Reddit mentions: The best gardening & landscape design books

We found 2,026 Reddit comments discussing the best gardening & landscape design books. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 656 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.

1. Mushrooms Demystified

    Features:
  • Music
Mushrooms Demystified
Specs:
ColorMulticolor
Height9 Inches
Length6 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateOctober 1986
Weight3.28709232642 Pounds
Width2.1 Inches
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2. Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, 2nd Edition

    Features:
  • Ships from Vermont
Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, 2nd Edition
Specs:
Height10 Inches
Length8 Inches
Number of items1
Weight1.69976404002 Pounds
Width1 Inches
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3. The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World

    Features:
  • Random House Trade
The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World
Specs:
ColorWhite
Height7.94 Inches
Length5.15 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateMay 2002
Weight0.5 Pounds
Width0.59 Inches
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4. All New Square Foot Gardening II: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More in Less Space

    Features:
  • China
All New Square Foot Gardening II: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More in Less Space
Specs:
Height10.25 Inches
Length7.25 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateFebruary 2013
Weight1.65 pounds
Width0.75 Inches
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6. Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World

    Features:
  • 1 Book
  • Serving Size:
Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World
Specs:
ColorMulticolor
Height9 Inches
Length7.45 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateOctober 2005
Weight2.2376919593 Pounds
Width1 Inches
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7. Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs (Llewellyn's Sourcebook Series) (Cunningham's Encyclopedia Series (1))

    Features:
  • Llewellyn Publications
Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs (Llewellyn's Sourcebook Series) (Cunningham's Encyclopedia Series (1))
Specs:
ColorGreen
Height8.98 Inches
Length6.1 Inches
Number of items1
Weight1.19490546004 Pounds
Width0.8 Inches
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8. Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms

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  • 1 Book
  • Serving Size:
Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms
Specs:
ColorBlack
Height8.99 Inches
Length7.49 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateOctober 2000
Weight3.03796997036 Pounds
Width1.35 Inches
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9. The Encyclopedia of Country Living, 40th Anniversary Edition: The Original Manual for Living off the Land & Doing It Yourself

The Encyclopedia of Country Living 40th Anniversary Edition
The Encyclopedia of Country Living, 40th Anniversary Edition: The Original Manual for Living off the Land & Doing It Yourself
Specs:
ColorTan
Height11 Inches
Length8.4 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateOctober 2012
Weight3.21433977996 Pounds
Width1.6 Inches
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10. Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners, 2nd Edition

    Features:
  • Seed, Propagation, Vegetables, How To GARDEN
Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners, 2nd Edition
Specs:
Height11 Inches
Length8.5 Inches
Number of items1
Weight1.3999353637 Pounds
Width0.5 Inches
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11. The Cannabis Grow Bible: The Definitive Guide to Growing Marijuana for Recreational and Medical Use (Ultimate Series)

Green Candy Press
The Cannabis Grow Bible: The Definitive Guide to Growing Marijuana for Recreational and Medical Use (Ultimate Series)
Specs:
Height9.25 Inches
Length6.25 Inches
Number of items1
Weight2.53972525824 Pounds
Width1.5 Inches
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12. The Mushroom Cultivator: A Practical Guide to Growing Mushrooms at Home

    Features:
  • Used Book in Good Condition
The Mushroom Cultivator: A Practical Guide to Growing Mushrooms at Home
Specs:
Height9 Inches
Length7.5 Inches
Number of items1
Weight2.2 Pounds
Width1 Inches
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13. Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long, 2nd Edition

Ships from Vermont
Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long, 2nd Edition
Specs:
Height10 Inches
Length8 Inches
Number of items1
Weight1.25002102554 Pounds
Width0.625 Inches
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14. Edible Forest Gardens (2 volume set)

    Features:
  • Used Book in Good Condition
Edible Forest Gardens (2 volume set)
Specs:
Height10.25 Inches
Length8.25 Inches
Number of items1
Weight6.00098277164 Pounds
Width2.75 Inches
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15. The Psilocybin Mushroom Bible: The Definitive Guide to Growing and Using Magic Mushrooms

    Features:
  • Green Candy Press
The Psilocybin Mushroom Bible: The Definitive Guide to Growing and Using Magic Mushrooms
Specs:
Height9 Inches
Length6 Inches
Number of items1
Weight1.73283337932 Pounds
Width1 Inches
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16. The Savage Garden, Revised: Cultivating Carnivorous Plants

    Features:
  • Used Book in Good Condition
The Savage Garden, Revised: Cultivating Carnivorous Plants
Specs:
ColorMulticolor
Height9 Inches
Length6.03 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateJuly 2013
Weight1.92463554726 Pounds
Width0.96 Inches
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17. Botany for Gardeners, 3rd Edition

    Features:
  • Timber Press OR
Botany for Gardeners, 3rd Edition
Specs:
Height9.0625 Inches
Length6.0625 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateMay 2010
Weight1.15 Pounds
Width0.63 Inches
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18. Black & Decker Complete Guide to Wiring, 6th Edition: Current with 2014-2017 Electrical Codes

    Features:
  • Cool Springs Press
Black & Decker Complete Guide to Wiring, 6th Edition: Current with 2014-2017 Electrical Codes
Specs:
Height10.875 Inches
Length8.375 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateMay 2014
Weight2.85 Pounds
Width0.875 Inches
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20. Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades, 6th Edition: The Complete Guide to Organic Gardening

    Features:
  • Used Book in Good Condition
Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades, 6th Edition: The Complete Guide to Organic Gardening
Specs:
Height9.95 Inches
Length7 Inches
Release dateSeptember 2007
Weight1.4 Pounds
Width0.77 Inches
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🎓 Reddit experts on gardening & landscape design books

The comments and opinions expressed on this page are written exclusively by redditors. To provide you with the most relevant data, we sourced opinions from the most knowledgeable Reddit users based the total number of upvotes and downvotes received across comments on subreddits where gardening & landscape design books are discussed. For your reference and for the sake of transparency, here are the specialists whose opinions mattered the most in our ranking.
Total score: 438
Number of comments: 32
Relevant subreddits: 1
Total score: 65
Number of comments: 34
Relevant subreddits: 4
Total score: 61
Number of comments: 10
Relevant subreddits: 2
Total score: 60
Number of comments: 29
Relevant subreddits: 3
Total score: 51
Number of comments: 16
Relevant subreddits: 3
Total score: 50
Number of comments: 22
Relevant subreddits: 4
Total score: 41
Number of comments: 11
Relevant subreddits: 4
Total score: 22
Number of comments: 12
Relevant subreddits: 1
Total score: 20
Number of comments: 12
Relevant subreddits: 1
Total score: 17
Number of comments: 9
Relevant subreddits: 1

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Top Reddit comments about Gardening & Landscape Design:

u/Jackson3125 · 6 pointsr/gardening

Ooh! Ooh! This sounds fun. I put some time into this when I should have been working, so I hope it helps.

1) Pruners - $20.49

This will be your most used tool. Eventually, you can upgrade into Felcos or Bahcos, but right now just get these Coronas. They're honestly a better size for hobby gardeners (fit right in your pocket), and the're very high quality for the price.

2) Your First Gardening Book - $17.06

Gardening Without Work by Ruth Stout. It's simple and gives you a general plan that really does work very well. It's a must for beginning gardeners, imho. You can find just about any other information you need on the internet (for now). Very little maintenance required, including fertilizing, weeding, applying pesticides, etc. (In a nutshell, the main step involves putting down an 8" layer of mulch...).

If you want to go with a more traditional raised bed setup, you should buy Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening. It's a fantastic back yard gardening book, as well, but the methods are kind of pricey and less sustainable. Still, it's a great system for growing a lot of food in limited space and it was the first book I used.

3) Indestructible Garden Trowel - $15.99

This will be your second most used tool. This particular model is about as indestructible as it gets short of this bad boy. You'll use it for digging holes for transplanting, mostly. Don't buy a cheap one or it will bend or break or both.

4) Fertilizer - $7.83 + $11.06 = $24.26

I chose cottonseed meal because that's what Ruth Stout recommends using (the rest of the nutrients in her system come from the giant mounds of mulch). Apply as she indicates.

I also added some Fish Emulsion Liquid Fertilizer because I love the stuff. It's a great way to add some extra nitrogen (and just a little P & K) mid season to your veggies or even to your compost pile when it gets carbon heavy. The stuff I have right now stinks, but the plants love it and it's easy to apply if you have a watering can.

Make sure you tailor your fertilizer to whatever system you're using, though. Don't fertilize like Ruth if you're not using her mulch based system. If you're using Square Foot Gardening, you won't be fertilizing at all, but you will be using lots of peat, vermiculite, and (different kinds of) compost. Etc, etc, etc.

5) Work Gloves - $10.97

These are specifically for women, but there's a button to switch to men's if that's you. You won't wear them all the time, but you'll be happy you have them when you need them. Notice that this comes with 6 pairs of gloves. I misplace gloves all the time, so having several is handy (hehe).

__

Total: $88.77


__

Notes:


  • Save the rest for now. You're inevitably going to become enamored with something like earthworm casings, azomite, or a nozzle for your gardening hose down the line. Your future self will thank you for having some extra cash to buy it with, and this is plenty to get you started on your way to being a badass backyard gardener.

  • The two above methods claim to be mostly pest free. In my experience, nothing is pest free, and you just need to grow enough quantity to weather the storm when it does randomly come. I would just concentrate on growing healthy plants first and foremost and then let the chips fall where they may. You might turn to pesticides later, and that's fine, but hold off on buying any until you know what is nibbling on your plants. Most pesticides are specific to the pest.

  • Notice that I don't include any seeds. Your first year of gardening, I'd honestly recommend just buying live plants from your local nursery (and sticking to plants bred to survive in your region). Growing from seed can be hard, and your entire crop of seedlings dying is a humbling experience, I can assure you.

    The other reason there are no seeds on my list is because I don't recommend buying them on Amazon. I've had bad experiences every time I've tried it. If you need seeds, go with a good seed dealer, like Johnny's Selected Seeds, Burpee, etc, or find a good nursery in your area.

  • If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

    _____

    TL;DR: Pruners, a book to get you started, a durable trowel, fertilizer that is specific to your growing plan, and some gloves. Enjoy!
u/JakeRidesAgain · 1 pointr/mildlyinteresting

Okay, I'm replying in a second comment, because I wanna make sure you get to see it. I'll add an edit to the main comment too, in case anyone wants to look up information.

Books:

  • Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms, Paul Stamets
  • The Mushroom Cultivator, Paul Stamets

    Those are the standard grow manuals, but if anyone has a suggestion for a more comprehensive or up-to-date manual, it'd be welcome. Mycelium Running is a great book if you're just looking for a fun read about mushrooms.

    Websites:

  • /r/mycology - The subreddit devoted to mushroom growing and identification. Probably more relevant info here if you're interested in growing mostly edibles.

  • Fungi Perfecti is good for equipment (I bought all my HEPA filters there, at the time they were the cheapest around). I think they have a YouTube channel too, and that's got some interesting stuff on it.

  • Shroomery.org is a moderately famous mushroom growing forum, with a bit of a bent more toward psychedelics. However, I found tons of great people and information in the edible mushroom forum, and I received a few commerical grade cultures from a very generous member. There can be a bit of a circlejerk surrounding some "celebrities" that post there, but take what they say with a grain of salt, and always fact check against your grow manual. If you see something that looks stupid, it probably is, unless it works. Edit: I don't think Reddit likes linking to the Shroomery, removed the formatting.

    Videos:

  • TED Talks: Paul Stamets - Six Ways Mushrooms Can Save The World - This is basically his "standard" speech he gives when he does talks. There have probably been additions and improvements to it, but the message hasn't really changed. This is "Mycelium Running" in about 5 minutes. Watch this to decide whether you want to read that book.

  • Let's Grow Mushrooms! by Roger Rabbit - One of the aforementioned Shroomery celebrities. His videos are helpful, but make sure to fact check why you're doing stuff, because he tends to leave a lot of that out. This is very nuts and bolts demonstrations of how to prepare substrate, how to provide humidity at a low cost, and several different methods of growing for different species of mushrooms.

    I hope that helps, friend! Good luck, and if you get something going, please send me pictures! I miss the old days!
u/scififan444 · 1 pointr/gardening

These are some of my favorites:

  • Crockett's Victory Garden - There are also versions for flowers and lawns as well as the main garden one. It's organized by month and has lots of special chapters on different skills or tools or general information.

  • Square Foot Gardening - It's written as a persuasive piece, but it's got good information on all different kinds of vegetables and explains the square foot method. Even if you don't use the method itself, the ideas in general can be useful.

  • Backyard Herb Garden - This is an older book, but it's got a lot of helpful specific information on different herbs and ideas for growing them.

  • Kitchen Garden for Beginners - It's not a perfect book, but I think it did a great job giving an overview of different gardening methods, plants and issues you might face.

  • Vertical Gardening - This one is more specific, but all the trellis designs were fun and very helpful.

  • Storey Country Wisdom Bulletins - These are nice little pamphlets ($4 on Amazon) on different plants (ie. tomatoes, peppers, strawberries) or topics (ie. fixing your soil or building a fence) that are pretty useful for gardening. Also they had some ideas that were new to me.

  • Garden Primer - This one is also a good overview. And seems to be popular it covers general garden topics and has information about specific vegetables.

  • The New Self Sufficient Gardener - It's got a lot of good general information, awesome illustrations, background explanation and information on specific vegetables.

    In terms of location specific information, as someone who recently moved half way across the country, your best off looking up the Extension website for where your living to find information on suggested varieties, new pests you might encounter, soil types and things like that.
u/Imnother · 4 pointsr/Herblore

There are so many and with many different focal points. I also think a list with some identification as to the focal points for each book would be useful. And I'm always happy to find new good ones, so I am glad for this post.

Rodales is one that I've seen mentioned a ton elsewhere, and I have found it useful too. There is some lore and some preparation and growing information along with medicinal info..

If you are looking for experience logs concerning herb usage, Susun Weed's forum is a nice place to search. The accounts are not made by medical professionals and perhaps are not studies based, but they are from people who test and use herbs on themselves. A very female bent; however, I've not seen a male treated anything but nicely there.

Cunningham's is a good magical go-to based in some lore, but can be problematic sometimes as dangers are not always noted. And the lore can be difficult to track down; though I was surprised that some of it had uses that I was already familiar with from childhood. Many websites about magical correspondences are word-for-word taken from it. It's Llewellyn, but don't let that scare you. I doubt there is an apothecary in existence that doesn't have a copy somewhere.

Miller's Magical and Ritual Use of Herbs was one I acquired years ago when starting the magic/psychoactive hunt. It includes some methods for preparation though the herbs included are limited. I think going to a forum or sub here that is dedicated to psychoactives would probably be more useful for preparation guides, but they may lack the ritual component.

For identification and growing and a tiny bit of lore too, I found Angier's Field Guide to Medicinal Wild Plants to be very easy to use when I first started. It's not comprehensive and it is dependent on region, but I thought it was a charming read.

I think if you can find a field guide to wild plants that pertains to your geographical area, it would be better. That way you can get out and examine the plants yourself and see how they grow and interact with other plants and their environments. Much of what I have read about the magical properties of plants makes sense when I consider observations of the plants behaviors. Some of it is counter-intuitive too, but what makes a plant magical is sometimes going to be based in a lore you create on your own.

The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants was a pricey thick one, but one I have found very useful for its purpose. I think it could be more inclusive, but I think the same thing could be said of every plant book published! If you can find one used, you may get it at a bargain. I bought mine for under 50$US but I have never seen it that cheap before or since. But this is not one that will be in every public library, so if you can afford it and spot it cheap, it may be worth the jump of you are into this kind of information. And of course the ever-loving Erowid is a great resource too.

These are just a few for beginning that I have used, but I have not used them in isolation. And there are several I have on a wish list too (this one has been rec'd to me, and omagah these have a savings account building over here). Websites have been excellent free resources especially to start. U.S. Wildflowers has a huge photo library and links to others if the geographical areas pertain to you. It's helped me get some basic identification of local plants many times.

For medicinal use and contra-indications that might feel safer, there are many hospitals that host pages of advice about herbal medicine and many of those link to studies. Since nothing here should be taken as medical advice, going to those resources may be very helpful. I have used too many to list.

