February 2023 MBR The Gardening Shelf

The Gardening Shelf

The Good Garden
Chris McLaughlin
Island Press
2000 M St NW Suite 650, Washington, DC 20036
www.islandpress.org
9781642832150, $35.00, PB, 312pp

https://www.amazon.com/Good-Garden-Pollinators-Wildlife-Food_All/dp/1642832154

Synopsis: What makes a garden good? For Chris McLaughlin, it's about growing the healthiest, most scrumptious fruits and veggies possible, but it's also about giving back. How can your little patch of Earth become a sanctuary for threatened wildlife, sequester carbon, and nurture native plants?

With the publication of "The Good Garden: How to Nurture Pollinators, Soil, Native Wildlife, and Healthy Food -- All in Your Own Backyard" McLaughlin gives you all the tricks and tips you need to grow the sustainable garden of your dreams.

Drawing from established traditions, such as permaculture and French intensive gardening, and McLaughlin's hard-earned experience, "The Good Garden" is a joyful guide for gardening newbies and experienced gardeners alike. It will teach you the fundamentals, including how to choose the right plant varieties for your microclimate, and proven methods to fight pests without chemicals. You will also discover the nuances of developing a green thumb, from picking species to attract specific types of pollinators to composting techniques based on time available.

Lovely and instructive four-color photography will show you good gardening in action.

Most importantly, "The Good Garden" will help you foster a sense of meaning in your garden. Maybe the goal is to reduce food miles and plastic waste by growing delicious berries. Maybe it's to meet neighbors who also care about the planet through a seed-swap. Maybe it's a quiet moment patting the bunny whose manure will replace toxic fertilizers in the soil. A good garden offers endless possibilities and "The Good Garden" offers a wealth of knowledge and inspiration.

Critique: Exceptionally and impressively well written, organized, illustrated and presented, "The Good Garden: How to Nurture Pollinators, Soil, Native Wildlife, and Healthy Food -- All in Your Own Backyard" is a thoroughly 'user friendly' DIY instructional guide for gardening in all manner of circumstances -- and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library DIY gardening collections.

Editorial Note: Chris McLaughlin (https://www.treehugger.com/chris-mclaughlin-5202688) has been gardening and studying plants for over thirty-five years. She is the author of eight previous books: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Composting, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Heirloom Vegetables, Hobby Farms: Small-Space Rabbit Keeping, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Small-Space Gardening, Vertical Vegetable Gardening, A Garden to Dye For, Growing Heirloom Flowers, and Raising Animals for Fiber.

Birds and Blooms Backyard Basics
Birds & Blooms, editor
Enthusiast Brands LLC
c/o Trusted Media Brand
https://www.trustedmediabrands.com
9781621458784, $19.99, PB, 256pp

https://www.amazon.com/Birds-Blooms-Backyard-Basics-butterflies/dp/1621458784

Synopsis: A compendium of more than 300 Q&As about the birds, butterflies and plants in your landscape, "Birds and Blooms Backyard Basics" provides answers to everything you've ever needed to know about the birds, butterflies and plants in your landscape.

With the illustrated pages of "Birds and Blooms Backyard Basics" experts offer simple solutions and professional advice for common dilemmas including: Why do birds hit my windows?; How do I get rid of garlic mustard?; Why won't my wisteria bloom?; Do the same hummingbirds return to my garden each year?

Of special note are the sections in "Birds and Blooms Backyard Basics" that reveal fascinating facts about birds, butterflies, and bees, quick fixes for poor soil, the top 10 plants for fragrance, and much more.

Critique: Beautifully and profusely illustrated with color photography throughout, and with more than 300 Q&As on topics from bird and plant identification to how to control garden pests, this coffee-table style paperback volume of "Birds and Blooms Backyard Basics" is essential for any backyard and outdoor enthusiast with an interest in the biology of wildlife in general, and the promotion of 'bird friendly' gardening and landscaping. While a critically important and core addition to personal, professional, and community library collections, it should be noted that "Birds and Blooms Backyard Basics" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.99).

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The Midwest Book Review is an organization of volunteers committed to promoting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. We accept no funds from authors or publishers. Full permission is given to post any of these reviews on thematically appropriate websites, newsgroups, listserves, internet discussion groups, organizational newsletters, or to interested individuals. Please give the Midwest Book Review a credit line when doing so.

The Midwest Book Review publishes the monthly book review magazines "California Bookwatch", "Internet Bookwatch", "Children's Bookwatch", "MBR Bookwatch", "Reviewer's Bookwatch", and "Small Press Bookwatch". All are available for free on the Midwest Book Review website at www (dot) midwestbookreview (dot) com

Anyone wanting to submit books for review consideration can send them to:

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugalmuse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publisher, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number, and list price).

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review