Seed Library Reading Recommendations

Our library contains a plethora of books about gardening. The following list contains some of our favorite titles. Search our catalog to discover even more titles to help you start your garden.

Updated April 26, 2024
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.

1

Apartment gardening : plants, projects, and recipes for growing food in your urban home
Pennington, Amy
Paper Book
Forget the 100-mile eat-local diet; try the 300-square-foot-diet -- grow squash on the windowsill, flowers in the planter box, or corn in a parking strip. Apartment Gardening details how to start a garden in the heart of the city. From building a window box to planting seeds in jars on the counter,...

2

The beginner's guide to growing heirloom vegetables : the 100 easiest-to-grow, tastiest vegetables for your garden
Iannotti, Marie.
Paper Book
Growing your own vegetables has never looked, or tasted, so good. Are heirloom vegetables more difficult to grow than conventional hybrids? The Beginner's Guide to Growing Heirloom Vegetables debunks this myth by highlighting the 100 heirloom vegetables that are the...

3

Breed your own vegetable varieties : the gardener's and farmer's guide to plant breeding and seed saving
Deppe, Carol.
Paper Book
All gardeners and farmers should be plant breeders, says author Carol Deppe. Developing new vegetable varieties doesn't require a specialized education, a lot of land, or even a lot of time. It can be done on any scale. It's enjoyable. It's deeply rewarding. You can get useful new varieties much...

4

Bringing nature home : how native plants sustain wildlife in our gardens
Tallamy, Douglas W.
Paper Book
As development and subsequent habitat destruction accelerate, there are increasing pressures on wildlife populations. But there is an important and simple step toward reversing this alarming trend: Everyone with access to a patch of earth can make a significant contribution toward sustaining...

5

California native gardening : a month-by-month guide
Popper, Helen Ann.
Paper Book
This is the first month-by-month guide to gardening with native plants in a state that follows a unique, nontraditional seasonal rhythm. Beginning in October, when much of California leaves the dry season behind and prepares for its own green "spring," Helen Popper provides detailed, calendar...

6

The California native landscape : the homeowner's design guide to restoring its beauty and balance
Rubin, Greg
Paper Book
Water shortages and water rationing are commonplace throughout California, rendering expanses of lawn and thirsty, nonnative plants unsustainable. The California Native Landscape addresses both concerns by showing homeowners how to succeed with natives and showing them how lush,...

7

The California wildlife habitat garden how to attract bees, butterflies, birds, and other animals
Bauer, Nancy.
Paper Book
This attractive, practical guide explains how to transform backyard gardens into living ecosystems that are not only enjoyable retreats for humans, but also thriving sanctuaries for wildlife. Beautifully illustrated with full-color photographs, this book provides easy-to-follow recommendations...

8

The comic book guide to growing food : step-by-step vegetable gardening for everyone
Tychonievich, Joseph
Paper Book
The first graphic novel guide to growing a successful raised bed vegetable garden, from planning, prepping, and planting, to troubleshooting, care, and harvesting. "A fun read packed with practical advice, it's the perfect resource for new gardeners, guiding you through every...

9

The complete guide to saving seeds : 322 vegetables, herbs, flowers, fruits, trees, and shrubs
Gough, Robert E.
Paper Book
Enjoy your favorite varieties of garden plants year after year with this comprehensive guide to gathering, preparing, and planting seeds. Authors Robert Gough and Cheryl Moore-Gough provide simple instructions that clearly explain the whole process, from basic plant biology to proper seed storage...

10

Designing California native gardens : the plant community approach to artful, ecologial gardens
Keator, Glenn.
Paper Book
Inspirational, practical, and easy to use, this book was created with the aim of conveying the awesome diversity and beauty of California's native plants and demonstrating how they can be brought into ecologically sound, attractive, workable, and artful gardens. Structured around major...

11

Fresh food from small spaces : the square-inch gardener's guide to year-round growing, fermenting, and sprouting
Ruppenthal, R. J.
Paper Book
Books on container gardening have been wildly popular with urban and suburban readers, but until now, there has been no comprehensive "how-to" guide for growing fresh food in the absence of open land. Fresh Food from Small Spaces fills the gap as a practical, comprehensive, and downright fun...

12

Gardening projects for kids : 101 ways to get kids outside, dirty, and having fun
Cohen, Whitney.
Paper Book
"What better way to begin to explore the natural world than to experience the magic and beauty of a family garden." --Arden Bucklin-Sporer, author of How to Grow a School Garden Many gardeners find that once they have children gardening goes the way of late-night...

13

Gardening with a wild heart : restoring California's native landscapes at home
Lowry, Judith Larner
Paper Book
This lyrical and articulate mix of the practical and the poetic combines personal story, wildland ecology, restoration gardening practices, and native plant horticulture. Judith Lowry's voice and experiences make a rich matrix for essays that include discussions of wildflower gardening, the...

14

Greenhouse gardener's companion : growing food and flowers in your greenhouse or sunspace
Smith, Shane.
Paper Book
The most comprehensive book on greenhouse gardening available today. Today, greenhouses and sunrooms are real living spaces where gardeners spend as much time with a book and a cup of coffee as they do with a watering can and a pair of pruning shears. In this fully revised edition of a best-selling...

