Tiny farming basic reference
On the tiny farm, there’s nothing like having the resources to look things up when you need to know! A collection of quality reference books is indispensable. The web is also an insanely bountiful source of small farming information. It’s almost overwhelming! To help you through the online plenty, here’s a selected list of to-the-point pages that answer some of the basic small-farming questions. It’s always under revision, so you may want to check back now and then:
- Vegetable Seed Saving Handbook - A quick-reading, solid guide, with details for common garden veggies—all you need to get started.
- Basics of plant science for growers – Concise, illustrated intro to plant science.
- Biodynamic agriculture explained – The best quick intro to biodynamic farming that I’ve found, all on one page, and illustrated, too…
- Chicken eggs FAQ – Quick answers to the most likely egg questions.
- Crop rotation for vegetables – A quick, practical summary (and how-to) of an ultimately complex subject.
- Edible Flowers – General notes and an annotated list of ornamentals, veggies and herbs.
- Equipment needs for veggie farms – Breakdown of equipment requirements for various sizes of veggie farm.
- Get to know your soil – Soil composition and testing basics for growers.
- Homestead Poultry Butchering – A step-by-step, illustrated guide, with lots of alternatives and general information.
- Insects & pest control basics – Practical entomology for gardeners.
- Plant naming explained – Common names vs botanical names, and how plants are named.
- Raising chickens 101 – One-stop site for small-flock chicken info.
- Root cellar basics – A practical intro to root cellaring and long-term veggie storage.
- Seed storage times – How long seeds last (cross check with a couple of other sources as estimates vary quite a bit for some veggies).
- Seeds per gram – Chart showing number of seeds by weight for (North American) garden veggies.
- Sunrise and Sunset (daylength) Calendars – Sunrise and sunset calendars for anywhere in the world.
- Vegetable growing guide – Individual guides to growing 58 garden vegetables.
- Veggie planting chart – Basic veggie planting info: seed quantity, spacing, depth, yield, more…
- Weather averages – Look up average and record temperature, precipitation, etc, for any location, worldwide.
If you run into cool pages that you think belong here, or better ones than those already listed, please let me know!
