Great Reading Material

[LBchilehead]

I love reading just about anything but the vast world of gardening. There is so much stuff to pilfer through.
Your guys Humble opinion what would be the top five or top ten books somebody needs to read to keep their skills up in the world of Tomato gardening?

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by LBchilehead

I love reading just about anything but the vast world of gardening. There is so much stuff to pilfer through.
Your guys Humble opinion what would be the top five or top ten books somebody needs to read to keep their skills up in the world of Tomato gardening?

There is a thread called winter reading.

[LBchilehead]

Has any one read Spin Farming?

[habitat_gardener]

The book by Carolyn Male, 100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden, is the classic.

Other than that, I can't think of any single gardening book that has been more influential than others.

I like the approach in Smith, The Vegetable Gardener's Bible, because it's what I'd evolved into doing when I read it: organic, wide raised beds that are never walked on, reliance on homemade compost, always keeping the soil covered with mulch. (And aside from those basics, I've probably learned more from trying different things myself than from reading about them.)

As far as I'm concerned, it's all about creating a good environment for the worms (who work the soil) and the other life in the soil (who make nutrients available as needed). So the book Teaming with Microbes by Lowenfels and Lewis is great.

In addition, the one thing that improved my yields more than anything else was using a handful of alfalfa pellets in the planting hole. Before alfalfa, I thought my cool summers were preventing me from growing large tomatoes. After alfalfa, reliable yields of big tomatoes! But that's because in my area, the soils generally need only nitrogen for optimal production (they have enough potassium and phosphorus).

And the background is to know your soil. I haven't done soil tests because I garden at community garden plots and my garden spaces have been different every year or so. But for basic (and advanced!!) soil knowledge, the following books (that I haven't gotten copies of yet) look promising: A new book on soils called Building Soils Naturally by Phil Nauta looks good. And possibly the new one by the opinionated Steve Solomon, The Intelligent Gardener. Both are supposed to be about growing more nutrient-dense food at the backyard-garden level, which I've wondered about for a long time.

It doesn't rain here from about May/June to Oct., so I don't need to be concerned with protecting foliage from fungal diseases spread by water. And I never water the foliage.
But I learned that those are important considerations in other climates by reading Tomatoville, which is the best resource of all! You can search the archive for past threads on "best tips" or "what I learned this year" or the like, or ask specific questions.

[Keiththibodeaux]

Top 5 or 10? Who could limit oneself to that? Maybe Top 100. Anyway, I just started "The Potato Garden." Not far enough in to judge, but good so far.

[habitat_gardener]

fwiw, Amazon is still listing
How to Grow Potatoes: Planting and Harvesting Organic Food From Your Patio, Rooftop, Balcony, or Backyard Garden (Booklet) by R.J. Ruppenthal
as a free kindle download (the free selection changes daily, and I think the downloads are free from the U.S. site only if you're in the U.S.).

[dice]

_Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties_, Carol Deppe
http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/361

_Garden Insects of North America:
The Ultimate Guide to Backyard Bugs_, Whitney Cranshaw
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/7713.html

[Alfredo]

LBchilehead,

"The Heirloom Tomato, From Garden to Table." by Amy Goldman

"Grow The Best Tomatoes." by John Page (a very small and thin 31 page book, but for its's price, $3.95...I don't think you can find a better deal).

"Carrots Love Tomatoes." by Louise Riotte, very informative book on companion planting for gardening in general. Good helpful advice for growing Tomatoes with companion plants.

~Alfredo

[lhspirited]

Lasagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza. This technique of improving the soil by sheet composting makes gardening so much more enjoyable.

[amideutch]

"Getting the most From Your Garden" Rodale Press
"Food For Everyone" By Mittleider
"Handbook of Microbial Biofertilizers" By M.K. Rai
"Nature Farming and Microbial Applications" By Xu,Parr and Umemura
"The Garden Doctor" By Mittleider
"Greenhouse Tomatoes,Lettuce & Cucumbers " By Wittwer & Honma
"Hydroponic Tomatoes for the Home Gardener" By Resh
"Giant Tomatoes" By Meisner
"How to Grow World Record Tomatoes" by Wilber
And the number one must read for the beginning Tomato Grower Want-a-be
"100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden" By Carolyn J. Male

Ami