Gardening
Recommended Resources for the Home Gardener
Note: This is a list of our “favorites.” It is very incomplete and leaves out a lot of good resources, but at least it’s a starting point…
Books:
Four-Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman. Subtitled “Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long.” Part travelogue and part “How-to” manual, this is a very inspiring and enjoyable read from our favorite gardening expert.
The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible by Edward C. Smith. My top recommended book for home gardeners. Especially good for those who learn best by looking at pictures and charts. Recently revised.
The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch. If you want just one book that covers every facet of gardening, this is it. Vegetables, fruits, lawns, wildflowers, houseplants...it’s all here. She also happens to be Eliot Coleman’s wife.
Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth. The book for seed-saving techniques. Also good cultural information on growing every imaginable vegetable variety.
The Soul of Soil by Smiley and Gershuny and/or The Intelligent Gardener by Steve Solomon. Both are good introductions to soil science. The first is a broader, basic introduction to soils. The second one goes into more depth about remineralization.
Seed Catalogs:
Johnny’s Selected Seeds, 1-877-564-6697, johnnyseeds.com (Maine)
Lightning-fast service, extremely informative catalog, all our favorite tools.
High Mowing Organic Seeds, 1-802-472-6174, highmowingseeds.com (Vermont)
All organic, fast service, great catalog, free shipping!
Territorial Seed Company, 1-800-626-0866, territorialseed.com (Oregon)
The only seed company (we know of) with a catalog for Fall & Winter harvest.
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, 1-417-924-8917, rareseeds.com (Missouri)
Huge selection of open-pollinated, inexpensive seeds from all over the world.
Seed Savers Exchange, 1-563-382-5990, seedsavers.org (Iowa)
“American’s premier source for heirloom seeds.”
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, 1-540-894-9480, southernexposure.com(Virginia)
All open pollinated seeds.
Fedco, 1-207-873-7333,fedcoseeds.com (Maine)
A seed cooperative with very inexpensive seed and good selection. Entertaining catalog.
If you use other catalogs, make sure they have signed the “Safe Seed Pledge.”
Catalogs for Organic Fertilizers & Pest Control, etc.:
Seven Springs Farm, 1-800-540-9181, 7springsfarm.com (Virginia)
A nice selection of products covering everything you need.
Deerfield Supplies, 1-270-265-2425, (Kentucky) Mennonite owned, great pricing, increasing selection of organic supplies, close to home!
Johnny’s Selected Seeds and Fedco Seeds (see seed catalogs above) both have good selections of organic supplies.
Resources for Aspiring Market Gardeners
(Or Serious Home Gardeners):
The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman, Subtitled “A Master’s Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener.” The textbook we use for our Agricultural Training Program. Should be required reading for anyone considering gardening on a large scale.
The Winter Harvest Handbook by Eliot Coleman, Subtitled “Year-Round Vegetable Production Using Deep-Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses.” The manual for winter growing from the country’s undisputed leader. He does it in Maine with unheated greenhouses! The pictures of his farm are worth the price of the book.
The Market Gardener by Jean-Martin Fortier. Jean-Martin is “standing on the shoulders” of Eliot Coleman and details how he is making a comfortable living on 1 ½ acres of intensively grown vegetables - without tractors and other large equipment or investment.