Destination: Books

A Variety of Bee Books

There is almost as many different types of bee books as there are bees. There are books like The Bees in Your Backyard an encyclopedia that can help you identify bees—like the one that stung me when I was working in my garden the other day.  (But it was probably a wasp defending its tennis ball home.) 

There are bee narratives, such as Bee People and the Bugs They Love a confessional about the secret world of beekeeping or Dancing with Bees: A Journey into Nature, the story of a woman who reconnected with the natural world via her interest in bees.

And there are books like Plant Partners: Science-based Companion Planting Strategies for the Vegetable Garden. This book dedicates an entire chapter explaining the importance of native bees and how to attract these pollinators to your garden. (The first thing they teach you in every bee book is that the well-known honeybee is not native to North America.)

We will have all these books at our next popup book stall on Saturday morning, June 25th at the Carter Center Freedom Farmer’s Market in Atlanta.  If you cannot make it, we do sell them online here, but its better when you can check them out firsthand to select the one that works best for you.

Georgia Pollinator Census

The Georgia Pollinator Census is scheduled for August 19th and 20th.  For more information on how you can participate in this statewide effort visit here. 

Soil Improvement

Last summer, inspired by Amy Stewart’s book The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms (a Destination: Books bestseller reviewed here on my companion blog), I replaced my old worm tub with a four-story worm tower, a Father’s Day gift from my daughter Bonnie. The tower provides a steady supply of worm castings for my patio planter boxes and a generous scoop or two when I plant any veggies or herbs.

This was only the beginning. Earlier this year I participated in the Scott Community Garden's project that replaced our crumbling worm bins with some vermin proof, industrial-sized bins. Fortunately, one of the gardeners at Scott was an expert woodworker and along with a few strong backs we put something together over a period of a few months. There was even a little ceremony in Decatur with a photo opportunity to celebrate.

My garden is looking very good so far this year. Not only did I use my castings, and some composted soil from the Food Well Alliance (they provided the bin grant too) but even mixed some alpaca manure into my soil before planting. Daughter Bonnie who raises alpacas in rural Alabama “donated” a fresh, 5-gallon bucketful of alpaca bounty for my garden. 

Most of our basic how-to gardening books provide simple guidance on how to get started improving your soil.  We even have a few books like The Living Soil Handbook for those who want to take it to the next level. I usually don’t display books like this during our popup (our next one is at the Freedom Farmer’s Market at the Carter Center on Saturday morning June 25th,) but if you get me talking about soil, I will pull them out.

And if there is any doubt about the importance of healthy soil, check out Trevor Noah's short interview with Sadhguru on The Daily Show.

 

Fresh Offerings

Here are some of the fresh new titles Destination: Books will be bringing to the Freedom Farmer's Market at the Carter Center on Saturday morning, May 28th. 

You can appreciate how exotic fungi can be by thumbing through the 40 color illustrations in the book Fungi from the Royal Botanical Garden’s Fungarium. Fungi features the work of Elsie Wakefield (1886 -1972), a pioneer female scientist and artist who was the President of the British Mycological Society. (Did you know that children’s author Beatrix Potter was also a mycologist?)

You don’t know beans until you’ve read Susan Young’s Growing Beans: A Diet for Healthy People and Planet a slim reference book that covers the basics: bean types, growing beans, soil preparation, cooking tips, proper seed storage and a guide to beans around the globe with lots of color photographs. (I was so inspired I ran out and planted half a dozen Carson Bush Beans.)

Consider the shrub when planning a more environmentally friendly garden. Martin Crawford’s Shrubs for Gardens, Agroforestry and Permaculture is a complete reference book to identifying the qualities of useful shrubs ranging from common fruit bushes to those that have medicinal parts. According to Crawford, you cannot underestimate the ability of shrubs to fight climate change. The book covers over 60 varieties of shrubs and it identifies which plants grow well in the Southeastern parts of North America. (I am thinking blueberries bushes.)

For a more complete list of Destination: Books's pop-up inventory, visit here. 

 

Electrify

Electrify: An Optimists Playbook for a Clean Energy Future (MIT Press, 2021) by Saul Griffith is a briskly paced book advocating that the best way to slow climate change is to shift the electric grid away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Included in this strategy is connecting our day-to-day necessities (especially electric cars) into that grid. 

Griffith writes that the transmission lines that move the electricity generated by wind and solar energy to the population centers needs to be upgraded.  What makes Griffith's argument compelling is how he uses data to solidify the points he is trying to make. In the appendix, he provides succinct answers to address the main concerns that people will have.

Coincidently, there is one question about utilities that caught my attention:

Appendix A, page 198

Georgians for Renewable Energy

Griffith's sentence "If you really want to make a difference, get yourself elected to the board of your state's utility commission and steer it in the right direction"  really resonates because Georgians now have an opportunity to do something meaningful.

The Georgia Public Service Commissioners (PSC) is a committee of five members that make recommendations on Georgia Energy Policy. On May 25, 2022, the PSC is holding hearings on the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) which is mapping out Georgia's energy future. 

One important way you advocate for clean energy renewables is to comment on the PSC public comments page, but the form has to be filled out properly. Fortunately, a group Decatur Cares About Climate has made that easier by providing step by step instructions HERE. 

