About the new book list

5/15/2013

The RSS feeds for the new books list is updated every Wednesday and contains a list of books added to the Ellis Library collection for the last six weeks. The titles are grouped by call number classification, and are listed by week and alphabetically by title.

Books for the most recent weeks are currently on the New Books Shelves inside the north entrance of Ellis Library. They can be checked out.

Plant fungal pathogens : methods and protocols / edited by Melvin D. Bolton, Bart P.H.J. Thomma. (5/15/2013)

5/15/2013

Call #: SB732.7 .P526 2012

Paradise lot : two plant geeks, one-tenth of an acre and the making of an edible garden oasis in the city / Eric Toensmeier with contributions from Jonathan Bates. (5/8/2013)

5/8/2013

View title at
Amazon.com

Booklist-

"With their shared passion for plants and a commitment to creating as self-sustaining a garden as possible on a minuscule lot in a small New England city cursed with a terrible climate and even worse soil, Toensmeier and Bates set about converting their urban backyard into a permaculture paradise. Informed by his work on a seminal, two-volume encyclopedia devoted to the concept of forest gardening, Toensmeier transformed the infertile and debris-laden property behind the duplex he shared with Bates into a natural ecosystem teeming with edible plants. As the authors' postage-stamp-size front yard morphed into a lush, tropical showcase that astounded their Massachusetts community, the backyard incorporated all the components necessary to produce fresh fruits and vegetables year-round using cold-hardy, mostly native plants that would ideally require a minimum amount of work for a maximum output. As a memoir of a purposeful life, Toensmeier's work is engaging, honest, and natural. As a directive to other gardeners eager to establish natural ecosystems in unlikely settings, his work is instructive, illuminating, and inspirational."

Publishers Weekly--

"In this charming, true-life tale of urban regeneration and the birth of a forest garden movement, Toensmeier, famous among permaculture enthusiasts for his Perennial Vegetables and as coauthor of Edible Forest Gardens, tells the story behind the Holyoke, Mass., garden featured as a test case in the latter, which, in the course of eight years, he and Bates transformed from a bare backyard wasteland into a flourishing, edible Eden. In true permaculture fashion, the book follows not only the progression of the garden but also its influence on and relations with its creators' lives--including a surprisingly Austen-like romantic element--their neighborhood, and the larger permaculture and forest gardening community. Bates, whose nursery business, Food Forest Farm, is an offshoot of this garden, contributes philosophical and personal essays interspersed throughout the narrative. Fans of Toensmeier and Bates's work will be thrilled to read the details of their experiments with polycultures, their problems with and solutions for pests and overly aggressive plants, and their idiosyncratic plant choices. Adventurous readers with conventional gardens and lawns may be inspired to venture into the more integrated, evolutionary approach that this book so vividly and appealingly portrays."

Kirkus Reviews-

"The front yard was a short, steep slope of asphalt with a tiny strip of sterile gravel and subsoil," write Toensmeier and Bates, with a "backyard that looked like a moonscape, sparely populated with tufts of crabgrass." It was the perfect place to launch their experiment: Could two men with horticultural experience and a love of nature turn a typical compact backyard into a garden full of lush plants and edible food? The authors chronicle their 10-plus years of trials and experiments, as they transformed their "moonscape" into a permaculture of "trees, shrubs, vines, and herbaceous perennials" that produced food at every level. By analyzing their soil and plotting the movement of shade and sun for a year, the authors discovered the prime locations to build a greenhouse and tool shed. They knew where to plant trees and perennials so that they could bring their site to life, and they developed a deeper kinship with the space and with each other. Along the journey, the authors present ideas like sheet mulching, which can transform a lawn into a useful garden plot capable of growing tomatoes and sweet corn in the first year. They also share their thoughts on the plants that can become noxious weeds despite their culinary uses. Toensmeier and Bates discuss both their triumphs and their defeats, as they experimented with chickens, nitrogen fixers, ground covers, numerous kinds of berry bushes and water plants. Although not a how-to guide, the authors give readers plenty of choices and ideas to think about when deciding whether to embark on this kind of gardening."

"Paradise Lot is a magnificent story about how two young broke landless "plant geeks" transform an urban lot into a permaculture heaven capable of producing all their fruit and vegetables as well as attracting suitable mates. The book is a groundbreaking work on temperate-climate permaculture as well as a personal saga, as the author's discovery and discussion of the differences between theory and practice goes beyond anything in the current permaculture literature. The book has a lot of information on growing and using various perennial food plants and, of particular value, it includes specific accounts of what didn't work and why as well as what did. Paradise Lot should be particularly useful to those with small lots or poor or abused soil. Much writing in permaculture is for people with plenty of land and money. This is permaculture for the rest of us. Best of all, Paradise Lot is fun to read. It overflows with love—love of plants, love of land, love of adventuring on the edge of knowledge, and love of living. It's hard to put down. I read it in two large gulps."--Carol Deppe, author of The Resilient Gardener and Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties

"Paradise Lot is a timeless classic of urban permaculture in action that clearly shows design evolution over time. This is a true model of the change the world needs."--Geoff Lawton, founder of Permaculture Research Institute and creator of Greening the Desert

"Paradise Lot is an inspiring book that encourages exploration of the possibilities of growing edibles in any and every yard, no matter how small. And not only tomatoes or apples, but all sorts of edibles from hog peanuts (taste much better than their name) to pawpaws to mints to jostaberry. Join Eric Toensmeier and his friend Jonathan Bates on their ten-plus-year journey in creating a garden of eatin' in a very small city lot. I can't wait for the sequel!"--Lee Reich, PhD, author of Grow Fruit Naturally, The Pruning Book, and Landscaping with Fruit

