for any gardener, I think women will especially love this book.

What’s Inside

Section 1, Good Growing, will teach you how, where, and what to grow. The wonderful photos and all the helpful lists, charts, and diagrams will get you fired up. The information is easy to refer back to as you begin and continue your journey.

Section 2, The Plants, has all the helpful details you need to learn to grow your favorite foods (veggies, fruits, and herbs), and some new ones beside. Essential little facts, such as how much soil depth and how much light different kinds of beans and greens require, are made accessible in very readable boxes. There are even some recipes included.

Section 3, How to Harvest, teaches you to look, listen, smell and touch for ripeness. There’s a chart which you would fill in to predict your harvest dates and step by step instructions on drying, freezing, and canning.

Gardening Tricks

Fabulous information in Grow Great Grub which I’ve not seen in other veggie gardening books includes:

• How to check plastic recycling codes and choose safe containers.
• Step by step instructions on building self-watering containers.
• Edible flowers organized by flavor profile.
• Edible weeds.
• How to grow melons in pots.
• Keeping critters out of containers.
• How to grow Jerusalem Artichokes (a native shade-tolerant perennial with attractive flowers and edible roots).
• Food to grow in problem places – depleted soil, soggy soil, shady spots, hotter than Hades.
• Make your own upside-down tomato pots.
• Herb infused salt or sugar recipe.
• How to make your own refrigerator bags to keep veggies fresh.

Get a Copy

I have no reservations in recommending Grow Great Grub as the one home vegetable gardening book you must buy this year. I’d like to thank Random House Inc for providing me with a copy.

The list price is an affordable $19.99 and it’s currently available from Amazon.com for significantly less – Grow Great Grub at Amazon.com. Read more about Grow Great Grub and see some inside views at the author’s dedicated website.

What do you say? Have you seen this book?

Related posts:

1. The Edible Flower Garden
2. Gardening with Prairie Plants
3. Green Book Festival Winners

Young Wild Rabbit by Gidzy

Rabbits are cute and furry and so fun to watch. What are you going to do though if they’re being a nuisance?

Some kind of rabbit repellent could come in handy. But do these kinds of products work? What should you do to stop rabbits eating your plants?

I’ve got some answers for you.

Go Eat Dandelions

This cute bunny is eating dandelions. Great! Who would complain? Wild rabbits also eat grass, though they’re not very effective lawnmowers, sadly.

For most of us I think our goal is rabbit redirection. While I draw the line at bunnies who want to destroy plants I’ve paid for, or vegetables I’m planning to eat, I don’t want war on rabbits, I just want to move them along.

Rabbit Baits and Poisons

According to Kansas State University, “There are no poisons or fumigants for rabbits registered for use in Kansas.” Furthermore, even if poisons are legal in your area and you choose to use them there is an extreme risk of you inadvertently poisoning another animal which finds and eats a poisoned rabbit (dogs included). Please check with your local state extension office or wildlife control specialist if you feel that poisons or fumigants are necessary.

Baits can be used to get rabbits into traps. I am not going to cover the use of traps here. If you want more information on traps and how to build humane traps, a useful publication, written by Charles Lee, Wildlife Specialist, is available from Kansas State University called Cottontail Rabbits: Urban Wildlife Damage Control. Clicking that link will download the pdf file to your computer.

Rabbit Repellents

There are two types of rabbit repellents: area repellents (applied to the soil or plant containers) and contact repellents (applied to the plants). Substances which repel rabbits include the following:

• soaps – applied to the soil
• ammonia mixtures – applied to the soil
• garlic – planted around vegetable beds or applied as a mixture
• bloodmeal – applied to the soil
• pepper – applied to the plants or soil, usually along with garlic
• predator urine – applied to the soil

Some of the repellents smell bad after application. Many repellents need to be reapplied after rain or after a period of time – check the label.

Repellents applied to foliage need to be reapplied as the plant produces new growth. Personally, as a homeowner and small-scale grower, I would prefer to treat the area around any food plants rather than treating food plants directly. However, flowering plants, trees, and shrubs can be treated directly, on the leaves, bark, and stems with an appropriate product.

Look for approval by organic organizations such as the Organic Materials Review Institute.  Products to consider include: Deer Away, Rabbit Stopper, and DeFence. I have successfully used Sweeney’s All Out Deer and Rabbit Repellent – not organically approved, but the main ingredients are pepper and garlic.

