#Rosemary Hodgson

[yallambie]

The walls have ears

Caricature of Oscar Wilde from an 1884 edition of Vanity Fair. (Source: Wikipedia) The poet and playwright, Oscar Wilde has sometimes been quoted as saying that he liked talking to brick walls. They were the only thing that didn’t contradict him he said, but then this was coming from the man who also alleged he was in a war to the death with his wallpaper. “One or the other of us has to go,” he…

[tooboredforthis]

Hi, I hope you are doing well. The Winter Prince made me very curious about the works it is referencing and that you have read in preparation for the writing, do you have any Arthurian book recs? What are your favourite books? And do you know any books that focus on an intense brotherly relationship or rivalry that you have enjoyed? What books do you think would have been Lleu, Medraut and Goewin's childhood favourites, had they lived in the modern era? For Medraut I guess classic lit especially latin and greek myths or the plays by Euripides, Aischylos und Sophokles. Goewin and Lleu may have enjoyed Ronja, the Robber's Daughter or The Brother's Lionheart. I wonder what Abreha and Priamos would have liked. Have a nice day ☀️

I don't think a complete list exists, but some of the major works that influenced and are referenced in The Winter Prince include: Alan Garner's The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, The Moon of Gomrath, The Owl Service, The Stone Book Quartet T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land The Mabinogion Rosemary Sutcliff's Eagle of the Ninth, Sword at Sunset, The Lantern Bearers

Also Hamlet by William Shakespeare!

For Arthurian book recs, of course T.H. White's The Once and Future King; Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, The Last Enchantment; Gillian Bradshaw's Arthurian trilogy and specifically The Last Hawk My favorite books at the moment are those by Rumer Godden, Ernest Hemingway, and F.Scott Fitzgerald My favorite rivalry books (not brotherly) are A Separate Peace by John Knowles and Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson I think both Lleu and Goewin would have loved another of my favorite books (for different reasons), A LIttle Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. They both owe a lot to Sara Crewe. They'd probably like different books; Lleu would go for family stories like Elizabeth Enright's The Saturday's series, Goewin would like stories of polar exploration What would Priamos like... I think he'd enjoy the Vango books by Timothee de Fombelle, and Abreha would like Machiavelli's The Prince

[girlwithinfiction]

✨BOOKS TO READ BASED ON YOUR FAVORITE STUDIO GHIBLI FILM✨

The books shown are as follows:

✨SPIRITED AWAY

- Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater

- The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh

- A Tale of Time City by Diana Wynn Jones

✨PRINCESS MONONOKE

- A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

- Wilder Girls by Rory Power

- The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

✨MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO

- Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

- The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff

- Redwall by Brian Jacques

✨PONYO

- Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

- If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang

- Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

✨KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE

- Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

- The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

- Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley

✨FROM UP ON POPPY HILL

- Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson

- I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

- Oceanography of the Moon by Glendy Vanderah

✨TALES FROM EARTHSEA

- Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

- Dragon Sword and Wind Child by Noriko Ogiwara

- Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim

✨THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETY

- Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

- The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

- Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harlow

✨GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES

- Never Let Me Go by Kashuo Ishiguro

- Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi

- Everything I Never Told You By Celeste Ng

✨WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE

- Wind, Sand, and Stars by Antoine Saint-Exupéry

- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

- My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

✨EXTRAS (adaptations or inspirations):

- Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono

- Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin

- Grave of the Fireflies by Akiyuki Nosaka

- The Borrowers by Mary Norton

- From Up on Poppy Hill by Tetsurō Sayama

ig: girlwithinfiction

[healerqueen]

I responded to the booklist question! I'm sure I forgot some but whew it still took forever to write.

What about you? What are some of the books youve read the most?

Good question! I finally started keeping a list, so I have something to work from. That way I won't draw a blank.

My top five or six favorite authors and series are: J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, C. S. Lewis's Narnia books, Rosemary Sutcliff's Dolphin Ring series (beginning with Eagle of the Ninth), Enemy Brothers and The Reb and the Redcoats by Constance Savery the Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner, and The Mysterious Benedict Society (original trilogy and prequel) by Trenton Lee Stewart.

There are many other books and authors I love. I listed several of my childhood influences in this post featuring my 50 favorite children's books (focusing on ones I grew up with as a young person).

Here's my list of favorite books I've read the most or ones I think are worth rereading: The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye (a delightful original fairytale about a princess who refuses to stay in her tower)

The Reluctant Godfather by Allison Tebo (romantic comedy fairytale retelling, with an emphasis on the comedy) Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien (adventure about a mother mouse seeking to save her family) The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall (middle grade fantasy adventure)

Dragon Slippers and Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George (original fantasy in the style of fairytales) Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (fantasy adventure and coming-of-age story about a group of girls who attend school for the first time)

The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart (urban light fantasy with dystopian elements) The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (middle-grade, post-apocalyptic dystopian) The Arrival by Shaun Tan (a wordless graphic novel that conveys human experiences through surrealism)

The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright (vintage contemporary about a lively family) Derwood, Inc. by Jeri Massi (modern contemporary mystery about another boisterous family) The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (quirky vintage mystery with an interesting cast of characters) Historical Fiction: Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham Caddie Woodlawn, Family Grandstand, and other books by Carol Ryrie Brink Rebecca's War by Ann Finlayson Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher Knight's Fee by Rosemary Sutcliff

The Lost Baron by Allen French The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman A Single Shard and Seesaw Girl by Linda Sue Park The Bronze Bow and The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare The Secret Garden and A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell A few books I discovered more recently that are now all-time favorites: Seventh City by Emily Hayse, The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt, Valiant by Sarah McGuire, Out of the Tomb by Ashley Stangl, the Mistmantle Chronicles by M. I. McAllister, Escape to Vindor by Emily Golus, Chase the Legend by Hannah Kaye, The Key to the Chains by Allison Tebo (sci-fi), Rebel Wave by Tor Thibeaux (undersea dystopian) Historical fiction: Listening for Lions and Angel on the Square by Gloria Whelan, Courage in Her Hands by Iris Noble, Victory at Valmy and Word to Caesar by Geoffrey Trease, historical fiction Westerns and mysteries by author Elisabeth Grace Foley

Mystery/suspense: The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman, The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart

[fictionadventurer]

4, 11, 28!

4. What is your favourite book this year?

So far, it's definitely The Rosemary Tree by Elizabeth Goudge. It spiritually renewed me. It tore me apart. I literally stopped to weep over how beautiful it was. For whatever reason, the story resonated with me on so many levels and affected me in a way that few books have.

