A month or so ago, I got an email from Black Dog Publishing alerting me to the fact that Life on the Balcony had been listed as a resource in a new book about container gardening that was about to be published. What a thrill that was! The publisher was kind enough to send me a review copy, which arrived last week. The book is called Growing Stuff: An Alternative Guide to Gardening.
Growing Stuff is not the sort of thing you read cover to cover. Instead, it has about 100 pages of container gardening projects. Things like how to make a cold frame or grow tomatoes in hanging baskets. The tone of the book is conversational and casual. While the instructions and projects are basic enough for beginning gardeners, the ideas are still creative and innovative, so more advanced gardeners will certainly find stuff they’d like to try. Many of the projects that involve edible plants also include recipes. As a special bonus, the book was published in England, so it full of British vocab and spelling, which this Californian (who doesn’t have an accent! 
) finds amusing.
Here are a smattering of the projects in the book:
- How to Grow Carrots in Wellies (Rain Boots)
- Mini Window Sprout Garden
- Beetroot Box
- How to Make Lavender Pillows
- Grow Your Own Mojito (an idea I covered here: Growing Mojito Machines)
- Growing a Sunflower Wall for Privacy
- How to Make a Ladybird (Ladybug) House
I really like how each project isn’t overly technical. These aren’t projects you need an engineering degree to complete. Mostly, the ideas are innovative, not really “hard.” Once you read through the instructions (which are often only two pages long and complete with pictures) and the materials list, you probably wouldn’t need to refer to the book again.
The back of the book contains short bios of the contributors and 38 websites to check out, one of which is Life on the Balcony, as I mentioned earlier. Other blogs mentioned are Stuart’s Gardening Tips ‘n’ Ideas, Carrie’s Concrete Gardening (a new blog to me, can’t wait to check it out!), Andrea’s Heavy Petal, and Kathy’s Cold Climate Gardening.
All-in-all, I think this is a great book for a DIY’er who is looking for neat ideas that don’t cost an arm and a leg. People who take their gardens too seriously may not find this book “serious” enough for them. Afterall, they would never be caught dead growing carrots in an old boot. But for the rest of us, there are plenty of fun, easy-to-do ideas to make it worth your while. An especially good idea, I think, would be to give this book as a housewarming gift to a young person moving into their first apartment (flat).
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Super cool, Fern! Congrats to you!!!
I loved the link to your mojito post, I’ve bookmarked it so that I remember to remind my readers about it in summer!! I lurve mojitos.
The title caught my attention and I think I’d like to give the book a try. I wonder if tire planters are mentioned?
I’m in the book too
– I was the mojito lady!
Oh, cool! I didn’t even realize I’d been mentioned
Andrea–When I get home I’ll look in the book to see what they said about Heavy Petal.
Fantastic News. Congratulations! Loving the idea of growing carrots in wellies – superb!
Andrea and Fern-I didn’t realize I was mentioned either! They sent me a review copy and never mentioned I was in there! I was saving it for a pre-Christmas book roundup and hadn’t looked at the back matter. It does seem like a fun book to dip into.
What a great post. I will have a look at the book and post more!