A Greener View by Jeff Rugg

Are you looking for gifts to give a gardener? I have four books you should consider. The first one is the "New Encyclopedia of Gardening Techniques" from the American Horticultural Society (AHS). This is a comprehensive volume of over 400 pages that contains color illustrations and color photos.

This book is going to be a good reference for beginners and longtime gardeners. The first 55 pages cover the basics, and I know many gardeners who would benefit from going back to the basics.

AHS has a holistic approach to gardening that is designed to help gardeners become even more active stewards of the earth. The book wants gardeners to work with nature by first selecting plants that are appropriate for their site. The authors understand that all aspects of gardening can have a positive or negative environmental impact. The book helps gardeners pick the right plants, and then explains how to best maintain them with low maintenance and less pesticide usage.

My only bone to pick on this book is that having been involved in the water garden industry for many years, I found several installation techniques were a bit out of date. I did not find this situation in other chapters.

The base price is $45, but the AHS sells it for less on their website at www.ahs.org. And if you become a member of one of the oldest gardening organizations in the U.S., you can get the book for even less. The AHS has several other authoritative books on perennials, as well as "SmartGarden Regional Guide" books.

The next book may become my favorite gardening book, because it covers my favorite group of plants. Anna Pavord has done a magnificent job in the book simply titled "Bulb." From the outside, this book looks like a volume from a set of encyclopedias, but on the inside it is filled with glorious pictures and informative text.

The only difficult part about growing bulbs is choosing the types of plants. This book is inspiring me to look for more varieties in the winter garden catalogs I receive in the mail. Pavord not only describes bulb growing information, but also describes the history and background information covering each bulb species — even a non-gardener would enjoy reading this book.

Published by Octopus Books USA, "Bulb" is available in the $30 to $40 range at bookstores or on the Internet.

The first two books are comprehensive books that will be passed down to generations of gardeners.

The next two are soft-cover books with few illustrations, but I think many people will benefit from reading them. They are both from "The Complete Idiot's Guide" series of books: "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegetable Gardening" and "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Preserving Food."

Many people started vegetable gardening for the first time this past summer. Others have been growing their own food for many years, but I think both will benefit from these two books. The vegetable gardening book is a practical guide to growing a garden; it is written in a easy-to-read style by the father and daughter team of Dr. Carl Price and Daria Price Bowman. I especially like the four different sidebar boxes scattered through the book. In fact, just reading the side bars is an education in itself.

Once you have grown your own produce, what should you do with it? You can only eat so many fresh vegetables before you want to save some for another day. First you might think of freezing or canning, but this book also covers drying, salting, pickling, smoking and storing in a root cellar. It also discusses how to preserve meat, poultry, seafood, game, dairy products, eggs and bakery products. This is not your grandma's canning book — it is much more comprehensive.

Dr. Karen Brees, who has been a master food preserver for over 40 years, includes recipes, safety tips and processing times in her book. I have always been intimidated from trying anything beyond simple canning and freezing, but after reading this book, I intend to do more food preserving because it looks much easier than I thought.

Both of these "The Complete Idiot's Guide" books are so practical that anyone who will be growing a vegetable garden next summer will want to spend the winter reading. They are at bookstores for under $20 and available in a variety of e-book formats.

E-mail questions to Jeff Rugg, University of Illinois Extension at jrugg@illinois.edu. To find out more about Jeff Rugg and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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