The Shoestring Gardener: eBook Review

Pros:

  • Huge amount of information contained in the book
  • Lots of creative ideas on how to reuse household items
  • Potential to save lots of money on tools
  • Detailed explanations with drawings
  • Essentially a number of different books in one
  • Enthusiastic and experienced author

Cons:

  • No index at end
  • Organization could be improved slightly

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To see the book for yourself, head to the author’s website here!

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A Mountain of Knowledge on Creative, Frugal Gardening

I was quite surprised when I first purchased this book at the sheer amount of information that it contains. It is packed full of tips, tricks, advice, guidance, and knowledge on lots of different areas of gardening, and there is never a sense that the author has tried to cut back on anything.

What comes across is that Cladia Brownlie is a real enthusiast who has built up a vast source of knowledge over her years of gardening, and the book just keeps on going as she tries to share everything she knows with you.

When so many books turn out to be a disappointment, it’s refreshing to find one which literally covers everything.

The Basics

The book is 311 pages long (enough for many hours of reading) and costs $27.95. It is divided into seven chapters to cover a number of different aspects of gardening, including:

  1. Growing plants, vegetables, and fruit
  2. DIY ideas for tools
  3. Composting
  4. Garden DIY projects
  5. Non-toxic pest and weedkillers
  6. Keeping the garden tidy
  7. Creative tips for the garden

Some of the chapters are massive, and many of them feel like they could easily be sold as separate books, making you really feel like you are getting value for money.

The Ethos of the Book

Throughout the book, the goal is to not only help you get more out of your gardening, but to also garden in a more environmentally friendly way.

As a result, there are LOTS of ideas for reusing common household items in the garden rather than throwing them away, and one eye is constantly kept on saving money.

It is perfect for anyone who not only loves gardening, but who wants to enjoy their hobby in an environmentally responsible way.

Detailed Descriptions

There is never any cutting of corners in this book. With many of the techniques the author describes for creating your own home-made bird baths, mini greenhouses, wire cages, pesticides, compost, etc, she goes into extensive details about what you need, how to do it, how to use it, and more, so that nothing is left out.

The guides are clear, detailed, and often illustrated with drawings to make them easier to follow, and at no point was I left with the feeling that any of the projects were beyond me.

The Author

Claudia F. Brownlie is clearly someone who is passionate about plants, fruit, and gardening in general. She is creative, experienced, and you really feel that she knows exactly what she is talking about through a lifetime of experience doing what she loves.

She confesses that she has a natural desire to constantly try to improve on what she already knows, and she has learnt everything through trial and error, which is always the best way.

She is also creative and you can see this through many of her tips, each of which will be very satisfying to anyone who likes to come up with their own alternatives to buying new and expensive tools and other garden resources.

She also has a number of other websites and books, and although I haven’t checked them out yet, on the basis of this ebook alone I’ll certainly be having a look shortly.

Best Chapter—Composting

For me, Chapter 3 on the topic of composting was the best of the lot. It was a tough choice between this and chapters 2 and 4 which are all about reusing household items in clever and creative ways to save money and reduce waste.

However, I love compost and find it fascinating. And this mammoth chapter could easily be sold as a separate book because it is just so extensive.

She covers pretty much everything you need to know about compost here, covering the basics (greens and browns), common questions and answers, a number of things you can use to make compost, how to look after it, things to use in your heap, what not to use, etc.

But then she goes on to include a number of compost recipes, compost tea, a huge section on composting with worms, where to find free mulch, and loads of recipes for different plants.

This section alone is worth buying the book in my opinion.

Potential for Improvements?

I realize that this is a glowing review, but I really did find this an excellent book which went above and beyond what I was expecting.

There were, however, a few minor issues which I picked up on, including:

  • Lack of an index: It would have been good to have an index at the end where you could find all the pages on, say, tomatoes, rather than having to look through the book (you can still use the search function in your PDF reader, but an index would have been helpful).
  • There is so much information that some of it seems to be spread out a bit randomly. For example, in the composting section you will find a bit of info on worm composting, then something else, then a more extensive section on worm composting, and I felt it could have been slightly better organized in places.

An Ideal Book if You Love to Reuse

The overriding idea running through this book is that you will get more out of your gardening if you reuse what you already have, look for creative solutions to problems, and respect the natural world by avoiding using harmful gardening methods.

I cannot emphasize enough just how much information is packed into this one book, and the author really seems to have covered all the bases.

She just seems to find a use for absolutely everything, including egg cartons, plastic baggies, toilet paper rolls, paper coffee filters, plastic cups, newspaper, and other items you can find in the kitchen, around the house, in the office, etc.

You’ll find out how to clean tools without using chemicals, how to make pretty much anything you need for the garden from scratch including wheelbarrows, rain gauges, bird baths, pathways, rain chains, and more.

The sheer number of ideas for natural weedkillers, pesticides, and other formulas is incredible, and each of them are described in so much detail that you never feel anything has been left out.

It will leave you keen to get outside into your own garden and put all that you have learned into practice.

Whether you read it all the way through or use it as a reference manual when you are facing a problem, you’ll find what you need to garden in a more frugal and environmentally-friendly way in this book.