5 comments about Patio: Garden Design & Inspiration.

1. This book is an excellent sourse of inspiration for the garden designer who is tired of traditional garden design. Jamie Durie explores new materials and plant selections in a way that is comfortable and exciting. A must read for those of us who are tired of English garden design!



2. I must admit that I wasn't expecting much from Jamie Durie, knowing him mainly for his home renovation shows in Australia.
   However, after much searching through countless books on garden design in bookstores, I found his books to be far and away the best I've seen.
   His designs are very modern and innovative and the book gives a lot of insight into the design and construction process. Backgrounds and reasoning on particular choices made and goes into detail on subjects such as lighting, plants and materials.
   I own quite a few garden design books and I would definately rate this the best I've seen and just about every design in his books I would rate amongst the best I've seen.



3. This is the best of Durie's books and is an excellent companion for the California garden designer. The plans are helpful for understanding the layout of a garden, but the photos are what really make the book. The light modern style, clever detailing, and CA compatible plants give me new ideas every time I open it.



4. A definite must have. This is by far one of the best inspiring books for outdoor designs. If you are looking for something modern, minimalist, different from ordinary, don't look any further and buy this book. I designed my own terrace thanks to the great ideas and inspiration by Jamie Durie.



5. I've bought that book 'cause I'm planning to transform a small corner of my garden into a nice patio. But this book is about balconies, sky gardens, decks, pools, back yards, seaside retreats, etc...Nothing about patios!!! If you're looking for ideas for your patio, this probably isn't a good book for you.

4 comments about Liquid Gold: The Lore and Logic of Using Urine to Grow Plants.

1. This little gem of a book is both an informative source of about all things urine - including interesting historical attitudes and uses as well as modern environmental aspects - in addition to being a very fun read due to the amusing diagrams and sharp prose. Both the professional wastewater expert and the casual nature lover will find much knowledge and enjoyment in these pages. Because of this, Liquid Gold would be the perfect "stocking stuffer" gift for the environmentalist in your house this upcoming holiday season!



2. The is a smart, thoughtful book on an important subject. Despite the cartoon cover, the author approaches the use and disposal of urine in a practical and user friendly way. She presents convincing scientific information supporting the healthful use of urine for growing plants. Also, she gives good information on composting toilets. This is a timely subject for two reasons: first, the recapture of the nitrogen and other resources that are contained in the urine. Second: the disposal of urine without polluting drinking water. Like the Humanure book, this book makes the important point that the use of pure water to flush wastes away into the sewer system is a very poor use of very scarce resources.
   
   Highly recommend.



3. Doreen and I have been cultivating a variety of plants over a number of years now. In the past we had always used peat but (thanks to the riots at Clonycavan) prices soared and we were left helpless. It was at this time we turned to the pioneering research of Carol Steinfeld and fortunately she did not disappoint. Despite a couple of minor setbacks (before Doreen started going through a funnel) our indoor plants were soon growing better than ever before!
   
   PS. Anyone who disputes the logic of using human-fluids to grow plants, need only turn to the actions of the grandfather of logic: Dr. Spock (not to be confused with the child psychologist Mr. Spock!). Who could forget the episode of Star Trek in which he relieves himself into the ship's yucca plant?



4. For anyone interested in this sort of thing "Practicality". This book is fun and interesting. I loved it. Very Easy read. Lots of techniques used around the world on urine separating toilents; along with ideas on how to create you own urinals. I acually made one after reading this book and am using it as liquid fertilizer in my yard. The design is so clean and out of the way that not even my wife was bothered by it!

1 comments about Organic Farming: Everything You Need to Know (Everything You Need To Know).

1. Organic Farming: Everything You Need to Know is a primer to getting one's own organic farm up and running. From obtaining organic certification and acting in accordance with laws and rules, to caring for vegetables, crops, livestock, and poultry, to alternatives to pesticides and drugs, to marketing strategies for one's products and much more, Organic Farming offers plain-terms instructions illustrated with full-color photography. An easy-to-follow, hands-on primer, enthusiastically recommended for current and prospective organic farmers.

5 comments about The Cannabis Breeder's Bible: The Definitive Guide to Marijuana Genetics, Cannabis Botany and Creating Strains for the Seed Market.

