There are so many things on my "to do" list this year, or more accurately, my "to learn" list! I am very much a researcher by nature, so whenever there is something that I want to learn more about, I head straight to our local library. They make it really easy - I can search for books online, request them, and then pick them up without having to search the library with two children. Much easier! Since spring is right around the corner, I have been busy requesting and reading a lot of books. They cover a lot of different topics, but they mostly have a common theme: gardening and food production and preservation. Here are a few of the books I currently have on my bookshelf.
The Complete Compost Gardening Guide
*Something we wanted to do last year, but never got around to is composting. We have the perfect area to section off for compost piles, near the garden but out of sight behind a fence bordering the kids playground area. I took a class on composting last year that made the whole thing seem like a very scientific process that was easily messed up. I am hoping this book will give me the ideas that I need to make composting a reality for us, because I really cant imagine that its all that difficult! My hope is that we can get a system figured out and built this spring, and be on our way towards making our own compost for the garden.
Storey's Guide To Raising Rabbits
*Going hand in hand with the post above, we are thinking about adding an outside rabbit to our family. It would be nice to have another pet, but the main reason for us looking into this is for the manure for the garden. I have read varying opinions on whether rabbit manure can be put straight into the garden or if it should be composted first. Depending on who you talk too, rabbit manure (along with goat and llama) is either considered cold, and therefor never needs to be composted or is considered highly dangerous and should always be composted before using. I lean more towards the former, but more research will give me a better idea of what we will do with our rabbit gold. Another use I have read about is making compost tea with the rabbit droppings. I really want our garden soil to be the best that it can be, because that means healthier and bigger fruits and veggies for us. My friend Linda raises both meat and pet rabbits and has been providing me a wealth of information on the subject. She has also offered to let us choose one of her pet rabbits to bring home, which I am very excited about. I cant wait to meet the newest member of our family :)
Keeping Bee's: A Complete and Practical Guide and The Backyard Beekeeper (not pictured, but easily the best beekeeping book I have read so far)
*Last year I mentioned getting mason bee's to Matthew, and he completely disliked the idea. This year I mentioned them again, and he said "If we are going to get bee's, we should get honey bee's". I sure love that man! So I promptly started researching honey bee's and was amazed at how much goes into keeping a hive! From the start up expense of $200-$400 (depending on the type of hive and how much equipment you get) to the daily, weekly, and monthly job of taking care of your bee's, there is a lot involved in making this decision. My friend Sarah is getting 2 hives for her farm this year, and I am looking forward to pumping her for information on how it works out. After all the research and information gathering, I think we are going to put honey bee's on hold until next year. I want to join the Oregon Beekeepers association, go to a bee keeping information class, and check with the city and our homeowners association to make sure that its legal to keep bees in our city (in some places they are not allowed, or there are many restrictions on keeping them). Plus I am having a really hard time figuring out where would be the best place in our yard to put a hive so that the bee's flight route wouldn't be disturbed by the kids and having guests over. So...more learning to do there. Since honey bee's are off the table for now, I started researching Mason bees. Turns out, they wont do much for us this year either. Mason bees are wonderful pollinators (pollinating at a much higher rate than honeybees - one article I read said "One only needs 250-750 orchard mason bees to pollinate an acre of apples. It would take 60,000-120,000 honeybees to cover the same area"). However, the mason bees have a very short season, pollinating for just 4-6 weeks in early spring. So it turns out they are no good for pollinating a vegetable garden, because they aren't active in the summer when most veggies are blooming. We will do them next year, because we will be putting in a bunch of fruit trees this year, and they will be wonderful for helping to pollinate them. So it looks like we are left with planting some bee attracting plants, and hoping for the best. We did have a bunch of big fat bumble bees in the the garden last year, mostly on the cucumber flowers, so I am hoping they will return this year!
The Big Book of Kitchen Gardens
*I am really excited about our garden this year, and am always looking for new books on growing, harvesting, and storing our harvest. Gardening is so much more than just sticking a plant in the ground! To be really successful, I think there are a lot of things to learn about and pay attention too. Since we want to plant some new veggies this year, I am trying to read all that I can to prepare.
Barnyard in your Backyard
*When Matthew saw me reading this book, he said "On no you don't - we cant have a barnyard in OUR backyard"! Hahaha. I am going to keep working on him ;) I got the book for the section on rabbits, but there was interesting information on goats, cows, sheep, ducks, chickens, and geese. We are a long way off from having land and the space to have more animals, but its part of the life I eventually want for my family, and I enjoy learning about animal husbandry. And the book did have a lot of good information on keeping rabbits!
Food Drying with an Attitude
*I was really excited when I checked out this book because drying food is something I would really like to master this year. But this book was a huge disappointment! It didn't have any "flow" to it, and felt really sloppy in its presentation. I didn't find any recipes that I thought looked interesting/good enough to make.