And the same goes for growing guides. Websites are going to be quicker than books, but books may offer things like seasonal planting patterns and landscaping that a simple growing guide might not contain. There are too many of those to list as well.

Sorry for the length and I hope you get many more suggestions!

u/julesjungle · 2 pointsr/houseplants

Everyone has different preferences but I bought a houseplant care book (specifically How Not To Kill Your Houseplant ) and maybe I just didn’t buy the right one but I didn’t really care for it. It was cute, I flipped through it once or twice, and then I literally never touched it again. There’s so much information available on plants online, specifically with regards to care instructions, that I find the book unnecessary. You can easily post to r/whatisthisplant or use a plant ID app (much less reliable but works somewhat) to identify plants. If you’re just trying to familiarize yourself with different species of plants, browsing plant subreddits is a good way to go.


If you want to be better at caring for plants in general, I’d highly recommend Botany for Gardeners. I haven’t finished it yet, but it really breaks down how plants work in a way that’s easy to understand but still highly scientific and in-depth. From plant anatomy, to how they grow and reproduce, this book will help you better understand your plants. It doesn’t give specific care tips, but I feel like I’ve gotten much better at caring for my plants since reading it. Far too often we’re told what to do or how to do it, rather than why we should be doing it. If you learn the way plants work, you’ll have a much better idea of how to help them when they start struggling!

u/calskin · 2 pointsr/homestead

Again, great questions. Here's a video I did on hugelkultur a bit ago. I don't recommend going to my website at the moment though because it's been recently hacked and I'm working on cleaning it up. The youtube video will be fine though. Check out that video, if you have more questions, feel free to ask.

You can do the flat raised bed idea, and I did the same last year, but I believe you will get more benefit from doing the piqued hills.

Grey water collection and rainwater harvesting are excellent ideas. I don't know if you could make use of it, but here is a super cool idea for a ram pump which requires no external input other than elevation change. Other than that, I don't know much about water tanks.

One really cool thing I've seen used is where people dig a trench under their garden and bury weeping tile in that trench which snakes around their garden. Then they connect that weeping tile to their downspout from there gutters and when it rains, they get a massive deep soak in their garden.

Swales are a fantastic thing to think about as they will help keep water on your land. Swales mixed with heavy mulching are a huge force in keeping your land irrigated. Check out greening the desert for more on that.

As for the PDC, you don't even have to pay for it. I googled free online PDC and found this.

http://www.permaculturedesigntraining.com/

If you want to learn more about it, there are amazing books which can help.

Gaia's Garden and Sepp Holzer's Permaculture

That's awesome that your SO is taking that course. She'll probably learn some really cool sustainable farming things.

Also, check out http://www.permies.com. There's tons of info there, and super amazing people who are very helpful.

u/moonpurr · 2 pointsr/gardening

Saving seeds is a serious endeavor. There is so much detail to it so I will just cover a few basics and then recommend an amazing book. You must use open pollinated seeds to save seeds that will grow true to the parent plant. I use heirloom and open pollinated seeds to grow and then save the seeds. If you are growing hybrid plants, the seeds you save may revert back to one of the parent plants bred to create your plant that you are currently growing. Many plants can cross pollinate. So the pollen taken from one plant in a neighbors yard by bees can mix with yours and then you have a Mystery plant with the saved seeds. Spacing and pollination control are key. Also letting all the plants set vegetables and grow to maximum maturity. An example is tomatoes. It is best to let a tomato sit on the vine until almost overripe and select that one to use for seed saving. Beans will have better germination rate if you let the pods dry on the vine. Different species of plants require different techniques in saving the seeds. Their is a wet method and a dry method. Sorry this is all so much and probably a bit confusing. There are thousands of more details and. I do not mean to discourage you from trying to save seeds. Here is a link that is helpful. And probably better at explaining than me rambling on. Lol!


http://howtosaveseeds.com/isolate.php


The best book I have found and am learning from daily and seasonally is titled Seed to Seed


http://www.amazon.com/Seed-Growing-Techniques-Vegetable-Gardeners/dp/1882424581


This book will go through many details and instructions that are easy to understand. The best advice I have is to learn and give it a try. Each season you will learn more and more. Best of luck.

u/cl-350 · 4 pointsr/trees

Excerpt from The Cannabis Grow Bible by Greg Green

Fresh bud (eight weeks canned curing) is the pinnacle point of cured bud. After that the THC cannabinoids rapidly change composition and lose potency. Fresh bud is far better than aged bud. You may hear of other curing processes, but canning works wonders and is affordable too.

Canning sweats the bud, which causes it to retain its smell and flavor and allows the bud to burn more efficiently. By opening and closing the can at different intervals you can control how damp or dry you want your buds to be. Try to use cans that have a larger opening at the lid – enough to allow your whole hand to fit inside. This is because some of the trichomes will fall from the bud into the bottom of the can. Use your fingers to get at these trichomes. You can gather these into a small mass they can be smoked later on.

Drying your bud helps to relax the THC particles by removing water from the bud. This makes THC easier to burn and thus more psychoactive than when it's damp. Applying heat will remove water and will affect the overall cannabinoid content of the bud. It is not a good idea to press bud or to pack tightly during the curing process, because bunching of THC particles will make them harder to burn.

Curing helps to break down Chlorophyll, which has magnesium-containing green pigments. Magnesium is responsible for the sharp and harsh taste in the back of your throat when smoking fresh bud. This is another good reason to cure your bud.

If you over dry your buds you may lose too much moisture, resulting in bud that has less taste and aroma then it should. The best way to add moisture back into your buds is to introduce new fresh bud to your cans. The new fresh buds will share their moisture with the dried bud, bringing them back to a more even level of moisture and restoring their aroma and taste. Some people use fruit slices to bring back moisture, such as apples or orange slices. These fruit slices will also add their own aroma to the buds.

If you have dried your plants for three weeks hanging upside down you can subtract that time from the canning time. Although you can have good bud to smoke two weeks after harvest, it is better to wait for four weeks or more.

u/tubergibbosum · 42 pointsr/Portland

Two general types of experience you can get: hands-on, and book learning.

The former is very important, but not too difficult to do. A fair number of people in the Portland area go mushroom hunting occasionally, even if they only know a species of two. Sucking up to the right people is surprisingly effective. Also, getting in touch with or joining organizations like Oregon Mycological Society or the Cascade Mycological Society can be immensely helpful in making contacts and finding hunting partners/mentors.

The latter is also very important, as there is some much you can learn without actually holding a mushroom in your hands. For books, accessible guides like Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest and All That the Rain promises and More are great for getting started, and heftier books like Mushrooms Demystified are good for those looking to take the next step in learning. Online, the hunting and identification board on The Shroomery, Mushroom Observer, and /r/mycology are great places to lurk and just soak in info, while sites like Mushroom Expert are good places to explore and follow what interests you.

u/corgisaretheanswer · 4 pointsr/SASSWitches

Sure! I started gathering info on YouTube, so social media witches are strangely my first true love - I get a lot of inspiration seeing actual people practice. I rec Kelly-Anne Maddox for her psychological and tarot content, and Hearth Witch for her practical info - it’s like she reads all the books and presents the best parts. I like Behatilife for astrology and predictions (though I know that’s not every SASS witches bag! She’s very motivational though).

I love Fotis Casper on YouTube for meditation music, he creates music for every full and new moon that somehow correlate with the positions of planets (he uses tones that correlate to the resonance of planets- something I’m sure science witches among us could think is cool).

I don’t particularly love witchcraft books, but when I formulate spells, Scott Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs is the best resource. https://www.healing-crystals-for-you.com is my favorite place to look up crystal meanings.

I’m super privileged to have a ridiculously amazing local new age/witch store that gives me so much inspiration.

As a bonus, my most useful crystal is garnet, and my favorite deck is the Queen of the Moon Oracle.

u/[deleted] · 13 pointsr/homestead

Sounds like you have some fantastic goals to get you going. A lot of others here have offered great advice too.

If you are in the U.S. I'll happily share some heirloom seeds that I have extras of to assist with planning your garden for Spring. If that interests you, please PM me and let me know what gardening zone you are in. I have lots of seeds to share that are suited for many climate zones.

Some general suggestions I have that you might consider include-

  • Plan the construction of a smoke house for meat preservation.

  • Start studying seed saving. If you choose to use heirloom seeds for your gardens, winter is a great time to read up on how to harvest seeds for future gardening endeavors. Here are a few resources-

  • Start experimenting with canning, fermenting, jam/ jelly, winemaking (if you drink), and other various methods of food preserving.

  • Make a list of your hobbies. What things do you love to do? What crafts to you make? Is there a way that you could create part time work from these things on your list?

  • Begin spending time at local farmers markets (if you don't already). If farmers markets are seasonal where you are, start mapping them out. IMO local farmers markets are such an amazing hub of community, information, advice and so much more. When you involve yourself with other locals in your area doing similar things, amazing connections can be made.

  • Get to know your local County Agricultural Extension Office. Every state in the U.S. has at least one. They offer so many amazing free resources and many classes. Almost all have Master Gardeners programs, offer soil testing, have demonstration gardens, sell seeds bred for your locality, offer plant pest ID, printed information and more.
u/Fixedentropy · 6 pointsr/witchcraft

This is a great reply and pretty close to what advice I was going to offer!

Any spell that has worked for anyone - may not work for you based on the intent that was used to create it. What’s in your heart might not mesh with what was in the original creators.

Instead look for spells that you feel comfortable tweaking to make them yours.

Even in so far as changing up the rituals ingredients, and even the words used to make it more personal to your will and intent.

It will definitely help you find a new path in creating your own from scratch.

I suggest Scott Cunningham’s book encyclopedia of magical herbs

To help you get started if you want to change ingredients.

And I like to map out almost like how I would map out an essay on what I want the words to be for a spell.

  • what is the intent of the spell
  • who if at all am I reaching out to if you subscribe to any deities
  • what offerings are you sharing to said deity
  • reaffirm the intent in a more personal way
  • how will I recognize that the spell has worked
  • thanks and gratitude for the universes attention

    Each point is a sentence or two used in the casting.

    I hope this helps guide you in a way that strengthens your resolve and confidence in mastering your own spells.

    If you have further questions don’t hesitate to PM
u/squidboots · 9 pointsr/witchcraft

Seconding u/theUnmutual6's recommendations, in addition to u/BlueSmoke95's suggestion to check out Ann Moura's work. I would like to recommend Ellen Dugan's Natural Witchery and her related domestic witchery books. Ellen is a certified Master Gardener and incorporates plants into much of her work.

Some of my favorite plant books!

Plant Science:

u/liquix · 1 pointr/politics

America needs to see Marijuana as a business opportunity, not a problem. We're capitalists, let's not pay taxes to incarcerate someone who could be the taxable consumer of a taxable product of a taxable industry. There are numerous low and high skill jobs directly related. Opportunity means jobs, jobs mean income and stability for America. Obama has blundered on marijuana policy, Mexico's drug war worsens, our economy is bleeding, it's time to try something new.

A new industry is something America needs right now. Tobacco helped build early America, we're no stranger to this system. It's an un-taxed estimated $35-45 billion business opportunity. We don't even have to subsidize it, there's already enough available market to privately fund it anyway. What's the harm to try? Very few living Americans have even lived in a legal drug society. Surely it could not be worse than what we have now. Our drug policy has been failing since it made our own people the enemy. Every year it costs more money, time, and lives. People are dying out in the world because of this prohibition, it's unacceptable. The solution is right there in front of us waiting to be set in motion.

"Big Marijuana" is a scary future indeed, but one much more agreeable than prison. The distribution networks in existence are already pretty local, I imagine it would be challenging to dethrone them were it legalized. It's a flower, time is definitely a factor in transportation. The flower farms of Central America and the US already have sophisticated air transport systems in place so international business may become available in coming years as well. Additionally, industrial hemp would fit perfectly into our existing agriculture industry. If it were legal, any person could grow it in their garden just like they do other flowers. Medical patients in some states already do grow their own, so I'm not worried about a Monsanto-mono-marijuana apocalypse.

It all sounds grandiose, but American industry is a powerhouse. Sometimes we forget that here in reddit internet land. It's easy to feel like we're shit and everything is hopeless in America. For many the basic physiological and safety needs have long been won, instead, love/belonging, esteem and self actualization are the battles to be won. Dynamic and adaptive policy should be a sign of honor, the will of the nation accurately guiding it's destiny. Advanced drug policy is part of the self-actualization process, maybe we're not there yet; I say we are. Other countries are beating us in drug policy and if it's one thing America hates, it's not being first place. I want to sit and laugh at how much money we're making and reminisce the old days of prohibition. I believe in that future, that's why I'm so adamant.

Have you read the Botany of Desire? If big Industry gets a hold of Cannabis like it did Corn, well, it might have been what the plant wanted!

u/Whereigohereiam · 6 pointsr/collapse

This book was my main introduction to permaculture. I'm still learning, and slowly bringing our suburban yard back to life after years of soil erosion and neglect by a previous owner.

Another good suburban food growing system is the Square Foot Gardening (SFG) (also as Square Meter Gardening) by Mel Bartholomew. I put in three small beds this year and so far the plants are doing very well.

Here's a tour of Richard Heinberg's suburban permaculture home in California.

Videos from Huw's Nursery have been really helpful

I didn't know just how many edible plants there were honestly. Industrialized agriculture could get hammered, but a vibrant home garden with permaculture principles and diverse crops could be scaled up relatively quickly. I've started some survival crops as well (e.g., hopniss, sunchoke, tigernuts) that thrive without much human intervention. If you start growing things like comfrey (non-invasive "bocking 14" cultivar!) or some other plants in Toby Hemenway's book, you could probably sell cuttings and seedlings on the side. I've heard of several people getting started that way.

It's not too late in the season to start some containers with tomatoes if you aren't growing anything yet. You don't even have to tell people that it's a prep for collapse :) People just love good food. My wife has begrudgingly put up with my new hobby, and she knows I do it because I'm very worried about collapse events. My cousin put in some SFG beds after I explained that I was worried about instabilities in our just-in-time industrial food system. Gardening is already a popular hobby, so your family will probably be supportive. And they get some delicious healthy food out of it.

Personally, the time I spend gardening is like my collapse zen time. It's healthy on multiple levels. With that said, my wife and others would claim I've gone overboard with it, but hopefully it's viewed as a kooky hobby and not a pessimistic doom funk like I was in before I started gardening. If you have any questions I'll do my best to field them (I'm a beginner myself).

One last recommendation, this collapse-aware career book by Charles Hugh Smith is really good

Don't count yourself out. You have a lot to offer the world.

u/CaedisLampwright · 6 pointsr/Homesteading

It really depends on what kind of mushrooms you'd like to grow; I wouldn't suggest the white mushrooms you see at stores to grow first; they have some pretty specific requirements to grow that makes it difficult for the home cultivator. Shiitake are really simple to grow; get some oak logs with holes drilled in them, shove some spore plugs in it, and bam, in about a year's worth of time you'll have shiitake mushrooms and they will keep coming back for many years. (With more and more every year)

Also some mushroom tips:

  • Keep everything spotless and disinfected while working. Whether you go with store bought or spores cross-contamination is a serious problem with mushrooms. As in, if you don't sterilize you will not have mushrooms. You'll have random mold and... stuff.

  • Bleach and bleach wipes are your friends

  • Sterilize EVERYTHING (Especially soil and growing mediums)

  • keep your hands washed and ultra clean

  • Keep hair tied back, latex gloves, and even a face mask to prevent your nasty mouth germs from getting on your shrooms

    Generally it's a good idea to watch videos and search for the kind of mushroom you want to grow; Paul Stamet's Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms is an awesome resource as well. You can also find a (not sure about the legality) free PDF version if you just search for it + pdf. It contains general growing information as well as specific cultivation tips of almost every mushroom you could want to grow.


    But anyway, here's some things to consider:

    Mushroom spores:

  • Wider variety of different kinds of fungi to choose from

  • Tends to be pretty expensive, but it's usually a one time investment if you're good at the mushroom growing

  • Some companies are super nice and will send you cultivation instructions/hints which you might not find

    Mushrooms from Stores:

  • Small selection, usually limited to portobello, shiitake, oyster, and chantarelles (white mushrooms are reeeaaallly difficult to grow from what I've read; I've never tried to grow them)

  • I find you have a higher chance of cross-contamination with store-bought mushrooms.

