Here are 100 books that Back Garden Seed Saving fans have personally recommended if you like
Back Garden Seed Saving.
Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.
Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Since 1979 the life of soil and plants, and how they link to our own lives and health, has fascinated me. In the 1980s I was a maverick because as an organic market gardener, my work was mostly seen as irrelevant to society, producing food that was expensive and for only a few people. That changed from 1988 when the BBC filmed my garden, and green consciousness developed. Since then I have gone from being zero to hero and especially with regard to soil because since 1982 I've been gardening with the no dig method. My experience allows me to direct you towards these gems, which I'm sure you will find useful and enjoyable.
Ruth’s wisdom came from a long experience of gardening in Connecticut, where her husband was farming cattle, and he gave any spoiled hay to the vegetable garden. Ruth worked out that mulching with old hay was both feeding her soil (and therefore plants) while also maintaining its structure, with no need for tilling/digging. Ruth was an inspiration to me but I quickly realised that in our damp UK climate, slugs love a hay mulch! This led me to use a compost mulch and work out the best ways to do that.
Can you really have a productive garden without plowing, hoeing, weeding, cultivating, and all the other bothersome rituals that most gardeners suffer through every growing season? "Sure," says Ruth Stout, a prolific author and writer at 80 years young. The reason that Ruth can throw away her spade and hoe and do her gardening from a couch is a year-round mulch covering, 6 to 8 inches thick, that covers her garden like a blanket. Thousands of curious gardeners have visited her Redding, Connecticut garden, including university scientists and horticulture experts. The experts have been dazzled by the technique used by…
Since 1979 the life of soil and plants, and how they link to our own lives and health, has fascinated me. In the 1980s I was a maverick because as an organic market gardener, my work was mostly seen as irrelevant to society, producing food that was expensive and for only a few people. That changed from 1988 when the BBC filmed my garden, and green consciousness developed. Since then I have gone from being zero to hero and especially with regard to soil because since 1982 I've been gardening with the no dig method. My experience allows me to direct you towards these gems, which I'm sure you will find useful and enjoyable.
I love how Maye thought deeply about nature and this had originally led her to the pioneers of biodynamic gardening in 1920s Austria. Then she became disillusioned with what she felt was too strict of adherence to every word of Rudolf Steiner’s writing. Like me, she wanted to try new approaches. After moving back to the UK in the 1930s, she developed her own methods of organic gardening which centred on making top quality compost, using herbal stimulants which she worked out herself.
She was a true scientist and helped me to understand not to trust “accepted views” which can become authoritarian. Plus I learnt about making great compost, in particular the roof she used to keep rain off her heaps.
Since 1979 the life of soil and plants, and how they link to our own lives and health, has fascinated me. In the 1980s I was a maverick because as an organic market gardener, my work was mostly seen as irrelevant to society, producing food that was expensive and for only a few people. That changed from 1988 when the BBC filmed my garden, and green consciousness developed. Since then I have gone from being zero to hero and especially with regard to soil because since 1982 I've been gardening with the no dig method. My experience allows me to direct you towards these gems, which I'm sure you will find useful and enjoyable.
Howard helped me to understand and appreciate the life in soil. How soil is more than an assemblage of chemical nutrients for plants, which was a predominant view when I started farming.
He wrote: "The agriculturalist must obey Nature's rules,” which was radical in the 1940s! He started as an agricultural chemist but came to distrust synthetic fertilisers and pesticides. He valued and explains the importance of compost and mycorrhizal fungi, and coined a phrase that has become a mantra: ”Feed the soil not the plant”. I value his sincerity which shines throughout his books – they read as well now as when published, because these truths are universal.
The Soil and Health, a classic of organic farming, is an essential introduction to organic gardening and farming.
"The health of soil, plant, animal and man is one and indivisible." - Albert Howard.
At the turn of the twentieth century, chemical fertilizers seemed to offer limitless potential in agriculture. However, when British agriculturalist Albert Howard travelled to India as Imperial Economic Botanist to the Government of India, he observed Vedic agriculture as practiced by India peasant farmers, and noted the health benefits to plants, animals and humans from what we now call organic agriculture. Albert Howard, Rudolph Steiner and Lady…
Since 1979 the life of soil and plants, and how they link to our own lives and health, has fascinated me. In the 1980s I was a maverick because as an organic market gardener, my work was mostly seen as irrelevant to society, producing food that was expensive and for only a few people. That changed from 1988 when the BBC filmed my garden, and green consciousness developed. Since then I have gone from being zero to hero and especially with regard to soil because since 1982 I've been gardening with the no dig method. My experience allows me to direct you towards these gems, which I'm sure you will find useful and enjoyable.
