Product Review: Grow Great Grub, Organic Food from Small Spaces by Gayla Trail

When I first began to grow vegetables and fruits in my little one-bedroom apartment a couple years ago (yes, the time when all but one survived) I picked up a book by Gayla Trail, Grow Great Grub, Organic Food from Small Spaces.  The book concentrates on growing, as the sub-title suggests, in small spaces (which is exactly what I had at the time, a very small space).  But even now, recently moved into a bigger space with an actual yard to grow in, I find myself continually turning to this book for advice, tips and general knowledge.  The book has tons of general knowledge of many different kinds of plants, fruits, vegetables and herbs.  How much to water this or that, what kind of soil and how much sun or shade this or that prefers, all information that a first-time grower would have.  The book is an easy read and pretty straight forward, the only complaint I would have if I had to pick one is that there is too much general knowledge.  If you read the book straight through in a couple of days you can bet you'll only retain about half the information, I find it more helpful as a look-up guide when I need it.

First time grower?  Definitely get this book, it's a great introduction to gardening and if you're not too gung-ho about the gardening thing and just want to give it a try reading this book will definitely make you want to grow something, anything!

Check out the book, Grow Great Grub @ Amazon

Product Review: The Hose Nozzle

One of the first things I needed when I began to garden was a hose nozzle, an attachment at the end of the hose which consists of a lever and depending which nozzle you get one or many varieties of water output options.  This particular hose nozzle has been great, it has a few different water output options including, most importantly I think, the 'shower' option and the 'mist' option which I use constantly for watering my plants.  Mixed baby greens for example are dainty growing plants and would succumb to being sprayed with a 'jet' stream (which this nozzle also has) or even the use of a 'soaker' option (also available on this nozzle) or 'shower' option would be too much for the baby green soil as these type of lettuce-like plants like their soil moist and damp like a sponge and not completely soaked.

And sometimes the 'shower' option is most helpful with bigger plants that require more water or if covering to water more space.  In a nutshell the hose nozzle has been invaluable to me since I have purchased it, making it much easier for me to regulate the watering whilst the plants are growing which gives me a sense of relief that I am not harming the plants merely by watering them, especially those tender greens.

Unfortunately I don't remember what the name of this particular hose nozzle is but it was available at OSH (Orchard Supply Store) for for less than $10.  In general the hose nozzles seem to be pretty inexpensive and would suggest purchasing an inexpensive one over a more expensive one since they all pretty much have the same function.