*DISCLOSURE* Thank you to Quarto Publishing for providing product samples in order to facilitate this post. All thoughts are strictly my own.
As we welcome Spring, it's time to get out in the garden and get our hands dirty! Here are a few of our favorite books to help usher in the warmer weather and longer days:
The Gardener's Companion to Medicinal Plants
The Gardener's Companion to Medicinal Plants is a beautifully illustrated and giftable gardening reference book, which combines exquisite botanical illustrations with practical self-help projects. Every day sees a discovery in the press about the new uses of plants, and it's certain that most of our most important drugs are derived from plants. From willow (used to procure aspirin) to periwinkle (used in chemotherapy to treat lymphoma) many common garden plants have provided cures in modern medicine. In this book readers can discover more than 200 life-saving plants and 25 home-grown remedies to make themselves. Each home cure is described and illustrated with step-by-step photographs to show how you can be a gardener and heal yourself.
The Gardener's Companion to Medicinal Plants is a great resource if you are looking to find natural ingredients for wellness from plants and is full of great gardening information.
The Eco Hero Handbook
Simple Solutions to Tackle Eco-Anxiety
As we face a global environmental crisis, The Eco Hero Handbook addresses all your eco-anxieties and dilemmas to empower you to become part of the solution.
Looking behind the slogans and exploring the myths, this handy guide offers a clear and balanced exploration of the major eco-debates, enabling you to make decisions based on facts. Featuring practical steps for positive action in all areas of your life, find solutions to all your environment-related challenges, including:
How can I keep my house clean but low impact?
How can I reduce my overall energy use in the home?
How can I protect my plants without using chemicals?
Which transport choices will help cut carbon emissions?
Is it okay to eat any meat?
Organised by area of life (home, out and about, work, food and activism), each issue is paired with a practical solution and the evidence to back it up.
From recycling to eating sustainably, ethical fashion to being an eco-conscious tourist, this book is the essential guide to the little changes that will make a big difference. The Eco Hero Handbook is full of helpful information that you can actually use to be more friendly to our beautiful Earth!
The Complete Language of Flowers
A Definitive and Illustrated History
The Complete Language of Flowers is a comprehensive encyclopedia providing the meanings, powers, facts, and folklore for over 1,001 flower species.
Along with a beautiful visual depiction, each entry provides the flower's scientific and common names, characteristics, and historic meanings and powers from mythology, medieval legends, folklore, and flower poetry.
For centuries, symbolic flower meanings have fascinated readers, writers, poets, and suddenly smitten couples alike. Extremely popular during the Victorian era, these floriographies flourished and versed the public on the hidden meaning of popular flowers such as:
Purple Tulip—Eternal love
Amaryllis—Adventurousness; Enthusiasm; Passion
Daisy—Beauty and innocence; Cheer; Childlike playfulness
Sunflower—Ambition; Constancy; Devotion
Together with stunning full-color illustrations and two indexes, one for searching by common flower name and the other organized by meaning, this beautiful reference is a must-have for gardeners, florists, and flower enthusiasts. Whether you're looking to arrange the perfectly bespoken wedding bouquet or to understand what the yellow rose you just received from an admirer means (friendship), this updated floriography is a visual delight.
Elegantly designed and beautifully illustrated, the Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia series offers comprehensive, display-worthy references on a range of intriguing topics, including birthday astrology, dream interpretation, techniques for harnessing the power of dreams, and the stories behind signs and symbols.
The Complete Language of Flowers is a lovely book full of great information for any flower gardener and also includes a lot of fun and interesting history on many, many types of flowers.
The First-time Gardener: Growing Vegetables
All the know-how and encouragement you need to grow - and fall in love with! - your brand new food garden
Homesteader Jessica Sowards, the warm and energetic host of YouTube’s Roots and Refuge Farm, is the perfect teacher for new gardeners, offering not just know-how but inspiration and time-management tips for success.
Before you sink your hands into the soil, she’ll answer all those questions rolling around inside your head:
Where do I put my new garden?
How do I prepare the soil?
What vegetables should I plant?
Is it better to start new plants from seed or should I buy transplants?
What about watering, feeding, and taking care of my garden?
What do I do if bugs show up?
There are no stupid questions here. Everyone has to start somewhere, after all. Not only will you learn how to prepare, plant, and tend your first vegetable garden, you’ll also learn:
How to design an eco-friendly layout
How to grow with the seasons
How to maximize your harvest, even if you only grow in a small space
Jessica wants your first food-growing experience to be a positive one, and she’s prepared to go the distance to make sure tending the earth becomes your new favorite hobby.
A single growing season is all it takes to fall in love with growing your own healthy, organic, nutrient-dense food. With Jessica as your guide, you’ll soon discover all the satisfactions, challenges, and great joys of growing your own food garden.
This book is part of The First-Time Gardener's Guides series from Cool Springs Press, which also includes The First-Time Gardener: Growing Plants and Flowers. Each book in The First-Time Gardener's Guides series is aimed at beginner gardeners and offers clear, fact-based information that's presented in a friendly and accessible way, including step-by-step instructions and full-color illustrations throughout.
I'm a bit of a fan girl when it comes to Roots and Refuge Farm and the Sowards family. I've been following their YouTube channel for years now and it is full of amazing, useful information no matter what type of gardening you're doing or where you're doing it. Jess presents this wealth of information in a warm and endearing way; she makes you feel like y'all are best friends. Her gentle spirit makes her super approachable and relatable and she can help build the confidence of any gardener. This all translates incredibly well from her YouTube videos to this amazing new reference book. The First-time Gardener: Growing Vegetables is a must-have gardening guide for every gardener. It contains a plethora of knowledge and support to help you on your gardening journey! My garden would not be nearly as awesome as it is without Jess's inspiration and know-how. If you are a gardener or interested in the homesteading way of life, I highly recommend both this book and the Roots and Refuge Farm YouTube channel!
Check out Quarto Publishing for these and many more fantastic titles to help you welcome a bountiful Spring!
Disclosure: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
