By Vanessa Richins

There’s not much better in life than curling up with a good book….except for gardening of course!

Combine the two and it’s pure magic. Here are a few of my suggestions for books that can help urban gardeners.

Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholemew

This is a standard for small space gardening. Bartholemew presents his method for laying out your vegetable gardens in square foot increments. The results are a better producing garden with less effort. A win-win situation indeed! See our Urban Garden Casual book review.

Garden Wizardry for Kids by L. Patricia Kite
Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children by Sharon Lovejoy

These books both describe experiments and ideas Read the rest of this entry »

By Cindy Naas

1. A good sharp trowel

try a variety of handle shapes in order to find the perfect fit for your hand. More expensive does not mean better in a trowel, but a good stainless steel solid shaft is important. A trowel welded onto its handle is more likely to break in dry or compacted soil.

2. Secateurs, or hand pruners

I own Felco bypass pruners, and I could not garden without my secateurs. This is the one tool I am willing to spend a fair amount on. Mine are easy to use even for people who have weak hands, and I bought the optional leather hip holster so my secateurs are always handy whenever I am outside in my garden.

3. A shovel

My shovel is a square-bottom transplanting Read the rest of this entry »