11. Favourite authors?

For varying reasons and in no particular order (and not counting authors that I know personally):

Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, L.M. Montgomery, G.K. Chesterton, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Elizabeth Goudge, Wilkie Collins, P.G. Wodehouse, A.A. Milne, Dorothy L. Sayers, Josephine Tey, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Frances Hodgson Burnett, maybe I'll throw Una Silberrad on here, Wendell Berry, Regina Doman, Kate Stradling, Nina Clare, Amity Thompson, Beth Brower, Amy Lynn Green, Amanda Dykes, a bunch of others I'm probably forgetting

28. The thickest/longest book you've read?

The Bible, if that counts as one book. If it doesn't, The Lord of the Rings. If that isn't one book either, then Goodreads claims that the next longest book I've read by page count is Vanity Fair by William Thackeray, but that does not seem right. It certainly did not feel that long.

[serethereal]

10 books to get to know me

thank you for tagging me @fastasyoucan1999 @pancakehouse and @arakhnee xx

a little princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett - read this as a kid and it just tore my heart apart and then put it back together. ultimately the book that made me fall in love w reading. still have the original copy in my room even.

a thousand splendid suns, Khaled Hosseini - read it once at 15 and then never again idk if i can ever go back to it again but it will always be in my top ten. story follows 2 womens lives in 1990s Afghanistan.

frankenstein, Mary Shelley - literally transformative like it walked into my brain shook it around and walked out every reread is better than the last Mary Shelley you will always be famous.

pride and prejudice, Jane Austen - my book.. my dads a huuuuuge classics fan and so we read all of them growing up but this one was always just incredibly special to me. love you forever and ever lizzy.

my sisters keeper, Jodi Picoult - DO NOT WATCH THE MOVIE. my best friend gave me this book to read when i said it wasn't that good a story (based off the movie) and she was like no you have to read it trust me its so good. i did. and she was right.

their eyes were watching god, Zora Neale Hurston - changed lives (mine). no but really book of all time like words will not do it justice if you haven't read it please do it is a masterpiece.

a series of unfortunate events, Lemony Snicket - yes the whole bunch and yes thats technically cheating but idc they are SO GOOD. love the writing love the Baudelaire's. the only tragedy struck siblings ever actually

coraline, Neil Gaiman - another children's book and idgaf its SO good literally read it twice back to back she was that girl !! to me!!

rosemary's baby, Ira Levin - i'm mental ab this book. like. insane. so well written rosemary horror protagonist of all time actually

crying in h mart, Michelle Zauner - heart ripped out of my chest over and again book that explores love loss identity and grief in such a real way i can not recommend it enough.

tagging: @vexedtonightmares @alpacinolover @youngestdaughtersyndrome @girljeremystrong @steelycunt @thebloatedfrog and @ufo-dyke <33

[oidheadh-con-culainn]

do you have any classic books that you would recommend? just generally i mean, even tho i know its very hard to do generally instead of tailored to a specfic person

really depends on your definition of classic i guess!

i am not a big reader of "classics" in the sense of "19th century literature", although I did enjoy "a tale of two cities" when i read it; it's the only dickens i've read. i haven't read many other books that i've enjoyed from that kinda period, though that's mostly bc my school made us read thomas hardy and put me off it for life. when i was 14 i read "les mis" which just goes to show that 14yo me had an actual attention span and the internet subsequently ruined it

going slightly earlier i was determined not to enjoy "pride & prejudice" and then had an annoyingly good time reading it when i had to do so for school lol

i love a bit of shakespeare but have actually not read as many plays as people assume. "hamlet" slaps tho. but it's not something i would have picked up and read for fun i don't think? bc i needed to study it to get at the meat of it and be able to enjoy it, so it's a bit more of a commitment, and frankly when it comes to recreational reading i am very lazy and don't want to do too much work hahaha. likewise i enjoyed webster's "duchess of malfi" but only after studying it for a while, it went over my head a lot at first

20th century classics i have read more of probably, i went through a patch of trying to read a lot of foundational SFF type books ("1984", "brave new world", "do androids dream of electric sheep" etc etc). having said that i'm not sure i would particularly recommend any of them lol. it's not that they're not well written or whatever they're just mostly really fucking depressing. i LOVED "lord of the rings" as a kid but haven't reread it since i was an actual child as adult me doesn't have the attention span 😅 also loved "the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy" if that counts as a classic

children's classics, though, i've read a lot of those. noel streatfeild, rosemary sutcliff, cynthia harnett, frances hodgson burnett, e nesbit, arthur ransome, cs lewis, etc... grew up on those. of those, absolutely adored "white boots" (streatfeild), "the load of unicorn" (harnett), "swallows and amazons" (ransome), among others

[maraismagic]

Album of the day

[thefrogholler]

Musical Birthday Notes - March 21st

Musical Birthday Notes – March 21st

[paulinedorchester]

Mosley, Leonard. Backs to the Wall: London Under Fire, 1939-1954. London: George Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1971; reprint, as Backs to the Wall: The Heroic Story of the People of London During World War II, New York: Random House, 1971.

Each generation gets the history that it needs — or wants, or demands. That’s what kept going through my head as I read Backs to the Wall, which appeared three years after France’s youth explicitly rejected both Charles de Gaulle, the self-appointed leader of the Free French during World War II, and the political ideology that he represented, and amidst ongoing unrest over the Vietnam War. (It’s also worth mentioning that it was published in the same year as Norman Longmate’s How We Lived Then: A History of Everyday Life During the Second World War and two years after Angus Calder’s The People’s War.) This book gives up a World War II narrative in which Churchill was an improvement on Chamberlain only in that he wasn’t an appeaser, de Gaulle was worse than both of them put together, the Allied leaders all cordially loathed each other, half the British public wanted to sue for peace, and there was across-the-board mutual dislike between London civilians and American troops (and British dismay at the way African-American troops were treated by their white counterparts was far from universal). Do I exaggerate? Only slightly. Backs to the Wall is a sort of distant, city-specific pre-echo of Juliet Gardner’s sour 2004 book Wartime: Britain, 1939-45.

As with Wartime, however, this book does have the virtue of introducing us to a number of very interesting people. I became interested in reading it because it brought Vere Hodgson’s wartime diary to public attention. Mosley quotes or paraphrases Hodgson’s writing from the beginning of the war through its end, and also seems to have interviewed her extensively. His primary villain, meanwhile, is not Chamberlain but Chamberlain’s chief acolyte, Henry “Chips” Channon, from whose diary he quotes widely (and who turns out to have been born and raised in the United States, to my surprise). We hear a great deal from the chemist and novelist C.P. Snow and follow the misadventures of two civilians, Jenny Martin and Polly Wright, whose consistency in both bad luck and bad choices meant that neither of them was able to stay out of serious trouble for any length of time.