You can find a variety of rabbit prevention sprays and granules at Amazon.com.

Make Your Own Rabbit Repellent

There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that home-made repellents work against rabbits. Here are a couple of sites which have ideas on how to use soap, pepper, garlic etc and each includes a recipe:

• Suite 101 – 10 Ways to Deter Rabbits
• Blog article – How to Stop Rabbits Eating Your Garden

Keeping Rabbits Out

Another option for keeping rabbits off your plants, and a good one if rabbits are an extensive problem, is to physically exclude the rabbits using fencing, or other barriers.

Keeping rabbits out could be a good plan if you want to prevent damage before it starts, if you want to protect individual vulnerable plants, trees, or shrubs, or if you don’t want to have to keep treating with repellents.

You can find good advice on these physical methods in the publication I already mentioned Cottontail Rabbits: Urban Wildlife Damage Control. Clicking that link will download the pdf file to your computer.

Scaring Rabbits Away

You may have heard of products and methods which can scare off rabbits and other animals – I’ve read about things like automatically activated water sprays, twigs placed around plants, shiny objects which move, etc. I can’t speak to the effectiveness of any of these. Please do leave a comment if you’ve found something which works.

According to Charles Lee, Wildlife Specialist, “Frightening devices, including electromagnetic and ultrasonic units, have not been proven effective in controlling cottontail rabbit damage.”

Plants Which Rabbits Dislike

Another option for discouraging rabbits is to focus on growing plants which rabbits dislike. This is a pretty extensive topic which I won’t go into here. I also think this approach is limited for the wildlife gardener who wants to have nature in their garden and probably wants to include native plants which rabbits will enjoy.

Here are a couple of articles on picking plants rabbits don’t like:

• Better Homes and Gardens – Top Rabbit-Resistant Plants
• Penn State – Rabbit Resistant Plants List – click to download the pdf.
• University of Arizona – Deer and Rabbit Resistant Plants – click to download the pdf.

If you need a list specific to your area just try a Google search on the words Rabbit Resistant Plants and add the name of your state. Bear in mind that lists may focus on non-native plants.

The Lazy Method of Rabbit Control

Assuming you are happy to live with rabbits as part of the nature in your garden, and with some degree of damage, you can use what I’ll call the lazy method – don’t deal with a problem until it happens and don’t expect perfection. Then use whatever method of control is easiest and only protect plants you paid for recently which are small and vulnerable.

Alternatively you could get yourself a dog!

Are rabbits a problem in your garden? How have you dealt with them?

You can find a variety of rabbit repelling sprays and granules at Amazon.com.

Related posts:

1. A Gift from the Rabbits
2. Benjamin Rabbit Defends
3. Cute Bunny Alert!

How to Raise Chickens is a 192 page paperback book endorsed by the National Future Farmers of America, written by Christine Heinrichs, and published in 2007 by Voyageur Press.

“Chicken people are the most interesting and helpful group of people I’ve encountered.” Thus begins the introduction in How to Raise Chickens.

Everything You Need to Know

Whether you already love chickens, or are just thinking of getting started, there’s going to be good information in this book for you. I’ve not kept chickens, yet I found lots of interesting stuff here. It’s a good read and full of  detail and attractive photos.

It will be of particular interest if you want to learn about different chicken breeds.

What’s in How to Raise Chickens?

When you think of keeping chickens do you think of cute birds scratching in your yard, fresh eggs, raccoons raiding your hen house, or maybe all of the above? There’s information on all of this with 14 chapters in the book as follows:

• Why keep chickens – different motivations for keeping chickens, from food, through entertainment, to breed conservation.
• Chickens and history – the origins of the domestic chicken, chickens as part of human culture, the spread of chicken keeping in the USA.
• Breed types – how to choose breeds, breed characteristics, information on more than 60 breeds with lots of lovely photos.
• Obtaining Stock – getting started, hatcheries, finding local resources.
• Housing – legal requirements, choose a site, build or buy, chicken tractors, size, light, predators.
• Feeding – feed, protein, greens, calcium, feeders and waterers.
• Flock management – organic, pastured, barnyard, urban, deep litter, profit.
• Breeding programs – goals, trap-nesting, rolling matings, line breeding, clan matings, breeding out-and-out, grading, crossbreeding, sex links.
• Incubation and care of chicks – broodiness, broody breeds, hatching, selecting eggs to hatch, artificial incubators, turning, candling, hatch rate, fertility rate, caring for chicks, food and water.
• Selection and culling – principles, inbreeding, genetic drift, selecting for production, selecting for conservation and showing, defects, behavioral traits, culling, professional processing.
• Showing – attending, preparation, readiness, traveling, etiquette, cooping out.
• Health care – good health and husbandry, finding a vet, injuries, administering medication, national poultry improvement plan, bacterial and fungal diseases (11 described), parasitic diseases, diatomaceous earth.
• Avian influenza
• Legal aspects – poultry ordinances, voluntary agricultural districts, state and federal regulations.
• Resources – useful organizations and websites.

