Our winter reading list covers everything from the fall of civilizations to identifying those weeds in your backyard

​The off-season (November-March) at the Good Sweet Earth homestead is the time of year we like to recharge our batteries and expand our knowledge base. That means a little travel, a little rest, but also a lot of continuing education, research, workshops and reading.
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Steve (our lawn guy), has decided to focus on two areas of study this year: Learning as much as he can about common lawn weeds found in Michigan, and the physiology of ornamental grasses. That means, in addition to the usual reading about faming, soils, microbes, turf and vermicompost, he’ll be entering the 2020 growing season (hopefully!) with a whole new level of understanding of ornamental grasses and weeds, and how those relate to a healthier, more beautiful yard.

So while some of our outside learning comes in the form of classes, much of it comes from good old-fashioned trips to the public library, and browsing the shelves for good books to fill the cold winter months.

We thought we’d share with you some of what we’re reading this January, and how it’s informing and inspiring us as we enter a new year.

• Pocket Guide to Ornamental Grasses (Rick Darke, Timber Press 2004). This is essentially the foundation of Steve’s journey into learning more about ornamental grasses. It’s a simple guide that highlights nutrient needs, what types of soil and sunlight different types of ornamentals thrive in, the different appearance of ornamental grasses, pest control, etc. Steve hopes that a better understanding of ornamental grasses will help him recommend alternative ground covers and landscape options to customers, as well as better understand grasses in general.
• Landscaping with Ornamental Grasses (Fiona Gilsenan, Sunset Books 2002). This book, while also focusing on ornamental grasses, is more about choosing different types and effectively utilizing them in your landscaping. It’s a guide to appearance, what other plants will look and grow well with different types of grasses and how to make sure they’re utilized effectively in your yard.
• Common Backyard Weeds of the Upper Midwest (Teresa Marrone, Adventure Publications 2017). A page-turning beach read, this ain’t. But what it lacks in narrative, it more than makes up for in helpful information. While Steve’s able to identify a handful of the more common lawn weeds, he’s hoping to go even further this year and be able to identify more and more obscure (and often troublesome) lawn weeds on sight.
• Teaming with Microbes: A Gardener’s guide to the Soil Food Web (Jeff Lowenfels & Wayne Lewis, Timber Press 2006). This is an amazing journey into the “soil food web” found in our yards. It explains in simple terms how the larger critters in the soil (earthworms, insects, even mammals) interact with the microorganisms (bacteria, fungi) to give us more sustainable soil and healthier plant growth. While it’s easy to understand the importance of organic agriculture, it’s also easy to forget how all of the life forms under the soil actually work together to give us healthy soil. This book does that.
• Grass, Soil, Hope: A Journey Through Carbon Country (Courtney White, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2014). As we (the global “we”) face an increasingly unstable planet (climate change, food instability, water scarcity, environmental stresses and economic instability), how do all of these potential problems work together, and what can we (individually and collectively) do to relieve some of this planetary stress? The answer, according to archeologist and activist Courtney White, is carbon. This book explains the importance of increasing carbon in our soils, specifically about how a mere 2% increase could offset a massive amount of the greenhouse gasses going into our atmosphere.
• Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations (David R. Montgomery, University of California Press 2007). This book takes a look at soil health from a historic, archeological, and geologic perspective. It’s an agricultural book that focuses less on how to farm more effectively, and more on how to avoid the mistakes that facilitated the collapse of previous civilizations. Here’s a spoiler: It all starts with taking care of the soil. 

If you’d like some good reading this winter that will both inspire and inform, we recommend heading to the library and picking up any one of these books. If you’d like to actually see how Steve can apply this newfound knowledge to your yard in 2020, give us a call at 616-594-0693 or email him at Steve@GoodSweetEarth.com. 

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