Review: Seed Starting by Gary Emmett (an ebook)

As I've already confessed, I am a plant murderer.  I have, however, had marginal success with container gardening.  The past year or two I started seedlings with my dad, which means the kids and I dropped a few seeds in pots and my dad cared for them.  Once they were established outside, I was able to keep them alive long enough to harvest a few peppers and tomatoes and have a pretty pot of flowers on my doorstep. (At least until a horrid heat-wave and drought came along and killed them all; it's hard to keep containers well-watered when it's that hot!)

In spite of the 10+ inches of snow on the ground right now, it's time to think about starting seeds again and I figure if I'm ever going to develop a green thumb, I better start educating myself!  That is why I jumped at the opportunity to read Gary Emmett's book Seed Starting: The First Step to Gardening. (affiliate link)

Available for your Kindle or Kindle app from Amazon. Currently priced at $2.99.

This book is full of information you need to know about starting seeds indoors and transplanting them to your garden.  It includes chapters on:

• planning your garden with special emphasis on its size and your zone
• where to get your seeds
• what sort of potting soils and mixes to use
• the equipment you need to start seeds
• what kind of light seedlings need and how to provide it
• how much space you need to start seeds, and 
• how to transplant and fertilize your seedlings

Now, if you are already an experienced gardener, then this book probably isn't for you as it is pretty basic.  You might be able to glean a tip or two, but for the most part you've probably already got it covered.  However, if you are new at gardening or have never started from seed before and are looking for a book to get you started, then look no further!

Gary Emmett clearly knows his stuff. It's obvious throughout the book that he speaks not only from knowledge, but from experience.  He has a degree in horticulture and many, many years of professional experience in garden centers and a lawn and garden company. Now he cares for over 500 roses, among other duties, as the Parks Director for his Wyoming town.  (Doesn't that sound fabulous?!)

Time to level with you: I'm a critical reader.  A bit of a grammar snob, in fact.  Grammatical & formatting errors -- things other people wouldn't even notice -- are often glaringly obvious to me. This book has plenty of both, making it sometimes painful for me to read.  If you are sensitive to such things, you may want to look elsewhere, but if you can overlook a few sentences that take a turn for the worse and some inconsistent formatting, the information in this book is top notch!