April 2010: Shopping List for Gardeners

Author: Nancy Erdmann

Issue: April, 2010, Page 102

HANDY HELPERSLightweight and durable, the Rose Pattern Gauntlet Gloves from Womanswork were designed for warm-climate gardening. Constructed of high-quality cotton with a touch of Lycra for flexibility and comfort, they feature long, adjustable cuffs. The pretty pair can be purchased at womanswork.com.

COOL COVERIf you want to bring the ambience of the tropics to your desert garden, FiberBuilt Umbrellas makes it easy with the new Palm Umbrella. The functional outdoor accent features a canopy with a multi-layered leaf design. The umbrella is manufactured to withstand harsh weather conditions, including intense sunlight, driving rain and high winds. Available through paddockpoolsandspas.

COLOR HAPPYJazz up your yard with one of these bold-hued hoses from Dramm. ColorStorm Premium Rubber Hoses are molded from rubber that resists kinking, coils easily and is flexible to -25 degrees. They also withstand hot water up to 160 degrees and will not crack. Available in six bright colors, the hoses are guaranteed for life. Find them at amazon.com.

NATURAL FITAngela’s Garden recently introduced the Green Gardens Collection, a line of eco-friendly hats, totes, aprons and gloves. Constructed from fabric made of hemp and organic cotton that has been colored with nontoxic dyes, the products are durable and block up to 97 percent of the sun’s UV rays. For more information, log on to angelas-garden.com

RUFFLED FEATHERSFrances Bassom offers a plethora of information on raising chickens in her Mini Encyclopedia of Chicken Breeds & Care: A Color Directory of the Most Popular Breeds and Their Care (Firefly Books).

In the first half of the book, Bassom covers the basics, including housing, feeding, breeding and showing chickens. The second half acts as an encyclopedia, describing
characteristics of certain breeds, such as size, feather patterns, and the color of the eggs they lay.

Raising poultry for food not only adds to a healthy lifestyle, the author notes, it also helps lower a homeowner’s carbon footprint by reducing the distance food travels to reach the plate.
--Laura Gold

VEGGIETRADER.COMEver find yourself with too much of one crop and not enough of another? There’s a Web site that makes it easy to swap and sell your homegrown produce. At veggietrader.com, listings are organized by food type and zip code, so that you can find someone in your vicinity to make a trade.