Gardening Links and Books

Growing Places’ Educational Resources:

• Growing Places Growing Guide – revised 2014, English version, click here  Spanish version, click here
• VIDEO: How to tie up your tomatoes 
• VIDEO: Taking out tomato suckers
• Growing Places’ Composting Cheat Sheet (PDF)
• Water Conservation References (PDF)
• Raised Bed Garden Math (PDF)
• Raised Bed Garden Plan Ideas
• Raised Bed Garden Methods
• Lasagna Gardening(PDF)
• Building Raised Bed Frames(PDF)
• Water Conservation: Rain Barrels, hosted by Growing Places gardener Rain Barrel Resources

 Compost:

• “Let It Rot!: The Gardeners Guide to Composting” by Stu Campbell and Kathleen Bond Borie
• “The Complete Compost Gardening Guide” by Barbara Pleasant and Deborah L Martin
• “Compost” by Douglas Green
• Resources from Growing Places’ Let’s Rot and Roll: A Composting Workshop Instructor: Chris Picone, Fitchburg State University Biology Professor

Let’s Rot and Roll PowerPoint Presentation

Book referenced: Backyard Composting: Your Complete Guide to Recycling Yard Clippings.  Ojai, CA: Harmonious, 1992. Print.

Martin, Deborah L., and Grace Gershuny, eds. The Rodale Book of Composting.  Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 1992. Print.

(Both books are currently out of print, but available at Leominster and Fitchburg       Public Libraries, or for sale used online.)

Food Preparation and Preservation:

• Joy of Cooking: All About Canning and Preserving by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker
• The Edible Front Yard by Ivette Soler
• The Gardeners’ Kitchen by Carlisle Garden Club
• How to read a French fry and other stories of intriguing kitchen science by Russ Parsons
• Homestead Cooking, Recipes from our house to yours and Jams, Jellies, Preserves, Pickles and Relishes by Ruth Baird
• A Taste of Puerto Rico: Traditional and New Dishes from the Puerto Rican community by Yvonne Ortiz
• Root Cellaring: Natural Cold storage of fruits and vegetables by Nancy and Mike Bubel
• Preserving Fruits and Vegetables: Making the most of seasonal abundance by Carol Constenbader
•  Resources from Growing Places’ Make Your Own Fruit Leathers Workshop Instructor: Carrie Novak, GP Volunteer, avid homesteading dabbler, and USDA Farm Loan Chief

 Fruit Leathers PowerPoint Presentation

Book referenced: MacKenzie, J., & Nutt, J. (2009). The Dehydrator Bible.Toronto: R. Rose.

(This book can be found new in stores, available used online, or through C/W Mars inter-library loan at Leominster or Fitchburg Public Libraries.)

Food Systems:

• Seed Money https://www.seedmoney.org/
• The town that food saved: How one community found vitality in local food by Ben Hewitt
• The Basic Book of organically grown foods by C. Goldman and William Hylton

 Gardening (General):

• Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew  http://www.squarefootgardening.com/
• Organic:   http://www.organic.org/
• Companion Plants List: http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html
• Vegetable Garden Ideas http://www.vegetablegardeningideas.com/
• Companion Plants List: http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html
• Margaret Roach, garden tips and resources http://awaytogarden.com/
• No-Dig Vegetable Garden http://www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com/
• Steven Hopp Vegetable Growing Instructions
• Gallery: Ellen Hoverkamp Scanner Photography
• The Bountiful Container by Rose Marie, Nichols McGee and Maggie Stuckey
• Crockett’s Victory Garden by James Underwood Crockett
• Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte, A book about the benefits of companion planting
• Vertical Gardening: Grow Up, Not Out by Derek Fell
• Four Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman, Barbara Damasch, and Kathy Brady
• The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch
• The Heirloom Life Gardener by Jere & Emilee Gettle, the Baker Creek Way of Growing Your Own Food Easily and Naturally. The authors are the Cofounders of the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company.
• Heirloom Vegetable Gardening by William Woys Weaver
• Small Space, Big Harvest by Duane Newcomb
• Trowel & Shortcuts, Tips, & Remedies for the Gardener by Sharon Lovejoy

 Gardening with Children:

• Sharon Lovejoy: Author, Illustrator and Speaker on Gardening with Children http://sharonlovejoy.com/#
• Tips for Gardening with Children(PDF)
• The Monarch Butterfly Coloring Book by Mary Ellen Ryall
• Oh Say can you seed? by Bonnie Worth
• A seed is a promise by Claire Merrill
• Grandpa’s Garden by Stella Fry and Sheila Moxley
• World Wide Crafts: Food Crafts by Chris Deshpande

Like-Minded Organizations:

• Seeds of Solidarity Farm and Education Center in Orange, MA offers a seasonal calendar of events of interest to gardeners: tours and workshops at their vibrant farm and no-till gardening methods, renewable energy systems, and earth and spirit retreats.   seedsofsolidarity.org/ www.seedsofchange.com/

Pests & Diseases:

• Practical Pest Management by Connie Grabowy and Gaynor Bigelbach, Growing Places Volunteers
• Safe Pest Control Methods –http://modularhomeowners.com/a-homeowners-resource-guide-to-lawn-and-gardens/
• Integrated Pest Management: IPM Common Garden Pests(PDF)
• Rodale’s Vegetable Garden Problem Solver by Jeff Ball
• The Encyclopedia of Natural Insects & Disease Control by Roger Yepsen
• What’s wrong with my vegetable garden? By Kathryn Wadsworth and David Deardoff

Seeds:

• Vegetable and Herb seedling identification in photographs http://westsidegardener.com/guides/seedlings/index.html
• Estimating Seed Viability
• Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth
• Saving Seeds by Marc Rogers
• Seed Sowing and Saving by Carole Turner
• Growing Garden Seeds: A Manual for Gardeners and Small Farmers by Robert Johnston
• Saving Our Seeds by Jeff McCormack

 Seeds and Gardens Supplies Sources:

 Seeds

• Johnny’s Selected Seeds (207) 861-3999johnnyseeds.com
• Seeds of Change (888) 762-7333seedsofchange.com
• Territorial Seeds (800) 626-0866territorialseed.com
• Garden City Seeds (406) 961-4837gardencityseeds.net
• Landreth Seeds (518) 284-6012 http://www.landrethseeds.com/
• Tomato Growers Supply Company (888) 478-7333 tomatogrowers.com
• Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co (417) 924-8917http://rareseeds.com/
• Comstock, Ferre & Co (860) 571-6590comstockferre.com
• Seed Savers Exchange (563) 382-5990seedsavers.org
• Botanical Interests (877) 821-4340botanicalinterests.com
• Fedco (207) 873-7333fedcoseeds.com Co-op seed and garden supplies
• Wood Prairie Farm (potatoes, organic seed and grain) (800) 829-9765woodprairie.com
• Irish Eyes Garden Seed (509) 933-7150http://www.irisheyesgardenseeds.com
• R H Shumway Seeds (800) 342-9461http://www.rhshumway.com
• Pinetree Garden Seeds (207)926-3400https://www.superseeds.com/
• High Mowing Seeds: https://www.highmowingseed.com

 Gardening Supplies

• Gardeners’ Supply Company: http://www.gardeners.com
• Gardner Agway: http://www.gardneragway.com/

Sustainable Living:

• Mother Earth News http://www.motherearthnews.com/

UMass Extension Resources:

• Growing Vegetable Bedding Plants
• Growing Vegetable Transplants and Bedding Plants
• Soil and Plant Nutrient Test Laboratory