  • Much much cheaper than spores.

  • It can be pretty difficult to get spore-prints and keep them sanitary.

  • Best variety for growing from store-bought mushrooms is oysters. You can find lots of youtube tutorials on choosing which ones to get to start your mushrooms to the best growing medium, etc. etc.

    Hope this helps!
u/jmk816 · 3 pointsr/suggestmeabook

Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City is an amazing book. The main point is about Ford trying to create a company town in Brazil in order to grow rubber. But the books gives you a great picture of Ford the man, the company, what the era was like and the larger philosophical and economic ideas behind this project. Honestly, for me it read like fiction- I couldn't put it down.

They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace Vietnam and America October 1967 looks at the Vietnam war from three different perspectives, from students protesting, to the actual front and then from the government officials. The narrative is amazing and it's so well researched that it was captivating as well, but I think he really captured the feeling of the times as well, which is so great to see in a book.

Michael Pollan is know most for Omnivore's Dilemma (which is a great read) but I really love his first book too, and that doesn't get as much attention, which is still very interesting is The Botany of Desire. He goes through the history of 4 different plants, apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes. Not too interesting on the surface, but he makes the stories fascinating. It's a great in its overarching nature about our relationships with plants.

[Marriage: A History by Stephanie Coontz] (http://www.amazon.com/Marriage-History-How-Love-Conquered/dp/014303667X) is another one I always recommend. It is an expansive work showing that the idea of Marriage has been in flux since the beginning and completely depended on the culture and time period. It's well researched but also a compelling work.

u/invertedjenny · 1 pointr/gardening

Second what u/GrandmaGos says. Companion planting is mostly folklore. I do a little of it myself but I always plant my rosemary with carrots, lavender next to onions, and basil with tomatoes. But it also attracts pollinators which is important.

My mom had a community garden for a large group of kids in a local summer day camp program. Our favorites were strawberries and carrots. Most kids hated veggies and growing their own and seeing how sweet home-grown carrots were made a huge impression on a lot of kids.

For reading, I recommend Raised Bed Revolution, I got some really great plans from that book that look very nice. I also like Square Foot Gardening if you haven't read that already.

Since its a library you're at, is there anyway for the summer you could have little garden craft classes for the kids? That could be fun and keep them interested / invested. Have crafts like painting stones with the names of all the plants for plant markers. Learn about local wildflowers to attract pollinators?

u/killing1sbadong · 1 pointr/MushroomGrowers

Welcome!

I'm not sure what kind of mushrooms you are interested in, but I would say the simplest way of starting to grow gourmet mushrooms would be purchasing a pre-colonized mushroom kit. These are usually only a week or two from producing fruits and will minimize the chances that you will get contamination.

I haven't purchased from them, but something like Fungi Perfecti's indoor mushroom growing kits (link) would likely be a good starting point. This will give you an idea if you like the most straightforward parts of the hobby.

If you find that you enjoy that and find which mushrooms you want to grow more seriously, you can move on from there.

If you want to get more information, a lot of books by Paul Stamets are considered required reading, such as Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms. There is a ton of information in these, but if you've already gotten an idea of what kind of mushrooms you like, you can find a ton of information about each mushroom in this. A lot of excerpts from this are also available on the shroomery.org pages for different mushroom growing parameters.

I hope that this is useful. Feel free to ask any questions! I'm definitely new around here, but it's definitely been a welcoming community.

u/ice_09 · 3 pointsr/OffGridLiving

This probably isn't exactly what you are looking for, but I did want to give you my three favorites that relate to self-sufficiency and off grid living.

  • The Good Life by Helen and Scott Nearing.
    I really like this book as a sort of "what to expect" instead of "what to do." It chronicles Helen and Scott's decision and life to live a self-sufficient life.

  • The Encyclopedia of Country Living. This is a great resource. It covers EVERYTHING from gardening to raising chickens. It also covers cooking and canning with what you raise. It is primarily a consolidation of 40 years worth of a homesteading magazine.

  • The Foxfire series. This series is quite long and comprehensive. However, it is an attempt to chronicle the oral knowledge of rural Appalachia. Everything is essentially about self-sufficiency (including moonshining), homesteading, and living life "the old way." It is truly a fascinating series and a wealth of knowledge.

    I am not familiar with the books you listed, but I do love the three I mentioned above.
u/AeyviDaro · 1 pointr/Wicca

Read read read. When I started my journey four years ago, I started finding books on witchy topics that resonated with me: cat magic, herb magic, native American deities, Egyptology, Elder Futhark runes, general books on Wicca and witchcraft, etc. I also hit the Internet to learn more about the goddess aspect, Hindu gods, chakras, and spirit guides. I added each bit of knowledge that jumped out at me to a notebook that evolved into my first book of shadows. I made connections between ideas and formed a path that resonates well with me, but I’m constantly changing, just like nature.

Two books I would suggest off hand are The Goddess is in the Details and Everyday Witchcraft, both by Deborah Blake.

https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=the+goddess+is+in+the+details&sprefix=the+goddess+i&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_13

The very first book that set me on my path, however, was a good staple on any witch’s shelf, Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs. I’ve heard mixed reviews on Cunningham from various witches, but the truth to me is that he’s just a little more traditional, and most of the rituals in his book on Magical Herbalism don’t have to be taken so literally.

https://smile.amazon.com/Cunninghams-Encyclopedia-Magical-Llewellyns-Sourcebook/dp/0875421229/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=encyclopedia+of+magical+herbs&qid=1558376960&s=gateway&sr=8-1

https://smile.amazon.com/Magical-Herbalism-Secret-Llewellyns-Practical/dp/0875421202/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?keywords=Cunningham+herbal+magic&qid=1558377220&s=gateway&sr=8-2

As far as Tarot goes, the best advice I ever got from another practitioner is to throw away the rule book. Divining tools are meant to distract the left brain so that the right brain and third eye can open to the universal consciousness. Don’t always just read by the textbook definition of a card, but also by what you “see” and feel, and by its placement in the pattern. Some people (like me) are only able to read well for others, so if you’re not feeling it reading for yourself, practice on willing friends and strangers. Maybe avoid family right now. That can open some dark doors.

I went on way too long, but I’ve done so much research and continue to learn. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have if you want to message me. Merrily met and Blessed be.

u/iamqueeflatinah · 2 pointsr/gardening

My suggestion would be to start very small and learn all the core gardening principles -- soil, maintenance, harvesting, weed/pest control, etc. -- and then expand what you grow in your second year. The more manageable it is, the more likely you are to stick with it. Perhaps you could start with an herb garden with basil, thyme, rosemary, dill, cilantro, a few of those, then a tomato or two and maybe some bush beans or peppers. Maybe even less than that. You will get a ton of value and a lot of different flavors from just growing that little bit.

Your zone just tells you how hot/cold your area is. You are in a medium US climate so mostly this means you have a decently long season for growing, meaning you can grow the plants that need hot temps for a longer period of time - some plants need it to be 80deg for several months, while others can only be grown at the beginning and end of the season when it's coldest. Right now, you might be able to plant cold weather stuff like spinach and kale. When it warms up a bit more, you can start doing hot weather stuff like tomatoes. Look up the last frost dates for your area and it will help you know when to plant what. The zone can also inform what varieties of plants to grow - some are better for colder areas and other hot, etc. - but if I were you, as a new gardener, I'd just stick to growing the larger plants (tomatoes, peppers, etc.) that have already been started from a local nursery. They'll have stuff suitable for your zone and growing from seeds is often the hardest part for plants like tomatoes, so getting a baby tomato plant rather than the seeds can give you a better chance of success overall. it's just one less thing as Forrest Gump would say.

Check out gardenweb.com. They have a ton of good info. My new gardening book this year is The Vegetable Gardener's Bible and it's a really great book for new gardeners.

Local extension office and the farmer's almanac are also great resources. Also, check out Pinterest. There are a ton of ideas on there.

u/fomentarius · 2 pointsr/mycology

Look into local chapters of the mycological society or mushroom hunting groups/clubs in your area. This site lists a few options. Looks like the one in Albion may be near-ish to you.

I've also found many of the links in the sidebar helpful, especially mushroom observer and the mushroom hunting and identification forum on The Shroomery. The Shroomery's ID forum is where I go to confirm my suspected ID's after keying out specimens on my own.

I use Mushrooms Demystified, by David Arora, as a my post collection ID book. It's both huge and dated (i think it's latest edition is from the early or mid 80's) so it's functionality as a field guide or the final word in ID is lacking. Even so, it is good to learn to work through dichotomous keys like the ones that it employs and it usually gets you headed in the right direction. Other guides like Rogers Mushrooms, All the Rain Promises and More, and The National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms are good resources, too (I'm sure other folks can add to this list, I'm just dropping the names that first come to mind).

As much as I clash with some of his professional/ethical decisions, Paul Stamets has contributed a ton to the accessibility of Mycology to the masses. Check out Mycelium Running and Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms as introductions to the Fifth Kingdom.

I'm also really enjoying Tradd Cotter's new book, Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation

Fungi for the People and The Radical Mycology Collective have also been hugely influential in my personal growth as an amateur mycologist. If you ever get a chance to attend any of their events, I would recommend doing it.

Best of luck and enjoy your journey!

u/CM400 · 2 pointsr/carnivorousplants

I think an American pitcher would probably eat the most, but I don't think they will be as effective as you'd like. Carnivorous plants can be difficult to care for, but they are beautiful and enjoyable to own. If you decide to try, I recommend picking up the book Savage Garden, it will give you a good basis for understanding and caring for them, and California Carnivores is a reputable place to buy them.
I mentioned Sarracenia earlier, but since it will not really solve your problem (with just a couple of plants, at least), I would personally go with one of the many sundews available, since they are pretty AND you can watch the mechanism they employ to eat, though, depending on the flies you have, they may not be very attracted to the plant.

Good luck, and I hope it works out for you.

u/Crypta · 4 pointsr/mycology

The mushroom you have there is a Red Chanterelle, inactive, although rather delicious.

If you're hunting for the real deal, try searching for Panaelous Cinctulus. They often grow in well fertilized lawns, and in or around horse dung. P. Cinctulus occurs in all 50 states and in many countries worldwide.

My best advice to you if you are serious about doing this (which you seem to be), is to learn how to properly identify a mushroom. I highly recommend you purchase a field manual such as "Mushrooms Demystified" by David Arora; it was my first mushroom book and is what spurred my now unending interest in fungi.

I know some people have made suggestions about further reading online, but, I urge you to check out shroomery.org. Besides having a ton of free information on what you're looking for, they have a very active and helpful forum that will be able to assist you in correctly identifying mushrooms. Be sure to read the rules (stickied at the top of the forum) before posting.

Goodluck and be safe. If you have any questions in the future or need a little help, feel free to PM me. Peace.

u/Au-riel · 11 pointsr/witchcraft

Not the OP but here’s a book list I recommend. Even if the books study Wicca, you can apply most of that knowledge to general witchcraft. Much of Wicca IS Witchcraft.

Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft and Buckland's Book of Spirit Communications are good books for getting a decent understanding of what could be (subjectively speaking) considered “traditional” witchcraft. I myself am NOT a fan of the Llewellyn branch of magick, as it is heavily based around forming structured groups and covens and much of the information seems more ceremonial than anything. That being said, these books give a great basic rundown into alot of different styles and tools you will most likely be using or want to use.

Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner is great if you want to go down the Wicca path AND it’s made specifically for solitary practitioners along with having some of Scott Cunninghams own spells in it as well.

Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs is a good rundown of many common and uncommon reagents used in witchcraft along with their metaphysical uses. Reader's Digest Magic and Medicine of Plants despite the name is a more practical and scientifically written book on the historical and medicinal used of many N. American plants.

Inside the Mirror Box: Spells and Theory for All Practitioners was actually written by a friend of mine. His book gives alot of information on actual spellwork, along with a large selection of Mirror Box spells and a short section on other uses for mirrors (such as divination).

And finally the Encyclopedia of Spirits is a great reference guide for those of us who want to work with specific entities. The author covers the full gamut of spirits and deities from the ancient gods to christian saints and archangels to lesser known spirits.

u/Booby_Hatch · 3 pointsr/gardening

I have to also recommend the Square Foot Gardening book, mostly for all it has to offer someone who is kind of starting with the basics. Once I read that I then branched off to various web sites, including reddit. MIGardener, while in Michigan and not at all your climate or mine, has tons of videos on youtube that are great for the beginner. If you follow him on Facebook you'll get a notification when he puts up a new video on youtube (though he has enough now you could lose a whole weekend watching them). He also just started selling seeds for $0.99, so if you're looking for an online seller, there you go.
My first garden, a 4' x 4' raised bed, was done strictly according to the Square Foot Gardening (SFG) method. I learned so much that first season about timing, soil, watering, etc., and even had some very successful veggies! My second season didn't go so well but that had nothing to do with what I had or hadn't learned. This is my third season and I've started several plants inside, ready to put them into my garden in a month or so. I will still be using all that I learned from my SFG book though I have a better idea of what plants I can crowd more than he recommends. Regardless, the book is still vital reference material for me. I even consulted it Saturday night for some seedling information.
For the existing plants, you might want to google them specifically (ie, 'pruning rosemary' or 'caring for my rosemary bush'). I got a ruled notebook and made one page per veggie/fruit that I was interested in and noted the information I found that was specifically important to me. The other stuff just kind of lays dormant in your brain until you get more involved in gardening and then it just pops out when needed! Good luck and enjoy! (I too plant tomatoes though I don't care for them much, unless in pico de gallo. I started 8 different types this season because it's so fun to watch them grow!!)

https://smile.amazon.com/All-Square-Foot-Gardening-Revolutionary/dp/1591865484/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486443200&sr=8-1&keywords=square+foot+gardening

u/gtranbot · 3 pointsr/politics

Successful organic gardening and farming is a question of figuring out how to turn what seem like liabilities into assets. It seems like you have too much sun. Try putting up some shade cloth to block out sun during the most intense parts of the day. Mulch your plants. A lot. Mulch will save you.

Read some books. Eliot Coleman's books are fabulous, and contain a lot of good general information even though the author lives in Maine. I particularly recommend Four Season Harvest. Gaia's Garden is great, and is well suited to someone who owns very little land. Teaming with Microbes is an easy-to-read introduction to bringing your soil to life. And Roots Demystified has some great information about how to best design watering systems for specific plants you're growing. These books all have good pest-fighting information.

You can PM me if you have any questions. Get started!

u/Fatboat · 2 pointsr/mycology

I can't speak to some of those questions with great certainty, I don't have any formal education in this topic. Though I know enough to hunt for many edible mushrooms.

And a copy of Mushrooms Demystified.

What book are you referencing?

Concerning the spore measurements, you do indeed need a microscope to discern individual spores.

Though taking a spore print of a mushroom is pretty simple, Here ya go.

> If you don't want to separate the cap from the stem, make a hole in an index card, place the card on a paper cup and slide the stem of the mushroom through the hole until the underside of the cap is resting on the card; then proceed as above.

You assure that you will not make a big mistake by sticking to tried and verified mushrooms that are well documented.

Search engines are an incredible resource for learning this kind of thing.

Many people who love mushrooms love to share their knowledge so many resources are available online.

Most importantly you should find people to hunt with to help you ID your finds.

Good luck, happy hunting!

u/WestinHemlock · 2 pointsr/gardening

In Seattle you can direct sow lettuce and greens starting around March 15th, we are after last frost date so beans should be ok, though they would perfer warmer soil. Tomatoes could go out under cover pretty soon, I dont usually actully plant them till May. You will have better growth if you plant your pepper and tomatoes (and squash) in black containers, the black pot will help provide the soil heat that the tropical plants need to thrive.

Your plot looks ok, I would bury the grass clods upside down, also you will probably need to lime the soil. Raising the height of the bed above the surrounding area will increase soil temp and make for better drainage. Soil west of the Cascades are universally acidic and low in phosphorus. A quick soil test will tell you the PH, Dolomite lime and Agricultural lime are what you will need to raise your PH. Further details are in Steve Solomons Growing Vegatables West of the Cascades.
http://www.amazon.com/Growing-Vegetables-West-Cascades-Edition/dp/1570615349

PS,
Plant Peas to improve your soil, Cascadia and Oregon Sugar Pod II are great varieties for our region, you can direct sow around 1 inch apart any time after valentines.

