What I am reading....

1) The Holistic Orchard: Tree Fruits and Berries the Biological Way-

 Amazing book.. really changes the way you look at your garden and yard!  I stumbled on this book when I was searching for ways to spray a fruit tree organically. (if you know anything about fruit trees you know that spraying with pesticides and fungicides is almost seen as a must do).

Michael Phillips is considered to be revolutionary and I can see why.  I have not finished reading it yet this book has already changed how I look at plants/trees. This is a book that I will need to read a few times, because there really is so much to learn.

2) Growing Tasty Tropical Plants in any home anywhere
I am convinced that if people can migrate to other countries and climates so can other living things including tropical plants. That being said some do better than others and some do well when you try and adapt their living conditions to their native land (like how I need to keep my house warm enough  that my husband,  can wear shorts all year round :) ).

Anyway LOVED this book... its not very in depth but a great book for inspiration. It is a very simple and light read. You do have to keep in mind that the authors of this book have a online nursery called Logee's so they are trying to sell their products but they are open about that. (the nursery is based our of Connecticut!!! could you imagine growing bananas in Connecticut).

I'd love to one day grow a coffee plant or vanilla bean plant... or better yet a banana plant. Love that they talked about specific cultivars of plants that do well in container culture. Simple but great book!

3)  The Ruth Stout No-Work Garden Book- Secrets of the famous year-round mulch method-
This book was first published in 1971 and at that time I think Ruth Stout was 87. So needless to say the times and perspective of this book was quite different. It is interesting how she comments about all the new studies supporting chemical fertilizers, and other concepts which are basically the heart of commercial agriculture as we know it today. 

Ruth Stout's method precedes Pat Lanza's Lassagna Gardening method and has some similarities. These are both basically no till no weeding methods of gardening developed by elderly old ladies who loved to garden but didn't want to be dependent on other people for their hobby. (Although I don't think Ruth Stout was that old when she developed the method). Both women are basically using sheet composting directly in their gardens to build up really rich soil without hassles of tilling or weeding.

Anyway Ruth's method eliminates the need for a compost pile (you compost straight into your garden). Her method is a bit easier to grasp than Lassagna Gardening (because Ruth doesn't tell you to grow straight into your mulch, she basically grows in the dirt and tells you to put 8 inches of mulch around your plants).  Her book is a pretty easy read but she does ramble on a bit, the book is not as nicely organized as more modern gardening books are. (Lassagna Gardening is still my go to book if I am going to plant something new). I don't mind the rambling so much (have you noticed I tend to ramble both in person as well as in my blog :) ) I loved Ruth's candor... she was first to admit she is not very technical however she's going to share her experiences and opinions (which she has plenty of) and let you decide what to do.