There are many glimpses of the London home front through the eyes of two boys, both eight when the war began: John Hardiman, of Canning Town and later of Aldgate, who was evacuated in 1939 but soon returned to London, and Donald Ketley of Chadwell Heath, who was never evacuated at all. Donald, who thoroughly enjoyed himself during the war, had an experience that speaks to our own recent reality:

Another good thing: quite early in the Blitz, his school had been totally destroyed by a bomb. Since Donald was shy, a poor student and unpopular with his teacher, he was overjoyed when he heard the place was gone. Thereafter he went each day to his teacher’s home to pick up lessons, which he brought back the next day for marking. In the following months he changed from a poor student to an excellent one, and although he was aware that his teacher rather resented it, he didn’t care. 

Mosley also introduces us to Archibald McIndoe, the real-life counterpart of Patrick Jamieson, Bill Patterson’s character in the Foyle’s War episode ‘Enemy Fire.’ Art seems to have imitated life pretty accurately in that instance: he and his burn hospital in East Grinstead were apparently exactly like what was depicted, the only difference being that the hospital was set up in an existing hospital building, not in a requisitioned stately home.

Backs to the Wall seems to have been one of the earliest books to make substantial use of Mass-Observation writings. Most M-O diaries are anonymous, but there are two named diarists here who stand out. John James Donald was a committed pacifist whose air of lofty detachment as he observes the reactions of those around him to air-raids and other wartime event and prepares for his tribunal — which, in the end, he decides not to attend — quickly grows irritating. More interesting is Rosemary Black, a 28-year-old widow, in no small part because she differs markedly from what I had thought of as the archetypical M-O writer. Here’s her self-description on M-O documents: “Upper-middle-class; mother of two children (girls aged 3 and 2); of independent means.” Mosley continues:

She lived in a trim three-story house in a quiet street of the fashionable part of Maida Vale, a short taxi ride from the center of the West End, whose restaurants and theatres she knew well. She was chic and attractive, and lacked very few of the niceties of life: there was Irene, a Hungarian refugee, to look after the children; Helen, a Scottish maid, to look after herself and the house; and a daily cleaning woman to do the major chores.

Black took her children out of London at the beginning of the war but quickly brought them back, and when bombs began falling she kept them in place — air raids might be disruptive for them, but apparently relocation had been worse. She was very much aware that she was riding out the war in a position of privilege, and she often expressed guilt feelings; but this tended to fade away before her irritation at the dominance of “the muddling amateur or the soulless bureaucrat” in the war effort. Offering her services, even as a volunteer, proved very frustrating. “She was young, strong and willing; she typed, spoke languages, was an expert driver and had taken a course in first aid,” Mosley tells us, “but finding a job even as a chauffeur was proving difficult” in September 1940. (She actually wasn’t all that strong physically: as we learn, she suffered from rheumatism which grew worse during the war years and probably affected her outlook.)

Black was greeted with “apathy and indifference” by both A.R.P. and the Women’s Voluntary Service. Early in 1941 she was finally able to get a place handing out tea, sandwiches, cake, and so on to rescue and clean-up workers at bomb sites from a Y.M.C.A. mobile canteen. She was a bit intimidated by the women with whom she found herself working:

Their class is right up to the county family level. Nearly everyone is tall above the average and remarkably hefty, even definitely large, not necessarily fat but broad and brawny. Perhaps this is something to do with the survival of the fittest.

And the work did bring her some satisfaction, even if it was of the type that lent itself to being recorded with tongue placed firmly in cheek:

We had a pleasant and uneventful day’s work serving City fire sites, the General Post Office, demolition workers and Home Guard Stations, etc. We were complimented at least half a dozen times on the quality of our tea ... I think the provision of saccharine for the tea urns to compensate for the mean sugar allowance is my most successful piece of war work. What did you do in the Great War, Mummy? Sneaked pills into the tea urns, darling.

For all her good humor and astute observations, Mrs. Black was far from immune to tiny-mindedness. After an evening out in 1943 she wrote:

I had to wait some time for the others in the cinema foyer, and I was much struck, as often before, by the almost complete absence of English people these days, from the capital of England. Almost every person who came in was either a foreigner, a roaring Jew, or both. The Cumberland [Hotel] has always been a complete New Jerusalem, but this evening it really struck me as no worse than anywhere else! It is really dismaying to see that this should be the result of this war in defence of our country.

Indeed, Mosley cites the results of a multi-year Mass-Observation study that showed a marked increase in anti-Jewish views London’s general population over the course of the war. Since it’s just one study, and since I haven’t seen that study mentioned anywhere else, I am reluctant to trust blindly in its accuracy; and there’s also this:

The small flat which George [Hardiman] had procured for [his family] ... in Aldgate was cleaner and airier than the old house in Canning Town [which had been bombed], and the little Jewish children with whom John now went to school seemed to be cleaner than the ones in Elm Road; at any rate, he no longer came home with nits in his hair.

On the other hand, Mosley himself gives us only a fragmentary view of London’s wartime Jewish population: everyone seems to be either a terrified refugee or an impoverished East Ender. We hear nothing about the substantial middle- and upper-middle class population — mostly of German descent and in some cases German birth — that had already taken shape in Northwest London; and while we are briefly introduced to Sir David Waley, a Treasury official, in connection with the case of an interned Jewish refugee, we aren’t told that Waley himself was Jewish, a member of “the cousinhood.” On yet a third hand, Mosley also quotes other M-O surveys from the same period that indicate largely hostile attitudes to most foreigners in London, with Poles at the bottom of the ladder and the small Dutch contingent on top. (Incidentally, the book’s extremely patchy index identifies Vere Hodgson as a Mass-Observation diarist, which she wasn’t.)

Backs to the Wall closes with a very brief, remarkably non-partisan account of the 1945 general election and its immediate aftermath. “Neither side had any inkling of the way the minds of the British voters were turning,” he writes.

When [Churchill’s] friends suggested that he was a victim of base ingratitude, he shook his head. He would not have such a charge leveled against his beloved countrymen. Ingratitude? "Oh, no," he said quietly, "I wouldn’t call it that. They have had a very hard time."

The book is worth reading for the primary materials that it includes, but it probably tells us as much about the era in which it was written as about the period that it covers.  