Good luck and happy gardening.
http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/38531/em9057.pdf

u/predatoryplants · 4 pointsr/SavageGarden

There are some really awesome books out there:

The Savage Garden is always a great gift, but if he's an expert then he probably already has it. California Carnivores sells books signed by Peter (the author,) which could be fun.

Do you have an idea of what specific plants he's into (Nepenthes, sundews, Sarracenia)? If there's a specific type that he's passionate about, Stewart McPherson's books are incredibly detailed and beautiful (they're on Amazon too.)

Plants are a good way to go, but it's risky if you don't know what you're doing. If he's on any forums (Terraforums, etc) then he might have a "want list" posted. I know it's a stretch, but if you can find that then you're in great shape. If you happen to know of specific plants that he's after, PM me and I can try to help you source them.

u/Lentspark · 2 pointsr/microgrowery

That is a loaded question. Growing will really depend on what style you feel suits your goals and mindset. I personally opted to grow using sustainable practices and focusing all of my attention on the soil food web. Permaculture. I use some basic Korean Natural Farming ferments and I follow a "no-till" 10-day feeding schedule. I'm all about mother nature and trying to be as clean and responsible as a cultivator, and as a result I use less water and spend less money on providing my plant with nutrition.

Hydroponics is a whole other world, and while I will personally never go that route, I know many many people who have, and have been very successful doing so. It blows my mind what one can accomplish with the right nutrient schedule and water. However this route can be more costly in my experience. Bottled nutrients can become expensive to buy constantly, whereas I use topdressings, teas, and water that cost me little to nothing to produce. If you have an interest in the all natural sustainable practices like myself, BuildASoil.com is a wonderful resource and has taught me a lot since I started growing. Good luck, welcome, my advice: absorb it all. There is so much information out there, online, in books, on youtube. Take some time and think about how you want to grow and then research everything! The first book I bought.

u/TargaryenOfHyrule · 2 pointsr/witchcraft

Okay;First off you need a Grimoire.Its basically a spell book.You can purchase one online or write it yourself like a journal!

I highly suggest keeping a journal about magic.Write all of your experiences,feelings and failures of all the spells,rituals,invocations you have casted.
Also create a section on herbs.Write there effects down and how they make you feel!

Heres a book on Herbal Magic: https://www.amazon.com/Cunninghams-Encyclopedia-Magical-Llewellyns-Sourcebook/dp/0875421229/ref=zg_bs_12486_3/135-8205043-8790655?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PQJ6TXTK6F6GKV41VFXN

Dont worry.If your not into herbal magic you dont need to get into it :)

As for purchasing,i suggest buying traditional Magic books from Amazon.

Im not exactly sure what you may not like so heres a link of 5 books for beginner Witches,with synopsises,summaries and why it may be good for Beginner Witches: http://learningwitchcraft.com/5-best-witchcraft-books-for-beginners/

I recommend checking out this channel and watching her video about what you should be thinking of while casting a spell.

Here are 2 links from this site which is hella helpful:

https://exemplore.com/wicca-witchcraft/Witchcraft-for-Beginners-Free-Spells-Exercises-and-Lessons.

And: https://exemplore.com/wicca-witchcraft/Witchcraft-For-Beginners-The-Five-Essential-Parts-of-Casting-Spells

I wish you the best experiences as a Witch!

May you use your powers for good always.

And focus on meditating,lucid dreaming,seeing auras and Astral Projection.You are very gifted in it,so please focus on it always :)

Check out the Occult subreddit,They're
all about Astral Projection and alike :) https://www.reddit.com/r/occult/

Good luck my Witch friend!

u/AutumnRustle · 8 pointsr/MushroomGrowers

Hey friend! That's kind of a big question with a lot of detail. All the information is out there, but it can be tricky to find. I think we can all empathize with you there.

Generally speaking, all the concepts are the same, it's only the equipment that changes. Essentially, all you're doing is the following, without any of the details:

 

  1. Get a small culture and expand it

  2. Wait a few days/weeks.

  3. Use the expanded culture to inoculate some spawn. Alternately you can just buy the spawn online and skip to step 5

  4. Wait around a few days/weeks for the spawn to colonize (if you didn't buy it online).

  5. Prepare some substrate (usually sawdust/wood chips that have been pasteurized, or sawdust/wood chips supplemented with a grain bran that has all been sterilized) and inoculate it with your spawn. You can usually source hardwood sawdust/wood chips for free on places like CraigsList. If not, you'll have to buy it in the form of mulch or pellets.

  6. More waiting

  7. Expose the colonized substrate to fruiting conditions

  8. More waiting

  9. Take pictures of your grow and pretend it was all easy

     

    I usually advocate for getting a pressure cooker and beginning with grains/jars; but you said you were on a tight budget, so I'll give you some beginner-tier options to get the above accomplished. The caveat here is that they're by no means the best or least-risky methods, but you asked for a cheap way forward that is still effective, so that's what I'll give you. It would be impossible for me to list out every detail, so just ask me questions and I'll fill in the rest one thing at a time:

     

    You could pasteurize prepared wood chip/sawdust mix (substrate) in a coffee can or plastic tub (with a lid) and buy pre-made spawn online. Spawn is ≈$10-25USD and comes as bags of grains or sawdust. You can find tubs all over the place for cheap. Then you just combine the two, wait for the substrate to colonize, and fruit from there (Steps 5-9).

    You could also buy a grocery store Hericium mushroom, chop it up into slices, spread that out over moist cardboard, and let that colonize. This is a little more risky with Hericium (v. Pleurotus, which is much more aggressive). After it finishes, you would add that cardboard spawn to some pasteurized wood chip/sawdust mix in layers, then wait for it to finish colonizing before fruiting it (Steps 3-9).

    Those are both cheap ways to start out, but don't skimp on the spawn.

    Depending on the tote you use, you might need to make a ShotGun Fruiting Chamber (SGFC), which is just a tote with holes in it on all 6 sides, with some perlite or grow stone at the bottom. It's as expensive as it is to buy a tote. You'll need to find a drill and bit to make the holes. I can run you through that, too.

     

    All of this is just a basic idea to point you in a direction given your low budget. It's slightly more risky, but cheap and easy. That's the tradeoff.

    If you're in college, you might have access to a biology lab and be able to use their equipment. Glass Petri dishes, bio-safety cabinet, autoclave, possible supply of agar, etc. Let me know if you do and I'll walk you though some more advanced techniques that also meet your budget. All you'd have to do is buy a few bags at ≈$1USD each and either some liquid culture (≈$10), or even a store-bought mushroom will do.

     

    That's a super rough, dirty version. People will probably yell at me, but that's ok. I can't type out a novel here, so just ask questions about what you don't understand and we'll go from there. If you need a source that takes you front to back, go to your college library and Inter-Library-Loan "Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms" or "Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation: Simple to Advanced and Experimental Techniques for Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation".
u/WitchDruid · 2 pointsr/witchcraft

The Following list is taken from the Witches & Warlocks FB page. (This is Christian Day's group)

Witches and Warlocks Recommended Reading List
This is a collection of books recommended by our admins and participants in the group. Books must be approved by the admins so if you'd like to see one added to the last, please post it in the comments at the bottom of this list and, if it's something we think is appropriate, we'll add it! We provide links to Amazon so folks can read more about the book but we encourage you to shop at your local occult shop whenever possible! :)


BEGINNER'S WITCHCRAFT BOOKS

Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft
by Raymond Buckland
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0875420508

Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America
by Margot Adler
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0143038192

Grimoire of the Thorn-Blooded Witch: Mastering the Five Arts of Old World Witchery
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635500

The Inner Temple of Witchcraft: Magick, Meditation and Psychic Development
by Christopher Penczak
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738702765

The Kybalion: The Definitive Edition
by William Walker Atkinson (Three Initiates)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1585428744

Lid Off the Cauldron: A Wicca Handbook
by Patricia Crowther
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1861630328

Mastering Witchcraft
by Paul Huson
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0595420060

Natural Magic
by Doreen Valiente
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0919345808

Natural Witchery: Intuitive, Personal & Practical Magick
by Ellen Dugan
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738709220

Old World Witchcraft: Ancient Ways for Modern Days
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635055

The Outer Temple of Witchcraft: Circles, Spells and Rituals
by Christopher Penczak
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738705314

Power of the Witch: The Earth, the Moon, and the Magical Path to Enlightenment
by Laurie Cabot
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0385301898

Solitary Witch: The Ultimate Book of Shadows for the New Generation
by Silver RavenWolf
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738703192

Spirit of the Witch: Religion & Spirituality in Contemporary Witchcraft
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738703389

Witch: A Magickal Journey
by Fiona Horne
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0007121326

Witchcraft for Tomorrow
by Doreen Valiente
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0709052448

Witchcraft Today
by Gerald Gardner
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0806525932
The Witches' Craft: The Roots of Witchcraft & Magical Transformation
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/073870265X
The Witching Way of the Hollow Hill
by Robin Artisson
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982031882

WITCHCRAFT HISTORY AND RESOURCE BOOKS

Aradia or The Gospel of the Witches
by Charles Godfrey Leland
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982432356

Encyclopedia of Mystics, Saints & Sages: A Guide to Asking for Protection, Wealth, Happiness, and Everything Else!
by Judika Illes
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0062009575

The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca
by Rosemary Ellen Guiley
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0816071047

Etruscan Roman Remains
by Charles Godfrey Leland
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1494302519

The God of the Witches
by Margaret Murray
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0195012704

The Weiser Field Guide to Witches, The: From Hexes to Hermione Granger, From Salem to the Land of Oz
by Judika Illes
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578634792

ADVANCED BOOKS ON WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC

Blood Sorcery Bible Volume 1: Rituals in Necromancy
by Sorceress Cagliastro
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1935150812

The Deep Heart of Witchcraft: Expanding the Core of Magickal Practice
by David Salisbury
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1780999208

Teen Spirit Wicca
by David Salisbury
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1782790594

Enchantment: The Witch's Art of Manipulation by Gesture, Gaze and Glamour
by Peter Paddon
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936922517

Initiation into Hermetics
by Franz Bardon
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1885928122

Letters from the Devil's Forest: An Anthology of Writings on Traditional Witchcraft, Spiritual Ecology and Provenance Traditionalism
by Robin Artisson
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500796360

Magical Use of Thought Forms: A Proven System of Mental & Spiritual Empowerment
by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowick and J.H. Brennan
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1567180841

Magick in Theory and Practice
by Aleister Crowley
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500380679

The Plant Spirit Familiar
by Christopher Penczak
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982774311

Protection and Reversal Magick
by Jason Miller
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1564148793
Psychic Self-Defense
by Dion Fortune
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635098
The Ritual Magic Workbook: A Practical Course of Self-Initiation
by Dolores Ashcroft-Norwicki
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578630452
The Roebuck in the Thicket: An Anthology of the Robert Cochrane Witchcraft Tradition
by Evan John Jones, Robert Cochrane and Michael Howard
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1861631553

The Satanic Witch
by Anton Szandor LaVey
http://www.amazon.com/Satanic-Witch-Anton-Szandor-LaVey/dp/0922915849
Shadow Magick Compendium: Exploring Darker Aspects of Magickal Spirituality
by Raven Digitalis
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003VS0N5K
The Tree of Enchantment: Ancient Wisdom and Magic Practices of the Faery Tradition
by Orion Foxwood
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578634075
The Underworld Initiation: A journey towards psychic transformation
by R.J. Stewart
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1892137038

HERBALISM, CANDLES, INCENSE, OILS, FORMULARIES, AND STONES

A Compendium of Herbal Magic
by Paul Beyerl
http://www.amazon.com/dp/091934545X

Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs
by Scott Cunningham
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0875421229

The Enchanted Candle: Crafting and Casting Magickal Light
by Lady Rhea
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0806525789

The Enchanted Formulary: Blending Magickal Oils for Love, Prosperity, and Healing
by Lady Maeve Rhea
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0806527048

Incense: Crafting and Use of Magickal Scents
by Carl F. Neal
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738703362

Magickal Formulary Spellbook Book 1
by Herman Slater
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0939708000

Magickal Formulary Spellbook: Book II
by Herman Slater
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0939708108


SPELLCASTING AND SPELLBOOKS
Crone's Book of Charms & Spells
by Valerie Worth
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1567188117

Crone's Book of Magical Words
by Valerie Worth
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1567188257

Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells
by Judika Illes
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061711233

Everyday Magic: Spells & Rituals for Modern Living
by Dorothy Morrison
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1567184693

Pure Magic: A Complete Course in Spellcasting
by Judika Illes
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578633915
Utterly Wicked: Curses, Hexes & Other Unsavory Notions
by Dorothy Morrison
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0979453313
The Voodoo Hoodoo Spellbook
by Denise Alvarado
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635136

The Voodoo Doll Spellbook: A Compendium of Ancient and Contemporary Spells and Rituals
by Denise Alvarado
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1578635543


THE ANCESTORS AND WORKING WITH THE DEAD
The Cauldron of Memory: Retrieving Ancestral Knowledge & Wisdom
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738715751

The Mighty Dead
by Christopher Penczak
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982774370

Speak with the Dead: Seven Methods for Spirit Communication
by Konstantinos
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738705225
The Witches' Book of the Dead
by Christian Day
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635063
_____
TAROT

78 Degrees of Wisdom
by Rachel Pollack
http://www.amazon.com/dp/157863408

u/najjex · 2 pointsr/mycology

I would not recommend the Audubon guide it is very out of date (this can range from outdated taxonomy all the way to toxicology that has changed over the years). It is useful because it lists species other guides lacks but you'll learn to hate it.

Buy a location specific guide. It depends on where you live. If you get really into field hunting buy some specific guides that give you a more in depth understanding and help you not to die. Joining a local mycological society is also an extremely valuable resource in understanding mycology.

Here's a bit of everything

Regional guides

Alaska

Common Interior Alaska Cryptogams

Western US

All The Rain Promises and More
Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest

Mushrooms Demystified This is an old book, while still useful it definitely needs updating.

The New Savory Wild Mushroom Also dated but made for the PNW

Midwestern US

Mushrooms of the Midwest

Edible Wild Mushrooms of Illinois and Surrounding States

Mushrooms of the Upper Midwest

Southern US

Texas Mushrooms: A Field Guide

Mushrooms of the Southeastern United States

Common Mushrooms of Florida

A Field Guide to Southern Mushrooms It's old so you'll need to learn new names.

Eastern US

Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians

Mushrooms of Northeast North America (This was out of print for awhile but it's they're supposed to be reprinting so the price will be normal again)

Mushrooms of Northeastern North America

Macrofungi Associated with Oaks of Eastern North America(Macrofungi Associated with Oaks of Eastern North America)

Mushrooms of Cape Cod and the National Seashore

More specific (Advanced) guides

Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World

North American Boletes

Tricholomas of North America

Milk Mushrooms of North America

Waxcap Mushrooms of North America

Ascomycete of North America

Ascomycete in colour

Fungi of Switzerland: Vol. 1 Ascomycetes A series of 6 books.

Fungi Europaei A collection of 14 books.

PDFs and online Guides

For Pholiota

For Chlorophyllum

American species of Crepidotus

Guide to Australian Fungi If this is useful consider donating to this excellent set of guides.

Websites that aren't in the sidebar

For Amanita

For coprinoids

For Ascos

MycoQuebec: they have a kickass app but it's In French

Messiah college this has a lot of weird species for polypores and other things

For Hypomyces

Cultivation

The Mushroom Cultivator: A Practical Guide to Growing Mushrooms at Home (If your home is a 50,000 sq ft warehouse)

Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation: Simple to Advanced and Experimental Techniques for Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation

Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms

Mycology

The fifth kingdom beginner book, I would recommend this. It goes over fungal taxonomy Oomycota, Zygomycota and Eumycota. It also has ecology and fungi as food.

The kingdom fungi coffee table book it has general taxonomy of the kingdom but also very nice pictures.

Introduction to fungi Depends on your definition of beginner, this is bio and orgo heavy. Remember the fungi you see pop out of the ground (ascos and basidios) are only a tiny fraction of the kingdom.