If enough people comment,  these commissioners will take notice because they are probably not used to being flooded by citizens input.

 

Additional References

A lengthy radio interview with Saul Griffith from October 29, 2021 on the NPR show Climate One.

The NPR show 1A aired a show on the topic, "Our Climate Is Heating Up and We Know How to Stop It, But Will We?." Members of the panel reinforce Griffith's arguments that the technology is now available for significantly cleaner energy, but the two main obstacles are the transmission line issue and the political will to make it happen.

And finally, you should read Electrify. Order a copy here from Destination: Books. 

Gardening Respite

I am taking a brief respite from my own gardening toil-in-the-soil activities to set up the Destination: Books pop-up stall at the Freedom Farmers Market at the Carter Center on Saturday morning, April 30th.   

Gardening-wise, this is my fourth year "curating" a small 9' by 8' plot at the Scott Community Garden in downtown Decatur.  The status report so far:

-- The snow peas are looking good.

-- The carrots look good above ground, but below the surface they have the length and circumference of a toothpick.

-- The eggplants are in, and I have planted radishes alongside them to attract some of the same pests that chomp on eggplants. Fortunately, I have good luck in this space in the past growing the slender Oriental variety. If only I can keep them healthy enough to get some real foliage. 

My biggest concern is always tomatoes. You think it's just summer and they will grow automatically, but I find them a challenge with poor production or the appearance of the dreaded Blossom End Rot (BER). This spring I have been reading Epic Tomatoes: How to Select & Grow the Best Varieties of All Time by Craig LeHoullier. Not only does it include tips on controlling cutworms, proper staking, and a history/comparison of the many varieties, but there are many large, colorful pictures. I am thinking about cutting the pictures out and putting little signs near my Cherokee Purples and Big Boys to inspire them.

Here's a sampling of some of the books that you can expect to see at the next Freedom Farmers Market. And you have my word that none of the books will have the pages torn out.

 

 

Destination Books at Edgewood Garden Earth Day

The Destination: Books popup book stall will be at the Wylde Center's Edgewood Community Garden Earth Day Festival from 4 to 7 p.m. on Friday, April 22, 2022. We will be featuring books on gardening, sustainability and some children's books.

Destination Books at the Wylde Center -- Maybe

The Destination: Books' pop-up book stall with its books on gardening and sustainability is scheduled to be at the Wylde Center's Spring Plant Sale Festival at Oakhurst Garden on Saturday, April 16th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Wylde Center is located in the Oakhurst neighborhood of Decatur.

Of course, the weather forecast is iffy at the time of this posting, and one thing we've learned is that rain, wind and books don't mix, and we might have to take a rain check. But that shouldn't dampen the headliner—plenty of plants will be available.

Our Destination: Books online store will still be open where you can order many of our favorites for delivery through Bookshop.org, which supports independent booksellers like us.   

Gardening Book Comparisons

While working at our popup booth we are sometimes asked to explain the differences between our variety of gardening books. It's a good question and to better prepare ourselves we did some further review of the books we carry on the topic. These books range in price from $19.95 to $24.95, but each book is written for a specific readership and have noticeable differences in the topics covered and approach. 

These books will be available at our next Destination: Books popup at the Wylde Center from 9 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 16 as part of their annual Spring Plant sale located in the Oakhurst neighborhood of Decatur (weather permitting). We will also have books on other garden topics, sustainability, and some children's books.

If you have trouble reading this on your cellphone, just go our website at destinationbooks.net where you can click on the image for a better view.

 

 

Popup Home Opener

Destination: Books begins its second full season at the Freedom Farmer's Market at the Carter Center with its first popup of the year on Saturday morning, March 26th. 

We will have many of our standards on gardening and sustainability, along with books on food culture, travel, and children's books. We have also brought in many new titles for your browsing pleasure. For a better sense of what we'll be bringing, visit the Popup Inventory page. 

 

 

Fermentation: Home and Abroad

Destination: Books has brought in two books in preparation for the upcoming pop-up book stall season, which begins weather permitting on Saturday, March 26th at the Freedom Farmers Market at the Carter Center in Atlanta.

Sara Bir’s The Fruit Forager’s Companion is a guide to the local fruit that is available in your neighborhood and how you can preserve it through fermentation, freezing or turning into tasty desserts. The book has an informal you-can-do-this tone without being arrested for trespassing or giving yourself a gut ache for failing to recognize what exactly you are picking. The Companion includes harvesting and storage tips on standard fruits like apples, concord grapes and blueberries, but also includes the lesser-known prickly pear and the pawpaw. (Another proud addition to the Destination: Books paw-paw book inventory, which is second to none.) Interspersed with recipes are sidebar stories with Bir’s personal accounts that keep the book light and entertaining. It is gorgeously printed with lots of pictures of irresistible fruit.

The food writer Sandor Katz’s name is synonymous fermentation —Wild Fermentation, The Art of Fermentation, — and with his latest book Fermentation Journeys: Recipes, Techniques, & Traditions from Around the World (in ~60 recipes) he has now earned the moniker as being the Anthony Bourdain of Fermentation. Palm wine in Myanmar, mezcal in Oaxaca, fermented vegetables in China, chicha in South America and cheese making in Australia are just a few of the places, stories and recipes that Katz shares in this food travelogue.