A project of the National Center for Appropriate Technology 1-800-346-9140 • www.attra.ncat.org Resource Guide to Organic and Sustainable Vegetable Production By Steve Diver Introduction with a few mouse clicks many of these items now NCAT Agriculture instantly appear on your computer screen. Bet- Specialist armers making a transition to sustainable ter yet, most of these articles and bulletins are Published 2001 or organic farming need information on a free. In addition, some items—including many Updated May 2012 wide variety of topics such as soil manage- Extension Service fact sheets—are available only By Tammy Hinman, Fment and non-chemical weed and pest manage- in electronic form. Thus, some portions of this Andy Pressman, and ment. This guide provides a summary of some Hannah Sharp, NCAT resource list are more heavily oriented to Web of the best in-print and online sources around. Agriculture Specialists resources than others. ©NCAT Here it should be noted that farmers raising herbs If you have received this resource list but you IP188 or field-grown cut flowers face nearly identical don’t have a computer at home, please see your production requirements. Thus, when we talk Contents about cover crops or weed control or soil man- local public library for assistance. Introduction ......................1 agement for vegetables, the same approach will The Farmer’s work for field-grown cut flowers and herbs. How to Read Web Documents Bookshelf ...........................2 .HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) means Organic Farming Primer ..................................5 Who Should Use This Guide that you can click and read online. The links Farmers and others who work in commercial agri- to other publications are easy to access General Vegetable and go directly to the reference at hand. Marketing, Industry, and culture—e.g., Extension specialists, NRCS, crop Statistics Information .....7 advisors, teachers, and researchers. The focus is .PDF (Portable Document Format) requires Selected Vegetable heavily oriented to practical approaches to organic Production Materials .....8 Adobe Acrobat Reader to download and is and sustainable farming. Economics of Vegetable the format that is most easy to print in. You Production .......................11 can still usually access links in this format, but Magazines and How to Use This Guide it often requires pressing different keys. Newsletters ................... 12 Printed books and bulletins are listed first; these Databases and Directory are followed by a selection of online resources. In Links .................................. 13 some instances, a Web version corresponds with What is Sustainable Vegetable Publishers and Book Distributors ..................... 13 the book and these have been noted. Production Publishers and distributors that sell the books For the purpose of an introduction, sustainable agriculture can be characterized as follows: The National Sustainable reviewed here are listed in a special section at the Agriculture Information Service, end of this resource guide. For details on sales ATTRA (www.attra.ncat.org), • Sustainable agriculture is a goal rather was developed and is managed price, shipping expenses, and ordering informa- than a specific set of farming practices. by the National Center for tion, contact the publishers. Appropriate Technology (NCAT). Progress or movement toward the goal The project is funded through a cooperative agreement with may be viewed as a continuum. the United States Department About the Use of Web Resources of Agriculture’s Rural Business- • A sustainable farming system strives to Cooperative Service. Visit the The Internet has revolutionized the way informa- NCAT website (www.ncat.org/ be productive and profitable, while at sarc_current.php) for tion is distributed and obtained. more information on the same time preserving environmen- our other sustainable agriculture and Whereas it used to take several weeks or months tal quality and making efficient use of energy projects. to wait for a publication to arrive in the mail, nonrenewable resources. • Sustainable agriculture is concerned etable production available. Chapters address about the well-being of rural commu- concepts and terminology associated with sus- nities and the quality of life for families tainable and organic production philosophies, and farm workers. business planning, production practices, busi- • Though biological practices and prod- ness planning, and marketing. ucts are favored over chemical inputs, Sustainable Practices for Vegetable Produc- pesticides and fertilizers may be used tion in the South. 