NAMA affiliated clubs

u/saurebummer · 4 pointsr/mycology

For a pocket guide I'd recommend All That the Rain Promises and More. It has a little bit of a bias towards species in western North America, but it's still very useful in the east (I'm in New England and I love it). Mushrooms Demystified is pretty big for taking into the field, but it is a great companion to ATtRPaM, and it is the best all around field guide for North America, in my opinion.

u/motku · 8 pointsr/Denver

Ethical Concern: The GMO corn is trademarked by <insert well known chemical company here> and the seed is sold to farmers who invest in it. Corn propagates by wind, neighbor farmer did not buy in but now his seed stock is infiltrated and the trademark owners sue him for stealing seed stock or some other violation of copyright. Local farmer caves to relentless legal pressure, soon all food stock is owned by corporations. This could get really wild (The Windup Girl), but so far that's still sci-fi, right?

Environmental Concern: Most GMO crops are created by chemical companies who in turn make products effective on plants that were not created by them. Rather than taking time to work with the environment these companies amass petrochemical sprays (a further economical cost to the farmer as well) and bombard regions so their plant survives. This chemical mixture goes into the soil and water where it in turn effects us; you do know that ALL drinking water is recycled I hope.


So you might be right, there might not be concerns on the healthy diet level (though we all know how wonderful the American diet is for us all). But there are larger socioeconomic issues here as well. To lock this only on a healthy for diet issue is absurd. I highly recommend Botany of Desire (book or PBS) as the potato chapter is enlightening on this measure (from an economic standpoint). Basically; organic food is far more economic in terms of space, maintenance, and profit per square foot.

u/salziger · 1 pointr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon
  • I have a zoology degree too so that's a fantastic major :) Part of getting my degree included taking a Parasitology class. We had to do a lab about tapeworms, which meant extracting tapeworms from the intestines of a critter (don't want to go into too much detail...). The next day during lecture, our professor came in with a thermos and proceeded to scoop out long, white, stringy tapeworms, then EAT THEM! The whole class was freaking out when he started giggling and told us they were Ramen noodles. It was a class I will never forget no matter how much I'd like to!

  • Most wonderful time

  • Best of luck to you in your studies!

  • In the school of life, I'm trying to learn more about gardening. This book would help me in my studies and to be a more efficient gardener. Thank you for the contest :)
u/Eight43 · 2 pointsr/gardening

Your first year I suggest growing vegetables like paste tomatoes and some nice roasting peppers. Paprika is a particular variety of sweet or hot peppers that have been dried and ground to a powder. Usually the grocery stores sell 2 varieties: Hot or sweet. Another redditor recommended the Alma peppers for a nice paprika.

Before you plant a large, fussy but interesting, tree get some experience under your belt. Gardening can be expensive and some of the more exotic and interesting plants and trees come with a big price tag. You can quickly kill many dollars. I did that when I first started my garden (but with perennial flowers) so, I'm trying to stop you from making (what can be) a costly mistake.

The best place to start is to get to know your garden site's sun and soil. Does it drain well? Does it need amendments? Is it full sun, partial sun or full shade?

A really good way to go is to first read Gaia's garden and plant smart with permaculture.

A cool and interesting 1-season plant that likes full sun and a trellis is loofah gourds.

u/Erinaceous · 4 pointsr/Permaculture

Try to get your hands on Edible Forest Gardens ( vol 1 and 2 ) by David Jacke and Eric Toensmeier. It's the premier work on Eastern North American ecological agroforestry.

Martin Crawford's work is also very applicable since he's in a humid zone 3-5 ish British climate. His book is an amazing resource.

The Bullock Brother's have done a lot of work in Cold climate permaculture but they're in Washinton so it's still more humid.

Great Plains ecology is an interesting biome though and I'm not sure there's been a lot of work done on food forestry in that particular climate. I know a fair amount of work has been done on perennial grasslands but it gets more complicated since you are dealing with elements of dryland design and cold climate design. Some tropical techniques for water retention aren't going to work since frost is going to be a factor. Probably the best technique would be to follow the ecology and design around coolees since that's where great plains deciduous forests tend to thrive.

u/grandzooby · 2 pointsr/Portland

Plenty of my friends garden here. I think it can be difficult to grow things that need lots of intense sun (tomatoes only do so-so), but lots of other stuff can be grown.

This book:
Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades The Complete Guide to Organic Gardening by Steve Solomon is supposed to be pretty definitive for this area. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1570615349)

You can also go to the many farmers markets for fresh produce and advice on growing your own.


As others have said, it's not so much the rain, but the grey. I don't think we get that many inches of rain, but late fall, winter, and early spring can be dreary. But you can drive 80 miles up the gorge and be in sunnier but colder weather.

We get very little snow... maybe one or two days a year where it sticks. A couple years ago, we had snow on the ground for almost a week.

I remember calling my dad (who lived in Wisconsin) one day in the spring. I was out mowing the lawn and he had just shoveled 2 feet of snow off the sidewalks.

I love it here. I'd enjoy living short-term in other places, but of all the places I've already been, this is the one I like the most.

u/Onyxnexus · 2 pointsr/suggestmeabook

Sup homie,

Now firstly before I get into the actual books I am going to recommend Dan Carlin's Hardcore History podcast - He's effectively doing audiobooks via podcast these days (I'm actually re-listening to "Prophets of Doom" at the moment, it's about 4 hours 30 minutes of excellent storytelling of historical events) - Really, really recommend that. (you can also buy all the old episodes).


Now onto the History Nonfiction books themselves:



Michael Pollan - The Botany of Desire - While somewhat more of an analysis of how plants have become and evolved according to human cultivation the book does an excellent job of historically breaking down each major event and process involved.



John H. Mayer - Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan's Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe That Ended the Outlaws' Bloody Reign - Title says it all. Pirates. Open seas. History. Strong recommend.



Alfred Lansing - Endurance - Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - If you love an amazing story of stoicism, heroism, and amazing leadership then anything about Shackleton should be on your list. This epic tale follows Sir Ernest Shackleton's voyage on the Endurance with the aim to cross the Antarctic - which failed. What happened next throughout the following months is an monument to the incredible spirit of a man, his crew, and the desire to get everyone home.

If you need more try looking into the below:

Niall Ferguson - The War of the World

William L. Shirer The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich A History of Nazi Germany

Andrew Roberts - The Storm of War

Jared Diamond - Guns, Germs, and Steel

Marcus Aurelius - Meditations

u/jamesvreeland · 5 pointsr/succulents

Sure thing. We're just setting it up for the winter, as most of her plants do very well outside (Detroit). Are you looking at a year-round terrarium setup, or a place to maintain them across a cold/wet season?

She went through and sorted everything by light/temp/water needs and figured out that her cephalotus/sarracenia (potted pitchers), drosera(sundews), and most of her pinguicula (butterworts) will be ok with a similar temp range - so they are all going into the same tank. I've been voluntold that I'm building risers this weekend to make sure each one gets the right amount of light - from a 4' x 4 tube T5 light setup that rests on top of the tank, just like an aquarium. There is a waterproof heating pad under the tank, and a thermometer inside to keep tabs on temp.

The top easily comes off and a couple pieces of plexi keep humidity constant. Since they won't be naturally hunting inside the tank plants can be dropper feed a thinned out 16/16/16 (maybe 18/18/18 - I don't know these things) solution, or you can apparently get wingless fruit flies or freeze dried mealworms.

Her nephentes (hanging/tropical pitchers) are getting cycled between window rods and the big shelving unit for succulents/orchids.

These books are definitely worth checking out:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1607744104/ (great wide overview)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1505891604/


TLDR:

  • 4'x'2'x2' - 75gal tank (3 sided, removable mylar blanket)
  • undertank heating pad
  • 4' x 4 tube T5 light on top
  • risers to create platforms at 12"/18"/24" from the light

    Hope this helps. If you have any questions, PM me and I'll direct you to the expert. All of my knowledge comes from whatever I need to order online or construct to support the habit.
u/jamdrumsspace · 89 pointsr/Showerthoughts

Bingo. There's a whole school of study and thought around the concept of animals and plants which have taken the evolutionary route of being useful and harvestable to another species in order for themselves to thrive. I highly recommend The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan, which explores how the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato have all evolved to serve a specific human desire. Good stuff. Personally, I'm fond of chickens. There are more than 20 billion chickens on Earth at any given time simply because they're delicious and relatively easy to raise for harvest. It's a great strategy, chickens aren't going extinct any time soon. In a way, they're gaming the system.

u/tripleione · 1 pointr/gardening

If you're looking for a vegetable gardening book, my favorite one is Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew. It's got everything you need to know about successfully starting and growing a basic vegetable garden from scratch.

I think the best part about this book is that the methods explained in it are pretty much a fool-proof way of growing great plants the very first time. As you gain more first-hand experience, you can start to add, remove or tweak things that make will improve your garden even more.

u/bonsie · 2 pointsr/gardening

i can personally attest to the benefits of building your garden this way. i think i pulled 2 weeds all season and my tomatoes, peppers, sunflowers and lettuce did great! i have already started next year's garden and can't wait to try a few new things! some added bonuses (other than not having to till) are that with this technique you don't have to disrupt the ecosystem under the soil and the cardboard actually draws the worms up into your garden, adding even more fertilizer. i will never build garden any other way! an excellent book that talks about this and other ways to create and work with a natural ecosystem is gaia's garden. it teaches you how to have a beautiful, useful yard/space with minimal work.

u/bluesimplicity · 6 pointsr/Permaculture
  1. Water is life. You want to keep as much water on your property as long as you can. Have you put in swales on contour or keylines to stop, spread, sink the water into the soil so the trees can benefit?

  2. What is your soil like? Is it acidic or alkaline? Is it compacted? Eroded? Deficient in minerals? Is it more clay or loam or sandy? Have it tested. There are ways to improve the soil. If it's compacted, you can deep rip. If it's acidic, you can add lime and dolomite. If it's clay, adding gypsum will break up the clay. Pioneer trees can also help break up soil with their deep tap roots. Forests are usually alkaline while pastures are more acidic. Forests have more fungi where pastures have more bacteria. You can get a jump start on changing over the soil if you take some starch like rice to a forest, leave it on the ground for several days, collect it, and scatter it where you want the fungi to take over. There are things you can add to increase the soil microbes that are so beneficial: compost, compost tea, bio-fertilizers, and inoculates on seeds.

  3. What do you want to accomplish with a forest? Are you wanting to use some of the trees as a wind block? Are you wanting to stop some of the soil erosion along the stream? Are you wanting food (fruit, nuts) or fodder for animals or fiber or timber for building or trees that bloom to feed bees or trees for coppice or trees for firewood or a mixture? If you know what you want, then you can consult some books and local permaculture groups for trees that will live in your site-specific conditions that provide the function you want.

  4. For each tree, you'll want to plant multiple nitrogen-fixing support plants that you will sacrifice so that the desired tree has nutrients. Legume trees, shrubs, and ground covers add nitrogen to the soil that will feed the main trees. Over the course of several years, you'll chop and drop the nitrogen fixers several times. Besides adding nitrogen to the soil, they will also shade out grasses and other non-desirable plants until your trees are established. You can also mulch with straw to shade out pioneer plants you don't want. Timing is important. You want to plant at times that give the plants the best time to get established. You'll want to chop and drop the nitrogen-fixing support species when the rains come. You'll want to use the mulch and cover crops at the same time as you plant your trees to prevent weeds from taking over. You'll want to time when the trees produce food. You can plan some early crop, mid-season crop, and late crop varieties. Thinking about your timing carefully.

    Resources:


    Creating a Forest Garden by Mark Crawford.

    Edible Forest Gardens by Dave Jacke and Eric Toensmeier

    Forest Gardening by Robert Hart


u/tianas_knife · 3 pointsr/Wicca

Usually, for every magickal endeavor you want to make incense for, there is a household correspondence that you can use to make it. We wouldn't be Witches if we weren't crafty, right?

Some texts that will help you find correspondences (If you can't buy them yourself, you can always browse them at a bookstore and take notes. Places like Barnes and Nobles carries these kinds of books. They are worth buying secretly and sneaking home, imho.) :

u/Kalomoira · 6 pointsr/Wicca

Not specifically Wiccan but potentially some form of witchcraft. Wicca is a pagan religion that employs witchcraft in its rituals whereas "witchcraft" is a category and as a whole pertains to various types of folk magic (thus, Wicca is just one form, there are other types of witchcraft). Most of what is encountered in the US is Neopagan witchcraft, which is mostly derived from European folk magic. However, (outside of Neopaganism) there is also Afro-American Hoodoo (rootwork, conjuring) which sometimes calls for burying objects as well. Depending on your location, there could be a stronger likelihood of the latter.

When it comes to Neopaganism, basically you have individuals who pursue some traditional style of spellcasting (either utilizing traditional methods or drawing inspiration from them) while others create spells with symbolism they've created. However, a difficulty with pinpointing what something buried could be is that the largest segment of Neopaganism is Eclectic, i.e., practitioners who develop highly individualized systems that draw on various sources in addition to personal innovations.

So, you're not necessarily going to be able to look at something and determine what the person who placed it there practiced or what they intended. There can be general indications. E.g., anything with a poppet (doll) would indicate it's a spell either for or against a person, discerning which can potentially be puzzled out by what else is with it.

In terms of identifying magical use and lore regarding herbs, the best book (IMO) on it would be The Master Book of Herbalism Paperback by Paul Beyerl

Scott Cunningham was a prolific writer and while there is debate over his books regarding Wicca, he was well regarded for his knowledge in herbalism and magic. His books are an easy read, such as:

Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs & Book of Incense Oils and Brews by Scott Cunningham


Catherine Yrodwode is well regarded in the practice of Hoodoo, she runs the luckymojo.com website and has authored various books, here's a link to one of her online articles:

Laying Down Tricks & Disposing of Ritual Remnants in the Hoodoo Tradition - Catherine Yronwode


These just scratch the surface and there plenty of other sources others might cite, but these will give you a sense of direction.

u/wordwords · 7 pointsr/kitchenwitch

this book is a nice older resource for the magical uses of herbs. This article is a very simple primer to give an idea of kitchen witchcraft. You can also use resources like
http://www.witchipedia.com for a starting point if you just need general knowledge on something. this live journal article (What a throw back website!) has a lot of suggestions for books in different areas of kitchen witchery.

One of the easiest things you can do is start working intent into your daily, weekly rituals that already exist: banish as you clean, bless as you cook, etc. I like how this page lists some examples of how to work in a bit of kitchen witchcraft to your life. Kitchen witchcraft has an inherent magical quality that is actually super easy to incorporate.

I definitely suggest you start noting things down as you come across them, either digitally or in a physical book. This will help you learn as well as form the foundation of your grimoire/ book of shadows/ whatever you choose to call it.

Cc: /u/vampiras

u/modgrow · 5 pointsr/homestead

I am relatively new to this subject and these books have been useful for me:

The Urban Homestead A good introductory book that touches on a lot of relevant topics.

Gaia's Garden This is not specifically a homesteading book but it is a very useful book for growing food and learning about small scale permacultural design.

Four Season Harvest Another useful book for growing, especially for those of us in cold climates.

Country Wisdom & Know How A fun reference for many homestead topics.

u/sunpoprain · 1 pointr/gardening

This is an amazing book for learning what can fit where. Remember that it is more for advanced gardeners so start small. Use it as a guide on long term plans.

This is a great guide to low-cost or free soil creation/amendment It also has a great guide to growing almost every veggie/herb. It works amazingly as a substitution for the very expensive recommended soil in This great guide to planting closer together to avoid weeds

Some ideas for reducing water usage:

Sub-Irrigation (there are a great many ways to do this, this is just one)

Hugelkultur Looks like shit but creates an amazing wood "sponge" under your gardens. After 2 years you pretty much don't need to water again (if done correctly). You also get a constant stream of nutrients from the wood breaking down. It is possible to "contain" hugelkultur beds to create more of a "I mean to do this!" order so people don't think you are just piling shit up everywhere.

u/reflectives · 1 pointr/farming

Welcome axxx. I am on similar acreage and also grow organic vegetables. I'm going into my second season and I'm making many changes after all the mistakes I made last year! It's great to hear that there is a community of farmers helping each other out. We got many seeds in last week as well and put them under fluorescents in the basement. I am striving to create a sustainable farm.

