Garden Reading: The Truth About Garden Remedies

From Dr. Jeff Gillman, Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota, comes another must-have book for your garden reference bookshelf entitled The Truth About Garden Remedies. This is the perfect companion to the previously reviewed The Truth about Organic Gardening.



Who among us hasn't read, been told or experimented on your own with some home remedy? Now, at last, you can know, whether these things are worth your time and trouble. I'm guessing that we probably think we are doing no harm or less harm so why not give it a try? Or, maybe, we think it is more natural (not necessarily so). At any rate, you can save yourself wasted effort or worse by doing a tiny bit of research and reading about it/them in Dr. Gillman's book.

After reading the introduction by the eminent Dr. Michael Dirr, I found myself, once again, enjoying the writing style and humor of Dr. Gillman. If you want, you can just look up a topic in the index, but these books, both of them, flow from subject to subject so easily that you may...like me...look up and realize you're way past that 'one thing'! Each topic is covered with the practice, the theory, the real story and then what it means to you (with a rating).

I was surprised to learn that eggshells weren't particularly effective as a slug barrier. He did find they could slow them down, but not repel them like diatomaceous earth (which was effective, p. 160). Here's a little example of Dr. Gillman's humor (I'm not a slug fan either):

"The slugs clearly hated the stuff. One bolted off the plate in the first 10 minutes. (This was a sad and pitiful thing to watch because he was constantly winding and rolling, trying to get away from the sharp substance under his feet. If I had any sympathy for slugs I would have helped him, but I don't, so I didn't.)"

Hehe. You gotta like him! Anyway, the above quoted section is referring to slug reaction to diatomaceous earth.

So, add this one to your reference books, won't you? I'm happy to have it and want to share that Dr. Gillman is just as delightful via email as I might have thought from reading his books. Coming up next, I asked for some help with a couple of problems I face in my garden and Dr. Gillman replied with some great help which he has given me permission to share with all of you.