[capsulas]

(vía Los 50 mejores libros infantiles de todos los tiempos, según Mizayaki)

The Borrowers, de Mary Norton

El principito, de Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Los niños de Bullerbyn, de Astrid Lindgren

Cuando Marnie estuvo allí, de Joan G. Robinson

Swallows and Amazons, de Arthur Ransome

La clase voladora, de Erich Kästner

Éramos cinco, de Karel Poláček

What the Neighbours Did, and Other Stories, de Ann Philippa Pearce

Patines de plata, de Mary Mapes Dodge

El jardín secreto, de Frances Hodgson Burnett

El águila de la Novena Legión, de Rosemary Sutcliff

El tesoro de los Nibelungos, de Gustav Schalk

Los tres mosqueteros, de Alexandre Dumas

Un mago de Terramar, de Ursula K. Le Guin

Les princes du vent, de Michel-Aime Baudouy

The Flambard Series, de K. M. Peyton

Souvenirs entomologiques, de Jean Henri Fabre

El largo invierno, de Laura Ingalls Wilder

A Norwegian Farm, de Marie Hamsun

Heidi, de Johanna Spyri

Las aventuras de Tom Sawyer, de Mark Twain

El pequeño lord, de Frances Hodgson Burnett

Tistú el de los pulgares verdes, de Maurice Druon

Las aventuras de Sherlock Holmes, de Conan Doyle

Los archivos secretos de la Sra. Basil E. Frankweiler, de E. L. Konigsburg

Incidente en Otterbury, de Cecil Day-Lewis

Alicia en el país de las maravillas, de Lewis Carroll

The Little Bookroom, de Eleanor Farjeon

Un bosque vive doce meses, de Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak

El mesón con muchos pedidos, de Kenji Miyazawa

Winnie-the-Pooh, de A. A. Milne

Nihon Ryōiki, de Kyokai

Historias extrañas del estudio del erudito, de Pu Songling

Nueve cuentos y uno de propina, de Karel Čapek

El hombre que plantó cebollas galesas, de Kim So-un

Robinson Crusoe, de Daniel Defoe

The Hobbit, de J. R. R. Tolkien

Viaje al oeste, de Wu Cheng'en

Veinte mil leguas de viaje submarino, de Julio Verne

Las aventuras de cebolleta, de Gianni Rodari

La isla del tesoro, de Robert Louis Stevenson

The Ship that Flew, de Hilda Winifred Lewis

El viento en los sauces, de Kenneth Grahame

El caballito jorobado, de Pyotr Pavlovich Yershov

El pequeño caballo blanco, de Elizabeth Goudge

La rosa y el anillo, de William Makepeace Thackeray

La mujer radio, de Eleanor Doorly

City Neighbor, The Story of Jane Addams, de Clara Ingram Judson

Iván el tonto, de León Tolstói

Los viajes del Doctor Doolittle, de Hugh Lofting

[soulbounce]