Here are some resources if you don't know of them:

National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service -http://attra.ncat.org/

Excellent science based gardening book that has made me update my practices - http://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microbes-Organic-Gardeners-Revised/dp/1604691131/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1301667399&sr=1-1

Do you know these guys? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSvLkh5oOsY&feature=related No-till is less energy intensive and makes the soil healthier. I am going to be experimenting with it this year.

How many years have you been after it? Would love to discuss farming anytime. Glad to have you.

u/holyshiznoly · 2 pointsr/Portland

It's a very unique environment here with a short growing season. I guarantee this book will set a lot of things straight, just ignore his dogmatism. You can buy it at any nursery, it's basically the bible of veg gardening in the PNW.

Besides reading that book the other thing I strongly anyone to do is use seeds selected for our region. It matters more for tropicals (tomatoes, etc.) but it's always a good idea. Territorial seeds is a good place to start but try to order everything at once, because they criminally overcharge on shipping for small orders. They are also available at most nurseries.

Slugs are inevitable and need to be treated with Sluggo or some (organic?) alternative. Make sure to do a dose in the fall to get the f*ckers before they reproduce. Consider indoor/hydroponic gardening if a short, rainy, sluggy season isn't your thing. Or to supplement to your outdoor garden (it's cheap to grow salad greens indoors, tropicals are another matter).

Lastly some years are "cabbage years", so no matter what you do, we won't get enough sun to get a good crop. Therefore, if you like cabbage you're in luck, because cabbage always produces year after year.

u/tasty_pathogen · 2 pointsr/Frugal

Since you say that you live in a rural area do you live in a house with a yard? One really good way of saving money on food is to start a garden. Gardening is a skill that is fun and can be learned. It is also a fun hobby. If you use the raised bed method then there is almost no maintenance work needed once you have it all set up. Another popular method is Square Foot Gardening. If you use permaculture methods then there is no need to constantly buy fertilizer.

From September to November we will be spending $0 on buying fruit. The apple and pear trees from the community garden provides all the fruit we need for this period. All you can eat pears and apples does get a bit boring after a while though. We have enough winter squash to last us into next year.

Our community garden patch is 30x30 feet. We don't grow food on all of it. It supplies most of our vegetables during the fall.

We kind of overdid it on the Swiss Chard this year. Been eating way to much of that stuff. The beets were nice this year as well. (Don't forget that you can eat beet greens.) Still eating the potatoes from the fall harvest. Hopefully they will last till Christmas but I'm not sure. The New Zealand spinach was nice as well. The yellow zucchini was really nice. The tomatoes were wonderful.

u/Farty_McFartFart · 3 pointsr/gardening

Apples are this way because the fruit takes the traits of both parents and most orchards use crabapples as the second parent. Other fruits and veggies act the same (squash is one that comes to mind). For these types of plants, in order to get a "pure" seed that isn't cross contaminated, you need to hand pollinate and then tie up the flower to avoid cross contamination. Or you have to separate varieties by as much as 400 feet.

Beans, on the other hand can cross pollinate but it doesn't happen often because pollination happens before the flower opens (since bean flowers are consider perfect, self-pollinators).

There are several books on seed saving and web resources that can tell you what seeds are the easiest to save and harvest and what seeds require more manual intervention. The most popular book on seed saving is Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners, 2nd Edition.

u/HayZues1 · 25 pointsr/DIY

Great work!

I put in several similar beds last spring as well. I've been gardening for nearly a decade now, but this is my first year doing raised beds using Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot method. I plan to dabble in some permaculture techniques eventually.

I can't say enough about the Square foot gardening if you want to maximize the yield in smaller spaces. I grew 8 tomatoes using the described method--1 plant per square foot--and several others using my previous method of "let 'em bush out like mad".

For larger indeterminate tomatoes, I'll never go back to the bush growing ways. The bush method works best for determinate and small tomatoes like cherries or grapes. For the square foot method the idea is to build an 8ft tall trellis and train them vertically. Pinch all suckers off once or twice weekly, which results in a single vertical stem/vine per plant rather than a giant tomato bush.

You'll get less yield per plant, but considerably higher yield per square foot of space. Tomatoes grown this way ripen quickly, and entire sets of fruit ripen together. The fruit is more uniform and less likely to be damaged by pests, and it's dramatically easier to harvest. It takes a bit more management to keep them pruned and trained, but it's well worth it come harvest time. I can't suggest it enough.

The square foot method isn't as great for some other veggies, however. Brassicae (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, etc) need way more than 1 sq foot per plant. Want to grow squash or melon? Better dedicate an entire bed to it. I was shocked at how well it works for tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, salad greens, herbs, etc though.

u/gumbystruck · 2 pointsr/gardening

Baker Creek Herloom seeds has a very useful website. Under all of their plants they have reviews. Also if you go to their Facebook page they have a guy named Matt that teaches a lot about gardening on their live feeds. Also a good starter book that I enjoyed just staring out was [square foot gardening ](All New Square Foot Gardening II: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More in Less Space https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591865484/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_xoHRybVDJT2Y6)
And The [Vegetable Gardener's Bible ](The Vegetable Gardener's Bible, 2nd Edition: Discover Ed's High-Yield W-O-R-D System for All North American Gardening Regions: Wide Rows, Organic Methods, Raised Beds, Deep Soil https://www.amazon.com/dp/160342475X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fpHRybBXSA45A) if you have any gardening questions you can PM if you would like and I would love to help.
Also I'll compile a list of my favorite resources for gardening.

u/patiencemchonesty · 1 pointr/worldnews

For anybody who doesn't want to die of this, please purchase and read and implement a book called Gaia's Garden: Home Scale Permaculture, by Toby Hemenway.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1603580298/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1603580298&linkCode=as2&tag=postapocaly06-20&linkId=H4IG4LBBPBLWVVGQ

We can't control The Middle East or even our own national legislatures, but we can change our personal ecosystems, our neighborhoods and villages.

This is a very inspiring but practical book that offers concrete solutions about how to improve water retention, soil quality, energy use and food production on your own land. It teaches a set of principles from a "design science" called permaculture, or regenerative agriculture. It CAN help.

Cheers.

u/shorinbb · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

Purple Nurple

I have tons of passions. My biggest passions are equal rights, justice, and farming. Equality and justice are really important to me and farming is something I really enjoy doing.

This book reminds me of my passion of farming

u/bruceOf · 2 pointsr/collapse

Just start small and you will learn a little more each season. I started last year in pretty much the same place, with a square foot garden. Ordered some seeds from a seed library local to my region. I was shocked that anything at all came up from those seeds! I grew a huge crop of the most beautiful and wonderful simple vegetables in two 4x4 boxes. (cucumbers, tomatos, lettuce, carrots). Some sort of beatle attacked all of my green beans. And the lettuce grew quick in the early spring but most of it rotted in the ground because who can eat that much lettuce! Now I try to share the excess.. I ended up giving away bags and bags of cucumbers on craigs list and made my very first batch of homeade tomato sauce at the end of summer! This year we added a compost bin and a third box. We are flush with radishes right now - which come up super quick :) http://www.amazon.com/Square-Foot-Gardening-Second-Revolutionary/dp/1591865484/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464224162&sr=8-1&keywords=square+foot+garden

u/kmc_v3 · 5 pointsr/preppers

Oh, cultivating mushrooms for food is another good skill. They'll grow (if you pick the right kind) on any kind of wood or paper scrap. They don't need soil or light, just a little water misting and ventilation. The spent growth medium also makes for fantastic compost and you may even get bonus mushrooms in your garden!

The main challenge in mushroom growing is sterile technique, since any environment that's good for mushrooms is also great for growing mold. Sterile technique takes practice, but the equipment needed is minimal. The main thing you need is a pressure cooker, which is also extremely useful for canning and cooking — essential prepper equipment, imo.

You can also use mushrooms to decontaminate soil — "mycoremediation". I can't speak to the effectiveness, nor the safety of eating the resulting mushrooms (I would throw them out; some organic molecules will be broken down, but not heavy metals). However in a survival situation, this could be a good way to get more usable land for plant cultivation.

Check out Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms by Paul Stamets. I recommend starting with oyster or shiitake. In fact you can buy prepackaged kits for growing these, which makes a good beginner project.

u/ndt · 3 pointsr/Survival

A really good book on seed saving is Seed to Seed. Highly recommended.

The quick answer is keep them cool and dry. Glass is better than plastic (as in mason jars) and you can buy those little dehumidifying packets to toss in there as well. When they are dry, you can freeze most seeds safely where they will last for decades, but you must avoid a repeated freeze thaw cycle. You lose a little every cycle.

Seeds vary greatly in their longevity. Some like onions will lose a great deal of their viability in a single year under less than ideal conditions. Others like the brassicas (colllards, kales, broccoli) can go 5 years with basic care.

u/berticus · 9 pointsr/gardening

Actually, you should put the seeds in water for few days to ferment them. This removes a coating that inhibits germination, supposedly. Then continue as above.

Pole beans you should just be able to save. Make sure you're not planting hybrids of either plant, or your saved seed will give you unpredictable results.

This book is often recommended. I read it and it was helpful, and will be a really good reference for when I can actually start doing it. There are other factors to consider, such as cross pollination and such, and they're all covered here for each and every plant you could possibly want to grow.

Also... I read Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties and was fascinated. She touches on seed saving, and of course gets into cross pollination (on purpose this time!) and genetics and such. It was really exciting to read, in a total geek sort of way.

u/Lagomorph_Wrangler · 4 pointsr/RedditDayOf

There are a couple different species you could potentially keep in a kitchen environment as long as you have appropriate conditions.

Your best bet is going to be to check out /r/savagegarden, read Barry Rice's Carnivorous Plant FAQ and if you start getting serious, purchase a copy of The Savage Garden which is probably the best book around for learning how to grow carnivorous plants.

In terms of species that will do well in that environment, you're probably going to want to look at the genus Drosera (Sundews) or maybe Nepenthes (Tropical Pitcher Plants).

The best Sundews for your purposes are going to be:

  1. Drosera capensis - Cape Sundew

  2. Drosera binata - Fork Leafed Sundew

  3. Drosera spatulata - Spoon Leafed Sundew

    Those are all fairly easy to cultivate and as long as fairly appropriate conditions are provided, they will thrive.

    I'm not really certain of what Nepenthes would be best, as I don't really grow too many of them.

    For "around the house growing" you're going to have to keep two major factors in mind.

    • Light - CPs require lots and lots of light to do really well, this can be provided by either a windowsill with direct light exposure for a decent part of the day, or by appropriate growlights, which can be used exclusively, or to supplement natural lighting.

    • Water - Most CPs need Distilled or Deionized water to thrive, the other stuff destroys their roots and can kill the plant, so you need to either install a Reverse Osmosis filter, or just buy a jug or two of distilled water from your grocery store. You're also going to want to keep their humidity high, which can definitely be achieved in any kind of household environment.

      Last thing, don't worry about the black thumb, I have an extremely pronounced one, but CPs seem to be just about the only thing I can actually grow! They're pretty easy to grow once you get a hang of it!
u/TheGreenChandrian · 2 pointsr/NoTillGrowery

You should take a look at "Teaming with Microbes" by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis. It helps paint a picture of what kind of life we are trying to keep alive in the pots by using all of the inputs as well as mulching and watering schedules.

I think /u/abjectCitizen has a done a great job describing the process. I will also recommend taking a look at build a soil's earlier blog posts. They show the process of filling/transplanting/watering during a grow that I found to be pretty helpful. They also carry quality products you really can't find elsewhere (powdered aloe and coconut water being two I purchased).

u/jediknight · 2 pointsr/Romania

Momentan citesc Growing Gourmet Medicinal Mushrooms. :)

Inainte de ea am terminat 12 Rules for Life.

Urmatoarea probabil o sa fie Skin in the game.


> Bonus: Cartea preferata.

Nu prea mai am o carte preferata. Sunt mai multe aflate la nivelul maxim din varii motive si nu prea pot alege intre ele.

"The Gift" a lui Hafiz si "Felicity" a lui Mary Oliver sunt doua carti de poezie care mi-au placut enorm si pe care le pot recomanda fara ezitare. :)

u/c4stiron · 2 pointsr/SavageGarden

Yay ! New CP people :)!


For water: Do not use Tap water. Use Distilled, Reverse Osmosis, or Rain water only.

​

Dormancy has been covered above. Where do you intend to keep your VFT? Inside / outside?


California Carnivores are a great resource for care tips :)
https://www.californiacarnivores.com/collections/venus-flytraps-dionaea-muscipula/products/dionaea-m-typical-deluxe-potted


Also a good resource is the CP bible
https://www.amazon.com/Savage-Garden-Revised-Cultivating-Carnivorous/dp/1607744104

u/Dzunner · 2 pointsr/microgrowery

If I may suggest some good reading on the subject, The Cannabis Grow Bible is great for a fact based start. After that I would sign up at THC farmer's forums. Some of the best growers on planet Earth over there that can help you with ANYTHING you may ever want or need. Your grow should always be kept simple and clean, that is what will give you consistent results as long as you follow the growing discipline that you agree with the most. Grows run into all of the problems when people try and mix and match disciplines.

u/jowla · 1 pointr/gardening

Short answer: Yes, Use compost tea.
Long Answer: This book

This article by Dr. Elaine Ingrahm is a pretty good intro to the process. She's one of the leading experts on the soil food web, and was essentially the inspiration for the above mentioned book.

Good luck!

u/skeeterbitten · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

Botany of Desire. The title turned me off, but it's actually really interesting and my whole family has read and enjoyed it.

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary lives in North Korea Serious stuff, but so fascinating.

Stumbling on Happiness. Fun read on human nature and happiness.

u/TemptThePuffin · 2 pointsr/todayilearned

> I don't just leave them locked outside all day.

Doggie door. Cutting a hole in the side of my house is the absolute best life enhancement in terms of bang for buck.

Best of luck on moving to the country. This link and most of the recommended books at the bottom of the page are awesome.

u/lobsterandi · 1 pointr/gardening

Yep. The reason you will find so much conflicting data is because plants grow different in different places. Like, drastically differently, in some cases.

Your local extension will most likely have things most relevant to your area. Otherwise, I have really enjoyed this book because it gives good data, including soil temp and several different methods of plant spacing, trellising, etc. It may not be as detailed as you'd like because it often doesn't give root depth, but it will tell you the best soils, pH, and other helpful information in a well-organized format.

u/BlueberryRush · 4 pointsr/conspiracy

Sepp Holzer is also from Austria and has done some great things and written a few books.

Toby Hemenway's book, Gaia's Garden, is fantastic.

If you only care about growing vegetables in a garden bed, there are a lot of books on how to get started and any one of them would work for you. Go to a used book store and see what they have, I'm sure you'll find something you like.

u/mcbeacon · 2 pointsr/humansinc

sadly, permaculture has been the victim of greenwashing. Check out Gaia's Garden: http://www.amazon.com/Gaias-Garden-Second-Home-Scale-Permaculture/dp/1603580298

The core concept of permaculture is to integrate systems into each other so intimately that the waste streams of a single process become input for others and eventually recycle into the first. Rainwater harvesting, grey-water plumbing, black-water irrigation and purification, and food production can all be tied together to make the most of the water that you collect, and by mulching the compostable materials on the property you can create healthy happy soil that is exponentially safer than pumping in pesticides and fertilizers to make it viable.

Often, its not that technology has been overlooked, Its that technology harms the land that it is used on. Such as row planting and mechanized plowing. By planting only ONE crop, the farm's soil instantly loses most mirco-nutrient content due to lack of plant diversity. The large machines come in and destroy the fungal and bacterial water networks that take many years to develop. With these gone, and the crop layer having been harvested, there is no water or biomass to hold down the top soil and we get dust storms, while the farmer has to spend tons of money to aerate and fertilize the sand which he hopes to grow food on again.

Sorry to be so long winded, but Permaculture takes every method by its input/output and matches it to a system that can handle those flows. IF you can create a system that is healthy for the planet, uses less (or no) oil, and creates healthy food for millions, then permaculture can save agriculture, but imho, its gotten too big to tame, and we need to look at other avenues to provide food security.

u/MyDaddyTaughtMeWell · 2 pointsr/lifehacks

Yes, they appear after a branch has established itself. You just wanna gently pinch them off as they appear. Think of it as, "No two branches can be in the same space at the same time." Like a physics lesson n shit. Don't let your starters get too tall before you plant them, this is called "leggy" and a leggy tomato plant will not be able to support itself, tomatoes need a lot of nutrients from the soil and they can't get that if they are all plant and not enough root.


