fast grow the weeds

Greenhouse information

• Four-Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman. Not just greenhouses, a must-have book!
• The Winter Harvest Handbook by Eliot Coleman.  More information!  Great for small farmers but good for backyard growers too.
• Intrepid slug-squisher Andy McGee has recently published The Polytunnel Handbook. (Polytunnel=hoop house=greenhouse)
• I got my greenhouses as complete kits from Growers’ Solution, which makes their own frames.
• There are lots of other ways to have your own greenhouse. Google “Hoop House” and watch the results turn in. Here’s a decent site though to build one out of PVC.
• Eliot Coleman also has a demo on MOFGA (Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Assoc.) on how to build a low tunnel (a short greenhouse) to help season extension.

Preservation comes in many forms.

• American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. If you’re going to eat them, you might as well breed them.
• National Sustainable Agriculture Information Source. This is a treasure. A national treasure.
• Vegetable Varieties for Home Gardeners. A great cross-reference, through Cornell University.
• Slow Food Ark of Taste: USA. One way to preserve something is to stand on a soapbox and yell about how wonderful it is. I grow many things on this list.
• Chicken breeds and varieties. This is a great one-stop place to bone up on your birds!

Sometimes, it is better if you make it yourself.

• Raw milk: Campaign for Real Milk
• Dairying/Cheesemaking sources: both are goaty but work with cow’s milk too Caprine Supply and Hoegger Goat Supply
• Yogurt/sourdough/tempeh cultures: Gem Supply

And always, TRY LOCAL FIRST.

• Local Harvest. Still the best way to find out who your farmers are, or, barring that, where the farmers’ markets can be found.
• Eat Wild. Best way to source grass-fed meats.
• Eat Well Guide. Through Local Harvest, this is a more exacting finder.
• Dave’s Garden Watchdog. Find both local sources, and how reliable those far-away mailorder sources are for you.