15

Grow food for free
Richards, Huw
Paper Book
Zero cost, low effort and a long-term solution to your fresh produce needs!  Grow your own food in your home garden, acreage or container, and look forward to a bountiful harvest year-round. You can plant fruit and veggies at home without spending a penny, and Huw Richard's...

16

Growing California native plants
Schmidt, Marjorie G.
Paper Book
First published thirty years ago, the long-awaited second edition of Growing California Native Plants is the ideal hands-on native plant guide for both experienced and novice gardeners. In addition to the voluminous knowledge contributed by Marjorie G. Schmidt, now deceased, Katherine L....

17

Heirloom vegetable gardening : a master gardener's guide to planting, growing, seed saving, and cultural history
Weaver, William Woys
Paper Book
This book is the culmination of some thirty years of firsthand knowledge of growing, tasting, and cooking with heirloom vegetables. A staunch supporter of organic gardening techniques, Will Weaver has grown every one of the featured 280 varieties of vegetables, and he walks the novice gardener...

18

Iwígara : American Indian ethnobotanical traditions and science
Salmón, Enrique
Paper Book
"A beautiful catalogue of 80 plants, revered by indigenous people for their nourishing, healing, and symbolic properties." --Gardens Illustrated The belief that all life-forms are interconnected and share the same breath--known in the Rarámuri tribe...

19

The manual of seed saving : harvesting, storing, and sowing techniques for vegetables, herbs, and fruits
Heistinger, Andrea.
Paper Book
"Makes it easy to find information in a snap, on most any edible you want to grow." --Kylee Baumle, Horticulture Growing vegetables, fruits, and herbs from seed has many benefits for both the gardener and the planet. Why save seeds when you can...

20

Mini farming : self sufficiency on a 1/4 acre
Markham, Brett L.
Paper Book
Go back to basics--compost, raising chickens, water and irrigation, dealing with pests, and much more--with this unique, full color bestseller (over 400,000 sold). Mini Farming describes a holistic approach to small-area farming that will show you how to produce 85 percent...

21

Native treasures : gardening with the plants of California
Smith, M. Nevin
Paper Book
Nevin Smith has spent his life growing plants and exploring the wild California landscape. A highly respected horticulturalist and practitioner who is also a gifted writer, Smith shares his years of experience growing native California plants in this lively, informative book. Rather than being...

22

One magic square : vegetable gardening : the easy, organic way to grow your own food on a 3-foot square
Houbein, Lolo
Paper Book
Lolo Houbein has 40 years' worth of gardening wisdom to share--on how to coax an abundance of organic food from a plot that is just 3 feet square! Sustainable, cost-effective, and creative techniques: how to compost, save water, troubleshoot weeds and pests, create a plant-friendly...

23

Raised-bed vegetable gardening made simple : the three-module home vegetable garden
Nones, Raymond.
Paper Book
Having a backyard garden just got a lot easier!Framed raised beds and a modular approachto growing vegetables means more productionin less space and with less work. Whether youlive on a small city lot or a multi-acre countryestate, this book has something for you.Nones shows you how to set up the...

24

Rebel gardening : a beginner's handbook to organic urban gardening
Vitale, Alessandro
Paper Book
This is the ultimate beginner's guide to establishing and tending an organic kitchen garden in any urban space, no matter how small, written by the YouTuber and TikToker known as Spicy Moustache. Do you live in the city and yearn for the space and time to grow your own food and...

25

Saving seeds : the gardener's guide to growing and storing vegetable and flower seeds
Rogers, Marc.
Paper Book
Enjoy a delicious bounty of heirloom vegetables every year. Marc Rogers guides you through the time-honored and cost-effective tradition of collecting seeds from this year's harvest to grow next year's crop. Learn how to select and store seeds from proven varieties of more than 100 common...

26

Seed sowing and saving : step-by-step techniques for collecting ...
Turner, Carole B.
Paper Book
Use seeds from this year's crop to grow your favorite vegetables, herbs, and flowers again next spring. Carolyn B. Turner shows you everything you need to know to harvest, dry, store, and sow seeds from more than 100 common garden plants, providing helpful tips on appropriately preparing...

27

Starting & saving seeds : grow the perfect vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers for your garden
Thompson-Adolf, Julie
Paper Book
Grow fabulous food and flowers from seeds, then save seeds to make next year's garden even better.   Creating dinner from food you've grown provides a fantastic sense of accomplishment. Now, imagine the pleasure of starting plants from seeds,...

28

The ultimate guide to growing your own food : save money, live better, and enjoy life with food from your own garden
Burch, Monte.
Paper Book
Growing your own food is a hot topic today because of the high cost of transporting food long distances, the heightened problem of diseases caused by commercially grown foods, and concerns of the overuse of chemicals in mass food production. Many people--from White House executives to inner-city...

29

A way to garden : a hands-on primer for every season
Roach, Margaret
Paper Book
"A Way to Garden prods us toward that ineffable place where we feel we belong; it's a guide to living both in and out of the garden." --The New York Times Book Review For Margaret Roach, gardening is more than a hobby, it's a calling. Her...

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.