Definitely get a book! The Vegetable Gardener's Bible is kind of as good as it gets. It is important to put some thought into gardening and I like learning about stuff, but I think that over thinking it can end up making it feel like more work than it is.


Good luck with your garden!!

u/utini · 3 pointsr/mycology

This is where I get my mushroom plug spawn.

There are many others out there but I pretty much stick with Everything Mushrooms.

Here's a good page on how to do the log cultivation.

I used Gulf Wax instead of cheesewax because I wanted the logs to be vegan, turns out cheesewax is still vegan.


It's good to have a second person. My grandfather was a huge help having a lot of experience with torches, tools, and lumber in general. He marked a 5/8" drill for the proper depth and drilled all the holes while I went around with a rubber mallet nailing the plugs in.

Once we finished drilling and hammering we rigged up an old food can with some metal handles and melted the wax in it with a torch. Using some old craft brush, I'd dip the brush in the hot wax and dab it on all the plugs, the g'pa would reheat the wax as needed. Then we stacked the logs. Now, we wait.

It's probably too late to do an outdoor cultivation unless you happen to be in a part of the world that isn't going to go below 50 degrees F for another few months. There is always the PF Tek.

If this stuff fascinates you then you need to do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Paul Stamet's Mycelium Running. It doesn't get into step by steps but covers a wide variety of cultivation methods with lots of pictures of insane outdoor grows.

u/IchBinEinBerliner · 3 pointsr/gardening

Gaia's Garden, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle are two great ones. Gaia's Garden regards permaculture and making your garden more in touch with what occurs in nature. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, while it is not a "Gardening" book, is a great read and was what inspired me to start a garden as soon as I moved out of my apartment to the country.

u/Rimblesah · 2 pointsr/occult

Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs is kind of close to a no-brainer for herbs.

The best advice for runes from the runemaster that taught me was to ignore the meanings and definitions floating around out there and look at historical material, for example the rune poems, and decide for yourself what each rune means. It's more work but gives you a more intimate understanding of the runes. If you would prefer a reference work that provides meanings for each rune, there are dozens of books out there. Or just buy a set of runes; most come with such a reference. If you want to put in the extra effort, Stephen Pollington's Rudiments of Runelore is an excellent and academically-oriented resource.

Good luck!

u/WarWizard · 2 pointsr/DIY

In general what you want to do sounds okay. There are definitely approved methods for "old work" stuff like this.

(insert usual get a permit, do it legally, etc etc)

I'd recommend you buy something like this and make sure you read through it carefully and check with your city building department, etc.

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-Complete-Wiring-Updated/dp/159186612X

u/ZVPalu · 2 pointsr/LSD

I hugely appreciate Nature. Had a few encounters with the intelligence of nature and I experienced a glimpse of what it feels like to be a tree while being guided by a shaman in Peru. I found that so many things are treated with ignorance and the real beauty of nature has to be perceived as a whole. What goes on underneath, in the soil is truly remarkable.
Read this book after my experience that made me realize how little we know and understand:
https://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microbes-Organic-Gardeners-Revised/dp/1604691131

u/kleinbl00 · 6 pointsr/Permaculture

Toby Hemenway would disagree with you.

the aggressive nature of bamboo is greatly overstated. This is partly due to the fact that things like sidewalks actually make it more aggressive - it will eagerly shoot under 24" of concrete to come out the other side. It is also partly due to bamboo's need for trimming - in the wild, all sorts of critters eat the shoots when they're small so only a few ever reach the crown. However, there are all sorts of bamboo barriers that do a righteous job of containing bamboo even if you're too lazy to go out and eat the shoots every now and then.

Is bamboo a voracious grower? Yes. Are its rhizomes tough to eradicate once a clump is established? Yes. But compared to some perfectly mainstream-acceptable plants like ivy and blackberries, it's a pussycat. People freak out about bamboo because it's what the cool kids do. Likely there was someone who moved into a house with a bamboo grove in the back, decide to take it out, and discover that it doesn't go quietly.

I once had eight sawed-off 55gal drums full of golden bamboo. They were beautiful. They were also on pallets, in a parking lot, 150 feet from the nearest bare earth.

That didn't stop total strangers from walking up while I was watering and saying "better be careful, that stuff will get away from you!"

u/ArsenicSulphide · 1 pointr/mycology

The Mushroom Cultivator is a fantastic book. Can't do without it. Sterile culture, expansion, fruiting, everything. Must have. Same goes for all of Paul Stamets' books, really.

Cloning is actually pretty easy if you have the right environment and a few bits of kit. Good luck! I look forward to photos of your grow.

u/TheZarg · 7 pointsr/SeattleWA

Then go for it.

If it seems uncommon here, probably most people here are just too lazy, as it takes time to maintain a veggie garden, so easier for them to go to the store. Also, since we are pretty far north on the globe, our growing season won't be as long as what you might be used to in Turkey, and different kinds of produce might be better for our climate and growing season.

If you really want to get into it, there is a great book written by a guy that founded a great seed company (Territorial Seed Company).

This is his book : https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Vegetables-West-Cascades-6th/dp/1570615349

I had a huge garden in my yard one year, based on this book. It was amazing, but it took up a lot of my free time so I scaled back to just a single container to grow a few tomatoes. I'll probably do a large garden again someday -- after I retire.

u/Stoicdadman · 1 pointr/daddit

Thanks! Its a great project that can teach alot and just keeps giving. Its an 80/20 thing. How to get 80% of a full size garden in 20% of the space with minimum effort. The guy who wrote the book on it, Mel Barthlolmew was an engineer who specialized in efficiency...So he does a pretty good job, though the book reads goofy AF.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1591865484/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525897028&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=square+foot+gardening+book+by+mel+bartholomew

u/Taricha_torosa · 31 pointsr/mycology

A friend took me when I was a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed college kid. I took our findings to a mycologist on campus who spent 20 minutes describing proper browning-in-butter protocol. I was hooked- both on mushrooming and the goofy people involved. I already collect field identification books, so I have a shelf in my bookcase just for mushroom ID and foraging. Every time i go out i try to ID a new mushie. Anything im super lost on i take to a mycologist friend in town, or i email the prof at OSU (which is 30 minutes drive) and bug them with it.

I also have permits for personal collection of mushrooms in all the local national forests (most were free) and researched the county and state park rules for collection on their property. Gotta be responsible, yo.

I recommend picking up All That Rain Promises and More (link) and the unabridged Mushrooms Demystified link2 because i reference both a TON, The first one is waterproof, and David is a certified goofball.

u/BarryZZZ · 2 pointsr/shroomers

Agar plates are best used and handled "upside down" with the surface of the agar facing down. It's harder for crud to fall up.


Put a speck on a plate or two and have five or six as backups. This is a multispore culture so a bunch of siblings should start up and go into completion for space. As the growth spreads clear wedge shaped separations should appear as some of the siblings outrun the weaker ones. You can take an inoculum from the leading edge of a fast grower to transfer to clean plates, grow that out and you are ready to go to grains. Just cut a hunk of colonize agar out with a sterilized X-acto blade.


Got mold? Resistance is futile.

What if the first bit of gill shows mycelium and bacterial or yeast contaminants?


Cut a slab of agar out of a clean plate and cover that entirely with it. The mycelium can easily grow through and emerge on top, clean. The bacteria or yeast will remain trapped beneath. Source: Paul Stamets


Hit YouTube for vids on basic aseptic technique. The learning curve on agar can be steep, the rewards are huge.

u/ofblankverse · 0 pointsr/collapse

Oh ok. There is info on micronutrients in my forest gardening book. Apparently most of the US has the right kind of geological history, meaning there is very little risk of those micronutrients being depleted (since plants need so little of them and the subsoil is still pretty young). Certain areas (like in the SE where I am) need more careful balancing of the ecosystem in order to not deplete them too quickly, and are more sensitive to ecological disturbances like clear cutting.

A proper ecosystem cycles these nutrients via dynamic accumulators. This family might have planted comfrey, for example. The comfrey uses it's deep-reaching roots to take in the micronutrients from the subsoil. It stores it in it's tissues which you can then harvest and add to your top soil.

This family in California are not exporting 100% of their produce, they are composting, planting dynamic accumulators, and growing on young subsoil. So they shouldn't have any problems with micronutrient depletion for centuries.

u/ToadsUSA · 4 pointsr/Mushrooms

My favorites are:

Roger Phillips Mushrooms and Other Fungi....
https://www.amazon.com/Mushrooms-Other-Fungi-North-America/dp/155407651X

David Arora Mushrooms Demystified
https://www.amazon.com/Mushrooms-Demystified-David-Arora/dp/0898151694

Audubon Society Field Guide:
https://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-Society-American-Mushrooms/dp/0394519922

DK Mushroom Book:
https://m.barnesandnoble.com/p/mushrooms-dk/1127751094/2689838557184

This last one is a big beautiful hardcover book with a lot of different mushrooms from around the world and some excellent pictures:
https://www.amazon.com/Book-Fungi-Life-Size-Hundred-Species/dp/0226721175

Other than that it would depend on your region because I have some guides I love that focus on my region.

u/Danr2442 · 1 pointr/GrowingMarijuana

Temperature needs to be within a certain range (Can not get colder than 50°f or 10°c, but you can get as hot as 110°f or 43°c. 75°f/24°c is ideal). Certain strains will grow easier outdoors (Couldn't say, most distributors will say if the plant is good to grow outside). You also need to watch for bugs really carefully.

Buy a book, I would suggest the cannabis grow bible.
https://www.amazon.com/Cannabis-Grow-Bible-Definitive-Recreational/dp/1931160589

It will cover pretty much everything you'll need to know.

u/ryanmercer · 1 pointr/collapse
u/pedanticist · 3 pointsr/IAmA

Kudos on studying mycology, do you intend to get a degree? Chanterelles are steady awesomeness. But Macrolepiota procera is some tasty meat...as are M. americana and M. rachodes. Mmmmm. Did you find them in the woods, or in an urban habitat? Also, what species of chanterelle did you eat?

Sooo, uhm.

  • There is no accurate detailed mushroom identification guide for the semi-experienced. As a semi-experienced mushroomer, you should be able to garner information from as many sources as possible, including mycologically astute members of your community, local mycological societies, various field guides and keys, and of course, the interwebs. The internet is an awesome place for ID fun. Mushrooms Demystified is the standard, though.

  • Restaurants are sometimes hard to crack. Find your local dining out guides and try to get a sense of the menus. Look for folks who specialize in "local" and "slow" foods. Stay away from corporate stuff. Often the only option is walking in with mushrooms. Phone calls usually fail. You must persevere and be tough.

  • Yes, there are. So many. Many members of the genus Russula are some of the tastiest mushrooms out. All of the edible members of the Boletaceae that I have sampled have been awesome. Several Lactarius mushrooms are notable. Hmmm. This is a big topic... I've eaten some 200 species of mushrooms.

  • This is an open ended question that could break me. Like a buffer overflow. I see bears. I fall down. My vehicle leaves me stranded. It hails. I find too many mushrooms. I encounter people i know in the middle of nowhere. Get hassled in the forest by the feds. I find stuff - flint-making equipment, a hatchet, laptop memory, abandoned camps... old bottles, the legacy of timber harvest, trash of all origins. I'll come back with a nice story, right now I've gotta go deliver 7 lbs of chanterelles to a local restaurant.
u/req16 · 1 pointr/vegan

> I understand what you're saying about plants, but all I'm saying is that reacting to stimuli in order to flourish does not mean that a plant can "experience" in the same way that animals can.

I didn't say plants and animals experience the same. Obviously they don't, as they don't have brains, nor senses in the way animals do.

Do you think animals do anything differently than react to stimuli? Your response to this post when you read it is already 'decided' at the moment you read it, you're not going to be able to actually do things any differently than your past up to that moment's influences will have you do. This post is stimuli, and you will react accordingly. Just as I can't help but reply :)

> You're conflating "striving for life" with "experiencing life". You were saying that it was good to you that you're alive. It makes no difference to the plant's "psyche" whether it's alive or dead. It has no experience either way.

The plant not experiencing in the way we do does not mean the plant does not have interests. Plants are very interesting, we domesticate them and they likewise domesticate us. The Rose for example is a plant that continued to evolve to appeal to humans to help it survive and spread across the world. There's a lot about this, The Botany of Desire is a very interesting read.

All life acts the same way, replicates, tries to survive as well as it can. Plants and animals both do this, as do other microorganisms, all life does this.

> Not quite. Of course I grant you that life exploits other life, but I don't grant you that this is fine. You are making the value judgment by saying it's okay, and I am disagreeing for reasons that include things like suffering.

I start with nature and when things try to deny inherent aspects of nature I look at them very skeptically.

Why don't you think it's fine that life exploits other life? How can it be any other way?

It's almost like you want nature to exist where nothing dies and nothing suffers?

u/kindobi · 3 pointsr/shrooms

Not by any means perfect but this book made it really easy to get started and have successful grows on my first few tries.

The Psilocybin Mushroom Bible: The Definitive Guide to Growing and Using Magic Mushrooms https://www.amazon.com/dp/1937866289/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_TZ64CbY36KCSZ

u/happybadger · 9 pointsr/shroomers

Ever since I read this book with my vegetable garden in mind, I've been really curious about putting a fungal species in both that and my cannabis/hemp tent to create a mycorrhizic relationship. Especially with a plant like cannabis where you're constantly fertilising it, it intuitively seems like it would boost nutrient uptake over the more or less sterile way I'd otherwise grow it indoors. Neither PF cakes nor grain spawn managed to take in the garden this year though. I think my next step is using the spent 50/50 from a monotub, maybe with additional straw on the surface, as a compost mixed in to the smart pots.

How do you do yours? Do you take it all the way to flowering in the monotub or transfer it?

u/Jechira · 2 pointsr/Permaculture

Everyone here has already covered all I was going to say. In some of your comments you said you wanted to learn more about permaculture might I recommend Gaia's Garden. It is very general but it gave me a really great foundation for permaculture and the lists and ideas are fantastic.

u/tiny_chicago · 1 pointr/gardening

Mel's book is great. However, I think he's very optimistic about spacing. It may be theoretically possible to plant things at those intervals, but a new garden plot needs a few years to develop the biodiversity it needs to achieve peak productivity.

I didn't use much other than Mel's book my first year. I think Teaming With Microbes is essential reading. If you understand soil, you'll understand your plants. Building Soils Naturally is also a good one and it's a little less dry.

I'll also say that Mel's "soil mix" did not work well for me at all. I don't have abundant sources of organic matter available, so I took his suggestion to mix 5 types of store-bought compost. I don't think commercial compost is a sufficient replacement for the homemade stuff. Perhaps if you mix it together with a small amount of homemade compost and let it decay for awhile, it would be better.

That said, plenty of people have success following Mel's book to a T, so your mileage may vary.

u/Crskub · 1 pointr/mycology

You did not trouble me at all, please keep researching because there is lots of good information on here and you may come a crossed and expert who could really help you more. I would recommend you order this book from your local library “ Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms” by Paul Stamets

Amazon link:
Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms https://www.amazon.com/dp/1580081754/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_pNRIBbYJKPYP1

YouTube video: of Paul Stamets and Joe Rogan interview
https://youtu.be/mPqWstVnRjQ

u/echinops · 2 pointsr/forestgardening

The two absolute best books on the subject. I'd also recommend Gaia's Garden for some useful plant lists. Also, West Coast Food Forestry is a nice comprehensive list of little known plants.

u/dizzyelk · 1 pointr/Christianity

So far the best book I've read has been Guns, Germs, and Steel. Right now I'm reading Botany of Desire, which is pretty interesting. And after I finish that I think something old-fashioned and cheesy would be nice. So I'm probably going to read Edgar Rice Burroughs's Venus series.

u/stoicsmile · 3 pointsr/mycology

That warm tray looks like it will work just fine for this project.

In the future, I would recommend Pleurotus ostreatus (Blue Oyster) for cooler growing temperatures. It is an oyster, so it is aggressive and easy to grow, and it has a lower optimum temperature for colonization and fruiting.

There is a good book by Paul Stamets called Growing Medicinal and Gourmet Mushrooms. It contains break-downs of the optimum growing conditions of pretty much any kind of mushroom you could think of growing. If you want to continue with indoor growing, it is an incredible resource.

