Accessible, one-stop manual for fledgling green-thumbs.
Basic guide for first-time urban gardeners.
The local food movement is urging more people out of the grocery aisles and into their backyards, and Taylor’s just the person to shepherd them through the transition. The author, a longtime member and education director of the renowned urban-gardening organization Seattle Tilth, offers simple step-by-step instruction for planning, growing and caring for a garden. From small-container gardens to community plots to apiaries, Taylor distills her years of expertise into an accessible how-to format, complete with useful illustrations and charts. She includes readily replicable tests to determine soil type, and troubleshoots water issues and nutrient loads in the process. There are guidelines for composting, rain harvesting and tool buying. The author explains how to deal with good and bad insects, as well as other garden predators, providing eco-friendly solutions for a number of common garden conundrums. The book includes a list of easy-to-grow fruits and vegetables, supplemented with cultivation and harvesting tips that aren’t readily available on the back of a seed packet. Expert techniques can be found here as well, alongside tips for novices, and her straightforward writing style is suitable for all levels of gardener. Not a complete resource on its own, Taylor’s guide suggests a number of websites, organizations and other gardening books that will take beginners well into the next growing season.
Accessible, one-stop manual for fledgling green-thumbs.Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-57912-862-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2011
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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