A good read

Juana gave me this card for my birthday last year and it pretty much sums up my feelings. We are a family of readers and gardeners so our library per se is scattered in the many bookcases throughout our house. I have concentrated most of the gardening books in my office, who’s bookcases used to hold tomes on the latest management or technology theories. Now they sit stuffed with seed catalogues, seasonal planting writings, plant identification books, aromatherapy guides, etc.

They all get sampled over the course of growing seasons but at this time of year I like to peruse some of my older books. Right now I am going through a pair that were published in the 1800s. “The Field and Garden Vegetables of America,” by Fearing Burr Jr. (1863) and “The American Gardener’s Calendar,” by Bernard McMahon (1806) are wonderful references to lose yourself in on a Winter’s day. They are both written with an innocence of growing plants in a strange and new place.

But what I enjoy the most about them are the simple and novel solutions and approaches they take toward solving problems in the garden. To me in these rushed times, it brings comfort that 200-year old techniques are still of use in the garden. And the best thing about both of these books is that they are free on-line. I, however, given to age and preference prefer to sit in a comfy chair with a good book and a drink to while away the afternoon.