Books published by publisher Cool Springs Press

In Field Guide to Urban Gardening, author Kevin Espiritu of Epic Gardening shares the basics of growing plants, offers tips on how to choose the right urban gardening method, and troubleshoots the most common problems you’ll encounter. If you think it’s impossible to grow your own food because you don’t have a large yard or you live in the city…think again. There is a plethora of urban gardening options to create beautiful, productive edible gardens no matter where you live. The key to succeeding as an urban gardener is to choose the method(s) that make sense for your unique living situation and then give your plants what they need to thrive. Kevin helps you do just that. But he doesn’t stop there. He also provides in-depth garden plans, from upcycled DIY projects and intensive hydroponic systems to beautiful and functional raised beds. Urban gardening is a real, growing, and important movement in today’s world. This fact-packed book is your roadmap to get growing today. Urban gardening techniques featured include:Container GardeningRaised BedsIndoor EdiblesBalconies and RooftopsHydroponics

Fight garden pests and increase your yields the natural way with this tried and true technique! Planting vegetables and flowers together is one of the oldest ways to create a healthy, bountiful garden, but there's more to the method than you might think. Vegetables Love Flowers will walk you through the ins and outs of companion planting, from how it works to which plants go together and how to grow the best garden for your climate. With the right information and some careful planning, you can help your plants thrive--and beautify your garden in the process.

Mel Bartholomew's top-selling Square Foot Gardening books have made his revolutionary garden system available to millions of people.In Square Foot Gardening with Kids, Mel reveals his tips, tricks, and fun projects in one of his most cherished pursuits: teaching youngsters to build and grow a SFG of their own.The easy geometry of the gridded box breaks the complex world of gardening into digestible bites for enthusiastic young learners, and the sequence of tasks required to grow plants from seeds is repeatable and reassuring.Kids learn many valuable life lessons when tending their own garden -- such as the importance of following instructions and doing your chores, basic skills like counting and water conservation, and learning to appreciate the nature of food and why it is important to respect it.Most importantly though, they learn that growing your own food is both fun and rewarding.

These aren't your grandpa's composting methods, Composting for a New Generation covers the modern composting techniques, vermicomposting, composting with nature, keyhole gardens, organic composting, and using compost. Environmentalists aren't the only ones to compost anymore! It’s not just about reducing food waste; most composters get their hands dirty because of the benefits it brings to the soil in their garden. All the extra nutrients make for well-fed gardens with plenty of nutrients and rich moisture. Composting has “been under the radar screen until now, and seen as a boutique, West Coast thing,” says Jared Blumenfeld, who oversees California as well as two other Western states and the Pacific for the Environmental Protection Agency. “But now everyone from Massachusetts to Minnesota has programs starting up, and pretty soon there will be a critical mass.” Composting for a New Generation includes tried-and-true composting methods and new, innovative techniques. You’ll learn the science of composting, traditional bin composting (including how-to sections on building your own bin), vermicomposting (with worms), composting with nature, keyhole gardens, organic composting, and using your finished compost. Composting for a New Generation is the most complete book to date for your organic soil needs.

"Are you ready to learn about a transformative garden technology that could change your life - for less than $100?" - New York TimesTake your straw bale gardening to the next level - in more places, with new products, and even, sometimes, skipping the straw!The reception and enthusiasm for straw bale gardening, introduced in 2013, has proved revolutionary in vegetable growing. Why? Because the bold promises in the book are kept: grow vegetables anywhere, earlier in the year, with no weeding. Gardeners everywhere are excited. Straw bale gardening works! In just the short amount of time that has passed, the gardening world and Joel Karsten himself have learned even more about how to apply this method in just about any environment: on a city balcony, in a rocky outpost, in a desert, and even in the tundra of Alaska.Straw Bale Gardens Complete contains all of the original information that has set the gardening world on fire. But it also goes much deeper, with nearly 50 pages of all-new advice and photos on subjects such as growing in a tight urban setting, making your straw bale garden completely organic, and using new fertilizers and conditioning products. There is even information on using straw bale techniques to grow veggies in other organic media for anyone who has a hard time finding straw.Fans of Straw Bale Gardens will not want to miss adding Straw Bale Gardens Complete to their gardening library. There is, literally, nothing else like it!

The Complete Guide to Freshwater Fishing offers the nearly 40 million freshwater anglers in the U.S. with a comprehensive fishing resource. From the highly respected The Freshwater Angler series, this title covers all the major freshwater species in North America. It includes tips and techniques for catching gamefish throughout the country under every conceivable on-the-water situation.In developing this book, the writers, editors and researchers traveled from Alaska to Mexico to fish with veteran guides and nationally known tournament anglers. The tips and techniques they uncovered are fully explained and illustrated in the book.This giant book features: Over 500 spectacular fishing photographs that have never before been published.Extensive step-by-step visuals for learning every important fishing skill, including advanced fishing techniques for many species.The best how-to instruction ever found in any fishing book.Guide-tested tips from some of North America's top experts.

Produced in association with the National Audubon Society, Audubon Birding Adventures for Kids introduces you and your children to the love of all things birding. Whether exploring the forest, the backyard, or the city, you and your kids will learn about the habits of North America’s most popular songbirds, how to create safe and welcoming environments for them, how to observe them, and how to construct easy and safe species-appropriate birdhouses and feeders for common birds. The bird ID section includes descriptions of species and range maps. Kids will find exciting activities and games, as well, including how to form birding groups, scavenger hunts, and a birdsong listening game. In addition to practical, field-tested knowledge and fascinating information about the species covered, this guide is packed with beautiful color photography. Since all the information presented is the product of years of National Audubon Society expertise, both you and your kids can be sure you're getting the best advice before setting about your birding adventures.

This is your down-to-earth, complete manual for achieving great gardening results with your own rich, organic soil!How do you recognize healthy soil? How much can your existing soil be improved? What are the best amendments to use for your soil? Let Building Soil answer your questions and be your guide on gardening from the ground up! Fertilizing, tilling, weed management, and irrigation all affect the quality of your soil. Using author Elizabeth Murphy's detailed instructions, anyone can become a successful soil-based gardener, whether you want to start a garden from scratch or improve an existing garden.If you want methods that won't break your back, are good for the environment, and create high-yielding and beautiful gardens of all shapes and sizes, this is the book for you! Create classic landscape gardens, grow a high-yielding orchard, nurture naturally beautiful lawns, raise your household veggies, or run a profitable farm. A soil-based approach allows you to see not just the plants, but the living system that grows them. Soil-building practices promote more ecologically friendly gardening by reducing fertilizer and pesticide use, sequestering greenhouse gases, and increasing overall garden productivity.Building Soil is a simple book full of practical, up-to-date information about building healthy soils. Simple methods perfect for the home gardener's use put healthy, organic soil within everyone's reach. You don't need a degree in soil management to understand this book; you only need a yard or garden and the desire to improve it at the most basic level.

Gardening is now the favorite leisure pastime in America. Homeowners are realizing the health benefits derived from gardening and the increase in their home's property value. This book contains easy-to-use advice on the top landscape plant choices. It also recommends specific varieties, and provides advice on how to plant, how to grow and how to care for the best plants.

Gardening is now the favorite leisure pastime in America. Homeowners are realizing the health benefits derived from gardening and the increase in their home's property value. This book contains easy-to-use advice on the top landscape plant choices. It also recommends specific varieties, and provides advice on how to plant, how to grow and how to care for the best plants.