The AfterDinner Gardening Book Author:Richard W. Langer A garden on your windowsill — "The conversion of our apartment from a normal, barren city cave into a tropical jungle began quite by accident one bleak winter day. . ." — So begins Richard Langer's unique urban gardening guide. Not wanting to walk to the trash can, Mr. Langer stashed the pits from his ... more »fresh-squeezed lemonade in a nearby potted plant. He forgot all about this act until a few weeks later, when the first sprouts of a lemon tree appeared. Proud as a new father, he was inspired to try saving the planting seeds from all manner of fruits and vegetables.
Langer's experience proves that anyone can be an after-dinner gardener -- especially since he has already made most of the mistakes a beginner can, and warns of them in this book. No matter how small your apartment is, you can soon be growing shoots and seeds for mangoes, kiwi fruit, sugar cane, avocados, oranges, grapefruits, artichokes, grapes, and just about anything else they sell in your local produce department. All you need to start is a sense of adventure, a little patience, and a hearty appetite (all those seeds have to come from somewhere).
This book provides the rest: detailed information on germination, potting soil (and why you shouldn't try to steal if from the neighborhood park), watering, fertilization, sunlight vs. shade, pruning, pests, general first aid, and setting up miniature "greenhouses." All these tips are geared to an urban gardener with limited funds, and emphasize cost-cutting and improvisation (as in Chapter Two -- Have Some More Coffee, I Need the Can: Or, Pots Homemade and Otherwise). With The After-Dinner Gardening Book in hand, you can start you own urban jungle as soon as you finish your next snack.« less