Getting ready for spring. Starting to prep for the garden and getting thinking about it. A nice wonderful book of ideas and ways to do things in the garden. I tell you what though, Sharon Lovejoy is a cold blooded killer for pests and varmints that hinder the garden, she don't take no crap from harmful bugs thats for sure. ( )

Introduced to the joys of tending plants by her grandmother when she was just a girl, Sharon Lovejoy distills lessons from a lifetime of gardening in this charming little book. Replete with Lovejoy’s adorable illustrations, Trowel and Error offers hundreds of innovative, effective, environmentally friendly tips for turning household items into gardening tools, whipping up homemade concoctions to improve the health of soil and plants, eradicating pests and weeds, attracting natural garden allies, successfully cultivating seeds, and decorating inside and out with botanical flair! Gardeners of any level will want to keep this compendium of homespun wisdom and clever solutions to common problems within reach during planting season. ( )

How cute is this little book? Lavishly illustrated and jam-packed with fabulous and sensible ideas I've never had before.

All that AND autographed too.

This little book is crammed full of handy little tips on how to make gardening easier and more economical, like using common pantry items to whip up bug repellents and plant tonics or recycling household items into useful garden implements. Some of the ideas were familiar to me- milk-jug cloches, flowers to attract beneficial insects. Others were entirely new -and exciting- like using infusions of willow to propagate plant cuttings, basil tea spray to fight cucumber beetles, aluminum foil to bounce light off sun-loving tomatoes and peppers. That's only a few; the book contains "over 700 shortcuts, tips and remedies for the gardener." I'm ready now to roll up my sleeves and start concocting stuff in the kitchen to apply in the garden, hopefully with good results.

from the Dog Ear Diary ( )