Books We’re Reading!
Seed To Seed by Suzanne Ashworth
Seed to Seed is a complete seed-saving guide that describes specific techniques for saving the seeds of 160 different vegetables. This book contains detailed information about each vegetable, including its botanical classification, flower structure and means of pollination, required population size, isolation distance, techniques for caging or hand-pollination, and also the proper methods for harvesting, drying, cleaning, and storing the seeds.
The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman
Eliot Coleman’s books and innovative methods have helped innumerable organic farmers build successful farms in deep accordance with nature. The wisdom in this seminal book holds true even as the modern agricultural canon has grown—in large part due to Coleman’s influence as a wise elder with decades of experience. Inspired by the European intensive growers, The New Organic Grower, offers a very approachable and productive form of farming that has proven to work well for the earth and its stewards for centuries. Gardeners working on 2.5 acres or less will find this book especially useful, as it offers proof that small-scale market growers and serious home gardeners can live good lives close to the land and make a profit at the same time. The New Organic Grower is ideal for young farmers just getting started, or gardeners seeking to expand into a more productive enterprise.
Epic Tomatoes by Craig LeHoullier
Craig LeHoullier, tomato adviser for Seed Savers Exchange, offers everything a tomato enthusiast needs to know about growing more than 200 varieties of tomatoes — from sowing seeds and planting to cultivating and collecting seeds at the end of the season. He also offers a comprehensive guide to the various pests and diseases of tomatoes and explains how best to avoid them. No other book offers such a detailed look at the specifics of growing tomatoes, with beautiful photographs and helpful tomato profiles throughout.
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, a mother, and a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings—asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass—offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices. In a rich braid of reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.
Small Plot, Big Harvest: A Step-by-Step Guide to Growing Fruits and Vegetables in Small Spaces by Lucy Halsall
This incredibly helpful volume contains brilliantly simple instructions on how to grow more than 50 different crops – perfect for beginners and expert gardeners alike. Gardeners can look up the specific crop they want to grow and follow the photos and practical advice on starting, nurturing, and harvesting. With more than 275 varieties of each crop covered across the book, with galleries featuring unusual, exotic, or heirloom options for the most popular crops, gardeners can discover how to plan their space, whether it's a vegetable patch, a small raised bed, or just some containers (outside or inside) to suit their needs and maximize harvest.
Birds in the Garden and How to Attract them by Margaret McKenny
Written by Margaret McKenny, distinguished naturalist and authority on birds and gardens, in 1939, Birds in the Garden is a complete and practical guide for nature lovers who want to enjoy the useful and charming companionship of birds around their homes. Illustrated with 16 full-page color portraits from Thomas S. Roberts' noted Bird Portraits in Color and reproductions of paintings by prominent nature artists, this book depicts 104 different birds of 48 species in all their brilliant natural color and plumage. For the garden planner, there are pages of diagrams: planting plans for bird sanctuaries in town and country, bird homes, and feeding devices.
Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew
Since first introduced in 1981, this revolutionary new way to garden developed has helped millions of home gardeners grow more fresh produce in less space and with less work. Now, based largely on the input and experience of gardeners, the system has been even further refined and improved to fully meet today's changing resources, needs, and challenges. With over 150 new photos and illustrations, this new edition makes it easier than ever to plan your garden and achieve nearly-foolproof results in virtually any situation.