"Eric has a leisurely, entertaining, and personable way of revealing how his own edible forest garden evolved. Along the way, the reader will learn design guidelines that can be used in virtually any climate. A good read full of insight and science."--Robert Kourik, author of Designing and Maintaining Your Edible Landscape--Naturally

"Just when I figured I had heard it all in growing food, comes a book that makes me realize I don't know the half of it. Paradise Lot is an amazing, almost unbelievable account of how to grow some 150-200 food- and nitrogen-producing plants on a measly one-tenth of an acre, providing food year round in a cold climate. The authors reveal in great detail how they do this, starting with poor urban backyard soil and using totally organic and permaculture methods. They have raised 400 pounds of perennial fruits and vegetables in addition to many annual vegetables per year in this tiny garden. With more time, knowledge, and labor, they are sure they can produce appreciably more. If you want your imagination challenged and intrigued, this is the book for you. As the authors say, here is proof positive that with proper knowledge and will there is no such thing as food scarcity."--Gene Logsdon, author of A Sanctuary of Trees and Small-Scale Grain Raising

"Although many of us dream of creating our ideal urban homestead from scratch, the reality is far less pristine: toxic soil, rampant exotic species, outdated codes, and all the other grit of city life. Paradise Lot is a practical manual, based on hard-won lessons, for working positively with the realities of our cities to create a sustainable, peaceful, and abundant oasis in the urban jungle. In this vivid and engaging work, Eric Toensmeier entices us with his journey as an example, explaining what to do, and what mistakes to avoid, to develop our own versions of an edible urban paradise."--Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia's Garden

"Our connection to place defines us as gardeners and farmers just as much as the plants we choose to grow. The integration of perennial plantings, microclimate, and natural beauty comes about by listening to the land. What a delight to then have one of America's preeminent permaculture teachers share his personal story with both place and partner. Sometimes that meaningful insight we need in shaping our own garden path comes from hearing of the successes and foibles other gardeners found on their path. The gift Eric Toensmeier and Jonathan Bates offer in Paradise Lot is their heart for all things green."--Michael Phillips, author of The Holistic Orchard and The Apple Grower
Call #: SB453 .T59 2013

Garden Landscapes = 花园景观 / Marcelo Novaes 编, Song Dandan 译. (5/1/2013)

5/1/2013

Call #: SB470.B87 N68 2012

Landscape architecture : a manual of environmental planning and design / Barry W. Starke, John Ormsbee Simonds. (5/1/2013)

5/1/2013

Call #: SB472 .S58 2013

Sustainable energy landscapes : designing, planning, and development / edited by Sven Stremke and Andy Van Den Dobbelsteen. (5/1/2013)

5/1/2013

Call #: SB472.45 .S87 2013

Greenhouse technology and management by / Nicolás Castilla translated by Esteban J. Baeza reviewed by A.P. Papadopoulos. (4/24/2013)

4/24/2013

Call #: SB415 C37813 2012

The Garden Club of America : 100 years of a growing legacy / William Seale. (4/24/2013)

4/24/2013

View title at
Amazon.com

About the Author

WILLIAM SEALE is a historian and the author of The White House: History of an American Idea and of several other books on state capitols, courthouses, and historic restoration. Editor of White House History, the journal of the White House Historical Association, he lives in Texas and Washington, D.C.

Call #: SB403.Z5 S43 2012

Tree gardens : architecture and the forest / Gina Crandell. (4/24/2013)

4/24/2013

Call #: SB475.9.F67 C73 2013

Invasive plant ecology / edited by Shibu Jose, Harminder Pal Singh, Daizy Rani Batish, Ravinder Kumar Kohli. (4/3/2013)

4/3/2013

Call #: SB613.5 .I5515 2013

Operative landscapes : building communities through public space / Alissa North. (4/3/2013)

4/3/2013

Call #: SB472.7 .N67 2013

Plant galls / Margaret Redfern. (4/3/2013)

4/3/2013

View title at
Amazon.com

Call #: SB767 .R44 2011

Geranium / Kasia Boddy. (3/27/2013)

3/27/2013

Call #: SB413.G35 B64 2013

MU Libraries New Books: Plant culture

About the new book list

Plant fungal pathogens : methods and protocols / edited by Melvin D. Bolton, Bart P.H.J. Thomma. (5/15/2013)

Paradise lot : two plant geeks, one-tenth of an acre and the making of an edible garden oasis in the city / Eric Toensmeier with contributions from Jonathan Bates. (5/8/2013)

Garden Landscapes = 花园景观 / Marcelo Novaes 编, Song Dandan 译. (5/1/2013)

Landscape architecture : a manual of environmental planning and design / Barry W. Starke, John Ormsbee Simonds. (5/1/2013)

Sustainable energy landscapes : designing, planning, and development / edited by Sven Stremke and Andy Van Den Dobbelsteen. (5/1/2013)

Greenhouse technology and management by / Nicolás Castilla translated by Esteban J. Baeza reviewed by A.P. Papadopoulos. (4/24/2013)

The Garden Club of America : 100 years of a growing legacy / William Seale. (4/24/2013)

About the Author

Tree gardens : architecture and the forest / Gina Crandell. (4/24/2013)

Invasive plant ecology / edited by Shibu Jose, Harminder Pal Singh, Daizy Rani Batish, Ravinder Kumar Kohli. (4/3/2013)

Operative landscapes : building communities through public space / Alissa North. (4/3/2013)

Plant galls / Margaret Redfern. (4/3/2013)

Geranium / Kasia Boddy. (3/27/2013)