Books to help your garden grow

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- Have you caught the gardening bug yet? Stop by the St. Joseph Public Library and check out a book on gardening. Visit the Downtown or East Hills libraries and you will even find seeds to get you started. The books discussed here are available at the St. Joseph Public Library, at other Missouri Evergreen libraries or from one of the SJPL eContent vendors. Visit the library’s catalog at sjpl.modiscovery.org to find these or other great books to enjoy. Stay tuned for recommended books on harvesting in a few months.

-- "Growing an Edible Landscape: How to Transform Your Outdoor Space into a Food Garden" by Gary Pilarchik and Chiara D’Amore. The first step in creating an edible landscape is to check sunlight, rain amounts and water flow in the area you have chosen. Changes to your yard for growing food are suggested. Eliminating the reappearance of unwanted vegetation in the planting area is explained. Fixes for soil types and watering methods are covered. Common and uncommon edible plant families and their companion plantings are addressed for small additions to your yard or major changes.

-- "Kitchen Gardening for Beginners: Regrow Your Leftover Greens, Stalks, Seeds and More" by Katie Elzer-Peters. This is a small book with big ideas. You can cut down on waste, save water, add green to your home or garden and save money by providing food with your throw-aways. Regrowing food through propagation from your scraps by rooting in water or collecting seeds to plant in the next growing cycle are some of the ideas presented. All save you money rather than buying at a garden center or big-box store.

-- "How to Grow Flowers in Small Spaces: An Illustrated Guide to Planning, Planting, and Caring for Your Small Space Flower Garden" by Stephanie Walker. Good practices for watering, the best time of year to plant, finding the right plants for your area and the importance of record keeping are all necessary for a successful garden. Forty varieties of plants that are easy to grow, good to cut and eat and their suitability for every growing zone are detailed. Plant placement, bed layouts, troubleshooting and container planting all make a small-space garden easier and more successful.

-- "The Healing Garden: Cultivate Your Garden to Treat, Feed and Soothe" by Caroline Parker. Advocating both the use of botanicals in medicinal preparation and incorporating them into your diet makes this book different. The plant profile section lists the best time for starting, sun requirements, spacing, growing height, soil pH, uses for plant parts, preparations that use each plant and cautions. Suggestions for bed types, container growing, harvesting, drying, creating an herbal medicine cabinet and medicinal-use charts are included.

-- "The Money-Saving Gardener: Create Your Dream Garden at a Fraction of the Cost" by Anya Lautenbach. Before garden centers, people used what they had or swapped between friends or neighbors to create their gardens. Do you want flowers to look at or to bring inside? Do you want herbs or vegetables to consume, trade or sell? How much garden do you have time or space for? How do you plan to water your garden? Will you be in the same place years ahead? What do you want to spend your money on? First, prioritize, then garden.