The Wildlife-Friendly Vegetable Gardener Book

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Two years ago, I decided I wanted to try my hand at gardening, to see if I inherited a 'green thumb' from my great-grandparents. All I can say is growing my own organic food {outdoors and indoors} has been more rewarding than I could have ever imagined. Not only is homegrown food good for you, but freshly picked fruits & veggies taste AMAZING. I've also found spending time in my garden is really relaxing; it honestly doesn't feel like work or a 'chore'.

So... gardening at 9300 feet, in the mountains, in Colorado, can be challenging to say the least. {Which I think the challenge is one reason gardening appeals to me so much.} One of the major challenges is dealing with the local wildlife. I've had an entire garden bed of lettuce & greens demolished in one evening by chipmunks & squirrels. The wildlife has eaten leaves off of newly planted aspen trees & columbine flowers {all of which died shortly thereafter - so annoying!}. I've even caught a coyote standing in one of my raised beds! Seriously.

I happened upon The Wildlife-Friendly Vegetable Gardener Book at my library. I read Tammi's blog & really enjoyed {and recommend} her book, Homegrown Herbs. She also lives in Colorado & faces the same challenges, plus successfully maintains an organic herb farm {which I'm really hoping to visit this spring}. Her books are easy reads & great for beginning gardeners. I've learned many useful tips, tricks and general gardening practices that have helped me a lot. I'm looking forward to finding ways for my garden to better co-exist with our local wildlife. When I finish reading the book, I'll update this post with my review.

What gardening challenges do you have? I'd also love to hear any gardening book recommendations you have!


*** UPDATE ***

I just finished reading the book, and would definitely recommend it to any gardener. There is a lot of information related to wildlife and gardening in general. The book has inspired me to start a nature journal, which Tammi discusses the types of observations to make & information to include. She covers how to utilize the 'no-dig' method to convert grass lawn into a garden {and it is easy to do!}. I found the section on herbs that attract and repel good & bad insects/pollinators/wildlife extremely helpful. I try to grow as many culinary herbs as possible, so it was great to learn which ones can actually help. If you have an organic garden like me, you will appreciate her natural alternatives to pesticides & repellents {you probably already have the ingredients in your kitchen!}. Finally, I enjoyed the section on building a cold frame. This is something I would like to incorporate into our garden, and she provided great details that I haven't read anywhere else before.

If you decide to read the book, leave a comment when you've finished it to let us know how you liked it. What were the most useful tips you learned?


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