IT’S ALWAYS NICE TO MEET NEW READERS, which in this digital world often happens when you least expect it–as if someone you barely know plans a surprise party at your house. But the result–unlike that scenario’s–is a lot of fun. Yesterday two such “guest lists” were created for me, leading new faces to join us here, thanks to two big sites. Because both of the articles A Way to Garden was mentioned in also have other great links, I’m now shouting them out to you. Want more great pickle recipes (besides mine), or to discover some (other) New York-based garden blogs? Coming right up…
- Tip Nut designated homemade pickles as their Recipe Hit List of the week. My hand-me-down Refrigerator Pickles, a gift decades ago from railroad conductor Dan Koshansky, made their list of 14 favorites, from sweet to spicy.
- Apartment Therapy rounded up 10 Best New York Gardening Blogs, many of which dig deeper into the urban setting than mine–a big help to those of you in any such spot. Even if your view is less skyline than just plain sky, I think you’ll enjoy some clicking around these great links.
Thanks to both “referrers,” as such incoming links are called out on my blog’s WordPress dashboard. Any friends of yours are friends of mine.
My brother has discovered landscaping/gardening and I’d like to buy him a few design books for Father’s Day. He lives in NJ. Can you make some recommendations? Thank you.
Welcome, Georgia. Such a hard question (I know, that seems odd probably, but I find the whole design thing really challenging to “get” in a book). I have always enjoyed books like Ken Druse’s that have a lot of photos of different people’s gardens but it so depends what style/types of plants/etc. the person has. Decades ago I read English ones — Rosemary Verey, Penelope Hobhouse, and especially Christopher Lloyd, all of whom did quite a lot of books and various ones that are inspiring visually/design-wise, but very sophisticated and advanced, really, so I don’t think I’d go that route today as a starting point. Years ago you had to use English books because we didn’t have a lot here.
But now there’s Oregon-based Timber Press, for instance — have you looked at their catalog online and the design category in particular? I love Lauren Springer (though she is in Colorado) and some of their other authors. Anyhow, maybe have a browse? Sorry not to be sure what to say but with aesthetics it’s hard to tell what someone will like personally.
Recipes! We all love other people’s favorite recipes. Now I’m off to look at them even though you never should on an empty stomach!
My mom used to make the best bread and butter pickles. She passed away twenty years ago, and I have not thought about her recipe in years. Great post…a wonderful jog to my memory…and now I am off to hunt for her recipe.
i made these koshansky pickles for the 1st time last year
& got rave reviews. started my cukes from seeds 5/31
(100% germination) & already starting to see
the 1st pair of real leaves coming up. i’m gonna
experiment & put 1 plant in the same trellis bed as my
newly planted honeysuckle vine. wish me luck!
Margaret: a thoughtful response, thank you! I went to Ken Druse’s website and think “The Collector’s Garden” is perfect for my brother. Will browse the Timber Press catalogue.
The options at Timber Press are amazing. Must revise book list. Thanks again, Margaret.
Everyone should read The Jewel Box Garden by Thomas Hobbs – the best garden book ever – apart from Christopher Lloyd’s books of course!!!
Sandra – England