Winter-Time Reading

Aside from gazing longingly at seed catalogs and working my way through my yarn stash and various knitting projects, winter is a great time to catch up on some reading and research that generally gets put aside in the busy days of the growing and harvesting seasons.  Lately, I've worked my way through a small library of books:

I got this a Christmas or two ago from a beloved aunt, and while I've browsed through it a time or two, I've never actually settled down to read it.  This spring, top on the project agenda (alongside somehow obtaining a new roof) is revitalizing my currently inaccessible root cellar--so a thorough read is in order!  I'm up through Chapter 5 thus far, and I can say with certainty that this book is chock full of information.  I can hardly wait to put it to good use!

After a first year of successfully growing oodles of green growth in my little hoop house, I decided that perhaps I might wind up with more actual produce if I read a couple of guides.  So, I found these hiding on my bookshelf:

I think the first one will be more helpful than the second, but both are pretty good resources.  (The second one was less expensive, so if you are on a tight budget, it might be your option to at least start with!)  I think I've figured out what I did wrong, and now I have a much better plan for this next season.  Let the tomatoes come rolling in...

 

There is something about winter that makes me long for fruit, fresh from the vine or tree.  (Must be the lack of Vitamin C? Perhaps the imminent onset of scurvy?)  I have a nice little orchard started, with plum and apple trees, but still...I dream of something exotic.  If that's your inclination, then this book will speak to you as it did me.  Full of descriptions of pawpaw, hardy kiwi, wild blueberry and alpine strawberry, and including some detailed information of growing strategies, it might even help you grow some "exotics" in your own backyard garden.  I am pondering my options for this year, and I think I've settled on making a terraced garden on the front slope, with Nanking and Hansen's bush cherries filling the beds.

Well, back to the reading!  What kind of plans are you concocting, while dreaming of spring in the depths of winter?