Organic Body Care Recipes: 175 Homemade Herbal Formulas for Glowing Skin and a Vibrant Self
and
Natural Beauty Recipe Book: How to make your own organic cosmetics and beauty products
*These are two of my favorite books that I have checked out. I am really excited about trying some homemade recipes this year and these books have endless ideas. Lip balm, shampoo, face washes and masks, lotions and the list goes on. Rowan and Killian looked through the books with me, and were amazed that you can make all that stuff yourself. I am hoping to have them learn with me, and try out the things we make together.
Putting Food By
*This book felt a little outdated to me, but I checked and its been updated since canning rules changed, so I suppose its safe to use. I have just flipped through it so far, but there are a ton of recipes so I think it would be something useful to have in the kitchen this summer. It doesn't have a very "pretty" layout, not many pictures, and I like that in a book. I guess I am a visual learner :)
Four Season Harvest: How to harvest fresh organic vegetables from your home garden all year long
*This book is amazing! It has so many ideas on extending the harvest season. Something I thought about doing last year was building a cold frame, but we never got around to it. This year Matthew and I discussed cold frames again, but I think we have decided to purchase a small greenhouse for the backyard instead. I want something that I can start seeds in, because most of the veggies I want to grow are heirloom and not available to buy from local nurseries. I also want something that we can grow lettuce in the winter, and other small greens. I am going to a seed starting class this month, and am hoping it will answer a lot of questions about that process. In flipping through this book I noticed there is also a lot of great information on garden planning, and trellising. They also have a website here.
The New Self Sufficient Gardener
*This book is from DK Publishing, and I love how they lay out their books in an easy to read and understand format (with lots of those pictures I like). This book has loads of great information on growing and preserving fruits, herbs and vegetables, and also has sections on raising bee's and chickens. It is a wealth of great information!
Worms eat my garbage
*This is a pretty interesting book about vermicomposting, otherwise known as worm bins. I am interested in different ways to compost, and worms bins are high on my list. They do take a little maintenance, and the bins are a bit on the expensive side. There are lots of plastic models available, but I found a local man who makes them from wood so I would probably go with him if we decided to do this. Worm castings are supposedly one of the best fertilizers for the garden, and good garden soil gives us stronger plants which give us good veggies, so I see it as a win win idea!
Keeping the harvest: Preserving your fruits, vegetables and herbs
*And yet another book on food preservation! The layout is easy to read and it has lots of good information, from making pickles and sauerkraut, to storing grains, and drying vegetables. I think it would be a good addition to the bookshelf!
As much as I would love to go out and buy books that appear interesting from the cover, it gets expensive and there is always the good chance that the content wont be what I am looking for. So checking out books from the library has been really helpful, a test run of sorts for what books I would like to own. I am slowly building up my "homesteading wannabe" bookshelf, and I will be adding a lot of the books mentioned above. I have a bunch more books on hold at the library, so hopefully I can find more that will be helpful for us in making the most of our little bit of land.
The Complete Compost Gardening Guide
*Something we wanted to do last year, but never got around to is composting. We have the perfect area to section off for compost piles, near the garden but out of sight behind a fence bordering the kids playground area. I took a class on composting last year that made the whole thing seem like a very scientific process that was easily messed up. I am hoping this book will give me the ideas that I need to make composting a reality for us, because I really cant imagine that its all that difficult! My hope is that we can get a system figured out and built this spring, and be on our way towards making our own compost for the garden.
Storey's Guide To Raising Rabbits
*Going hand in hand with the post above, we are thinking about adding an outside rabbit to our family. It would be nice to have another pet, but the main reason for us looking into this is for the manure for the garden. I have read varying opinions on whether rabbit manure can be put straight into the garden or if it should be composted first. Depending on who you talk too, rabbit manure (along with goat and llama) is either considered cold, and therefor never needs to be composted or is considered highly dangerous and should always be composted before using. I lean more towards the former, but more research will give me a better idea of what we will do with our rabbit gold. Another use I have read about is making compost tea with the rabbit droppings. I really want our garden soil to be the best that it can be, because that means healthier and bigger fruits and veggies for us. My friend Linda raises both meat and pet rabbits and has been providing me a wealth of information on the subject. She has also offered to let us choose one of her pet rabbits to bring home, which I am very excited about. I cant wait to meet the newest member of our family :)
Keeping Bee's: A Complete and Practical Guide and The Backyard Beekeeper (not pictured, but easily the best beekeeping book I have read so far)
*Last year I mentioned getting mason bee's to Matthew, and he completely disliked the idea. This year I mentioned them again, and he said "If we are going to get bee's, we should get honey bee's". I sure love that man! So I promptly started researching honey bee's and was amazed at how much goes into keeping a hive! From the start up expense of $200-$400 (depending on the type of hive and how much equipment you get) to the daily, weekly, and monthly job of taking care of your bee's, there is a lot involved in making this decision. My friend Sarah is getting 2 hives for her farm this year, and I am looking forward to pumping her for information on how it works out. After all the research and information gathering, I think we are going to put honey bee's on hold until next year. I want to join the Oregon Beekeepers association, go to a bee keeping information class, and check with the city and our homeowners association to make sure that its legal to keep bees in our city (in some places they are not allowed, or there are many restrictions on keeping them). Plus I am having a really hard time figuring out where would be the best place in our yard to put a hive so that the bee's flight route wouldn't be disturbed by the kids and having guests over. So...more learning to do there. Since honey bee's are off the table for now, I started researching Mason bees. Turns out, they wont do much for us this year either. Mason bees are wonderful pollinators (pollinating at a much higher rate than honeybees - one article I read said "One only needs 250-750 orchard mason bees to pollinate an acre of apples. It would take 60,000-120,000 honeybees to cover the same area"). However, the mason bees have a very short season, pollinating for just 4-6 weeks in early spring. So it turns out they are no good for pollinating a vegetable garden, because they aren't active in the summer when most veggies are blooming. We will do them next year, because we will be putting in a bunch of fruit trees this year, and they will be wonderful for helping to pollinate them. So it looks like we are left with planting some bee attracting plants, and hoping for the best. We did have a bunch of big fat bumble bees in the the garden last year, mostly on the cucumber flowers, so I am hoping they will return this year!