【衝撃】ユニバーサル火災でマスターテープが焼失したアーティスト一覧

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Cheech & Chong Cher Don Cherry Mark Chesnutt The Chi-Lites Eric Clapton Petula Clark Roy Clark Gene Clark The Clark Sisters Merry Clayton Jimmy Cliff Patsy Cline Rosemary Clooney Wayne Cochran Joe Cocker Ornette Coleman Gloria Coleman Mitty Collier Jazzbo Collins Judy Collins Colosseum Alice Coltrane John Coltrane Colours Common Cookie and the Cupcakes Barbara Cook Rita Coolidge Stewart Copeland The Corsairs Dave “Baby” Cortez Bill Cosby Don Costa Clifford Coulter David Crosby Crosby & Nash Johnny Cougar (aka John Cougar Mellencamp) Counting Crows Coverdale?Page Warren Covington Deborah Cox James “Sugar Boy” Crawford Crazy Otto Marshall Crenshaw The Crew-Cuts Sonny Criss David Crosby Bob Crosby Bing Crosby Sheryl Crow Rodney Crowell The Crusaders Xavier Cugat The Cuff Links Tim Curry The Damned Danny & the Juniors Rodney Dangerfield Bobby Darin Helen Darling David + David Mac Davis Richard Davis Sammy Davis Jr. Chris de Burgh Lenny Dee Jack DeJohnette The Dells The Dell-Vikings Sandy Denny Sugar Pie DeSanto The Desert Rose Band Dennis DeYoung Neil Diamond Bo Diddley Difford & Tilbrook Dillard & Clark The Dixie Hummingbirds Willie Dixon DJ Shadow Fats Domino Jimmy Donley Kenny Dorham Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra Lee Dorsey The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Lamont Dozier The Dramatics The Dream Syndicate Roy Drusky Jimmy Durante Deanna Durbin The Eagles Steve Earle El Chicano Danny Elfman Yvonne Elliman Duke Ellington Cass Elliott Joe Ely John Entwistle Eminem Eric B. and Rakim Gil Evans Paul Evans Betty Everett Don Everly Extreme The Falcons Harold Faltermeyer Donna Fargo Art Farmer Freddie Fender Ferrante & Teicher Fever Tree The Fifth Dimension Ella Fitzgerald Five Blind Boys Of Alabama The Fixx The Flamingos King Floyd The Flying Burrito Brothers John Fogerty Red Foley Eddie Fontaine The Four Aces The Four Tops Peter Frampton Franke & the Knockouts Aretha Franklin The Rev. 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Franklin The Free Movement Glenn Frey Lefty Frizzell Curtis Fuller Jerry Fuller Lowell Fulson Harvey Fuqua Nelly Furtado Hank Garland Judy Garland Erroll Garner Jimmy Garrison Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers Gene Loves Jezebel Barry Gibb Georgia Gibbs Terri Gibbs Dizzy Gillespie Gin Blossoms Tompall Glaser Tom Glazer Whoopi Goldberg Golden Earring Paul Gonsalves Benny Goodman Dexter Gordon Rosco Gordon Lesley Gore The Gospelaires Teddy Grace Grand Funk Railroad Amy Grant Earl Grant The Grass Roots Dobie Gray Buddy Greco Keith Green Al Green Jack Greene Robert Greenidge Lee Greenwood Patty Griffin Nanci Griffith Dave Grusin Guns N’ Roses Buddy Guy Buddy Hackett Charlie Haden Merle Haggard Bill Haley and His Comets Aaron Hall Lani Hall Chico Hamilton George Hamilton IV Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds Marvin Hamlisch Jan Hammer Lionel Hampton John Handy Glass Harp Slim Harpo Richard Harris Freddie Harts Dan Hartman Johnny Hartman Coleman Hawkins Dale Hawkins Richie Havens Roy Haynes Head East Heavy D. & the Boyz Bobby Helms Don Henley Clarence “Frogman” Henry Woody Herman and His Orchestra Milt Herth and His Trio John Hiatt Al Hibbler Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks Monk Higgins Jessie Hill Earl Hines Roger Hodgson Hole Billie Holiday Jennifer Holliday Buddy Holly The Hollywood Flames Eddie Holman John Lee Hooker Stix Hooper Bob Hope Paul Horn Shirley Horn Big Walter Horton Thelma Houston Rebecca Lynn Howard Jan Howard Freddie Hubbard Humble Pie Engelbert Humperdinck Brian Hyland The Impressions The Ink Spots Iron Butterfly Burl Ives Janet Jackson Joe Jackson Milt Jackson Ahmad Jamal Etta James Elmore James James Gang Keith Jarrett Jason & the Scorchers Jawbreaker Garland Jeffreys Beverly Jenkins Gordon Jenkins The Jets Jimmy Eat World Jodeci Johnnie Joe The Joe Perry Project Elton John J.J. Johnson K-Ci & JoJo Al Jolson Booker T. Jones Elvin Jones George Jones Hank Jones Jack Jones Marti Jones Quincy Jones Rickie Lee Jones Tamiko Jones Tom Jones Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five The Jordanaires Jurassic 5 Bert Kaempfert Kitty Kallen & Georgie Shaw The Kalin Twins Bob Kames Kansas Boris Karloff Sammy Kaye Toby Keith Gene Kelly Chaka Khan B.B. King The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Wayne King The Kingsmen The Kingston Trio Roland Kirk Eartha Kitt John Klemmer Klymaxx Baker Knight Chris Knight Gladys Knight and the Pips Krokus Steve Kuhn Rolf Kuhn Joachim Kuhn Patti LaBelle L.A. Dream Team Frankie Laine Lambert, Hendricks & Ross Denise LaSalle Yusef Lateef Steve Lawrence Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme Lafayette Leake Brenda Lee Laura Lee Leapy Lee Peggy Lee Danni Leigh The Lennon Sisters J.B. Lenoir Ramsey Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lewis Meade Lux Lewis Liberace Lifehouse Enoch Light The Lightning Seeds Limp Bizkit Lisa Loeb Little Axe and the Golden Echoes Little Milton Little River Band Little Walter Lobo Nils Lofgren Lone Justice Guy Lombardo Lord Tracy The Louvin Brothers Love Patti Loveless The Lovelites Lyle Lovett Love Unlimited Loretta Lynn L.T.D. Lynyrd Skynyrd Gloria Lynne Moms Mabley Willie Mabon Warner Mack Dave MacKay & Vicky Hamilton Miriam Makeba The Mamas and the Papas Melissa Manchester Barbara Mandrell Chuck Mangione Shelly Manne Wade Marcus Mark-Almond Pigmeat Markham Steve Marriott Wink Martindale Groucho Marx Hugh Masekela Dave Mason Jerry Mason Matthews Southern Comfort The Mavericks Robert Maxwell John Mayall Percy Mayfield Lyle Mays Les McCann Delbert McClinton Robert Lee McCollum Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr. Van McCoy Jimmy McCracklin Jack McDuff Reba McEntire Gary McFarland Barry McGuire The McGuire Sisters Duff McKagan Maria McKee McKendree Spring Marian McPartland Clyde McPhatter Carmen McRae Jack McVea Meat Loaf Memphis Slim Sergio Mendes Ethel Merman Pat Metheny Mighty Clouds of Joy Roger Miller Stephanie Mills The Mills Brothers Liza Minnelli Charles Mingus Joni Mitchell Bill Monroe Vaughn Monroe Wes Montgomery Buddy Montgomery The Moody Blues The Moonglows Jane Morgan Russ Morgan Ennio Morricone Mos Def Martin Mull Gerry Mulligan Milton Nascimento Johnny Nash Nazareth Nelson Rick Nelson & the Stone Canyon Band Ricky Nelson Jimmy Nelson Oliver Nelson Aaron Neville Art Neville The Neville Brothers New Edition New Riders of the Purple Sage Olivia Newton-John Night Ranger Leonard Nimoy Nine Inch Nails Nirvana The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band No Doubt Ken Nordine Red Norvo Sextet Terri Nunn The Oak Ridge Boys Ric Ocasek Phil Ochs Hazel O’Connor Chico O’Farrill Oingo Boingo The O’Jays Spooner Oldham One Flew South Yoko Ono Orleans Jeffrey Osborne The Outfield Pablo Cruise Jackie Paris Leo Parker Junior Parker Ray Parker Jr. Dolly Parton Les Paul Freda Payne Peaches & Herb Ce Ce Peniston The Peppermint Rainbow Pepples The Persuasions Bernadette Peters Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers John Phillips Webb Pierce The Pinetoppers Bill Plummer Poco The Pointer Sisters The Police Doc Pomus Jimmy Ponder Iggy Pop Billy Preston Lloyd Price Louis Prima Primus Puddle Of Mudd Red Prysock Leroy Pullins The Pussycat Dolls Quarterflash Queen Latifah Sun Ra The Radiants Gerry Rafferty Kenny Rankin The Ray Charles Singers The Ray-O-Vacs The Rays Dewey Redman Della Reese Martha Reeves R.E.M. Debbie Reynolds Emitt Rhodes Buddy Rich Emil Richards Dannie Richmond Riders in the Sky Stan Ridgway Frazier River Sam Rivers Max Roach Marty Roberts Howard Roberts The Roches Chris Rock Tommy Roe Jimmy Rogers Sonny Rollins The Roots Rose Royce Jackie Ross Doctor Ross Rotary Connection The Rover Boys Roswell Rudd Rufus and Chaka Khan Otis Rush Brenda Russell Leon Russell Pee Wee Russell Russian Jazz Quartet Mitch Ryder Buffy Sainte-Marie Joe Sample Pharoah Sanders The Sandpipers Gary Saracho Shirley Scott Tom Scott Dawn Sears Neil Sedaka Jeannie Seely Semisonic Charlie Sexton Marlena Shaw Tupac Shakur Archie Shepp Dinah Shore Ben Sidran Silver Apples Shel Silverstein The Simon Sisters Ashlee Simpson The Simpsons Zoot Sims P.F. Sloan Smash Mouth Kate Smith Keely Smith Tab Smith Patti Smyth Snoop Dogg Valaida Snow Jill Sobule Soft Machine Sonic Youth Sonny and Cher The Soul Stirrers Soundgarden Eddie South Southern Culture on the Skids Spinal Tap Banana Splits The Spokesmen Squeeze Jo Stafford Chris Stamey Joe Stampley Michael Stanley Kay Starr Stealers Wheel Steely Dan Gwen Stefani Steppenwolf Cat Stevens Billy Stewart Sting Sonny Stitt Shane Stockton George Strait The Strawberry Alarm Clock Strawbs Styx Sublime Yma Sumac Andy Summers The Sundowners Supertramp The Surfaris Sylvia Syms Gabor Szabo The Tams Grady Tate t.A.T.u. Koko Taylor Billy Taylor Charlie Teagarden Temple of the Dog Clark Terry Tesla Sister Rosetta Tharpe Robin Thicke Toots Thielemans B.J. Thomas Irma Thomas Rufus Thomas Hank Thompson Lucky Thompson Big Mama Thornton Three Dog Night The Three Stooges Tiffany Mel Tillis Tommy & the Tom Toms Mel Torme The Tragically Hip The Trapp Family Singers Ralph Tresvant Ernest Tubb The Tubes Tanya Tucker Tommy Tucker The Tune Weavers Ike Turner Stanley Turrentine Conway Twitty McCoy Tyner Phil Upchurch Michael Utley Leroy Van Dyke Gino Vannelli Van Zant Billy Vaughan Suzanne Vega Vega Brothers Veruca Salt The Vibrations Bobby Vinton Voivod Porter Wagoner The Waikikis Rufus Wainwright Rick Wakeman Jerry Jeff Walker The Wallflowers Joe Walsh Wang Chung Clara Ward Warrior Soul Washboard Sam Was (Not Was) War Justine Washington The Watchmen Muddy Waters Jody Watley Johnny “Guitar” Watson The Weavers The Dream Weavers Ben Webster Weezer We Five George Wein Lenny Welch Lawrence Welk Kitty Wells Mae West Barry White Michael White Slappy White Whitesnake White Zombie The Who Whycliffe Kim Wilde Don Williams Jody Williams John Williams Larry Williams Lenny Williams Leona Williams Paul Williams Roger Williams Sonny Boy Williamson Walter Winchell Kai Winding Johnny Winter Wishbone Ash Jimmy Witherspoon Howlin’ Wolf Bobby Womack Lee Ann Womack Phil Woods Wrecks-N-Effect O.V. Wright Bill Wyman Rusty York Faron Young Neil Young Young Black Teenagers Y & T Rob Zombie

