Rodele has a new book called "1001 Ingenious Gardening Ideas" and a new pocket book also appeared this year called "365 Gardening Hinds and Tips" The old OG magazine used to be full of these hints, but now they are just given a few pages.. sad, i enjoyed reading about ideas others thought useful. Here are some of hints from the various books: 1. Study and identify the weeds, they tell a story about soil, pests, and what plants will grow well. 2. Perennials sometimes take years to establish, don't give up on them if they do poorly for a few years. 3. Use bird houses without perch's. The perch is more useful to predators than the bird. 4. Each bird has unique preferences about food and shelter. This is true of insects also. Rather than provide habitat for a specific life form it may be better to view all of nature as a life form and build generic habitat. 5. Use any organic material that is close rather than haul if possible. Most materials can be utilized if the techniques are known. This idea leads towards creative garden design and away from mono-cropping. 6. Consider growing one plant rather than rows of plants. A single kale plant can supply a small family. 7. Use the garden as a recycling center for milk cartons and other temporary pots. Use newspaper as mulch and worm food. Use plastic bags as plant tie ups. Use plastic tubs as drip watering containers. Other Resources: Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program http://nwf.org/nwf/habitats Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening http://www.biodynamics.com North American Butterfly Association http://www.naba.org North American Fruit Explorers http://www.nafex.org
