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.