[kxowledge]

We have talked about this before, but: What are your favourite (boarding) school novels (and films)?

You know this is my niche guilty pleasure, even though most books are not…… good (poorly written, poorly developed characters, poorly thought-out plot). I should be asking you for recs about this to be honest.

As for favourite books, probably:

Fleur Jaeggy, Sweet Days of Discipline

E. Lockhart, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks

John Green, Looking for Alaska

Louisa May Alcott, Little Men

Frances Hodgson Burnett, A Little Princess

Rosemary Manning, The Chinese Garden

Richelle Mead, Vampire Academy

I also think that Harry Potter provides an incredible opportunity in terms of interesting setting, and while I’m not a big fan of JKR’s work, I think that there are outstanding works of fanfiction out there (I don’t have the time to scour my bookmarks, but The First Rule of Film Club comes to mind)

On the other side, I haven’t watched many movies of the genre to be honest and I can only think of Dead Poets Society (1989) and Cracks (2009).

+ Honourable mentions to If We Were Villains,  The Secret History, and Franny and Zooey – which are campus novels actually but that are among my absolute favourite books ever, so

[livingcorner]

How to Plant Your First Vegetable Garden | Gardener’s Path

So, you’ve decided to plant a vegetable garden.

Congratulations! You’ve made an excellent choice with far-reaching benefits.

You're reading: How to Plant Your First Vegetable Garden | Gardener’s Path

Not only will you have a source of inexpensive, fresh vegetables, you’ll also be in complete control of how your crops are grown – so they can be as organic and natural as you like.

You can also plant surplus amounts to can and freeze, and make your own jams, jellies, pickles, and preserves – a great way to stretch your garden’s goodness (and food budget) into the winter months.

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On top of all that, working with soil and plants is an excellent stress buster. It’s one of the easiest activities to practice mindfulness, and working with the earth is a natural antidote to anxiety and worry.

Research even shows that children who garden eat more fruits and veggies. They also score better on science achievement tests, and significantly increase important life skills like self-understanding and the ability to work in groups – all good reasons to get the kids involved!

Kids love the garden too! Photo by Lorna Kring.

Clearly, there are a lot of positive benefits to the vegetable patch.

To get you off to the best possible start, in this article we’ll cover how to choose a location, the basic tools you’ll need, how to prepare your garden bed, plant selection, companion plants, successful planning, sowing, watering, weeding, fertilizing, small space gardens, and containers for veggies.

Let’s turn the sod!

Picking Your Plot

If you’re new to gardening, it’s a good idea to start small.

Preparing the soil and planting are just the first steps to a bountiful harvest. As spring and summer progress, your garden will need to be weeded, watered, and maintained – all of which take time and energy.

To prevent overwhelm, begin with a plot that’s manageable for you and your schedule. An area as little as eight by eight feet will provide 64 square feet to work with, which is plenty of space to produce a good yield – and maintaining it won’t take up every spare minute of your time.

A level area that receives six to eight hours of sunlight per day is ideal. It should also be sheltered from high winds, and have easy access to a water source, like a faucet.

A few basic tools will do for your first efforts. As your expertise develops, you can add specialized items to your toolshed.

Landscaping bags are light, but tough, and perfect for collecting yard waste. Photo by Lorna Kring.

To get the best value, invest in well-made tools constructed from good quality materials that are appropriate for your size and build.

You’ll need the following:

A round-tipped shovel for digging.

A fork for turning and loosening soil.

A steel bow rake for cleaning and leveling.

A hoe or cultivator for weeding.

A hand trowel or hori hori knife and a hand cultivator for transplanting and weeding.

A garden hose and nozzle, or watering can.

And you’ll quickly appreciate these extras:

Gardening gloves with nitrile-coated palms and fingers.

Bypass snips for pruning and cutting.

Sharp scissors or a garden knife for harvesting and pruning.

A kit bag to tote your gear, seeds, and hand tools.

A wheelbarrow for transporting sod, dirt, and compost.

A lightweight landscaper bag for gathering leaves, weeds, and grass clippings.

A kneeling pad, to save your knees.

A weed torch, to save your back.

A good tote bag will carry all of your hand tools. Photo by Lorna Kring.

Don’t forget to parcel out some time for maintenance of your brand new shiny tools.

Turning Your Soil

If you have a good eye, pace your garden area and place four stakes, one in each corner of your planned allotment.

If you need clearer boundaries, use a tape to measure the area, then mark the perimeter with stakes and string.

Next, start digging.

A square-end spade can be used to create equal sections in a grid pattern. Then, using a fork, lift the sod from each section and shake out the soil. Discard the sod, or use it to build up any low areas in your yard.

To discourage weeds and grass from encroaching, you can install plastic or metal edging around the perimeter –the deeper it goes, the better it works.

Using a fork or a pointed shovel, dig deep and turn the soil to a depth of at least 12 inches, preferably 18 to 24 inches.

Remove any rocks, roots, and other debris, breaking up the soil as you go along.

Clean and amend the first layer of soil. Photo by Lorna Kring.

Once the soil has been turned, cleaned, and aerated, spread two inches of organic material such as compost or well-rotted manure over the top, and work it into the soil.

Read more: The Secret Garden | Frances Hodgson Burnett

Complete your preparations by leveling and raking the surface until it’s even and fine-textured.

Plant Selection

Now, it’s time for one of the really fun parts!

Gather some reference material, like seed catalogs or gardening magazines, and write out a list of all your favorite veggies.

To know how much stock to purchase, and to allocate enough space, you’ll want to determine approximately how much each plant will produce. Remember that if you want to preserve any of your harvest, you’ll need to purchase some extras.