1. To have gone through this book and come out the other side is a profound experience, like some sort of a futuristic biology class that specialized in the stuff that gets you best baked. I would not hesitate to force any kind of plant lover to gravitate towards this book like it was about a rose bush or an apple tree. It is a progressively deeper and meaningful insight into the world of plants and the humans who care for them. On one page we are getting an illustrated history of the evolution of the cannabis plant and on the next page how to use materials to enhance the genes that make flowers big like they where back in the prehistoric ages. It is unparalleled in the way its advanced scientific information is brought out in a practical and applicable manner to your grow. The best part is that we can have it all now. The fact that Greg Green is a cotemporary makes now the best time to repeat what he is advising because you can do it the same way with the same stuff. The evidence is in the book. Nowhere else, anywhere else, has anything, even remotely addressed the kind of topics in this book, let alone experiment and produce consistent results with them. This kind of detail is avant-garde marijuana research. It is influencing and changing the way cannabis cultivation is done on daily bases.
   
   Chapter 1: Overview of the Cannabis Strain Market
   Chapter 2: Basic Breeding
   Chapter 3: Donor Parents, Pollination and Seeds
   Chapter 4: Compatible Breeding Models
   Chapter 5: Plant Cells, Growth and Hormones
   Chapter 6: The Code of Life
   Chapter 7: Evolution and Mutations
   Chapter 8: Tissue Culture
   Chapter 9: What the Market Wants
   Chapter 10: Quarantining Foreign Cuttings
   Chapter 11: Breeding Talk
   Chapter 12: How to Protect Your Work
   Chapter 13: The Breeding lab
   Chapter 14: Product Testing and Dealing with the Consumer
   Chapter 15: Seed Gender, Plant Gender and Sex-Inherited Traits
   Chapter 16: The Effects of Chromosome Modifications In Cannabis
   Chapter 17: The Evolutionary Conduit of Dioecious Cannabis Plants on the Outcome of Inbreeding Depression with Cannabis
   Chapter 18: Cannabis Plant Morphology and Breeding Traits
   Chapter 19: Advanced Floral Traits
   Chapter 20: Advanced Breeding Principles
   Chapter 21: The Basics of Cannabis Photosynthesis Chemistry
   Chapter 22: The Scientific Classification of Cannabis, Cannabinoids and Cannabinoid Receptors
   Chapter 23: Force Flowering Concepts and a Correct Approach to Calyx Development
   
   It is thanks to fresh new invigorating material like this that we are finally going to get a pause in the factory pumped out marijuana cultivation articles that get rehashed every year. For anybody who wants to be blown away by a Marijuana book, be blown away by Greg Green.



2. I Lightly read part of this book when i first began to read about cannabis. Boy oh boy was it a handful. This is a very advanced book. If you are simply a toker then i wouldn't suggest this book, but if you are an advanced grower/breeder this is for you.
   
   I would suggest reading other grow material and particularly greens grow bible before diving into this book.
   
   I will have to read it again now that i am a little more knowledgable.



3. This is an excellent resource on cannabis genetic's and how cannabis genetic characteristic's are utilized from the male and female plants.. IT IS NOT FOR THE BEGINNER wanting to learn how to grown cannabis, it is for experienced growers and designed for the advanced grower or anyone interested in cannabis genetic's to create their own variety of cannabis. If you do not have the time to understand how genetic's work nor do not understand basic chemistry about genetic's, this book is not for you. Verl McCown, GG



4. I bought this book with the hopes of learning something about genetics, and I learned that the author should devote some time to reading "marijuana botany" by Robert Connell Clarke. Unfortunately "The Cannabis Breeders Bible" is not a "definitive guide to marijuana genetics" the book is more like recycled garbage from a bunch of other grow books. It does nothing to explain the real deal with breeding like identifying strains that are compatible and in turn can breed. He puts it in a manner saying all you have to do is find a male and find a female and voila you have seeds. Any good cannabis breeder knows this is not the truth. Anyone looking at this book should just buy "Marijuana Botany" and leave it at that. The Cannabis breeders bible did nothing more than waste my time.



5. I think this is a really good book for people who understand horticulture and have been growing for a long time and want to expand. It is however no good for the first time or novice who may get confused with the scientific nature of the book.

5 comments about Roses Love Garlic: Companion Planting and Other Secrets of Flowers.

1. I originally bought this book over 20 years ago from Rodale press and lost it in one of my many moves. It is an excellent resource for companion and inter-planting of flowers, many of which are edible, with vegetables. I now garden in containers and the concepts in this book lend themselves easily to this kind of gardening.



