The EssentiaList

ESP Files & Links by Subject

See Also:  Home and Ranch: Files & Links

Bio-Dynamics

External Links:

• Rudolf Steiner:  A Biographical Introduction to Farmers:  www.geocities.com/RainForest/Jungle/6700/research/steiner.html Or  www.geocities.com/RainForest/Jungle/6700/research/steiner.html has the same text, with photo and more links.
• Agriculture Course: The Birth of the Bio-Dynamic Method:  www.steinerbooks.org/detail.html?id=9781855841482

Community Gardening

External Links:

• American Community Gardening Association
• Community Gardens – GardenWeb
• Slow Food, Slow Schools, by Alice Waters, on Community Gardening in the Schools:    www.edibleschoolyard.org/alice_message.html
• Square Foot Gardening:  Community Gardening DOs & DONTs (web) or printable transcription:  Community Gardening DOs & DON’Ts – Part 1 (transcribed) (pdf file, 188 KB)

Companion Planting:

ESP Files:

• The EssentiaList:  Three Sisters Gardening (Corn, Beans, Squash) (112 KB)

External Links:

• Three Sisters Gardening (iVillage Garden Web)

Cold Storage of Produce:

See Home, Farm & Ranch Files

Composting:

ESP Files:

• Gathering Summary: Root Cellars, Gardens & Greenhouses, 062409 (496 kb) includes humanure and other composting ideas
• Composting Kitchen Scraps and Yard Waste ; 2 articles, by Sally Janover and David Brown (96 KB).

ESP Articles:

• What Makes your Compost Tick?

Container Gardening:

ESP Files:

• Gathering Summary: Root Cellars, Gardens & Greenhouses, 062409 (496 kb)
• Gathering Summary: Seed Starting Indoors; Container Gardening (132 KB)
• EssentiaList Handout: Storage of Produce (128 kb pdf) includes tips for storing fruits, vegetables and grains, and cold storage options for root veggies
• The EssentiaList:  Container Gardening (92 KB)
• The EssentiaList:  Self Watering Containers (116 KB)
• The EssentiaList: Planting Soil (84 KB)

External Links:

• Container Gardening for Veggies (gardenblog.projo.com)
• Growing Tomatoes-1 (www.helpfulgardener.com)
• Growing Tomatoes-2 (aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu) << This link is broken; here’s the ‘Container Gardening Index’ on the aggie-horticulture site: aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/floriculture/container-garden/index.html; and this general article about container gardening discusses tomatoes: Gardening with Containers.
• Mother Earth News on Container Gardening: Mother EArth News on Container Gardening)

Early Seed Starting Indoors/Outdoors

ESP Files:

• Gathering Summary: Seed Starting Indoors (and Container Gardening)
• The EssentiaList: Starting Seeds Early

External Links:

• How to Winter Sow Seeds Outdoors (iVillage Garden Web) (using recyclables as mini-greenhouses)

Food Preservation & Storage

see Home and Ranch Files

General Gardening:

See also “Soil” below; Early Seed Starting, above

ESP Files:

• The EssentiaList: Cabbage, Coleslaw & Sauerkraut
• The EssentiaList: Fall Planting of Veggies
• The EssentiaList: Garden Hoops from Natural Materials
• The EssentiaList: Harvesting & Growing Garlic
• The EssentiaList: Potatoes: Planting, Growing & Harvesting
• The EssentiaList: Sequential Planting Through the Seasons
• The EssentiaList: Garden Season Extenders: References & Resources
• Garden Season Extenders Slideshow
• Planting Dates for Kalispell MT
• Season Extenders: Cold Frames & HotBeds (From SavvyGardener) (printable pdf)

ESP Presentations:

• Gathering Summary: Getting Ready to Grow Stuff, 032112
• Gathering Summary: Gardening in NW Montana, by Julian Cunningham, 022011
• Gathering Summary: Garden Season Extenders, by Don Bates, 032311
• Gathering Summary: Seed Starting Indoors & Container Gardening, 012909

External Links:

• Gardening101:  What to Know Before You Grow (Lehman’s Front Porch Newsletter) or printable transcription:  Gardening101: What to Know Before You Grow (120 KB)
• Learn Stuff about Vegetable Gardening (www.learnstuff.com/learn-stuff-about-vegetable-gardening/) << this link was sent by a reader; thanks Hannah!
• iVillage Garden Web:  http://faq.gardenweb.com/
• Lehman’s Front Porch Newsletter:  http://countrylife.lehmans.com/
• MontGuide: Planting a Successful Home Vegetable Garden (in Montana)
• MontGuide: Can I Grow That Here; Vegetable Seed & Transplant Schedules for Garden or Container
• Organic & Sustainable Farmers Can Feed the World
• Potatoes: How to Grow (original link from Irish Eyes no longer available)
• Soil Conditioning Handouts from Hoopers (pdf file, 116 KB); includes three handouts, from Whitney Farms, Glacier Gold, and an unnamed source.  Not 100% Organic info
• Square Foot Gardening: www.squarefootgardening.com
• Saving Seeds, part 1 (from Square Foot Gardening):   www.squarefootgardening.com/html/body_Seeds-1.htm and part 2:   www.squarefootgardening.com/html/body_Seeds-2.htm

Books:

• The Apple Grower: A guide to the Organic Ochardist by Michael Phillips2005
• The BackYard Berry Book by Stella Otto 1995
• Growing Fruit in the Upper Midwest by Don Gordon 1991
• Garden Insects of North America by Whitney Cranshaw. 2004
• Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening by the staff of Organic Gardening and Farming Magazine 1975
• How to Grow Vegetables and Fruits by the Organic Method by Rodale 1976
• A Minnesota Gardener’s Companion by Nunn, Snyder, Luxton 1981
• Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening by Riotte 1998
• The Encyclopedia of Practical Horticulture, (a Four volume set), editor Lowther 1914
• Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times by Steve Solomon 2005
• Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms by Paul Stamets 2000

Irrigation

ESP Files

External Links

• Berry Hill Irrigation (Drip irrigation, Buffalo Junction, VA)
• Drip Works (Willits CA)

Native Plants

ESP Files

External Links

 

• USDA Brochure: Montana Native Plants for Pollinator-Friendly Plantings, April 2005 (pdf file, 840 KB)
• NRCS: Creating Native Landscapes in the Northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountains (www.mt.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/ecs/plants/xeriscp/)
• Native Plant Network (www.nativeplantnetwork.org)
• Montana Native Plant Society (mtnativeplants.org/)
• Landscaping with Native Plants in the Flathead Valley (brochure), (mtnativeplants.org/content/index/29)

Pest Control

ESP Files

External Links

Books

• The Organic Gardner’s Handbook of Natural insect and Disease Control by Ellis and Bradley 1996

Season Extenders

ESP Files

• Garden Season Extenders Slideshow
• Garden Season Extenders: References & Resources
• Planting Dates for Kalispell MT
• Season Extenders: Cold Frames & HotBeds (From SavvyGardener) (printable pdf)

ESP Presentations

• Gathering Summary: Garden Season Extenders, by Don Bates, March 23, 2011

External Links

Books

Seed, Root Stock, and Mushroom Sources (Organic & Other):

Local:

• Terrapin Farms (Whitefish, 862-6362)
• see also: Montana.gov: Organic Seed Resources

External Links:

General Seeds

• Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (from Missouri)
• Burpee (from Pennsylvania)
• Cook’s Garden (from Pennsylvania)
• Fedco Seeds (cold-hardy, from Maine)
• Forest Farm (from Oregon)
• Gurneys (from Indiana)
• Heirloom Acres Seeds (from Missouri)
• Heirloom Seeds (from Pennsylvania); offers a Medicinal Herb Package
• Irish Eyes (Garden City Seeds) (from Washington, formerly from Montana)
• Johnny’s Selected Seeds (from Maine)
• Jung Seeds (from Wisconsin)
• Nichols Garden Nursery (from Oregon)
• Raintree Nursery (from Washington; recommended varieties by region)
• Seed Savers Exchange (non-profit, member-supported, from Iowa)
• Territorial Seed Co. (from Oregon)
• Totally Tomatoes (from Wisconsin)

Fruits and Nuts

• Cummins Nursery (old apples and other rootstock, from New York)
• Indiana Berry (Nursery stock, mostly berries, from Indiana)
• Nourse (small fruits, from Massachusetts)
• St. Lawrence Nurseries (Northern climate fruit & nut trees, from New York)

Mushrooms

• Field and Forest Products (mushrooms, from Wisconsin)

Organic

• Irish Eyes (Garden City Seeds) (from Washington, formerly from Montana)
• Johnny’s Selected Seeds (from Maine)
• Peaceful Valley (Organic, from California)

Soil

ESP Files:

• The EssentiaList: Garden Soil