We Love Books!

Turns out one of the industries that millennials (that's us!) AREN'T "killing" is LIBRARIES! And we're living proof of that. Shortly after I moved down here, Brandon and I got library cards for the Pasadena Public Library System. Once I discovered that there was an urban farming section of books, I was unstoppable. Here are some of my favorites that I checked out:



And here's why I like these books:

• Homegrown by Heather Hardison - a truly beautifully illustrated book on all sorts of things, from growing vegetables to seed saving to making jams and preserves. I really just loved all the illustrated guides.
• Preserving by the Pint by Melissa McClellan - this book and its author are pretty much single handedly responsible for getting me into canning and making preserves in general. It's the perfect guide for an incompetent novice (like myself) who is wondering what to do with an abundance of fruit.
• The Backyard Homestead - this book was really cool. It had several sections dedicated to what you can grow and raise on varying fractions of an acre. Helpful for understanding how much you can do on such a seemingly small plot.
• How to Grow Food - one of my ALL TIME FAVES! It's such a perfect and simple guide to growing food, like it says. The book is divided up by fruits, vegetables, and herbs and explains the basics to growing each crop. For novice gardeners who are easily overwhelmed by too much information, this was an excellent starting place. 
• Your Farm in the City - a wonderful resource for navigating urban homesteading/farming. Trying to do a country thing in a non-country place provides a unique set of obstacles, and this book recognizes that! How cool!
• 40 Projects for Building Your Backyard Homestead - SUPER HANDY guide to building all sorts of things! Step-by-step instructions that are usually very budget friendly. This book was actually the inspiration for our straw bale gardening project (more on that later).