Plants feel things. Cleve Backster, an American detective who used lie detectors when interviewing suspects, discovered that plants made his detector needle swing wildly in response to thoughts he was having. Especially bad ones like that he might put boiling water on their leaves. He ran many experiments and found that plants also have memory, and react if people are lying about something in their presence!
Plants grow better for us when we treat them with love and respect. In return, they grow a warm and healthy look to their leaves which looks pleasing. We then appreciate each other in a loop of positive feedback. This book opened my eyes to what is possible when working with clients, and the fun we can have in helping them to express themselves.
Explore the inner world of plants and its fascinating relation to mankind, as uncovered by the latest discoveries of science. A perennial bestseller.
In this truly revolutionary and beloved work, drawn from remarkable research, Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird cast light on the rich psychic universe of plants. Now available in a new edition, The Secret Life of Plants explores plants' response to human care and nurturing, their ability to communicate with man, plants' surprising reaction to music, their lie-detection abilities, their creative powers, and much more. Tompkins and Bird's classic book affirms the depth of humanity's relationship with nature…
I’ve loved gardening ever since I was five years old, when I followed my grandmother around her yard as she watered her dinner plate-sized dahlias. As a college student, I rode a bus to school each day and read every gardening book and magazine I could get my hands on. After I graduated with a degree in Journalism, I realized I wanted to write about flowers and veggies and show other people how beautiful and bountiful a garden could be. My first book, Gardening with Heirloom Seeds, led to a wonderful speaking experience in Orlando at Epcot’s International Flower and Garden Festival, and to contracts for two more books in the spiritual living genre.
This is a guide to saving and growing 160 different vegetables, and you must know how to harvest, save, and store their seeds if you want to plant some of the harder-to-find varieties. Co-author Kent Whealy was one of the founders of Iowa-based Seed Savers Exchange, a nonprofit organization and seed bank that has a collection of over 20,000 varieties of heirloom flower, vegetable, fruit, berry, grain, and herb seeds. He and his former wife, Diane Ott Whealy, are credited with sparking the heirloom seed movement in the 1970s.
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.Seed to Seed is widely acknowledged as the best guide available for home gardeners to learn effective ways to produce and store seeds on a small scale. The author has grown seed crops of every vegetable featured in the book,…
I’ve loved gardening ever since I was five years old, when I followed my grandmother around her yard as she watered her dinner plate-sized dahlias. As a college student, I rode a bus to school each day and read every gardening book and magazine I could get my hands on. After I graduated with a degree in Journalism, I realized I wanted to write about flowers and veggies and show other people how beautiful and bountiful a garden could be. My first book, Gardening with Heirloom Seeds, led to a wonderful speaking experience in Orlando at Epcot’s International Flower and Garden Festival, and to contracts for two more books in the spiritual living genre.
There’s one thing most gardeners agree on: you simply can’t beat the taste of a homegrown tomato. Supermarket tomatoes have been bred to withstand shipping and stacking, so they look like perfect, red globes, but unfortunately, many have lost their old-fashioned flavor along the way. Author Craig LeHoullier is a tomato connoisseur who tells you how to grow over 200 varieties, from planting to harvesting and saving their seeds for another season. The photos in this beautifully illustrated book will make your mouth water—just like the tomatoes he recommends.
This book contains everything a tomato-growing enthusiast needs to know about growing over 200 varieties of tomatoes - how to sow seeds, plant, cultivate, and collect seeds. It also offers a comprehensive guide to pests and diseases of tomatoes. No other book offers such a detailed look at the specifics of growing tomatoes, from the point of view of a true expert, with beautiful photographs and tomato profiles throughout.
Katherine Pryor is the award-winning author of several picture books about food and gardens. In addition to writing, she has worked to create better food choices at institutions, corporations, and food banks. She gardens with her young twins at their home on an island in northwest Washington.
When I first read this board book, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Amalia Hoffman’s vibrant chalk art is amazing, but the plot is a bit odd and the puns were corny. (Sorry, one really can’t help making vegetable puns after reading this book.) But my kids were obsessed! It moved into heavy rotation at our house, and I came to love little Pete the pea who leaves his safe pea pod to travel the galaxy on his carrot spaceship. It’s full of jokes and adventures perfect for the preschool crowd. I mean, who doesn’t want carrot rocketships for a snack?
Imagine what would happen if fresh veggies could go on a cosmic adventure! Well, blast off with Pete the pea and find out what he discovers outside his pod. Pete joins other curiously shaped vegetables such as an eggplant, artichoke, cauliflower, ear of corn, and mushroom as they each take a starring role in this creative tale of space exploration, daring, and friendship.Who knew healthy food could be so much fun? Let your imagination run to space and back as ordinary vegetables take on a whole new meaning!
