Yesterday I trekked to town to pay a visit to the public library. Seeking more information about gardening practices for the Inland Northwest, I picked up the following books:

Gardening in the Inland Northwest, a Guide to Growing Vegetables, Berries, Grapes & Fruit Trees, by Tonie Jean Fitzgerald. (This book interested me greatly as living in this area poses many challenges since we have a short growing season). Although not totally organic in nature, there are many ideas to glean from this short read.

The Gardener's A-Z Guide to Growing A good reference type of book that is reader/novice gardener friendly.

Lasagna Gardening For an easy read ... this book gives directions to plant a garden with "a new layering system ... no digging ... no tilling ... no weeding ... no kidding" I actually tried a similar method two years ago (my own formula) so I thought I'd compare notes.

The Organic Garden by: Allan Shepherd, Green gardening for a healthy planet

Already I've gained an important tip regarding the use of grow lamps ... place the plant tray no more than six inches from the lamp source or your seedlings will grow too leggy/tall trying to reach the light. You should see my lettuce plants growing in the basement ... so that's what went wrong. I'm a learn by doing type of gardener.

Winter is the perfect time of the year to start gathering and learning new skills to practice while waiting to plant a spring garden.