1996. By Mary Peet. Focus within an Integrated Pest Management Publishing, R. Pullins Co., Newburyport, MA. framework. An overview on production practices specifi- For more information on sustainable agriculture cally focused on the South. The book also has production practices, see the ATTRA publica- crop profiles on individual vegetable crops. The tion Applying the Principles of Sustainable Farm- crop profiles provide a nice summary of stan- ing: Fundamentals of Sustainable Agriculture at dard production practices. https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/sum The New Organic Grower: A Master’s Man- mary.php?pub=295. ual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener, 2nd Edition. 1995. The Farmer’s Bookshelf By Eliot Coleman. Chelsea Green Pub- Related ATTRA lishing Co., White River Junction, VT. Publications A complete how-to-get-started manual on small- www.attra.ncat.org scale market gardening. It provides information Companion about the use of walking tractors, wheel hoes, Planting: Basic multi-row dibble sticks, soil block transplants, Concepts & Resources and other tools and techniques that help make Community market gardening more sustainable and effi- Supported Agriculture cient. Eliot Coleman now has an excellent series of season-extension books for farmers, as well. “Tips for Selling” Series How to Grow More Vegetables, 8th Edition. 2012. Manures for Organic Crop Production By John Jeavons. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA. This is the classic text on the biointensive method Organic Allium Photo: NCAT of production, which emphasizes double dig- Production ging, intensive spacing, companion planting, Here is a selection of some of the best bookshelf organic soil preparation, and high yields in Organic Asparagus resources for the farmer who is just starting out in Production minimal space. This book is filled with useful sustainable or organic production. For-sale books information and charts, which are now fully Organic Certification are available from the sources listed in the Pub- updated and revised. Organic Marketing lishers & Distributors section. Out-of-print litera- Resources ture and reference titles (mainly in the historical The Ecology Action Institute, founded by the section) are available through interlibrary loan. author, publishes numerous books, DVDs, and Sweet Corn: Organic You can occasionally find these books at used research results on topics relating to biointen- Production bookstores and online retailers, however. sive production methods, organic fertilizers, Sweetpotato: Organic cover crops, composts, small-scale production Production Books on Sustainable Vegetable data, etc. For a list of Ecology Action titles, Organic Tomato Production, Market Gardening, descriptions, and ordering information, see Production www.growbiointensive.org/. and Commercial Vegetable Backyard Market Gardening: The Entrepreneur’s Production Guide to Selling What You Grow. 1993. By Andrew Sustainable Vegetable Production from Start- W. Lee. Good Earth Publications, Columbus, NC. Up to Market. 1999. By Vernon P. Grubinger. This book provides information on how to grow NRAES-104. PALS Publishing, Ithaca, NY. and sell vegetables, fruits, flowers, herbs and This is without a doubt the most comprehen- small livestock from a backyard market garden. sive and modern overview on sustainable veg- The book also has a nice section on farm equip- Page 2 ATTRA Resource Guide to Organic and Sustainable Vegetable Production ment with black-and-white photos. Most of the Specialty, Ethnic, and Minor book is geared to the marketing and business Vegetable Crops side of market gardening. Specialty vegetables include baby vegetables, heir- The Flower Farmer: An Organic Grower’s Guide looms, colored varieties, and ethnic vegetables. to Raising and Selling Cut Flowers. Revised and Some farmers raise these crops for sale at farmers expanded 2008. By Lynn Byczynski. Chelsea markets, ethnic grocery stores, and restaurants. Green Publishing Co., White River Junction, VT. This book is an important contribution to the World Vegetables: Principles, Produc- organic market gardening literature because tion and Nutritive Values, 2nd Edition. field-grown flowers are a common part of a crop 1997. By Vincent E. Rubatzky and Mas mix for local sales. The most recent full-color Yamaguchi. International Thompson Sci- edition has been greatly revised and expanded ence (Chapman & Hall), New York, NY. to meet the needs of the more experienced This is a textbook on vegetables produced around the world, with comprehensive cover- grower. New topics include season extension, age of specialty and minor vegetable crops. This growing in hoophouses, and growing in heated book is very expensive and should be looked at greenhouses. Resources have been completely through an interlibrary loan before purchasing. updated and expanded. Specialty and Minor Crops Handbook, 2nd Related ATTRA Producing