Gardening Books

[tylerdurden]

Could anyone suggest a good gardening book or website that breaks gardening down for those just getting into. A book that cover permacultures as well would be awesome! I just dont' know anything about garden and I want to grow all sorts of vegetables, get educated on the gardening process, so that one day I can have my own little self sustaining environment.

...And when I say for someone just getting into it I don't even know any of the gardening terminology. I know how pathetic right? Well we all have to start somewhere!

Thanks!

[T-Bird]

organicgardening.com



Rodales illustrated encyclopedia of organic gardening.

[iwuvmydoggy]

also the new square foot gardening (http://www.amazon.com/All-New-Square-Foot-Gardening/dp/1591862027/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246695564&sr=1-1) book is good. you can nix the use of peat moss, and just use compost or compost and pearlite (doesn't have to be vermiculite--- you'll see what i mean if you get the book)... SFG (square foot gardening) is probably the easiest method for beginners. :0) it talks about raised bed gardening. it's not traditional, but it could get you started in a small space, while you read more about gardening. ;)

as T-Bird mentioned, you can subscribe to Organic Gardening magazine (organicgardening.com)

For free sources online, you can check out gardenweb.com and plantswap.net. There's even places on gardenweb where people will post seeds or plants that they have available, and you can send them a SASE (some require a bubble envelope) and they'll mail out seeds to you for free. PlantSwap has a place where you can swap plants and seeds with users, and they also have a monthly seed raffle.. You send in a packet of seeds (doesn't have to be new) and they pick a winner at the end of the month & mail you all the seeds... Some of the people on these websites are so nice, they will even give you a "welcome" package of seeds.. :0) I got one & it had all kinds of flowers and stuff, which was cool! a lot of the flowers were edible!

http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/organic-gardening-tips-460309

http://www.groworganic.com/

http://www.permaculture.org/

http://www.permacultureactivist.net/

and there's also a good book that someone recommended: http://www.amazon.com/Gaias-Garden-Guide-Home-Scale-Permaculture/dp/1890132527/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246695380&sr=8-5

if you just type in permaculture on amazon, it'll come up with a bunch of books and stuff. :) you can make a list & look at your local library's website. i don't know where you're from, but in my area, they have the books that the library has and/or has access to.. so you could always look up stuff, and if they don't have it, request it, just to save yourself the trouble of buying it. ;)

then have a peeksie at the other thread & order yourself a bunch of awesome heirloom, organic, non-GMO seeds (http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=51855). :)

You can also go to youtube, expertvillage and instructables to learn from various people about composting & permaculture. :0)

[MrsJohnnyG]

I second the Gaia's Garden book that iwuvmydoggy linked above... I got that a couple of weeks ago and it's AWESOME!!! (although, as a raw vegan it will make you a little sad to learn about all the microorganisms that are constantly dying around you! lol)

Another fun book for a beginner is called You Grow Girl... the author has a blog and forum at www.yougrowgirl.com, which was helpful to me as a newbie organic gardener.

[freelive]

You Grow Girl looks like a fun book- and all amazon ratings are great. Thanks for sharing!

[iwuvmydoggy]

this website is also pretty awesome: http://urbanhomestead.org/journal/2008/01/06/100-foot-diet-challenge-launch/ and their home site: Path To Freedom (http://www.pathtofreedom.com/).. here's their old site (http://pathtofreedom.com/pathproject/).. and somehwhere they have a forum. :/ i can't remember what i did with the link.

and square foot gardening (http://www.amazon.com/All-New-Square-Foot-Gardening/dp/1591862027/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246983667&sr=8-1) is good! there's even SFG forums & stuff on gardenweb (http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/sqfoot/). and gardenweb itself is a wonderful website. lots of people there & they can help you identify mystery plants, help with insect identification and pest problems, organic gardening, you can even do seed swapping and plant swapping on there, which can save you a lot of money.

[T-Bird]

I'm all over organicgardening.com - especially the message boards.

on the search - just put in a plant and you can get detailed info on how to grow.

No subscription needed...