Herbal Houseplants by Susan Betz

Herbal Houseplants
by Susan Betz

ISBN-13: 9780760369555
Hardcover: 176 pages
Publisher: Cool Springs Press
Released: April 27th 2021

Source: review copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Inside the beautifully illustrated pages, author and expert herbalist Susan Betz lets you in on a little secret: Herbs make great houseplants. And, you don’t need fancy grow lights, expensive potting soil, or high-end equipment to grow them. All you need is a sunny windowsill and the right plant. Learn which herbs perform best as houseplants, how to care for them, and even how to harvest and use your homegrown herbs for culinary creations, household cleaning products, herbal teas, handmade crafts, and more. In Herbal Houseplants you’ll learn the basics of caring for herbs indoors, how to keep indoor herbs productive and pest free, tips for choosing the best herbs for indoor growing, and essential advice for watering, fertilizing, and harvesting. How to grow exotic herbs, like patchouli, tulsi, and Corsican mint. From parsley and thyme to sage and lemongrass—and many herbs in between—tending and enjoying herbal houseplants pays big rewards for little effort.


My Review:
Herbal Houseplants provides some tips about growing herbs indoors in containers. The author started by briefly describing how to take care of herbs in general (how much light, temperature, humidity, watering, fertilizing, pruning, dealing with pests, and how to propagate them). She then provided herbal profiles for various herbs that do well indoors. The profiles included the common name, Latin name, a quote about that herb, a description of the herb and how it is used, good varieties for indoor growing, what it means in floral language, what growing conditions are needed, the best way to propagate it, what plant parts are used, how to harvest and store it, and what pests might be a problem. She talked about herbs for use in the kitchen, for fragrance and beauty, and a bunch of varieties of geraniums. She also talked about preserving and storing your herbs. Overall, I recommend this as a guide to what herbs grow well indoors.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

The Vegetable Garden Pest Handbook by Susan Mulvihill

The Vegetable Garden Pest Handbook
by Susan Mulvihill

ISBN-13: 9780760370063
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Cool Springs Press
Released: April 27th 2021

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
In The Vegetable Garden Pest Handbook, you’ll find the simple, straightforward resources and tools you need to identify common pests of edible gardens and manage them without the use of synthetic chemical pesticides.

Climate change and newly introduced insect pests are changing the world of gardening. Pests that once produced a single generation per year are now producing two or even three, and accidentally imported pest insects have no natural predators to keep them in check. These leaf-munching critters can cause significant damage in short order, reducing your yields and costing you time and money, especially if your garden is out of balance or your plants are stressed and vulnerable.

Whether you’re a new or seasoned gardener, author and garden pro Susan Mulvihill shows you how to handle pest issues by growing healthier plants, properly identifying the culprit, and nurturing the overall ecosystem of the garden. With easy-to-use charts, you’ll learn how to identify common vegetable garden pests based on both the damage they cause and their physical appearance.

DIY pest-control projects, coupled with up-to-date info on the best natural products, physical pest-control tricks, and tips for managing pests with the use of traps and barriers, all lead to a garden where beneficial insects and pollinators are preserved while pest populations are kept in check.


My Review:
The Vegetable Garden Pest Handbook explains various organic gardening approaches to pest management. The author started by describing how to create an environment that encourages beneficial insects and plant health. She then provided charts showing which insects might bother which garden plants and the damage that you'll see for each type of insect. Next were the insect profiles, describing each insect: their life cycle, what plants they attack, what type of damage they cause, their natural predators, and tips on how to control them. Each profile also had a close-up illustration of the insect as well as color photographs of the insect and the damage they do to a plant (to help with identification). She also provided shorter profiles on the beneficial insects: a picture, what it looks like, what it eats, and how to encourage it to stay near your garden.

Then she described various organic pest control methods: what they're good for and how to use them. She also included instructions on how to make relatively simple DIY traps or protective barriers (though some require more construction skill than others). Overall, I'd highly recommend this resource for those gardeners who want to stop pests without using synthetic chemical pesticides.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

The New Oil Painting by Kimberly Brooks

The New Oil Painting
by Kimberly Brooks

ISBN-13: 9781452184791
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Released: May 18th 2021

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Oil painting is an exciting and adventurous medium, but aspiring artists can feel daunted by complex setups and the thought of using harsh chemicals. The New Oil Painting walks you step-by-step through oil painting fundamentals—which materials you actually need, how to mix paint, how to set up your painting space—and, most revolutionary of all, how to eliminate harmful solvents from your work and replace them with safe, effective substitutes. This instructional handbook is organized into chapters with helpful diagrams throughout illustrating various techniques and tools. Whether you're a true beginner or have been painting with oils for years, you will find that this book has everything you need to build a new, thriving, toxin-free practice.


My Review:
The New Oil Painting explains how you can do oil painting without needing harmful chemicals or solvents. Much of the book focused on supplies and materials rather than on painting techniques. The author explained how to thin colors, glaze, and clean brushes without needing harmful chemicals. She provided lists of where to find the supplies you need. She provided step-by-step instructions along with pictures showing the process of cleaning a brush, for example. She provided a lot of interesting information about how artists historically did these things before resins were added to paints, meaning solvents were then needed. The author also discussed things like why you paint with fat over lean (and what that means), layering, and color mixing as well as briefly talking about storing paintings, painting the sides for display, varnishing paintings, and safety measures. If you're interested in oil painting but have been been deterred by concerns about harmful fumes and chemicals, then I'd recommend this very useful and informative book. However, a complete beginner to painting might feel at a loss on how to apply the information since the author assumed a certain amount of familiarity with painting.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.