Ooh Ooh! Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities by Amy Stewart.

Very neat

Here is a link that might be useful: Book on Amazon

I bought a copy of Rodale's "Vegetable Garden Problem Solver" by Fern Marshall Bradley. Good reading!

Also "The Joy of Keeping Chickens" by Jennifer Megyesi. Excellent first book for people thinking about keeping chickens.

ribbit's book looks like a fun read!

vtguitargirl: Chickens are easy and fun, but you might want to read the book that I recommended first. The author describes chickens as a "gateway drug". The book ends with pigs.

I always liked the homesteading books that were popular when I was a child (in a certain decade....) However, I'm a city gal, so I love the intersection called "urban farming".

Try Epitaph Of A Peach, David Masamoto.

Try "The Botany of Desire" by Michael Pollan. It will make you look at the relationship between humans and plants in a whole different way. I'm in the middle of "Heirloom: Notes from an accidental tomato farmer" by Tim Stark at the moment and its been a good read. Reminds me that the rainbow of summertime tomatoes will be here sooner than we know it.

My favorite garden book is Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties by Carol Deppe.

This book is written by a highly educated scientist, but from the point of view of the home gardener. It has interesting anecdotes as well as genetics theory and data. If you only want to save seeds, not carry out a breeding program, this book will give you the information you need. Deppe explains, for example, how cross pollination can be prevented in the home garden where great isolation distances are not possible.

I keep going back to this book as my gardening knowledge widens.

Jim

big_bear: I watched "Botany of Desire" on PBS- excellent! Michael Pollan's other books look intriguing as well.

jxb: Chickens as a gateway drug?! It could happen! Admittedly, I'd like to have a goat for milk as well...

Jim: The Deppe book looks good. Have you developed any of your own special varieties? I've heard garlic is an easy one to develop.

vtguitargirl,

I haven't developed any new vegetable varieties, although I have a couple of ideas for it and am tempted to start this summer. I do more and more seed saving and have learned useful knowledge about that from the book.

Jim (massukuleleguy)

My favorite read: "The Self-Sufficient Gardener" by John Seymour
http://www.amazon.com/Self-Sufficient-Gardener-John-Seymour/dp/038514671X ....

Next favorite read: "The Encyclopedia Of Organic Gardening" Rodale staff. http://www.amazon.com/Rodales-All-New-Encyclopedia-Organic-Gardening/dp/0875965997

Essential read: "Sunset -The New Western Garden Book" 1983 edition .... newer eddition not as comprehensive.

Jimster,
You play ukulele too?!
Cool!
Franulele

"Gaia's Garden," by Tony Hemenway. It's about using permaculture systems to make your garden stronger, and the new second edition is full of drool-worthy color photos.

I love "Farm City"! I got it just before Christmas and I'm already re-reading it.

Another great farm book is "Little Heathens," by Mildred Armstrong Kalish, which reads like the Little House books updated for the 1930s. :)

Seymour is amazing. I constantly re-read his "Self-Sufficient Life" book--the illustrations are magical--and I just got "Self-Sufficient Gardener" for the first time.

My chicken book of choice is currently the incredibly charming "Keep Chickens" by Barbara Kilarski, but if we actually take the plunge this spring (we're thinking about), I suppose we'll get the Storey guide to keeping and raising chickens.

These days i prefer listening to reading so i am all about audio books. i am enjoying Animal, Vegetable, Miracle right now. Makes me want to order poultry and make cheese ; )

i started listening to The Omnivore's Dilemma but it is a little dry. Probably better suited to reading v. light listening during a commute to work.

Henry Mitchell is fun to read.

Nice thread, i just ordered Farm City from the library.

I second the motion for Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It's a great read, extremely informative (My grandma lived on a farm. I thought I knew something. NOT!), and, as noted above inspiring!
For southerners, especially newbies, I recommend Warm-Climate Gardening by Barbara Pleasant. I have practically slept with it this year.

I read Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart and enjoyed it, but then I read her book The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms and liked it even better.

I'm still trolling for suggestions! Fortunately, Amy Stewart is a prolific author.

I am wanting to order: The Perfect Fruit: Good Breeding, Bad Seeds, and the Hunt for the Elusive Pluot.

I am dying to plant a pluot tree, and this books sounds fascinating.

My favorite book is "The Earth Knows My Name" by Patricia Klindienst. It's about a woman who goes around to the gardens of different ethnic Americans and interviews them about their gardens, heritage, and family history. Very well written. It includes detail accounts of Italian, Japanese, Polish, Vietnamese, Indian, Mexican, African-American, and many other ethnic gardens.