Tasty Recipes from Recipe Wizards

Think that libraries are in dire financial straits? And perhaps that a good thing to do – as well as a green thing, given that people would be reusing resources – would be to donate some of your books? Oh, that it were only so easy.

Not long ago, I went through my bookshelves and filled two boxes with ones I didn’t want any more. Some were probably dogs, to be sure, but there was also a hardback copy of the bestseller, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.” Stuff like that.

I started with the Book Corner store of the Friends of the Free Library of Philadelphia and pulled over out front. As I approached the door, I saw a foreboding sign: It said you need to make an appointment before you donate. Incredulous, I went in anyway. Maybe 50 people were actually hiding behind the shelves, but it looked to me like the store was totally empty, except for one guy reading at the front counter. “I have two boxes of books in my car,” I said. “Do I really need an appointment?” He nodded and went back to reading. I walked out the door.

I’m sure I offended on several levels. The Friends Web site notes: “Book Corner operates solely through public donations. We strive to manage our donations so that we offer only an exciting blend of gently used books in all genres. Thanks for assisting us by adhering to the following procedures.” Then it lists four categories of items they do want, five categories of items they don’t and three instructions for donating.

A few days later, on a Saturday morning errands run, my husband and I stopped by an area library. We carried the boxes up cracked cement steps and entered the dismal building. Surely they would want these books. Turns out they had a sign, too, announcing their used book sale. “Great,” I thought. “They won’t even have to store these books. Just whisk them from box to table and be done with it.”

Four women were at the counter. One took charge of the situation, shaking her head vigorously. No way could they deal with books that day. The people running the sale would “kill” them if they brought down any more. We carried the boxes of books back to our car. All we were doing was wasting gas.

This is not, by the way, a new development. Until a few years ago, I reviewed audio books for the newspaper, and you wouldn’t believe how hard it was sometimes to donate never-opened books on CD with bestseller titles. (Some libraries, naturally, leapt at the opportunity. But not all.)

I’ve always loved libraries. Even more so now. They offer one of the greenest ways to read a book. But I just don’t know what to make of this. Clearly, we are a wealthy nation with a glut of books and not even libraries that cry poor can use them. How sad.

I gave “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” to my sister.

Visit Sandy Bauers’ blog at http://go.philly.com/greenspace.

Since May, I’ve been conducting a tomato experiment in my back yard. I’ve been growing tomatoes in the ground, in a homemade upside-down planter and in a commercial upside-down planter called the Topsy Turvy.

The growing season has come to an end. The harvest is in. So, what’s the verdict? Are the TV ads promoting the upside-down planters true? Is it really a better way to grow tomatoes? Here’s what happened in my yard:

May and June: During a late frost, I brought the Topsy Turvy tomatoes inside, while the poor in-ground plants shivered under plastic covers. Our record-breaking cool weather wasn’t the best for tomato-growing, but the upside-down tomato plants grew steadily. The Early Girl sent out timid shoots, then yellow flowers followed quickly by a tiny green tomato. The in-ground Early Girl appeared to be in shock and didn’t grow for weeks.

July: The first tomato of the season came from the Topsy Turvy. The runner-up was a bite-sized fruit from my homemade upside-down planter. But the earthbound plants started catching up and were loaded with promising green fruit. I learned (the hard way) that the upside-down planters need lots of water – a gallon a day – and fertilizer at least once a week.

August: Tomatoes were coming fast and furious from all of the plants. It was easier to pick tomatoes from the plants in the air. However, the Early Girls grown upside-down were smaller than the fruit from the ground. With drought conditions, I watered the garden with a sprinkler every few days, but I had to pour a gallon of water into the upside-down planters every day. Squirrels snatched some of the in-ground fruit, but didn’t manage to get the hanging fruit.

Sept: Fusarium blight hit the in-ground tomato plants, causing the leaves and branches to turn brown, then eventually killing the plants. The upside-down plants were untouched by blight and still produced fruit, but I was tired of all the watering and fertilizing.

The verdict: There’s no clear winner. The upside-down plants bore fruit earlier, were easier to pick, seemed less likely to get diseased and were relatively squirrel-proof. (I should note that the Topsy Turvy outperformed my homemade version.) However, the fruit grown in the upside-down planters was slightly smaller and a little less tasty. And you really have to baby these plants, watering every day and fertilizing regularly. If you have little or no garden space, plenty of sun and time to nuture, the Topsy Turvy is a good option. But upside-down tomatoes aren’t the hands-down winners.

Amid all the rain and the dead seedlings and the late plantings, I’ve had an encouraging success: 87 heads of garlic!

Here’s how it all happened:

A few years ago I planted some garlic in the garden and it never quite took off. Very clay-ey soil. So I dug it all up and planted it in a garden formed by a rock wall on a hill, back filled with looser soil. Winter sun on the rocks keeps it warmish, too.

Last year, the garlic sprouted. I let the green plant-tops die back like I thought I was supposed to. But then, I couldn’t find all the garlic. Partly, I’m sure, because it was so small.

This year – WOW! – the greenery came up gonzo. I was weeding around it, and a lot of the leaves looked dead. I consulted the ridiculously comprehensive “Growing Great Garlic” – 213 pages of musings and advice, thank you – and got more confused than ever. Harvest now or later? Rinse or dry dirty?

But as I was pulling weeds, the soil seemed so loose that I grabbed ahold of a garlic top and pulled gently. Out came a big one. My husband joined in and we pulled it all. In 10 mins, we had the most amazing bounty.

The heads have been drying (slightly rinsed) on the back porch for a few days. This morning, with rain forecast, 85 of them went into a large, flat basket inside. (Two had already gone into spaghetti sauce.)

Visit Sandy Bauers’ blog at http://go.philly.com/greenspace.