@ Your Library
Do April showers, even if snow, bring May flowers? I am so ready for green growing things. But I learned recently that some butterflies and other beneficial insects overwinter in the leaf litter at the base of plants and that we shouldn’t rake and disturb the dead stuff until the days get up into the fifties to allow these insects to survive. So I will be patient and allow my yard and garden to remain in its dormant state until the temperatures warm up. But maybe that means I need to start growing things indoors.
But pruning is possible and I have used Grow a Little Fruit Tree: Simple pruning techniques for small-space, easy-harvest fruit trees by Ann Ralph to prune my apple trees. I also like Pruning Made Easy by M. Lombardi. And we have a number of garden books which provide instructions, guidelines and techniques for starting your garden indoors before transplanting outside. A fun title I am interested in trying is Nikii Jabbour’s Veggie Garden Remix by appropriately enough Niki Jabbour includes an ‘intriguing array of 224 plants from around the world’ encouraging gardeners to start with what they know and expand the repertoire to include related plants which might be delicacies in other cultures. If flower gardening is your focus then be sure and borrow Floret Farm’s Cut Flower Garden by Erin Benzakein for instructions on growing, harvesting and arranging stunning seasonal blooms. And finally, Mat Pember’s book Grow. Food. Anywhere. Is a wonderful guide to small-space gardening.
Do you have travel plans this summer? Have you been thinking about plans but not made them yet? Check out our collection of travel guides and get planning. Our newest titles include Ed Stafford’s Ultimate Adventure Guide: the bucket list for the brave, Fodor’s Essential India and Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2019. Two additional fun guides include The Grand Hostels with the best hostels around the world for traveling in style on a budget and Wellness Escapes a Lonely Planet guide to the ‘world’s most energizing, inspiring and relaxing wellbeing retreats.’
Maybe your summer plans are more local and you won’t be doing anything more than weekend getaways or even looking at exploring what is right in our backyard. Amazing Minnesota by Lee Lynch will provide you with state rankings and unusual information to enjoy the vagaries of the state we call home. Day Trips from the Twin Cities by Lisa Meyers McClintick provides getaway ideas for the local traveler and Dad’s Eye View by Michael Hartford gives 52 family adventures in the Twin Cities.
Explore Voyageur’s National Park with the Activity Backpack created by Voyageur’s National Park for families. Explore geology using local instructor, Chris Hemstad’s A Story Written in the Rocks: the geology of Voyageur’s National Park. Go birding with Birds of Voyageurs National Park by the Voyageurs Region National Park Association for a guide to the birds of the Minnesota-Ontario border country.
Whatever your plans this summer, don’t forget to take along a book.