What is not in How to Raise Chickens

How to Raise Chickens is a wonderful informational resource, a kind of chicken encyclopedia, rather than a step by step guide. It does not contain any plans for chicken tractors or hen houses.

Get Yourself a Copy

I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone interested in chickens because all of the information it contains is thoroughly researched and reliable. I learned a lot from reading it.

I’d like to thank Christine Heinrichs for sending me a copy of this book to review. If you’d like to support Christine you can order a copy through The Poultry Bookstore, or you can support my writing at Loving Nature’s Garden by shopping for How to Raise Chickens at Amazon.com.

Related posts:

1. Gardening with Chickens
2. Raise Your Glass to Real People
3. The One Veggie Gardening Book You Must Buy This Year

There are a wealth of gardening magazines available to inspire you – a recent count at my local supermarket turned up 17 titles. Amazing! Nice to look at, most are short on organic and native plant information. Some are worth delving into though.

Magazines From Better Homes and Gardens (BHG)

Better Homes and Gardens

Who could resist the cover of Better Homes and Gardens? We all want to do things better, don’t we? If you’re interested in crafts, remodeling, and entertaining as well as gardening this might be worth a look.

Part of the focus of Better Homes and Gardens magazine is current trends and developments. It’s easy to subscribe to BHG through Amazon.com.

BHG has an extensive website with pages of information on nature lover’s gardening. Just be aware that they recommend a mix of natives and non-natives, such as butterfly bush, which I don’t personally agree with.

Nature’s Garden Magazine

No connection with Loving Nature’s Garden, Nature’s Garden magazine is quite possibly my top pick. I’ve seen it on display, yet it’s actually quite difficult to come across online and there doesn’t seem to be a way to subscribe to the print version. They do have a nice Nature’s Garden website though with photos and journals and they have a Facebook page.

Country Gardens Magazine

Country Gardens is described as “what-to-plant, where-to-begin, what-to-do-next gardening magazine that helps you add a personal touch to your garden“. It’s also promoted as being an inspirational magazine.

Articles include stories of people and their gardens and easy ideas to extend your living space into your garden. There’s an emphasis on sights and smells in the garden and celebration of flowers as part of your life.

Read more on Country Gardens at Amazon.com or Country Gardens at the publisher site (the price there is currently lower and the publisher has a money back guarantee if you’re not pleased with the magazine).

Gardening Magazines from a Variety of Publishers

Organic Gardening

Organic Gardening magazine is all about growing fresh food, with evaluations of heirloom varieties and tips on growing them, gleaned from a nationwide network of test gardens. It is published by Rodale Inc.

They also include some articles about wildlife gardening, organic flower gardening (non-natives like roses), landscape design, low maintenance gardening, and, of course, composting.

Read more about what you’ll find in Organic Gardening at Amazon.com or visit the Organic Gardening magazine website for further information.

Garden Gate Magazine

Garden Gate is an advertisement free magazine published by the August Home Publishing Company. Garden Gate is a general gardening magazine with an emphasis on garden design. Articles include lots of lovely illustrations – photos and drawings. At the magazine website you can download a pdf issue for free, subscribe, and read extra online content.

Mother Earth News

Mother Earth News from Ogden Publications is all about self-sufficient country living. It covers small scale farming, food growing, cooking, thrift, fishing, environmentally-friendly products, recycling, and home care and repair.

Whether or not you’re interested in subscribing to Mother Earth News, you may want to visit their website where you’ll find everything from polls to blogs, and even their own radio station. You can also subscribe to Mother Earth through Amazon.com.