Warning: Stamets is a little crazy.

u/alecbgreen · 8 pointsr/todayilearned

If anyone wants to read a good account of the tulip craze, read Michael Pollan's "Botany of Desire." It looks at 4 plants as 4 examples of how humans have interacted with plants throughout history for various reasons: tulips for beauty, potatoes for storage, marijuana for changing consciousness, and apples for breeding new varieties. Its a fun read!

PBS has it online for free: http://video.pbs.org/video/1283872815/

The book is here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Botany-Desire-Plants-Eye-World/dp/0375760393

u/NotAMonsantoSpy · 1 pointr/Permaculture

You're definitely wise to approach things as a skeptic. I was talking with a fellow permie once about all kinds of permie things, and I thought they seemed quite rational. Then, they started talking about energy healing. That was a "smile and nod" moment. I swear, we're mostly sane.

Teaming with Microbes and Teaming with Nutrients might be helpful books to check out. They don't directly address mineral accumulation, but it explains the processes through with accumulation occurs, if that makes sense. They're very thorough books that will make you wish you had paid more attention in Bio 101, but they're written in an engaging way.

This study is on bioaccumulation, though they're testing for heavy metals and not nutritional value. Maybe their methods are explained.

As far as comfrey goes, I know it dredges up minerals from the subsoil with its remarkably long roots. As the leaves die, they decompose on the ground and the minerals become available in the topsoil, which then makes those minerals available to other plants who don't have such deep roots.

Legumes, however, have bacteria colonies surrounding their roots that make nitrogen from the air available to the plant. When the plant dies, it decomposes and then the air-harvested nitrogen becomes available in the soil. Usually, we innoculate legume plantings with the bacteria. It occurs naturally in soil, but may not necessarily be present in every square foot of soil. So, better to be safe than sorry.

u/artearth · 2 pointsr/Greenhouses

I just took a look at your post history and it looks like you are in Newfoundland, CA?

I think your best bet is leafy greens. The leaf arrives before flowers, fruits and seeds, so is a safer option than most. Many greens will grow while there is enough sun and then stop, but will not die in a greenhouse and so can still be harvested in December and January.

Here's a Mother Earth News article on winter hoophouse crops. If you are actually providing some supplemental heat you are way ahead of the game. If you've got twenty bucks to spare or have a good library, get a hold of Four Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman—a huge resource for winter growing.

u/astropsychonaut · 1 pointr/shrooms

Well it depends on your style of learning, but there's a great book on Amazon about growing Also, there are TONS of videos on youtube about how to grow. It was a little bit of a learning curve, but once I figured it out, it's actually pretty easy. There's basically 2 phases. Innoculating the jars and growing the mycelium, and then taking those "cakes" (the mycelium covered material) and placing them in a chamber for the mushrooms to grow from them.

u/seedsofchaos · 1 pointr/homestead

We were using reclaimed barn wood for most of them until the wood fell apart. I think it was mostly 2x8s and 2x6s. There were a couple of 2x12s that we were lucky enough to find and grow some carrots in last year. With raised beds, I love to recommend starting with square foot gardening if you've never done it before because it teaches you so much about soil preparation and maximizing space... Plus the book is a fun read: https://smile.amazon.com/All-Square-Foot-Gardening-Revolutionary/dp/1591865484/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525783437&sr=8-1&keywords=square+foot+gardening+book+by+mel+bartholomew

u/flip69 · 1 pointr/mycology

Well, that's a good thing to be and do

If you're really interested, this is a good book to have

Many fungi are indeed edible and many of those are medicinal along several fronts. It's good to learn about them :D

u/Polydeuces · 2 pointsr/homestead

Depending on how much space you've got, this one is pretty nice: The Backyard Homestead. There's a little bit of everything :)

If you're into permaculture and that kind of thing, I'd recommend Gaia's Garden and Edible Forest Gardens, Vol 2. Be warned, Edible Forest Gardens is a bit like reading an engineering text!

u/soccermomjane · 1 pointr/gardening

a good way to get into vegetable gardening is to try square foot gardening. you do not have to use a fancy raised bed, it can be made with cinderblocks but the methods are great for a beginner since it is all outlined in this book. Mel Bartholomew has a proven method that is easy to follow and does not require much in the way of supplies other than soil and seeds.

u/Closetmedicinegrow · 9 pointsr/microgrowery

Find out what he uses as his water source, if it's tap or he manually buys distilled/R/O water, consider getting him a 5 stage reverse osmosis filter, that one's $89 which is a very good deal imo.

As far as books go, this one from Greg Green is recommended by many, as well as this one by DJ Short, a decades long professional grower. Lastly is one of the most recommended books I see posted, by Jorge Cervantes.

Otherwise, I'd try to familiarize yourself with his setup, maybe take pictures if possible and I could try to suggest things you could buy as improvements :)

u/inkoDe · 3 pointsr/mycology

TMC gives:


Spawn Run:

Humidity: 90-100%

Substrate Temp: 78-84F

Duration: 10-14days

CO2: 20,000PPM or 20% by volume

Fresh Air Exchanges: 0

Light: None



Pinning:

Humidity: 95%

Air Temp: 55-60F

Duration: 7-14 days

CO2: less than 600PPM

Fresh Air Exchanges: 4/hr

Light: 2000lux / hr for 12 hours a day. Grow-lux type bulbs recommended.

Watering: regular misting once to twice daily until fruiting bodies are 30-40% of harvest size, at which point water is used to prevent cracking.



Cropping:

Humidity: 85-92%

Air Temp: 60-64F

Duration: 5-7 weeks

CO2: less than 600PPM

Fresh Air Exchanges: 4-6 per hour

Flushing Interval: 10 days.

Light: 2000lux / hr for 12 hours a day. Grow-lux type bulbs recommended.



Edit: Giving credit where credit is due. It's a good book. Buy it.

u/theefaulted · 2 pointsr/gardening

It all depends on what you're trying to achieve.

You're concern is on par. If you only keep seeds that are from late in the season it's possible you might end up with pepper plants that put off late fruit. I generally try to save seeds from the best looking and tasting fruit all season.

One big question: Are you growing more than one variety of pepper or tomato? If so, and you did not take precautions to make sure they did not cross-pollinate, you will likely end up with a variety other than what you planted. Doesn't mean you can't save the seed, but don't expect those plants to be your main crop producers next year.

Check out the book Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth. It is the best resource on seed saving I've ever read.
http://www.amazon.com/Seed-Growing-Techniques-Vegetable-Gardeners/dp/1882424581

u/ADPrepper · 5 pointsr/preppers

Don't forget general skill books with old techniques for many of these areas, like:

The Encyclopedia of Country Living

Back to Basics

/u/dave9199 has already recommended "Country Wisdom and Know How" which I second. Really the whole series is great.

u/mave_of_wutilation · 4 pointsr/mycology

Invest in a good field guide. All That the Rain Promises and More is good to get your feet wet, and Mushrooms Demystified is the bible. Also, see if there are any mushroom clubs near you. Have fun!

u/terahz · 2 pointsr/gardening

Here is a good starter book http://www.amazon.com/dp/1591865484
You can use this method for small containers that you put on your balcony.

And a good reference book http://www.amazon.com/dp/1603424768

Good luck!

u/Cannibeans · 8 pointsr/AskHistorians

Feel free to check my sources. I'm not a historian, I just communicate the information I've been made aware of.

  1. Chang, K. The Archaeology of Ancient China. Yale University Press. (1963)
  2. Li, H. The Origin and Use of Cannabis in Eastern Asia Linguistic-Cultural Implications. Economic Botany. (1974)
  3. Li, H. An Archaeological and Historical Account of Cannabis in China. Economic Botany. (1974)
  4. Rubin, VD. Cannabis and Culture. Campus Verlag. (1975)
  5. Pollan, M. The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s Eye View of the World. New York: Random House. (2001)
  6. Ratsch, C. The Sacred Plants of our Ancestors. Tyr: Myth - Culture - Tradition. (2003)
  7. Booth, M. Cannabis: A History. Thomas Dunne Books. (2004)
  8. Russo, EB. Mechoulam, R. Cannabis in India: ancient lore and modern medicine. Cannabinoids as Therapeutics. (2006)
  9. Russo, EB. History of cannabis and its preparations in saga, science, and sobriquet. Chemistry and Biodiversity. (2007)
  10. Clarke, RC. Traditional Cannabis cultivation in Darchula District, Nepal: seed, resin and textiles. Journal of Industrial Hemp. (2007)
  11. Gray, AW. Rasmussen, WD. Fussell, GE. Mellanby, K. Nair, K. Ordish, G Crawford, GW. Heilig, S. Shiri, R. Origins of Agriculture. Encyclopedia Britannica. (2015)
  12. Staelens, S. The Bhang Lassi Is How Hindus Drink Themselves High for Shiva. Vice. (2017)
  13. Long, T. Cannabis in Eurasia: origin of human use and Bronze Age trans-continental connections. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. (2017)
u/thomas533 · 1 pointr/urbanfarming

>Really, I want mini donkeys more than anything but fear we don't have quite enough space.

If you were only getting the donkeys, and were willing to devote the whole property to them, I'd say you had enough space, but with everything else you want to do, I think you would end up having to confine the donkey to a smaller area than would be good for them. Goats don't need as much space, but they are going to be hard to contain.

And don't try to do too much at once. I started with bees, and I'm really glad I didn't try to do chickens at the same time. It would have been too much to manage. I've now had the chickens for over a year, and I finally have a good system down, so I think I will be able to add something new next year.

Get a copy of Gaia's Garden and Square Foot Gardening. That will be enough to get you started.

u/ColdWeatherAquaponic · 2 pointsr/aquaponics

Alex Veidel has been doing research and experiments with non-manure-based compost in aquaponics. He did a talk on it at the Aquaponics Fest, and is writing an article in Aquaponics Survival Communities this month on possible issues with compost.

I know that inoculations have become quite popular in hydroponics as of late. This might be partly because they've realized that aquaponics systems actually grow faster once they're mature, and that this must have something to do with bacterial or fungal nutrient uptake improvements.

Human knowledge in this area is severely lacking. We know so little about how microbial communities influence plant growth, we might as well be cave-men scratching drawings on a cave wall. For a good read on this topic, check out Teaming With Microbes.

Vlad Jovanovic at Aquaponics Source Forum might have some ideas for you.

u/BearskiMcBear · 2 pointsr/DIY

It's kind of cheesy, but I have been really happy with books like this and this and this and this.

u/simtel20 · 1 pointr/Fitness

The best history I've read is Michael Pollen's Botany of Desire. Specifically as it relate to the monocultures of apples that are produced for their color and sweetness, compared to their original use as something to create alcohol.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375760393?v=glance

Unfortunately the free preview doesn't give you much of substance, but the opening section is about apples in the new world.

Also note that we only mass produce and mass consume the sweetest fruits. E.g. navel oranges aren't a common type of orange. They're grafts of a single tree discovered in brazil that have been spread across Florida for their sweetness.

u/infsmwetrust · 1 pointr/gardening

If you're really interested in soil science, there's a fantastic book called Teeming with Microbes: http://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microbes-Organic-Gardeners-Revised/dp/1604691131

If you want just practical info, Cornell has some excellent resources. PDF links:

http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/compostingathome.pdf

http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/compostbrochure.pdf

http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/nuisance.pdf

u/uliarliarpantsonfire · 5 pointsr/gardening

Ah I see. Well here are some things on my list, I think it's different from gardener to gardener.

seed starter with heat

Kevlar sleeves for prickly plants and tomatoes that make me itch

seed stamp for planting

square foot gardening book

knee pads

garden clogs

gloves I go through gloves like crazy!

plant markers

gardening set just some basic tools

bucket organizer

of course there are lots of other things that you might want like seeds, tomato cages, kits for building your own raised beds they are all available from amazon, so it really depends on what you like and want to grow. I don't know if this helps you any? Maybe plan out your garden and what you want to grow then you'll know what you need?

u/DirtyBongTokes · 1 pointr/microgrowery

I started with this one https://www.amazon.ca/Cannabis-Grow-Bible-Definitive-Recreational/dp/1931160589

​

it had a lot of information I didn't understand at the time of reading but its a good starting point. It covers everything you can imagine some in great depth but what it doesn't cover it mentions and you can do your own research online. I've come a long way from when I first read it. I also read a bunch of similar books in the 4-5 months leading up to legalization but I'd have to check my E-reader if you wanted a full list.

u/AccusationsGW · 1 pointr/mycology

Mycology Running has a great science focused breakdown of proven medical benefits of certain species.

u/lencioni · 3 pointsr/mycology

If you are planning on eating wild mushrooms, I really recommend using more than one guide to identify. Get at least a good general guide, like Mushrooms Demystified, and then a more regional guide. I live in Minnesota and just got Mushrooms and Other Fungi of the Midcontinental United States. Both of these have information on spore prints.

u/ruat_caelum · 23 pointsr/preppers

I'd going to answer in two posts here, this one will link stuff to websites or amazon for physical books. The other will be more discussion based. (e.g. this is just a raw data dump.)

I have used some google foo and I'm willing to post links, note that many of these will overlap (that is they have the same free PDFs or HTML pages etc.) Others are a bit further out there, e.g. magnetic pole reversal etc.

You get the point though people compiled whatever they though the world might need after aliens, the clintons took your guns, or trump and putin nuke everybody, global warming, plague, etc. Since it takes a massive amount of work to put these together and most people are not dedicated enough to do so, they all have the flavor of whatever the person building them thought was most important.

Here is a list, use from it what you can. Including in the list are things like RACHEL, hardware hotspot for wifi that any computer can connect to, like a library box or pirate box. Many of these resources are focused on and in use in 3^rd world nations. things like the one laptop per child might be a perfect resource to allow some technology designed cheaply but ruggedly to have to access this stuff.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD3WD

https://worldpossible.org/rachel

http://librarybox.us/

http://one.laptop.org/

http://www.appropedia.org/Welcome_to_Appropedia

http://www.fastonline.org/CD3WD_40/CD3WD/INDEX.HTM

cd3wd torrent magnet link. 2012 version

dropbox link for torrent files for the above if the magnet or trackers aren't working.

http://oer2go.org/

Pole shift library magnet link

Need 55 gigs of wikipedia offline? get it at this link

http://www.cs.amedd.army.mil/borden/Portlet.aspx?ID=cb88853d-5b33-4b3f-968c-2cd95f7b7809

http://hesperian.org/books-and-resources/

https://modernsurvivalonline.com/survival-database-downloads/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061992860

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0452295831

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1570618402

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933392452

https://graywolfsurvival.com/3083/documents-need-bugout-bag/

https://www.opensourceecology.org/gvcs/

u/permanomad · 3 pointsr/shroomers

Read Paul Stamets book Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms, and also The Mushroom Cultivator which details a lot of info on spore storage and culture practises.

Its so easy to get one contam spore into whatever you're doing - ordinary air has so many contam spores in just 1cm^3, its almost impossible to work 100% sterile. But not to worry: the best we can do as cultivators is hold off the inevitable. A good cultivator will do what he or she can to work clean but all the time understands that all grows will ultimately end in contamination - thats just natures way.

The contaminations themselves often sporulate on the surface of cube spores which after finding residence on nutrient media will then 'piggy-back' using the spores which touch each other. The contaminations can often be 50 times smaller, and so can easily rest like a pest on the spores surface. An electron microscopy picture can really show you well what I'm trying to say here. They also reproduce far faster than their larger basidiospore cousins in the cubensis family, so can out compete them for the available resources that you have so kindly provided for them.

Its not that having a lot of spores in a syringe is a bad thing, its just that throughout my experience with cubes I've found that 'less is more' - the more spread out the spores are from each other, the more you can isolate the good strains and culture out the contams. :)

u/LocalAmazonBot · -6 pointsr/Bitcoin

Here are some links for the product in the above comment for different countries:

Amazon Smile Link: (see Paul Stamets' book "Mycelium Running").


|Country|Link|
|:-----------|:------------|
|UK|amazon.co.uk|
|Spain|amazon.es|
|France|amazon.fr|
|Germany|amazon.de|
|Japan|amazon.co.jp|
|Canada|amazon.ca|
|Italy|amazon.it|
|China|amazon.cn|




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