I see these books and my impulse is to admit defeat: I am hopeless in the garden. But after I sit with the idea, I realize my household is not completely ignorant of backyard vegetable gardening. My husband plants a little patch of arugula and chives every year (mostly to feed raccoons and squirrels) and I've been known to keep a bunch of basil alive in a glass of water for weeks.
So I think, Hey, wait a minute, I DO garden! I don't have to be afraid of going all the way... I just need a few no-guff growers to give me the Coles notes and save the sentimental stuff for the new-agey lot.
And here's my book! No Guff Vegetable Gardening by Donna Balzer of TV show Bugs and Blooms and Blogs & Blooms blog, and Steven Gibbs of the-locavores-garden.com.
Donna and Steve are from two different generations, but where they meet is on the point of a practical veggie gardening revolution, cutting through the BS -- or guff, as they prefer -- to save you confidence, money and often time. Between the two of them they've seen and heard enough misconceptions and market chicanery to write a peppy tell-all, leading us by the ear toward mindful, successful veggie growing. Everything from soil-testing and micro-climates to types of beds, crop selection and troubleshooting is covered.
Steven Biggs and Donna Balzer with their book at Canada Blooms in Toronto
It's clear the book was created with the current information age in mind. Every page is a colourful map of facts and opinions, whimsically illustrated and super graphic to hold our A.D.D.-ridden attention. Donna and Steve's straight talk, such as, "...buying new soil every time the soil gets hard is like buying a new car every time yours runs out of gas" (Steven) is respectively pulled out in "He Said; She Said" quotes, and facts are summarized in clever lists and visual graphs. The illustrations are by the imaginative duo Mariko and Bryan McRae, of multidisciplinary Feedlot Studios. Some of the pages are so cute, I almost want to suggest copying and framing them for your little grower's room!
Illustration by Feedlot Studios, from No Guff Vegetable Gardening by Donna Balzer and Steven Biggs
You'll like it if:
- You or your child have any inclination to grow some veggies
- You appreciate thoughtful, creative projects such as this book
- You're an avid grower and would like to compare notes with some of the authors' temptingly practical directives
You may not like it if:
- You are a long-time grower who doesn't want to compare notes
- You don't appreciate tongue-in-cheek visual aid with your gardening manuals
- You don't want to learn how to grow veggies
Giveaway: I have three of these guff-busting veggie-growing manuals to give away, all you have to do is email stylesheetAThgtvDOTca the correct answer to this question:
What is the name of one of our new gardening shows? Please see
contest rules.
Will you be growing veggies this summer? Now's the time to start!
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