Birds and Blooms

Birds and Blooms from Reiman Publications combines the pleasures of both gardening and birding into one magazine. Genius!

Disappointingly, at least at their website, they don’t distinguish between native and non-native plants, despite the fact that some non-natives are causing problems for wildlife and wildlife reserves.

They have quite a nice website with photo galleries, contests, and gardening tips. Unfortunately the website has an annoying pop-up asking you to subscribe to the magazine. Take a look though at Birds and Blooms online or check out Birds & Blooms at Amazon.com.

Horticulture Magazine

Horticulture magazine from F & W Publications is “for active, sophisticated gardeners seeking information and inspiration on plants and design.”

It follows trends, reveals gardening secrets, and brings you information from experts. Impressively, it’s been in publication since 1904.

You can read more about Horticulture magazine and learn about gardening books from F & W Publications, or subscribe through Amazon.com.

Garden Design Magazine

Garden Design is an upscale magazine from Bonnier Corporation. It emphasizes landscape design, unusual plants, ornaments, landscaping, water gardens, sunrooms, and outdoor furniture.

Each issue showcases spectacular gardens and provides information on gardening shows and events. Here’s the Garden Design website. You can subscribe to this garden magazine on design through Amazon.com.

Magazines from Taunton Press (Fine Gardening)

Fine Gardening

Described as “for gardeners who are passionate about their existing gardens”, Fine Gardening covers the basics of garden design as well as advice from experts. Each issue includes techniques and time-saving tips.

Winner of five Garden Globe Awards from the Garden Writer’s Association of America in 2006. A quality publication which only accepts garden-related ads and provides product reviews. Covers some vegetable gardening, such as how to grow popular food crops like tomatoes and peppers.

You can read more about Fine Gardening at Amazon.com or visit the Fine Gardening website to see the contents of the current issue, get online extras, and to compare the subscription price.

A Basketful of Gardening Magazines

Other magazines from Taunton Press are more like books in magazine form and emphasize one specific aspect or area of gardening. Here is a selection of their titles:

• Gardening Green – includes a selection of articles from Fine Gardening with information on building raised beds, composting, low maintenance gardens, replacing lawn, planting natives, and bee friendly plants. Currently just $4 this is worth a look.
• Container Gardening
• Gardening Basics
• Grow Magazine covers fruit and vegetable growing through the seasons. The cost from the publisher is $7.99 per issue and topics include blueberries, tomatoes, onions, and potatoes.
• Plant Combinations
• Great Plants
• Great Gardens
• Starting from Seed Magazine
• 101 Gardening Tips and Techniques

Outdoor Ideas and Solutions

Outdoor Ideas and Solutions, also from Taunton Press,  emphasises “Making the most of outdoor areas” with ideas on: entryways; dining areas; side yards; shady spots; slopes; and neighbor-friendly screening. “It helps you create plantings that look attractive year round and outdoor areas that expand your home’s livability and increases its value.”

Outdoor Ideas and Solutions and other magazines described above are available direct from Taunton Press for $4 and up.

What Did I Miss?

I’m sure I’ve missed a few gardening magazines – I didn’t even touch on great English or Canadian ones and I know that I’ve not written about Garden and Gun!

Inspiring Gardening Photos

While gardening magazines are designed for as large a circulation as possible and tend not to cater to the reader interested in planting native they are still good places to learn. They have wonderful photographs. They are increasingly incorporating articles on organic gardening. At the very least, take a look at some of the websites. They could whet your gardening appetite.

Related posts:

1. Rain Gardening in the South
2. Three Great Learning Links Related to Gardening
3. 3 States Who Are Promoting Outdoor Activities

Gardening with Prairie Plants is a book by Sally Wasowski. Of all the “how to” native gardening books I’ve read this is my out and out favorite. It’s a definite inspiration, full of wonderful detail.

Subtitled “how to create beautiful native landscapes“, if you live east of the Rocky Mountains, you’ll want to add this book to your collection.

I was very excited to receive my very own copy, courtesy of the University of Minnesota Press – now I get to share with you why I love this book.

You Want to Landscape with Prairie Plants? Why?

This is the question Sally Wasowski was asked at the beginning of her journey in writing Gardening with Prairie Plants.

There are many reasons to use prairie flowers and grasses in your garden and many ways to go about planting prairie gardens, no matter how large or small your space. Sally covers all of them in her book, amply illustrated with wonderful photographs, and with an absolute wealth of detail on native plants, their natural ranges, and their growing conditions.

