Comments on: Book Review: The Garden Primer, Completely Revised

By: Claudia (cook eat FRET)

Claudia (cook eat FRET) — Wed, 14 May 2008 15:44:51 +0000

the lady on the cover of that book?
i hate that lady
because i am so very envious and i will
NEVER EVER be her
on oh so many levels

but hey

love your blog…

By: Becky

Becky — Tue, 13 May 2008 02:22:35 +0000

Hey Sarah,

I missed the piece on moss lawns, but now I’ll look it up. (It would be pefect for me since right now I’ve got a shady-spot weed garden for a front lawn…)

By: sarah

sarah — Tue, 13 May 2008 01:34:10 +0000

Oh, I had just pulled her book out a few days ago and then read your review.Nice. I’m definitely interested in alternative lawns also. Did you see the piece in the ny times a few weeks ago about moss lawns?

By: Becky

Becky — Sun, 11 May 2008 16:30:13 +0000

Dear Achy (does this refer to the injuries of gardening?),

Workman Publishing also has a great book on composting, which would help with the soil situation. It’s called The Complete Compost Gardening Guide, and it goes through the various (and there are oh-so-many) methods for turning waste into rich soil.

Another book that I still refer to is an older one, called The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control. It has great pictures of all the things that could go wrong with any of your veggies, plus a good pest identification guide. They rely a lot on “natural” pesticides like pyrethrin though, and I think there are better ways.

By: Achy-Knees

Achy-Knees — Sun, 11 May 2008 16:24:01 +0000

I’m just getting into gardening and I’m looking for a couple of good books that will get me moving in the right direction. I just ordered this one from Amazon, so thanks for the head’s up. Can you, or readers who garden, recommend any others? I’m more interested in growing vegetables and herbs and definitely want to do it organically. I fear my soil needs work and I’m also very interested of course in heirlooms.

By: Becky

Becky — Sat, 10 May 2008 14:57:58 +0000

Hey Greg, true enough, she does discuss whether we need lawns or not in the first edition. The space she devotes to alternatives, both in that section and also in various parts of the book (wildflowers, ground covers, etc) is expanded in this volume though. I agree with you, in all the significant ways this book is quite like the previous, but it has definitely been updated to reflect the environmental and social challenges that face this particular moment in time.

By: Greg

Greg — Sat, 10 May 2008 14:54:47 +0000

I’m still using her old book, and actually there is also a discussion in there about the need for lawns. I guess she was ahead of her time because now my neighbors don’t have them, but that may not be intentional.

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:49:15 +0000

I’m so glad to see a review of this book. I, too, have a tattered copy of her original book and I have been wondering if I want to buy the new one or not. It sounds like there is plenty of new material, and it will be nice to have a fresh copy to break into the garden. Thanks for the informative review.