Garden & Orchard

The Family Garden Journal: A Keepsake of Daily Plans, Observations, and Harvests

by Michelle Lindsey

Published by Homestead on the Range

Develop your green thumb while creating a keepsake! The Family Garden Journal offers an effective way to make the most of your learning experience in the garden. Paperback. Full review »

Rodale’s Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening

by Fern Marshall Bradley, Barbara W. Ellis, Ellen Phillips

This old classic just keeps on going! Fruits, vegetables, herbs, ornamental plants—it’s all here, along with a diverse array of natural gardening tips and techniques. Paperback, hardcover, or Kindle. Full review »

The Dirt-Cheap Green Thumb: 400 Thrifty Tips for Saving Time, Money & Resources In and Around the Garden

by Rhonda Massingham Hart

Gardening on a budget doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice looks or taste! These tips will improve your efficiency every step of the way, from choosing your garden site to using the harvest. Paperback or Kindle. Full review »

FREE: Home Vegetable Gardening: A Complete and Practical Guide to the Planting and Care of All Vegetables, Fruits and Berries Worth Growing For Home Use

by F. F. Rockwell

This book is about a hundred years old, but is still useful to anyone who wants to try their hand at raising their own produce. Quite a few of Rockwell’s favorite plant varieties are even in existence after all these years! Variety of eBook formats. Full review »

FREE: The Home Acre

by Edward Payson Roe

So what if you only have an acre or so to work with, but are eager to grow a little bit of your own food? A garden and maybe even a small orchard are two options you may want to consider. Variety of eBook formats. Full review »

The Christian Kids’ Gardening Guide

by Rebecca Park Totilo

Looking for a gift idea for a young gardener? Here’s a book that may spark an interest. Spiral-bound. Full review »

All New Square Foot Gardening: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More in Less Space

by Mel Bartholomew

Specifically designed for small-scale gardeners, Bartholomew’s method involves building a square box just the right size to reach into, filling it with the perfect soil mix (Mel’s Mix), marking off the planting area into square feet with a grid, and planting only what you really want to grow. Paperback or Kindle. Full review »

Wide Row Planting

by Dick Raymond

This Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin concisely outlines another gardening method that may be attractive to those seeking to grow more in less space with less time and effort. Find out how to plan, plant, maintain, and harvest your wide row garden. Paperback or Kindle.

Drought Gardening

by Sue Hakala

Before you have to deal with the next drought, be proactive. Plan ways to make your garden more water-efficient. Paperback or Kindle. Full review »

FREE: Fall Gardening

by Sedgwick County Extension Horticulture

This brief document addresses some of the trickiest challenges Kansas gardeners will face when gardening in the fall. PDF. Full review »

The Complete Compost Gardening Guide

by Barbara Pleasant and Deborah L. Martin

Composting doesn’t have to be that difficult! There are many different ways to approach composting, and some of them are quite simple. Hardcover, paperback, or Kindle. Full review »

FREE: Cover Crops for Vegetable Growers

by Kansas State University

Excellent resource for choosing the right cover crop for your needs, especially for growers in Kansas. Concise presentation of the characteristics, adaptation, sowing dates, seeding methods, management, and suitability for small growers of a wide range of cover crop species. PDF.

FREE: Integrated Pest Management for Greenhouse Crops

by National Center for Appropriate Technology

Although written with greenhouse crops in view, this free guide can also give you an idea of how IPM can work in other areas of farming. PDF.

FREE: Vegetable Garden Planting Guide

by Kansas State University

A wealth of information in four short pages! Includes vegetable yield estimates, planting information chart, a planting calendar, a troubleshooting guide, and tips for successful gardening. PDF.

FREE: “Soil Temperature Conditions for Vegetable Seed Germination”

by Alabama Cooperative Extension System

Useful factsheet listing minimum, maximum, and optimum soil temperatures for starting common vegetables. PDF.

FREE: Recommended Vegetable Varieties

by Kansas State University

Several varieties are recommended for each plant type, helping you choose one that will fit your precise needs. The emphasis is on hybrids, but some more traditional varieties are included, as well. PDF.

FREE: Building and Using Hotbeds and Cold Frames

by University of Missouri Extension

Explains where to put a cold frame, how to build it, and how to use it. Detailed construction plans are not included, but a link is provided. PDF.

FREE: Black Walnut Toxicity

by Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service

Find out why black walnut trees are a threat to your garden and how to avoid the risk. PDF.

FREE: Record Longevities of Vegetable Seeds in Storage

by E.E. Roos and D.A. Davidson

Seed lifespan records for many vegetable species. Includes practical hints on seed storage. PDF.

FREE: Planning Your Fruit Garden

by Kansas State University

Starts out with the basics of choosing the perfect site for your orchard, then moves on to the facts you need to know about each plant, including its yield, lifespan, and space requirements. A must-read for anyone wanting to start a fruit garden in the Sunflower State. PDF.

FREE: Pruning Fruit Trees

by Kansas State University

Extremely useful free document with illustrations from K-State discussing why, when, and how to prune apples, pears, cherries, peaches, plums, and apricots. PDF.