Things to Know About this Book

It’s a 285 page paperback book published in 2002. The author, Sally Wasowski, is a leading authority on landscaping with native plants and has several other published books, and many published magazine articles. Sally has been named a Top Ten Gardener of the South by Southern Living. Sally’s husband Andy Wasowski is the photographer behind this book.

What’s In Gardening with Prairie Plants?

When you think of a prairie do you imagine an open, grass-like, treeless, sun-parched landscape? Prairies in fact contain a mixture of habitats from dry to moist (mesic) and from open, to dotted with shade-giving shrubs or trees (thicket or savanna). All of these various habitats are covered in the book with the following sections:

Part One – Prairies and Prairie Gardens

• Getting Acquainted with Prairies - what prairies are.
• A Gallery of Home Prairie Gardens - preserved, transplanted, re-created, prairie-like, prairie neighborhoods. Each has photos and illustrated landscape plans with plant names.
• Beyond Home Landscapes – examples of prairie planting in public places and commercial situations.
• Using Preserved and Replicated Prairies as Models - lowland prairies, mesic prairies, upland prairies, sand prairies, savannas, thicket shrubs. What to do if you have trouble finding a prairie to copy.
• Anatomy of a Prairie – soil and root layer, ground layer, grasses and grasslike plants, shapers of prairie.

Part Two – Design, Installation and Maintenance

• Designing Prairie Gardens - pocket prairie, bird thicket and savanna, wet prairie garden, nectar garden, food and medicine garden, designing with prairie and woods. There are lots of drawn plans and photos in this section.
• Installing Prairie Gardens – history of prairie gardening, preparing a seedbed, what to plant, how to plant.
• Maintaining Prairie Gardens – weeds, insects, watering, fire.

Part Three – Plant Profiles

• Grasses, Sedges and Rushes – grasses are grouped by family. Each grass has a range distribution map and cultural information. Most grass species described have a photo. There’s a three page reference chart explaining the type of prairie each plant is native to.
• Cool Season Forbs - plants with flowers which bloom from spring to mid-summer. Organized by plant family – bean, orchid, lily, iris, primrose, evening primrose, rose, geranium, madder, crowfoot, parsley, borage, saxifrage, bluebell, spiderwort, dogbane, figwort, phlox, flax, mallow, aster. There’s a five page reference chart explaining the types of prairie each of these native plants belongs to.
• Warm Season Forbs – plants which flower from May or early June in southern areas and mid-summer in northern areas. Plants are listed by family – mint, acanthus, bean, spurge, milkweed, aster, gentian. There are beautiful photographs and distribution maps, just as with the grasses section, and three and a half pages of reference chart.
• Savanna Trees and Thicket Shrubs – trees and shrubs to use along with prairie. Make no more than half of your garden in shade. Families of trees and shrubs are: beech and oak; pine and cypress; willow; rose, plum, and cherry; honeysuckle, including viburnum; dogwood; cashew; citrus; oleaster; buckthorn.  There are many photos, as well as maps and two pages of reference charts.

There’s also a glossary and resources section with recommended periodicals, organizations, and plant nurseries (website addresses included). And there’s an extensive four and a half page bibliography.

Who Should Buy Gardening with Prairie Plants

This book is highly suitable for you if you are a native plant enthusiast living east of the Rocky Mountains, a garden designer or landscape architect looking to move toward more natural landscapes, a naturalist who wants to bring the plants you love home to your garden, an ecologist, ecosystem gardener, or someone who just wants to invite wildlife into your garden and really wants to learn.

Don’t Buy This Book If

If you are looking for a classic-style gardening book which uses simple layouts and tells you step by step what to do you could be overwhelmed by the wealth of information in this book. It’s not a book you can absorb at one sitting. Rather it’s a book to come back to again and again as you grow your knowledge.

Gardening with Prairie Plants is available from Amazon.com. I thoroughly recommend this book. Sally Wasowski is also the other of a number of other fabulous native plant gardening books which you’ll want to check out.

Have you read any great green gardening books which I should check out? Have you added native plants to your garden?

Be sure to subscribe to Loving Nature’s Garden – Green Garden Inspiration. Get every article direct to your Inbox.