Once you know what you’re going to plant, refer to a planting chart for your region and growing zone. This will help to determine which veggies can be direct sown, which seedlings you can start at home yourself, and which ones you’ll have to pick up at a nursery.

For small plots and containers, choose varieties labeled “bush,” “compact,” or “dwarf.” Select strains that are disease-resistant, and if possible, choose a cross-section of varieties with different maturation dates to extend the growing season.

Print out your region’s information for planting dates, frost dates, and agricultural hardiness zones, like these for the US and Canada, then refer to them for planning purposes.

Plan Your Layout

With pencil and paper, sketch out a rough blueprint to guide your planting.

Check seed packets for information about light requirements, spacing, spread, and height, then mark their locations on your sketch.

It’s a good idea to locate tall plants and those that require supports – like beans, corn, peas, and tomatoes – on the north side of your garden bed so they don’t shade shorter ones.

Remember, the sun travels from east to west, and all of your plants will need sunlight.

Also, your planting scheme doesn’t have to be restricted to straight rows. Staggered rows, mounds, and raised beds can all be incorporated, but leave enough space for pathways to walk on – which should be around 18-24 inches wide.

And include space for companion plants, herbs, or flowers if you’re so inclined.

Companion Planting

Companion planting is the practice of using complimentary plants to provide natural pest control, potentially improve flavor, and attract important pollinators into the garden.

Marigolds top the list in pest protection, and can be planted liberally throughout the garden.

Basil and tomatoes make excellent companions in the garden, and flowers attract pollinators to your veggie plots.

Basil planted near tomatoes has been said to improve their flavor, while lettuce likes the protective benefits of being close to onions and radishes.

Flowering herbs like oregano, rosemary, sage, and thyme repel many pests, and act like a bee magnet. This is very important for any fruits or vegetables that require pollination to produce fruit, such as beans, cucumbers, melons, peas, peppers, and tomatoes.

Sowing the Seeds

It’s best to plant seedlings or nursery starts on cloudy days to minimize the shock of transplanting. If that’s not possible, be sure to plant in the morning while it’s still cool.

Sprinkle a pinch of bone meal into each planting hole, set the plants in place, and gently gather the soil around each stem. Firm the soil but don’t pack it, then settle your seedlings with a soft shower of water.

To sow seeds, follow the instructions on the seed packet for how deep to sow and spacing requirements, firm the soil in place, and water gently.

If any of your veggies require staking, set stakes in place sooner rather than later to prevent damage to the roots of growing plants.

And remember to leave space for repeat sowings of lettuce, salad greens, and later-season heat-lovers like cucumber, melons, peppers, and tomatoes.

Maintenance

For best results, you’ll need to keep your garden beds free from weeds, provide sufficient irrigation, and fertilize.

Watering

Young seedlings are tender, and require a gentle touch when watering.

Use the “shower” setting on a hose nozzle and water the soil surrounding the plants, avoiding the leaves and immature stalks.

The best time to water is in the morning, as an early watering provides plants with the moisture they need on a hot day, and makes it easier for them to absorb nutrients from the soil.

Watering in the hot afternoon sun can produce shock in young plants, and cause tender leaves to scorch.

[easyazon_image align=”center” height=”500″ identifier=”B001IKU3QC” locale=”US” src=”https://gardenerspath.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/71WjhuoW2dL.SL500.jpg” alt=”Gilmour Flat Weeper Soaker Hose in use in a garden setting.” tag=”prettyac-20″ width=”500″]

Gilmour Flat Weeper Soaker Hose available on Amazon

And watering in the evening should also be avoided as excess moisture left on the leaves in cool overnight temperatures can promote plant disease, such as damping off and powdery mildew.

To save time, and ensure that your plants get water when it’s needed, [easyazon_link identifier=”B0002S8LC4″ locale=”US” tag=”prettyac-20″]invest in a soaker hose[/easyazon_link] to do the watering for you – they’re inexpensive and take a time-consuming task off of your plate.

Fertilizing

Once plants are four to six weeks old, you can begin to fertilize.

For light feeders, like leafy greens and root veggies, follow the suggestions on seed packets and nursery stock for frequency and strength.

Sweeten the soil with lots of compost. Photo by Lorna Kring.

For heavy feeders, such as beets, corn, tomatoes, and the brassicas (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower), a top dressing of well-rotted manure or compost is a welcome addition – as well as regular feeding with a water soluble fertilizer.

Weeding

Weeding is easily handled if you stay on top of it – even 20 minutes every day or two will help to keep these persistent growers in check.

To quickly and easily lift weeds and their roots, pull by hand, use a hand cultivator, or hoe gently when the soil is moist.

If the soil’s too dry, the green tops will often break off, leaving the roots to regrow.

Pathway weeds can be dispatched quickly with a weed torch. Or, you may lay down some paving stones or bark mulch to keep pathway weeds at bay.

For Small Spaces

If your plot is on the small side, say around 20-25 square feet, you can still get a robust yield using the French Intensive Method, which incorporates double-digging.

Preparation requires more initial effort, but once planted, less watering, fertilizer, and weeding is required.

Double-digging creates deep, loose, friable soil that allows roots to grow deeper than normal, to a depth of about three feet. This means vegetables can be planted more closely together, and this increase in plant density will yield results two to five times greater than a regular bed of the same size.

In a typical garden bed, roots will hit hardpan at about 12 inches deep, which causes them to spread out sideways. This sideways growth results in competition for moisture and food, meaning plants need to be spaced further apart to ensure that they all receive adequate nutrients and water.

To double dig, remove the first twelve inches of soil. Photo by Lorna Kring.

Here are the steps to double-digging a bed:

Read more: The Secret Garden | Frances Hodgson Burnett

1. With a shovel, dig down and lift out a 12-inch layer of topsoil, piling it nearby. Loosen and clean the topsoil and mix in a generous amount of compost or rotted manure.

2. With a fork, dig down another 12 inches and loosen the soil. Once the soil is loose, remove any roots, rocks, and debris, then incorporate a generous amount of compost or rotted manure into this second layer.

3. Replace the amended first layer of soil. Your plot will now be raised about a foot above ground level, and will feature the deep, loose, and fluffy soil that will allow roots to grow straight down.

With French intensive gardening, it’s very important to keep the soil light and fluffy – so you might want to divide your bed into halves or quarters to make it easier to plant, weed, and prevent soil compaction.

[easyazon_image align=”center” height=”500″ identifier=”+61404532026″ locale=”US” src=”https://gardenerspath.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/61iRmx2BnujL.jpg” alt=”Book cover of the Postage Stamp Vegetable Garden.” tag=”prettyac-20″ width=”390″]

The Postage Stamp Vegetable Garden, available on Amazon

The French intensive method also uses intercropping, which creates its own favorable microclimate and improves yields.

