Food Gardening

Growing your own food can be a very satisfying effort that pays off in a number of ways: your fruits and vegetables are fresher and you can choose the exact varieties that you and your family enjoy. Plus, you can save substantial amounts of money over purchasing them at the grocery or farmers' markets. We can provide resources and advice to help you start small, and gradually move up to producing more of your families food. Visit our pages in this section for more information on the first and last dates for planting vegetables in our area, setting up a rotation for your vegetable beds, and much more.

Cornell Resources

Cornell's Garden Based Learning Food Gardening website has several links to excellent resources, including Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners, Vegetable Growing Guides, and specific links to Container Grown Vegetables and Herbs.

You've gotten your soil tested, now how do you use the results? This handout from Cornell Gardening will help you match your test results with appropriate soil amendments to improve the soil in your vegetable garden! Getting the Most out of Your Vegetable Garden Soil Test Report

Seeds

Seed Starting. Indoor Vegetable Seed Starting (January 2015) is a 2-page handout from Lori Brewer/Cornell's Garden Based Learning program that covers selecting seed varieties, supplies you'll need to start seeds indoors, germination specifics, and more.

Rockwell County Cornell Cooperative Extension has compiled a fantastic Vegetable Planting Guide, be sure to adjust for Orleans County frost dates.

For current local soil temperatures to make sure soil temps are warm enough for direct seeding, check out the Network for Environment and Weather Applications link.

The University of Maryland has great information on Seed Starting and Hardening off of Transplants.

Seed Saving. This Cornell University Library Guide on "Seed Saving" compiled by Jeff Piestrak includes links to relevant Cornell University initiatives, Conservation & Biodiversity Groups, Grower Resources/Directories/Support, Industry/Trade Groups & Resources, Seed Libraries, Seed Sovereignty, Other Seed Saving Organizations/Networks/Events, and General Learning Materials on saving seeds.

Last updated October 28, 2024