Internet Resources
Below is a growing (get it, "growing") list of resources you may find to be helpful now and in the future as you grow your own food and help others grow their food.
Soil Health
We spent the first couple of weeks of this class discussing the foundation on which we can grow the food we eat. That foundation is healthy soil. What is healthy soil? The information found on the following websites can help to answer that question.(Note: also refer to the "Supplemental Online Resources" and "Supplemental Video Content" sections of the "Soil Health" content page.)
New York Soil Health (link)
Supported by the "Soil Health and Climate Resiliency Act" (Senate: S4722A/House: A5386A) signed into New York State law on December 23, 2021, this website serves as a "one stop shop" for anyone looking for information on improving soil health.
Tips for Healthy Soil in Your Backyard Garden (link)
This site features a question and answer video session with comments provided by Dr. Steve Mirsky, a USDA soil biologist.
LandPKS Mobil App (link)
LandPKS stands for "Land Potential Knowledge System. This free app (both Apple and Android) features land information, land management, soil health, vegetation and habitat modules that can provide users with a real-time overview of their land - even if it's as small as a residential garden.
Soil Health and Cover Crops - Virginia Cooperative Extension (link)
An excellent compilation of soil health-related resources that makes it quite tempting to go down a rabbit hole from which it's difficult to escape (at least if you're into soil health)!
Soil Life (link)
The link above will take you to this group's "About Us" page where you discover the power students have to inspire learning and become change agents. This is an excellent resource for both soil health-related infomation and strategies for communicating science to a wide audience.
Cornell Nutrient Analysis Laboratory (link)
This historic laboratory at Cornell University has focused on the chemical analysis of soils (e.g., pH, organic matter, soluble salts, and both soil-borne elements essential for plant growth as well as those that are potentially toxic to plant growth) for more than fifty years.
Cornell Nutrient Analyses Laboratory Soil Test Summaries (link)
Though now quite dated (1995-2001 and 2002-2006) these summaries provide insight into the organic matter content, pH and nutrient status of many hundreds of residential mixed vegetable gardens across New York State. In a nutshell, the summaries suggest the majority of vegetable gardens contain excess levels of most nutrients as a result of excessive amounts of fertilizer applied by zealous gardeners year, after year, after year.
Cornell Soil Health Laboratory (link)
Whereas the Cornell Nutrient Analysis Laboratory focuses on soil chemistry this lab, established in 2006, focuses on assessing the physical and biological components of soils. An example of the report provided by the lab can be opened by clicking here. (The report provides an assessment of the currently dormant Green Campus Initiative vegetable garden at our LaFayette Road Experiment Station.)
Healthy Soil - Cornell Garden Based Learning (link)
Especially helpful on this page are the six "Urban Eden" demonstration videos featuring Dr. Nina Bassuk. In the videos, Nina explains how to use a variety of relatively simple tests to provide a basic understanding of soil conditions on any given site.
Recommended Seed Companies
These are just a few of my favorite seed companies among several hundred in the United States.
Johnny's Selected Seeds (link)
This is my favorite seed company as it provides an expansive variety of seed for many vegetable crops, it offers a wide range of excellent "how-to" resources and it provides excellent customer service!
Harris Seeds (link)
One of the oldest seed companies in North America, Harris Seed has called Rochester, New York home since 1879! My grandparents purchased much of the seed for their Illinois vegetable garden when I was barely old enough to walk. Many years later Dick Chamberlin, President of Harris Seed, took the picture that graced the cover of the company's catalog while I was recording an episode of my TV show here in Syracuse!
Fruition Seeds (link)
Started in 2012 in Naples, New York, Fruition Seeds focuses on organic seed. The company also offers a wide range of educational resources - growing guides, planting charts, webinars, online courses, etc.
Seed Savers Exchange (link)
Founded in 1975 as a not-for-profit organization its mission is to preserve the diversity of heirloom, open-pollinated vegetable and fruit varieties.
Vegetable Varieties
Many land-grant universities throughout the United States provide online vegetable growing guides and/or lists of recommended vegetable varieties that are updated every year (in a few instances) to every five to ten years or so (much more common). Because these resources provide unbiased information - at least in theory - they can be a good place to start when planning your vegetable plantings.
Michigan State University Vegetable Production Chart (link)
One of the very first steps in growing what you're going to eat is to figure out how much you can expect to harvest from the space that's available. This table can be very helpful as you work through this process.
Cornell Vegetable Growing Guides (link)
This website provides straightforward recommendations for growing fifty-eight garden vegetables - from artichoke to Zucchini and most everything in between.
Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners (link)
This website is a citizen science project coordinated by the Cornell University Garden-Based learning project staff. While the above link will take you to a "login" page, it's not necessary to login or even create a profile in orderr to use the search function to browse the comments regarding gardener's experiences with several thousand vegetable varieties!
2022 Selected List of Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners in New York State (link)
Until this year (2023) this vegetable variety list had been updated annually for more than twenty-five years. Most recently it relies on recommendations of gardeners that share their reviews on the Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners website above.
Vegetable Seed Starting Guides
Since most of us aren't likely to have access to a greenhouse inwhich we can start vegetable transplants, the following resources can be very helpful.
Guide to Starting Seeds Indoors - Iowa State University (link)
Starting Seeds Indoors - University of Minnesota (link)
Starting Vegetable Seeds Indoors - Rutgers University (link)