The New Seed Starter's Handbook

Rating:
Summary: The best book on seeds I've seen!
Review: If you want to learn how to start your own plants from seed, this is the book to own! The author covers all the variables of seed culture. I had tried to grow plants from seed before and failed. With this book I have had success after success. There is also a good section on saving your own seeds. If you're a do-it-yourselfer who is less than thrilled with the variety of plant choices available at the local nursery, this is the book for you!

Rating:
Summary: Vegetable Gardening in Northern Climates
Review: This book should have a subtitle: Vegetable Gardening in Northern Climates. The author assumes that every reader has snowy winters and hot summers, and that every reader is a vegetable gardener. If I just described you, then without question, you should buy this book! I live in a cool coastal climate of California, where temperatures are generally between 50-65, regardless of season. I'm not trying to grow vegetables, simply trying to replace the weeds in my yard with no-watering-required wildflowers, herbs, etc. If this describes you, then I will say that the book is still good for basic seed-starting tips, fertilizing, etc., but that at least 70% of the book will not apply. FYI, here are a few of the things I've learned in the past several months: Birds eat seedlings/baby plants. Really. I've sat with coffee in hand watching them. Bird netting must be raised up at least six inches and stretched taught to keep them away, but then it is dangerous to wildlife. I took it out after I found a young possum caught in it, and had to cut him loose. He had badly wounded himself trying to get free. I've replaced it with basic clear plastic from the hardware store, the kind we californians all have around the house for flood control. So far, it is working great.

Rating:
Summary: Vegetable Gardening in Northern Climates
Review: This book should have a subtitle: Vegetable Gardening in Northern Climates. The author assumes that every reader has snowy winters and hot summers, and that every reader is a vegetable gardener. If I just described you, then without question, you should buy this book! I live in a cool coastal climate of California, where temperatures are generally between 50-65, regardless of season. I'm not trying to grow vegetables, simply trying to replace the weeds in my yard with no-watering-required wildflowers, herbs, etc. If this describes you, then I will say that the book is still good for basic seed-starting tips, fertilizing, etc., but that at least 70% of the book will not apply. FYI, here are a few of the things I've learned in the past several months: Birds eat seedlings/baby plants. Really. I've sat with coffee in hand watching them. Bird netting must be raised up at least six inches and stretched taught to keep them away, but then it is dangerous to wildlife. I took it out after I found a young possum caught in it, and had to cut him loose. He had badly wounded himself trying to get free. I've replaced it with basic clear plastic from the hardware store, the kind we californians all have around the house for flood control. So far, it is working great.

Rating:
Summary: The New Seed-Starter's Handbook
Review: What a wonderful book! A wealth of information covering not only seed-starting, but all you need to know to be successful: some basic botany (how seeds germinate, the parts of a plant, and how they grow)proper seed-starting mediums, lighting, fertilizing,transplanting, moving your seedlings outdoors, pests...you name it! I do a great deal of seed-starting each year and wondered how much new information I could glean from this book..it didn't disappoint one bit. Highly recommended!