2. Recently purchased this book and find it very useful, not only from the types of roses but for all the other things that you would never think of doing with them. A nice book for gardeners and anyone interested in roses to have



3. Good companion book to Carrots Love Tomatoes. A must have for the gardener whether professional or homegrown.



4. I have a garden. This is an awesome book. I will use some of the tips in the book for sure.



5. This is a very informational book. I bought two, gave one to my 73 year old mother who just planted her first successful garden!

5 comments about Jerry Baker's Great Green Book of Garden Secrets.

1. If you want to have the best "buds" on the block , I "highly" recommend this gem of a book.

   Jerry baker is a master of garden secrets. And these are secrets that you will not find anywhere else.

   5 stars.




2. This is a wonderful and practical book. I tried two of the receipes in the book and had instant improvement in the appearance of my indoor and outdoor plants. I will be getting several copies for my gardening friends and family.



3. I bought this book through the mail and I wont tell you how much I spent on it. It really does have some interesting facts. A lot of repetitive ideas that can be confusing some times. Some of the tonics and things that I tried made my garden worse. In fact, it burnt some of my plants to the ground! Some of his recipes are confusing. Such as: he recommeds everything in this 20 gallon hose end sprayer. I went to many garden centers and everyone laughed at me. Nobody carries anything that large. that is for a garden the size of Texas! Who are these people that the tonics worked for? Come to my house and help me, then.



4. This answers everything from selecting a plant to pests and problems.



5. I liked it a lot. Lots of good, down to earth information and easy to find solutions.

3 comments about Organic Gardening.

1. I am a beginning gardener who wants to learn to garden without chemicals or pesticides. After using this book for one season, I can't recommend it enough. It is easy to use and full of information that has kept our gardens healthy and beautiful. It has answered all of my questions and kept me excited about trying new things in the next season. Well written, well illustrated, and a great index.



2. This is the best general-knowledge gardening book in my collection, and definitely the best organic book I've found. The thing I like the most about this volume is that it's *practical.* The author doesn't act like weeds will magically leave you alone or that gardening is a carefree and perfect existance. He offers real world advice that deals with the real, mundane problems of the chemical-free gardener, or any gardener for that matter.
   
   It also contains lots of pictures and is easy to browse for whatever information you're after.



3. Beautiful illustrations and all the companion planting and natural pest control information I was wanting.
   
   I'm introducing some friends to raised bed, square foot and organic gardening, and it has served me well as a guide in illustrating the ease with which one can garden on an Earth-friendly basis.

5 comments about Harvest for Hope: A Guide to Mindful Eating.

1. This is a good book, but my copy arrived kind of beat up looking. Since it was going to be a gift for my niece, I had to send it back. Beware of the books labeled BARGAIN. They are not first quality copies like the description states.



2. This book is always next to my chair. I review it always. I have bought and given this wonderful book to friends and family. My why of passing the word. This book is an Eye opener for what we put in our mouths & how we are hurting our selfs and our plant.



3. As a huge fan of Ms. Goodall, I was delighted to discover this book just recently. I purchased it right away and read it over a weekend. I have always respected her opinions and was prepared to learn. This book changed my life!
   
   As an environmentalist, I have always wanted to reduce my impact on the planet but thought buying organic was too expensive. Ms. Goodall's expose' showed me that it was not expensive in the long run. After reading about factory farming and its use in the fast food industry, I cut out fast food and was able to purchase organic. Not only does one get the satisfaction of doing something good for themselves and the Earth, but the food taste SO MUCH BETTER! This is how we were meant to nourish our bodies - without chemicals, fertilizers, or frank o foods!
   
   Her coverage of genetically modified foods that bombard the grocery aisles was extremely eye opening. I now find myself shopping only at EarthFare (our regional version of the Whole Foods grocery chain), farmer's markets, and local co-ops for certified organic products.
   
   I loved the reference section which gives the reader website links to learn more about the topics Ms. Goodall covers in the book. I spent two whole days reading more in depth about a variety of topics.
   
   I highly recommend this book to everyone! The reader will walk away realizing that we are but a thread in the web of life and that in our quest to receive nourishment, we shouldn't destroy our natural world.



4. Jane Goodall, the chimpanzee lady, gives an overview of the issues with food, water, transportation of the food, etc. in this book. She does a good general job of explaining the issues. She discusses how crops are raised and used, how animals are raised and treated, genetic engineering, organic growing practices, how food is distributed, fast food and water! She uses an anecdotal style with facts and studies to back the stories up. However, the facts are not always referenced in a way the one could easily follow up. Overall, I liked the amount of information she conveyed in a very readable way.