The Big Book of Kitchen Gardens
*I am really excited about our garden this year, and am always looking for new books on growing, harvesting, and storing our harvest. Gardening is so much more than just sticking a plant in the ground! To be really successful, I think there are a lot of things to learn about and pay attention too. Since we want to plant some new veggies this year, I am trying to read all that I can to prepare.
Barnyard in your Backyard
*When Matthew saw me reading this book, he said "On no you don't - we cant have a barnyard in OUR backyard"! Hahaha. I am going to keep working on him ;) I got the book for the section on rabbits, but there was interesting information on goats, cows, sheep, ducks, chickens, and geese. We are a long way off from having land and the space to have more animals, but its part of the life I eventually want for my family, and I enjoy learning about animal husbandry. And the book did have a lot of good information on keeping rabbits!
Food Drying with an Attitude
*I was really excited when I checked out this book because drying food is something I would really like to master this year. But this book was a huge disappointment! It didn't have any "flow" to it, and felt really sloppy in its presentation. I didn't find any recipes that I thought looked interesting/good enough to make.
Organic Body Care Recipes: 175 Homemade Herbal Formulas for Glowing Skin and a Vibrant Self
and
Natural Beauty Recipe Book: How to make your own organic cosmetics and beauty products
*These are two of my favorite books that I have checked out. I am really excited about trying some homemade recipes this year and these books have endless ideas. Lip balm, shampoo, face washes and masks, lotions and the list goes on. Rowan and Killian looked through the books with me, and were amazed that you can make all that stuff yourself. I am hoping to have them learn with me, and try out the things we make together.
Putting Food By
*This book felt a little outdated to me, but I checked and its been updated since canning rules changed, so I suppose its safe to use. I have just flipped through it so far, but there are a ton of recipes so I think it would be something useful to have in the kitchen this summer. It doesn't have a very "pretty" layout, not many pictures, and I like that in a book. I guess I am a visual learner :)
Four Season Harvest: How to harvest fresh organic vegetables from your home garden all year long
*This book is amazing! It has so many ideas on extending the harvest season. Something I thought about doing last year was building a cold frame, but we never got around to it. This year Matthew and I discussed cold frames again, but I think we have decided to purchase a small greenhouse for the backyard instead. I want something that I can start seeds in, because most of the veggies I want to grow are heirloom and not available to buy from local nurseries. I also want something that we can grow lettuce in the winter, and other small greens. I am going to a seed starting class this month, and am hoping it will answer a lot of questions about that process. In flipping through this book I noticed there is also a lot of great information on garden planning, and trellising. They also have a website here.
The New Self Sufficient Gardener
*This book is from DK Publishing, and I love how they lay out their books in an easy to read and understand format (with lots of those pictures I like). This book has loads of great information on growing and preserving fruits, herbs and vegetables, and also has sections on raising bee's and chickens. It is a wealth of great information!
Worms eat my garbage
*This is a pretty interesting book about vermicomposting, otherwise known as worm bins. I am interested in different ways to compost, and worms bins are high on my list. They do take a little maintenance, and the bins are a bit on the expensive side. There are lots of plastic models available, but I found a local man who makes them from wood so I would probably go with him if we decided to do this. Worm castings are supposedly one of the best fertilizers for the garden, and good garden soil gives us stronger plants which give us good veggies, so I see it as a win win idea!
Keeping the harvest: Preserving your fruits, vegetables and herbs
*And yet another book on food preservation! The layout is easy to read and it has lots of good information, from making pickles and sauerkraut, to storing grains, and drying vegetables. I think it would be a good addition to the bookshelf!
As much as I would love to go out and buy books that appear interesting from the cover, it gets expensive and there is always the good chance that the content wont be what I am looking for. So checking out books from the library has been really helpful, a test run of sorts for what books I would like to own. I am slowly building up my "homesteading wannabe" bookshelf, and I will be adding a lot of the books mentioned above. I have a bunch more books on hold at the library, so hopefully I can find more that will be helpful for us in making the most of our little bit of land.