I’ve loved gardening ever since I was five years old, when I followed my grandmother around her yard as she watered her dinner plate-sized dahlias. As a college student, I rode a bus to school each day and read every gardening book and magazine I could get my hands on. After I graduated with a degree in Journalism, I realized I wanted to write about flowers and veggies and show other people how beautiful and bountiful a garden could be. My first book, Gardening with Heirloom Seeds, led to a wonderful speaking experience in Orlando at Epcot’s International Flower and Garden Festival, and to contracts for two more books in the spiritual living genre.
Have you ever wished you could grow those nutritious, meaty peas and beans your granddaddy used to grow? Some had cool names, like Rattlesnake Beans, Big Red Ripper, or Blue Podded Shelling. They were probably heirloom varieties, plants that have been around for 50 years or more. While heirlooms are harder to find than they used to be, and nurseries and garden centers don’t often sell them as young plants, you can still grow these varieties from seeds (tip: look for them online or search for “seed swaps” in your area). Weaver is an organic gardener and food historian who discusses the old-timey veggies our forebears ate and where their seeds came from. You’ll want to plant your own kitchen garden with many of the varieties he covers.
"This book is sure to be a modern classic and is one of the most important books on gardening in the current century." —Jere Gettle, founder, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Heirloom Vegetable Gardening has always been a book for gardeners and cooks interested in unique flavors, colors, and history in their produce. This updated edition has been improved throughout with growing zones, advice, and new plant entries. Line art has been replaced with lush, full-color photography. Yet at the core, this book delivers on the same promise it made two decades ago: It’s a comprehensive guide based on meticulous first-person…
I love nature and feature it in many of my books, including a poetry collection about the ocean and a board book series about famous naturalists. As a gardener, I have trouble with outside plants thanks to the deer that live in the canyon out back. However, I have 50 houseplants and an herb garden in pots on the balcony. Our house is surrounded by trees, and one of my favorite places in the world is Sequoia National Park, with its green meadows and giant sequoia trees. We spent several summers there when I was a child.
The lift-the-flap format is often aimed at the board book crowd, but not in this beautiful book. Information under its flaps acts more like visual sidebars, uncovering secrets such as what’s inside a garden shed or what the inside of an onion looks like. The book shows us the passage of seasons and the activities of a gardening sister and her little brother at different times of the year, such as planting, composting, and raking. Children and adults will both like this one.
Marvelous wonders await in this extraordinary garden book. From season to season, children follow the life of a garden as each page reveals new treasures hiding under lift-up flaps. Peek inside the curious tulip bulb and discover the peas inside a peapod. Watch a ladybug help with pesky aphids and search for ripe strawberries under the leaves. Rich in detail, Emma Giuliani's bright, immersive illustrations and flaps in fantastic shapes, sizes, and colors carry the reader into the enchanted world of gardening. Discovering different facets of the garden-fauna, flora, and the work necessary to help it grow and thrive-will delight…
I’ve loved gardening ever since I was five years old, when I followed my grandmother around her yard as she watered her dinner plate-sized dahlias. As a college student, I rode a bus to school each day and read every gardening book and magazine I could get my hands on. After I graduated with a degree in Journalism, I realized I wanted to write about flowers and veggies and show other people how beautiful and bountiful a garden could be. My first book, Gardening with Heirloom Seeds, led to a wonderful speaking experience in Orlando at Epcot’s International Flower and Garden Festival, and to contracts for two more books in the spiritual living genre.
Author John Forti’s book combines personal essays and gardening info on traditional/ heirloom plants. He encourages readers to slow down and reconnect with the land (he’s one of the founders of the Slow Food movement) and learn or re-learn sustainable, traditional gardening skills. He describes herbs like angelica, pre-industrial agricultural practices (I wish I had goats, so they could eat all the poison ivy around my house), and much more. I enjoyed the beautiful woodblock print images throughout the book. They help remind me that I don’t have to depend on all the modern “stuff,” like technology, chemicals, and modern hybrids, to have a successful and satisfying garden.
An A-to-Z compilation of traditional gardening skills and heirloom plants, nostalgically illustrated with wood block art. Modern life is a cornucopia of technological wonders. But when we spend so much time glued to our phones and computer screens, something precious is lost: a sense of connection to the generations that have preceded us. John Forti is acutely aware of this loss, and his mission is to heal it. In The Heirloom Gardener, he celebrates and shares the lore and traditional practices that link us with the natural world and with each other. Arranged alphabetically, entries include heirloom flowers like beebalm,…