Related posts:

1. The Cost of Prairie Restoration
2. Native Ferns, Moss and Grasses
3. Prairie Flowers

Small Fry Outdoors - Copyright Katrina Crook and ABC Books, 2008

Small Fry Outdoors is a 143 page paperback book stuffed full of outdoor kids play ideas and inspiration.

Caroline Webster of Caro & Co, otherwise known as Salisbury Downs, very kindly sent me a copy of her book all the way from Australia to review for you.

And Katrina Crook, the photographer behind the fabulous images, generously supplied me with the photos you see here – all from Small Fry Outdoors.

Getting Kids Out Into Nature

When I look at this lovely book for parents who need a little inspiration to get their kids out into nature I wonder how words can convey the joy it shares. Nonetheless, I’m supposed to be writing a review, which means words, so below you’ll find details on the written content.

Toddler Explorations on Wet Deck - Copyright Katrina Crook, 2008

Kids have this amazing innate capacity to examine everything in their surroundings. This photo of a toddler, face down to the wet, shiny deck, by Katrina Crook, captures it perfectly.

Outdoor Kids Play

Yet how often do we as adults just get in the way of kid exploration of the natural world with our concerns over cleanliness and safety and what kids ought to be doing?

I really love that the very first thing Caroline explains is what 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 year old outdoor kids play looks like. I know that I never knew what to expect of my first child. Caroline then goes on to explain what you need to do when outdoors with 2-6 year old children.  You’re not left guessing what exactly you’re supposed to do to encourage and support outdoor adventures.

Inside Small Fry Outdoors

Little Girl and Herbs - Coyright Katrina Crook, 2008

Inside Small Fry Outdoors you will find the following sections and chapter headings:

Where the Wild Things Are – imagination, discovery.

Every Day – activities, chores, when outdoors is hard.

Seasons – spring, summer, autumn, winter.

Senses – touch, taste, sight, smell, sound.

Concepts – colors, shapes, letters and numbers, time, web of life.

Kid-Friendly Activities

The range of outdoor kids play ideas included is extensive. Here are a few to give you a taste: adopt a fairy; magical potions; rain catchers; snail races; picnics (my favorite); bean racing; magpie madness; predator watch; what to plant in each season. There even some well chosen recipes and nature-inspired crafts.

Kids Just Plain Having Fun Outdoors

Lovingly Planting a Tree - Copyright Katrina Crook, 2008

And every single page spread includes a photo, or more, by Katrina Crook. The whole book is laid out beautifully.

Personally, if my kids were still little, I’d be as inspired, if not more so, by the images of kids just having a glorious time playing outdoors, as I would be by the activity ideas.

What Else?

Small Fry Outdoors is published by ABC Books, which is part of Harper Collins, Australia.

There are a few references in the book which are delightfully Australian. I’d not let that stop you from adding this book to your home library. I can’t imagine a better book to inspire outdoor playtime with kids.

I should mention here that Caroline also had the help of Susie Cameron in the production of this book and all three, Caroline Webster, Katrina Crook, and Susie Cameron, are moms of active young kids.

If you want to grab yourself a copy, and I’d recommend that you do, take a look at Small Fry Outdoors at Amazon.com. Being an Australian book, there are only a few copies available in the USA. Other options are: for UK copies try Small Fry Amazon.co.uk; in Australia, Small Fry at the ABC Store (they will ship to the USA).

Related posts:

1. Ten Tricks to Get Kids Outdoors
2. 3 States Who Are Promoting Outdoor Activities
3. Boys and Girls Come Out to Play

Rain Gardening in the South is a book by Helen Kraus and Anne Spafford. Here you will find the information to allow you to decide whether this is the book you need as you plan your rain garden.

Rain Gardening in the South is published by Eno Publishers, a small, non-profit book publishing company which focuses on producing books important to the culture of the Carolinas and the South.

Eno Publishers generously invited me to review this book and provided me with a copy.

Things to Know About Rain Gardening in the South

This is a surprisingly compact book at 142 pages long, considering it seems to contain everything you’d need to know for designing and building a rain garden in the following states: Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia.

Is it Just for the South?

Although this book is titled “…for the south” it’s usefulness extends beyond the listed states. I am in Kansas and I recognize many of the listed planting suggestions as being suitable for my area.

I’m certainly learning a lot from this book which I can put to use as I plan a rain garden for my Midwest back yard.

