Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Good reading.

We love books in this house. We visit the library a few times a week, and I am addicted to the online library system which connects the small library we visit to the 65 or so libraries in the entire system - I love being able to put things on hold, having a queue always going, and just having a big pile of books waiting for us when we visit.

Here are just a few of our favorites this week::


the urban homestead
by kelly coyne and erik knutzen

This is a great book. It has everything in it - gardening (anywhere), composting, fermenting, canning, using rain barrels and/or greywater, non-toxic cleaners, raising chickens, generating your own power, urban foraging...the list goes on and on. It is a small book, but it is comprehensive and while I am familiar with everything in the book, I enjoyed reading tips that apply specifically to urban/neighborhood/square foot challenged spaces. The authors have a great blog too...




i love dirt!
by jennifer ward

We spend a lot of time outdoors, exploring and observing nature. What I like about the book is that it is full of simple ideas which are organized seasonally. The writing is very lyrical and positive, and the ideas seem to fit our rhythm. All are nice reminders to slow down, look around, and enjoy the little things. Slug trails, moon shadows, rock hunting, mud puddles. All good.





grow it, cook it. simple gardening projects and delicious recipes.
DK book

This book was a nice surprise - I always check out new books on this subject to see what is out there and look for ideas, and this book has a bit of everything. Yes, it is about gardening for kids, and has recipes using home grown goodies for kids to make. But the book also has interesting info and projects such as making compost - as well as fun crafts like making plant markers or a seed organizer box. The recipes look good too!

17 comments:

Maymomvt said...

I wish we had access to a decent library I want to find the Grow It, Cook It book. That looks like something my kids would like.

Anet said...

These look interesting! I'll check our library for them. Especially the top two. We have 4 libraries in our town and luckily one is a few blocks from me. It's a smaller one, but they can get books from the main library downtown for people. The downtown one is fun, two stories full of glorious books!Parking can be a challenge though. We go there when we have plenty of time and energy! Thanks Denise.

dawn klinge said...

Both of these books sound like ones I would enjoy. We have the same type of library...I often click over to my library's page after viewing your blog and request books that you recommend, and they're waiting for me next time I go.

Anonymous said...

great recommendations! thanks!

Jennifer @ Fruit of My Hands said...

I'm going to look for that first book you mentioned! Thanks for the recommendation, and thanks for stopping by!

RunninL8 said...

We just bought "I love dirt"-it IS such a great little book! Thanks for the other recommendations! I'm addicted to the library, too. (Thanks, Grama)

Sharon said...

I just checked and our library doesn't have the Urban Homesteader so I'll have to go back and see if they can ILL it.....thanks.

Liz Allman said...

DK is an excellent pubblisher for childrens nature books. If you haven't seen it yet, try their My First Nature Activity Book, great activities like building bird feeders of pinecones and bug caves.

I will definately check these out.

tiff said...

I so want to get that Urban Homestead book...do you think it will be worth my while...in our new home in carbondale, co? we probably wont have a yard...but I have no idea...maybe there is a community garden.

and i love the book "I LOVE dirt! It is fantastic...and like you we try to spend most of our summer days outside...well except the last few days...which has been spent packing...ugh!

Lisa Zahn said...

Thanks for these book recommendations! I will look for all of them.

Lisa

Lisa Anne said...

Thanks for the books recommendations. Our old library in Ohio was connected to a lot of libraries, like yours. I really used it to its fullest, we do not have such luxury here. We can only have one inter-library loan at a time:( It still doesn't stop us from having arm loads of books each time we leave the library. Happy Reading!

Angela said...

What a great blog- I am new today! I will be back for more inspiration!

Gypsy said...

OOoh fun - off to to the library website to check them out :)

Cami said...

These all look like fun books. I'm going to look for the first one especially. We have a dinky library in our little town, so I'm working on my own home library with a little help from Amazon and Barnes & Noble ;)

Mr. Homegrown said...

We're in a library in Madison!!!!! That is so amazing.

Erik and I are heavy library users as well, but our book, The Urban Homestead, isn't even in the huge LA library system. It makes sense that you have it, though, because we've always heard that folks in Wisconsin are very cool.

Thanks so much for the plug. And happy homesteading!

Kelly

denise said...

Hi Kelly! :)

I love your book! I was on hold for it through our library system while it was still on order and was excited to see it come in. I plan to add it to our permanent library - so many great ideas.

And just an FYI - while our library system has only one copy, there are 23 holds on it already! :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great references! I'm so glad I found you. I'm enjoying EVERYTHING!