Do you have any book or podcast recommendations to help me become a smarter food gardener?
Yes, we do! We’ve compiled some of our favorite resources here (and no, we aren’t getting paid to market any of these to you):
Jeff Lowenfels
It all starts with the soil! Check out Jeff Lowenfels Teaming With… series. He writes for the layperson, making biology and chemistry concepts approachable and fun to read about! He also has a podcast called Teaming with Microbes.
For decades now, this generous team has been sharing their pioneering ideas, empowering city dwellers to reap the rewards of urban food production. Their books are excellent as easy to read crop, pest, and soil test interpreting reference materials and their podcast, Encyclopedia Botanica is definitely worth a listen!
Our only words of caution are to remember that we can get frost (or hail!) any day of the year in Central Oregon, so be realistic and read, listen, and shop (yes, they have garden accessories, too) through the lens of our unique climate.
Check out the library of research based gardening information specific to Central Oregon for learning about trees and berries, insects, plant damage and disease, wildlife damage, soil testing and amendments, weeds, as well as a variety of resources centered on veggie gardening.
Eliot Coleman
As co-founder of Four Season Farm, an experimental market farm in chilly Harborside Maine, Eliot Coleman has become a nationally recognized model for small-scale sustainable agriculture. His books, The Winter Harvest Handbook and Four Season Harvest have greatly inspired our mini hoophouse designs and personalized crop plans.
Niki Jabbour
A Nova Scotian gardener and award-winning author of four fabulous books: The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener, Groundbreaking Food Gardens, Niki Jabbour’s Veggie Garden Remix, and Growing Under Cover. All are available at Deschutes Public Library.
Meg Cowden
Plant, Grow, Harvest, Repeat is a great starting place for gardeners looking to succession plant!
Greenhouses
Whether you’re in the beginning phases of planning for a greenhouse or looking for help in troubleshooting or improving your existing greenhouse situation, these are two great books that can both be found at Deschutes Public Library!
These are some of the books that have inspired BUG to expand beyond the annual vegetable garden and include increasingly more edible perennials in landscape design and installation.
Ok, leaving you with a couple more authors, for now, to help you further appreciate the natural world and embrace tangible actions you can take to care for our planet, and, in turn, most likely increase the health and productivity of your edible garden.
Doug Tallamy
Co-founder of Homegrown National Park, Doug Tallamy has inspired millions to see their own yards as part of the solution to the biodiversity crisis. Driven by the belief that everyone can play a role, he encourages people to plant natives in the spaces they care for. His vision is simple: when we all take part, we create the connected habitats that life depends on. Check out his book, Nature’s Best Hope!
Robin Wall Kimmerer
If you missed her Author! Author! visit to Bend back in May 2024, hopefully you’ll have a chance to hear her speak at some point in the future (or listen to her audiobooks)! She is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and is sparking a grassroots movement, Plant Baby Plant, to heal land, build community, and transform love of land into social change.