For example, a trellis of beans inter-planted with lettuce will provide shade from the hot afternoon sun – which lettuce needs. Or basil can be planted with tomatoes and peppers to improve their flavors, with the basil being harvested before the roots and top-growth of the larger plants take over.

For more inspiration, pick up a book for workable ideas and techniques – like Karen Newcomb’s The Postage Stamp Vegetable Garden: Grow Tons of Organic Vegetables in Tiny Spaces and Containers.

Square foot gardening is a less demanding option that small space edible gardeners can use to produce high yields and successful crops.

Raised Beds

You can also create a permanent raised bed by purchasing a kit, or building your own. And you can get all the how-to details in this great article.

Just remember, when building a wooden frame for raised beds, never use treated lumber. The chemicals used to preserve the wood are highly toxic and will leach into your garden soil, where they’ll be absorbed by the vegetables’ roots – goodbye, healthy produce…

Containers

Of course, if your space is even more limited or you only want to grow small amounts of fresh veggies, containers are a great option for a wide range of vegetables.

Carrots, chard, herbs, kale, peppers, potatoes, radishes, salad greens, scallions, spinach, and strawberries are all adept container-growers.

When choosing containers, ensure they’re an appropriate size for what you plan to plant – you’ll need a much deeper pot for potatoes than for parsley!

And look for cultivars labeled “bush,” “compact,” or “dwarf.” As their names suggest, these varieties are smaller in size when mature, making them a wise choice for pots and planters – particularly for veggies that dig deep, like carrots – or tomatoes, which can produce a top-heavy load of fruit.

Soil for containers needs to be enriched with organic material to ensure proper nutrition within the restricted confines of a planter. It should also be amended by mixing in a light material such as perlite or peat to prevent compaction, supply aeration, and retain moisture.

Veggie pots also need good drainage holes with plenty of drainage material in the bottom – an inch or two deep, depending on the container size.

You’ll also have to fertilize more frequently when growing in containers, but at a diluted strength. Use compost tea, fish emulsion, or a water soluble fertilizer diluted with water at one-half or one-third strength, applied every 10 to 14 days.

As the soil in containers will also dry out much more quickly than the ground does, ensure that it stays moist, but not oversaturated.

Start a Garden Journal

A garden journal is a handy planning tool.

It helps you to keep track of weather data, repeat sowings, plant rotation, what worked, and what didn’t.

[easyazon_image align=”center” height=”500″ identifier=”+61404532026″ locale=”US” src=”https://gardenerspath.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/4157Ko7Bf7L.SL500.jpg” Alt=”Book cover of the Gardener’s Log Book.” tag=”prettyac-20″ width=”396″]

Gardener’s Log Book available on Amazon

You can also note ideas you’d like to try for different seasons or next year, make sketches, plan your garden, and collect inspirational bits.

Pick up a simple binder to begin with, then add a handsome journal to your wish list ��� family members will love this great gift idea!

Want more options? Take a look at our favorite seven gardening journals!

Reap the Rewards

You can’t say too many good things about a veggie garden.

Sure, they’re a lot of hard work. But the joy and satisfaction they bring is priceless. And when you’re harvesting the delicious, nutritious rewards of your efforts, you’ll forget all about the work part!

For the greatest enjoyment, keep your plot size manageable, plan first with a planting chart, and stay on top of maintenance chores like watering, feeding, and weeding. Get the kids involved – they love the garden too! And don’t forget to check out our article on how to grow tomatillos, for something a little different.

Do you budding gardeners have any questions or insights about the veggie patch? Leave us a note in the comments below!

About Lorna Kring

A writer, artist, and entrepreneur, Lorna is also a long-time gardener who got hooked on organic and natural gardening methods at an early age. These days, her vegetable garden is smaller to make room for decorative landscapes filled with color, fragrance, art, and hidden treasures. Cultivating and designing the ideal garden spot is one of her favorite activities – especially for gathering with family and friends for good times and good food (straight from the garden, of course)!

Source: https://livingcorner.com.au Category: Garden

source https://livingcorner.com.au/how-to-plant-your-first-vegetable-garden-gardeners-path/

[healerqueen]

50 Favorite Children’s Books

Inspired by Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki’s list of his earliest literary influences. This list is limited to books I read in childhood or youth. 50 Childhood Favorites

Caddie Woodlawn and sequel by Carol Ryrie Brink

Winter Cottage by Carol Ryrie Brink

The Saturdays, The Four-Story Mistake, and sequels by Elizabeth Enright

Enemy Brothers by Constance Savery

The Reb and the Redcoats by Constance Savery

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham

Derwood, Inc. by Jeri Massi

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Heidi by Joanna Spyri

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

The Wheel on the School by Meindert De Jong

All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor

Family Grandstand by Carol Ryrie Brink

Baby Island by Carol Ryrie Brink

Cheaper By the Dozen and sequel by Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

Rebecca’s War by Ann Finlayson

The Lost Baron by Allen French

Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

The Winged Watchman by Hilda Van Stockum

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman

Captive Treasure by Milly Howard

Toliver’s Secret by Esther Wood Brady

Silver for General Washington by Enid LaMonte Meadowcroft

Emil’s Pranks by Astrid Lindgren

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien

Hitty: Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field

Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois

Freddy the Detective and Freddy the Pig series by Walter R. Brooks

The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden

Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Robert Lawson

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

The Borrowers by Mary Norton

The Wombles by Elisabeth Beresford

Homer Price by Robert McCloskey

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi by Cindy Neuschwander and Wayne Geehan

Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George

The Bridge and Crown and Jewel by Jeri Massi

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

Young Adult:

The Eagle of the Ninth and other books by Rosemary Sutcliff

The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan

Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George

Buffalo Brenda by Jill Pinkwater

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret (a nonfiction memoir)

Picture Books:

Make Way for Ducklings and other books by Robert McCloskey

Go, Dog, Go by P.D. Eastman

Sam and the Firefly by P.D. Eastman

Robert the Rose Horse by Joan Heilbroner

Ice-Cream Larry by Daniel Pinkwater

Mr. Putter and Tabby by Cynthia Rylant

Discovered as an Adult: Seesaw Girl by Linda Sue Park

The Ordinary Princess by M.M. Kaye

The Armourer’s House by Rosemary Sutcliff

Urchin of the Riding Stars and the Mistmantle Chronicles by M.I. McAllister

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

Escape to West Berlin by Maurine F. Dahlberg

Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan

The Angel on the Square by Gloria Whelan

Courage in Her Hands by Iris Noble

Knight’s Fee by Rosemary Sutcliff

Victory at Valmy (Thunder of Valmy) by Geoffrey Trease

Word to Caesar (Message to Hadrian) by Geoffrey Trease

The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

The Reluctant Godfather by Allison Tebo

Seventh City by Emily Hayse

Escape to Vindor by Emily Golus

Valiant by Sarah McGuire

The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart