Dawn,
Thanks for letting us know about the book. I just checked the Library online but they don't have that particular book yet. They do have nine of her other books so I requested several...All About Vegetables, Compost Guide, The Whole Herb and Easy projects to Make, Build and Grow, etc.

Hey y'all,
Did you know you can go online and search by subject, author or title to see what books the library has. You can request them online and you'll be notified when they're ready to be picked up. You can also renew your books online and even request they purchase a specific book if they don't already have it. All online...pretty neat...and youÂre paying for it whether you use it or not so go for it! All you need is a library card. The link below is for OKC and the surrounding area.

Here is a link that might be useful: Metropolitan Library (OKC & surrounding area)

More enabling..... First tomatoes, now gardening books.

Barbara Pleasant is my favorite gardening author. Her book on composting is my book this week for reading in the evenning while DH is watching TV. Might have to go by the bookstore.

Andria,

Hey, if the shoe fits, wear it....hee hee. Of course I am a gardening enabler, and a reading enabler too. I freely admit it.

She's one of my favorite gardening authors too. I don't know if I have a single favorite because there are several I really, really like.

The book is on the shelves at our Barnes and Noble (in Denton, TX, which is the closest one to us) but has a release date of March 17, 2010, so don't know if you'll see it everywhere yet.

Just wait until you see the illustrations and photography!

The compost book is great too and we need to remember to recommend that to new composters.

And, speaking of enabling, Jay mailed me an extra copy of the Ronniger's potato catalog he had received and it is a perfect guide to planting and growing potatoes. Not only that, but they have some fingerling potatoes that I don't already have! I'm thinking I need to try those fingerlings this year or next year. See, that's where enabling gets you....sometimes you are the enabler and sometimes you're the enablee.

Dawn

For those in OKC area, the Metropolitan Library System has just ordered 14 "Starter Garden" books to add to their inventory. So far, only 2 have been reserved.

Lynn

That's terrific news!

Amazon.com has it for sale for $13.57 and eligible for free shipping on orders that total $25 or more. Now I'm going to have to remember what other book I was wanting so I can order $25 worth.

Also, if you go to Amazon's page for this and scroll down to the customer reviews (there are only two so far) you will find a video review by BeachBrights that gives you a glimpse into the book.

Debra

thanks for the review Dawn!

I looked, and found it on amazon, and bought it, since I already had something else on my shopping list.

Rats, forgot to add Dorothy's book.

I just put it on my wish list... for now.

Moni

I ordered the book from Amazon after seeing Dawn's earlier mention of it a couple of weeks ago. Dawn is absolutely right, it is a wonderful book. I'm going to use the bag garden idea also because it is such a simple way to begin a garden. Before reading the book I was a little overwhelmed at the idea of starting a new vegetable garden, but the book breaks it down into manageable steps. Thank you for recommending it, Dawn! At the time I ordered this book I also ordered The Vegetable Gardener's Bible by Edward C. Smith and it's a good (and affordable) resource also.

Suzie (wind-blown in Logan County)

Suzie,

I'm glad you like the book. Isn't it amazing?

I have had Ed Smith's book ever since it first came out and it is a very, very, very good book, but my old reliable 'vegetable growing bible' is still Dr. Sam Cotner's "The Vegetable Book", which I've had about 20 years. Everything I know about growing vegetables, I learned either from my Daddy or from Dr. Cotner. It is Dr. Cotner's book that taught me the importance of soil temperatures and air temperatures in plant performance because he mentions them so often and gives specifics for each vegetable.

I know you were wind-blown there in Logan County and bet you will be wind-blown today too. The winds are raging here in Love County, somewhat ruining an otherwise lovely day.

Dawn

I also saw the reference to Barbara Pleasant by Dawn, hope you don't mind me calling you Dawn, which made me get her titles from the library. I am reading the composting book and Easy Garden Projects by her. They are a great read and the drawings are very nice. She does not talk down to you and the information is easily absorbed. I am going to the bookstore later today and will see if they have her new book, if not I have found it on half.com for $11 plus shipping. I have not read Dr Cotner's book but will try to get it at the library or buy it.
I have read and enjoyed the gardening books by Barbara Damrosch, Pat Stone, Louise Riotte, Steve Dobbs (Oklahoma Gardener's Guide), and many of the Rodale's gardening books. Storey Books publishing is really great and have many fine books on gardening.
Currently I get to read quite a bit, watching my seedlings grow. The kids love it also (books and seedlings) and try to learn all the scientific names for them, as am I. Side note: My wife thought it was nice that I left her a note not to turn the oven on, as I had to put three trays in there for a little bit. Do others have the problems of running out of space in their home?

I would also add that, try to go to the annual library book sale in OKC. I have found great books for $.50 to $4, some in brand new condition.

I checked the online database for Oklahoma County Metropolitan Library and unfortunately they don't have Dr. Cotner's book. Amazon lists two sellers who have used copies for sale ... a paperback version for $49.95 and a hardcover version for $75.56 ... yikes! I will keep my eyes open for a used version of it though, you never know when you may come across a gem.

Suzie

bensdad, when is the library book sale this year?

Moni... who used to go there pulling a read wagon. :)

Bensdad

Of course you can call me Dawn...it's my name so you might as well use it. All of Barbara Pleasant's books are excellent and she's written many magazine articles too. She is one of my favorite garden writers. I've read many of the other authors you mentioned, and Louise Riotte was a particular favorite of mine. She lived and gardened in Carter County, one county north of me. I think I've read ever book she ever wrote.

Of course we all have space issues, and it doesn't help if you move to a larger space because you'll just plant more and more and more. In late winter and early spring, my flats of plants take over the guest room, the screened-in back porch, the patio, the potting shed and the garage. My husband, who is not a gardener, is a saint to put up with it all.

Have you been to the Half-Price Books store in OKC? When I lived in Fort Worth, I went to all the HPB stores in the D-FW metro area on a regular basis and bought tons of books there over the years.

Gardening with children is so much fun. Our son enjoyed it until he got a driver's license at 16 and suddenly had much more important things to do, and now I'm getting to enjoy it with his two-year-old daughter when she comes to our house. She loves it more at this age than he did.

Suzie,

The book was out-of-print, I believe, for a while, and Dr. Cotner himself once remarked that he didn't think it ever would be reissued or reprinted because the size (over 400 pages) and the many photos were too costly to print 'nowadays'. While it was out-of-print or hard to find, Amazon booksellers began asking and receiving incredible prices for the book. So, here's the secret...

The book is directly available from TG Press, its original publisher. I've linked it below. It is a wonderful book. If I could have only one book, it would be this one.

I'm on my second copy. I flat wore-out the first one, which was a softcover, and then I bought this one, a hardcover, from an online seller at Amazon, and I think I paid $24.95 for it about 3 or 4 years ago, but I watched Amazon for a year waiting for a used one to pop up at a good price. I would have bought it from TG Press and not wasted a year looking for one if I'd known TG Press was selling it at the time.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: The Vegetable Book at TG Press

The library book sale is, I do believe, the third weekend of February. If you volunteer you can purchase books on Thursday night. Friday nights is for Friends of the Library only, but you can join for a small fee, Saturday and Sunday it starts early and it gets a little hectic. I have gone for many years don't have the energy to go looking through all the $.50 to $1 dollar books. Also, my wife has told me that I better not come home with boxes of books anymore. So nowadays I go straight to the collector sections and buy my books there. The tables are set up much better and everything is easier to find. Cost's a little more but it is worth it.

Dawn, yes I have been to the half price books in OKC, as it is not to far from where I live. Great prices and nice environment.

I also use to go down to Dallas and visit all their stores from time to time. I even went so far as to scam a trip to Dallas out of my then girlfriend (now wife, isn't she a saint), as a date. Don't think bad of me, she got very nice dinner's and shows out of it too. I also stop in Denton at the downtown used bookstore, which is also great. I can never remember the name though, just how to get there. Anyone??

But please do not think I am some type of encyclopedia of gardening. I am still new to gardening and am trying to absorb as much as I can. I do read a lot and try to get as much information and different points of view on the subject. I have been reading the posts on here and even referred people at work to the site, for tips and answers.
I will gladly take any advise or sources that people provide regarding gardening.

Bensdad,

I am sure you're referring to Recycled Books in Denton.

None of us are encyclopedias of gardening, lol, but we've all learned our gardening in the proper manner....through blood and sweat and tears and many failures, as well as by watching millions of gardening shows, reading books and magazines and websites, etc. The nice thing about this forum is that we share experiences, ideas, plans, hopes, dreams and know-how. The unfortunate thing about this website is that we all encourage one another's "one-more-plant" addiction.

We'll always be here to help one another during gardening season, but during 'prime time' in spring and again once the harvest season starts, you often have to wait a few hours to a few days for an answer to a question because once we're all outside every spare minute, the computer usage drops...and on rainy days or late at night, we all get online and catch up with one another's activities.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Recycled Books in downtown Denton, Tx