Food Garden Resources

Free Food Gardening PDF Resources for Gardeners in the Deep South

• How to Pick a Great Garden Spot - What factors to balance to choose the best garden location
• Food Gardening 101 - 10 steps from grass to garden
• DIY Raised Beds - What/Why/How to build raised beds including an "almost magic" mix recipe
• What Can You Grow in a Square - Square Foot Gardening spacing and what crops to grow in each season
• Plants? Or Seeds? And Other Planning Questions - Which crops to plant where & where to source plants & seeds
• Where Do We Grow From Here? - Post planting next steps, FAQ, & Seasonal Schedule
• Pesky Pests and What to Do About Them - All about pest management; i.e., what to do about bugs
• What and When to Harvest - Crop Harvest Instructions
• ReFresh and RePlant - How to start again when the season is done
• What to Do When It Freezes - What to do before it freezes to protect your crops
• Growing Great Soil - Primer on mulching, composting, cover crops & more
• Growing Community Gardens - 3 major types, notes on sustaining
• So You Want to Start a School Garden (Revised 5 2016) -By Man in Overalls, pub. by FDACS Food Nutrition & Wellness Div.

Man in Overalls Food Gardening Videos

• Man in Overalls YouTube Channel
• FDACS Fresh for Florida Kids Teaching Garden Channel
• -Building Raised Beds
• -Garden Planning
• -Planting Seeds
• -Planting Starts
• -Watering Your Garden
• -Growing Potatoes
• -Growing Tomatoes
• -Weeding
• -Growing Corn
• -Growing Sweet Potatoes
• -When the Garden is Done - how to transition to the next season
• -How to Grow Year Round - grow in spite of the cold)
• -What to Do About Pests - prevention and management of pests
• -"My Garden, My Plate" USDA Dietary Suggestions
• -"Math in the Garden" - Using food gardens as teaching tools

Additional Quick References

• Just Fruits and Exotics' Vegetable Planting Guide - Veggie planting guide
• Just Fruits And Exotics' fruit tree resources - Fruit tree cultivation
• Johnny's Seed Starting Guide -How to plant and grow seedlings
• Native Nurseries' Pest Solutions - A table that lists pests on one axis and available pest products on the other.
• Just Fruits and Exotics' Beneficial Insect Guide - Most insects are on your team.  How to bring in the good ones.
• Cornell's "Home Composting" - Composting Essentials, How to compost yard waste, food scraps, etc
• ATTRA's Ecological Pest Management Database - Biorational controls for basically every pest known to science

Favorite Gardening Books

• Down to Earth Gardening Down South (Lacy Bullard)
• Square Foot Gardening (Mel Bartholemew)
• How to Grow More Vegetables (John Jevons)

Other Good "How-To" Gardening/Farming Reads 

• Building Soils for Better Crops
• Weedless Gardening (Lee Reich)
• Gardening Without Work (Ruth Stout)
• How to Grow World Record Tomatoes (Wilber)
• Manage Insects on Your Farm: A Guide to Ecological Strategies
• Managing Cover Crops Profitably
• Manage Weeds on Your Farm
• The Organic Manual (Garrett)
• Permaculture: Principles & Pathways (David Holmgren)
• Edible Forest Gardens (Jacke & Toensmeier)

Market Farming Books on Our Shelf

• The Lean Farm (Hartman)
• The Market Gardener (Fortier)
• The Urban Farmer (Stone)

Soil Testing
-Micro nutrient analysis & compost (soilless medium) tests: WayPoint Analytical
-Soil, compost, plant tissue, & heavy metal test by UMASS
-pH, P, K, Ca, and Mg testing by UF IFAS.
-Micro nutrient analysis by Fertrell (email soil test request)
-Soil, water, feed, heavy metals, pesticide/ herbicide residues, & food safety by Waters Agricultural Laboratory.

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