Garden Anywhere

This next book was Garden Anywhere: How to Grow Gorgeous Container Gardens, Herb Gardens, Kitchen Gardens, and More- Without Spending a Fortune by Alys Fowler. Long title, I know, but it really sets you up for what the book's about, which is a plus- and Fowler delivers.

This book was the first on the list that wasn't a story (or several), but it was absolutely splendid. In theory, I love gardening- but I'll be honest, it's a lot of work. Living in Southern California, anything we planted would grow, really. We had every fruit tree I could think of and flowers everywhere. Moving up to Oregon, I realized that I was going to have to relearn gardening for this region and for my yard. Thus far, I've been a bit discouraged- I had no idea where to start!

That being said, I've decided that I have to go out and buy this book. It was a wonderful combination of rules and recommendations for any circumstance. Fowler has great ideas for repurposing old boxes and pots for the garden, how to create your own garden boxes. Even if you've got an apartment that gets no sun, Fowler has ideas for what you can grow that will freshen up your space.

My favorite part was in the back, where she has a section called The Directory for the best, most useful, easiest vegetables and spices to grow. She's a wealth of knowledge and lays out the information in an easy, understandable way- even decoding what's on the tags at garden stores.

One of the things I liked the best was the layout. The pictures are beautiful- even the ones of dirt! None of the pages have the bare, white clinical feel that I feel like I get from so many gardening books- this was a pleasure to peruse.

In the interests of putting my money where my mouth is, I'll try to get Paul to build me a garden box and plant some sugar snap peas! I could apply most of the things in the book, but this is my first project. I would absolutely recommend the book to anyone, especially gardeners (and aspiring gardeners!)I will be buying this for several people as gifts! I have a feeling that this will soon become my go-to guide for years to come.

If you take a gander, let me know what you think! Did you try one of her ideas?