What is in Rain Gardening in the South

This is both a thorough and readable book with wonderful diagrams, charts and photographs which explain about how rain gardens work, where to site them, and what to plant.

Chapters are as follows:

• Introduction – water in the landscape and why to use rain gardens.
• Rain Gardens - what rain gardens do, dry gardens, wet gardens, the anatomy of a rain garden, rain gardens at home and abroad (examples).
• Designing a Rain Garden – property factors, water flow, location, style, design and maintenance.
• Laying the Groundwork – water movement in soil, size matters, rain barrel vs rain garden, filter beds, soil basics, a rain garden in action. Includes a table with numbers for calculating needed garden size.
• Plantings – natives and non-natives, grouping plants by water needs (hyrdozones), composition with plants, shade plants, sun plants, part-shade plants. Tables detail plants by light needs with vines, shrubs, groundcover, perennials, and tree choices. How to choose, plant and maintain healthy plants is also explained.
• Troubleshooting – slow drainage, fast drainage, dying plants, erosion, fungi problems.
• Other Water-wise Gardening Options – rain barrels, rain chains, drip irrigation, porous hardscapes.
• Appendix – soil types and suitable amendments.

The One Thing I’d Like Changed

The plant choice tables contain a wealth of information. I’d like to have seen an indication of which plants are native within the tables.

Who Should Buy Rain Gardening in the South?

I recommend this book for all gardeners who want to do their part for the ecosystem by building a rain garden. While it is most suitable for gardeners in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia there is much valuable information for those gardening in other southern states as well as in the east and midwest.

Shop for Rain Gardening in the South at Amazon.com (list price is $19.95, Amazon.com is selling it, at the time of this article, for $14.96), or online from your local independent bookstore.

Related posts:

1. Building a Rain Garden, Preparation
2. Rain Garden Design
3. Gardening with Prairie Plants

Growing Great Vegetables in the Heartland is a vegetable gardening book by Andrea Ray Chandler. Decide whether this is the book you need.

I’ve been on a search for a great vegetable growing book which covers everything I need to know for growing in Kansas, and which I would be happy to recommend to you.

How to Grow Vegetables in Kansas

Growing Great Vegetables in the Heartland is now my first choice book for vegetable gardeners in Kansas and the Midwest. The list price is just $18.95 and it is available for a lot less (currently around $2) through the Amazon.com marketplace.

Things to Like About Growing Great Vegetables…

When it comes to gardening, much of the knowledge you need is regional. It’s worth finding resources customized for your area. This book covers USDA zones 4, 5, and 6 and the following states: South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, most of Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio and parts of Minnesota and Oklahoma.

What You Will Not Find

There is no claim to be using new and amazing methods in this book.

What is in Growing Great Vegetables…

Beyond being a regional book, Andrea Ray Chandler has a no-nonsense, readable, writing style. She covers such things as: composting; mulching; labor saving; organic pest management; indoor seed starting; container gardening; and seed saving in the vegetable garden.

Sections are as follows:

• Introduction – what makes the Heartland special for gardening.
• Your Garden Ground – soil, composting, digging, raised beds, siting your garden, rainfall and watering needs.
• Understanding Catalogs – seed terms, packet sizes and costs, proven winners, narrowing down choices.
• Seed Starting and Garden Planning – equipment, containers, indoor starting, transplanting, garden layouts, spacing, maximizing harvest.
• Moving Out of Doors – frost dates, plant protection methods, mulch, trellising, tomato cages, supplies.
• Spring and Autumn crops – cool season vegetables.
• Warm Season Vegetables – squashes, corn, beans, tomatoes etc.
• Growing and Cooking with Herbs
• Bugs, Slugs and Four-legged Thugs – pests and methods of organic control.
• Tool Selection
• How to Get Brilliant (no extra charge for this part)!

Who Should Buy Growing Great Vegetables…

Growing Great Vegetables in the Heartland is for anyone living in the Midwest states listed above. Whether you are new to vegetable gardening, or already have some experience, this book has lots of information without being overwhelming. I hesitate to state that it has all the information you need, but it must be close to it.

Shop for this book at Amazon.com (new, or for around $2 from the marketplace) or online from your local independent bookstore.

Related posts:

1. A Guide to Happy Family Gardening
2. Best Raised Bed Gardening Books at Amazon.com
3. Spring Vegetables for Beginners