5. This book was more about Jane's views on food than on food itself. Good book if you are a fan of her work. Bad choice if you are buying it for any insight regarding the culinary industry.

5 comments about The Organic Cook's Bible.

1. This book answers all of my questions about produce: the organic factor, (which tells you whether a certain product is sprayed heavily with toxins when you cannot purchase organic), nutrition details, seasonality, what to look for when buying, preparation, and uses.
   
   There is just the right amount of detail including full colour photographs of vegetables, nuts, fruits - or whatever you are looking for. I find this very helpful when I want to buy something that I am unfamiliar with like Okra for instance.
   
   The material is extremely accessible. Everything in this book is organized perfectly so that you intuitively know where to find what you are looking for. I love the headings, shadings, chunking of information and the gorgeous green font that suits this book.
   
   I use this book daily for a reference. On top of being extremely useful, it would make a great coffee table book. I'm sure that people couldn't keep their hands off of it.



2. I borrowed this book on an impulse from our local library. I was pleasantly surprised at how thorough and easy to use this book is. It is an absolute must, whether you are into organic foods or not. It covers everything from fruits & vegetables, meats, dairy, grains, pasta and nuts.
   
   How many times have you gone to the grocery store and wondered how to tell if the fruit you were looking at was good(like melons) or wondered what some fruit or vegetable tasted like and what to use it for? This book clearly explains how to pick the best produce, what the nutritional information is, with beautiful color photos.
   
   I can't wait to get my own copy and start trying some of the recipes. This will definitely be something I use every day.
   
   This deserves a rating of 10 stars!!!



3. Plenty of books on the market cover organic foods and health, but THE ORGANIC COOK'S BIBLE is a resource which goes beyond recipes to offer a survey of organic ingredients and how to choose, store and prepare them. Home cooks and chefs receive a guide which covers meats, dairy, herbs, spices and more, with an A-Z arrangement for quick and easy reference, and a survey of over a hundred organic foods, from flavor and nutrition benefits to storage, what to look for, and top varieties. A 'must' for any serious culinary or home organic cook's collection.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



4. Over the last few years, I've slowly become more and more organic. I've made the transition and I feel great! This book was one of the key elements that allowed my transition period to go smoothly. It's very informative and also a makes a great gift to a loved one, or friend.



5. There was so much hype on this book that I expected more. It is not a bad book but I am sure there must be better ones out there on this subject than this. The info is very general. And seems oddly lacking in places. For instance, the resource section in the back seems random and missing things that anyone following the organic or slow food movement would have heard of. The book actually feels a bit behind the times and not on the forefront of the organic movement as one would have expected. Also, the author's tone is not that inviting and rather bland. Though I imagine I will pick up a tidbit or two, it is not the comprehensive 'bible' it touts itself to be.

5 comments about Extreme Gardening: How to Grow Organic in the Hostile Deserts.

1. I live in Phoenix and have the opportunity of catching Dave Owens tips for gardening on Channel 3 on a weekly basis. Dave has so many tips for gardening that the only way to harness his knowledge is to purchase this book. I have come to find that these tips work not only for those of us living in the desert, but I pass them along to my Mother in Wyoming, and she has as much success as I do with them. Dave is an extremely knowledgable gardner and his book reflects that, the layout was very thought out and takes you step by step from the "what do I need", to "now I've got what I need, what do I do" stages. Bravo, Dave!



2. David Owens has written a real winner with this book! He tells us which plants will survive in our harsh desert environment and how to plant and take care of them. The book is easy to follow and I'm having good luck with all the trees and vegetables I have planted using his guidelines.

   If you thought that gardening was not an option since you moved to the desert you need this book to show you the way!




3. This is a great book for any gardening endvor using organic means. This autor knows and understands planting for an enviroment that is both beautiful and harsh. I follow his inspiring garden methods using this book and his companion book.



4. I LOVE this book. It is the best, hands down, guide to growing veggies in Arizona. So many gardening books address other parts of the country and don't apply to the Southwest. I have 5 other "Southwest" gardening books and this is the first book I refer to. It combines organic gardening with gardening in the desert. If you are a newbie to southwest gardening and only want to read one book-get this one!



5. This is the best book on gardening in the desert. It has the most specific information relative to gardening here in the Phoenix area. It will be the gardening bible in our house.