Favorite Resources

Seed Sources:

Mother Earth News Seed Finder - a search tool to find the seeds you want.


Adaptive Seeds - Northwest adapted seeds, also great for coastal California

Artisan Seeds - The online seed store for Baia Nicchia Farm in Sunol, CA. Farm bred tomatoes and landrace varieties a few select vegetables.

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Cross Country Nurseries - Live chile plants by mail. Some seeds offered too.

Evergreen Seeds - Asian vegetable seeds

Fedco Seeds - Untreated, no GMO, lots of open pollinated and organic seeds

Filaree Farm - garlic, garlic, garlic!

Johnny's Selected Seeds - The only place to buy seeds for Calvin's Peas and other good things too.

Kitazawa Seeds - Asian vegetable seeds

Native Seeds/SEARCH - Heirloom seeds native to southwestern US and northwestern Mexico. Beautiful corn!

Peace Seedlings - open pollinated seeds, the site is only up for part of the year

Pinetree Garden Seeds

Redwood City Seed - If you like your peppers hot then this is your place, plus lots of OP and GMO free seeds of other vegetables

Renee's Garden - a wonderful selection of vegetables, herbs and flower for home gardeners, widely available on local seed racks

Seed Savers Exchange - heirloom seeds available to all gardeners

Seeds From Italy - Italian seeds, mostly from Franchi

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange - Lots of heirloom and open pollinated seeds

SSE Yearbook Listings - seeds available to SSE members only

Sustainable Seeds - lots of local grown heirloom and OP seeds from Northern California, available to all

Territorial Seed - Many cool climate adapted varieties.

Tomatofest - Heirloom and OP tomato seeds

Wild Garden Seed - Organic farm original varieties of lettuce (so many!), greens, herbs, veggies, and flowers.

Dripworks - all things irrigation

Other Links:

BugGuide.Net - Lots of photos of bugs, a great ID resource

Calflora - Search for Plants - Plants growing in California, lots of photos

California Gardening - Home Page - UC Cooperative Extension info for home gardeners

California Herps - A guide to reptiles and amphibians in California.

California Master Gardener County Links - websites for Calif. Master Gardener programs

California Rare Fruit Growers - how to grow lots of unusual fruits in California

CalPhotos - photos of plants, animals, and much more

San Francisco Botanical Garden - aka Strybing Arboretum

UC IPM Online - University of California pest information.

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service - Soil Biology Primer - Excellent lesson in soil biology.

USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education - A website loaded with sustainable farming information. Much of the information is useful to home gardeners also. I found their book about Cover Crops to be particularly informative.


Some of my favorite gardening books:

100 Vegetables and Where They Came From by William Woys Weaver - Interesting and often hard to find vegetables. I'm up to 21 of the 100.

American Horticultural Society Plant Propagation - How to propagate almost any plant.

American Horticultural Society Pruning and Training - How to prune or train almost any plant.

California Master Gardener Handbook - The textbook for California Master Gardeners, available to every gardener.

Golden Gate Gardening by Pam Peirce - THE vegetable gardening resource for SF Bay Area and Central Coast gardeners

Heirloom Vegetable Gardening by William Woys Weaver - The book about heirloom vegetable gardening and unfortunately out of print (why?). There's a new edition!

Oriental Vegetables by Joy Larkcom - How to grow and use just about any Asian vegetable.

Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth - How to save the seeds of just about any vegetable.

Sunset Western Garden Book - The gardening bible for gardeners in the Western US.

The Gardener's Table by Richard Merrill and Joe Ortiz - Lots of good info about growing and cooking vegetables.

The Kitchen Garden by Sylvia Thompson - How to grow most vegetables.

The Seed Garden - The Art & Practice Of Seed Saving - From the Seed Savers Exchange

A few favorite cookbooks out of my collection of nearly 400:

Most of these books have a lot of recipes that utilize fresh vegetables and since I tend to be an unfussy cook the recipes tend to be rustic, straightforward, and of course flavorful. My cooking and eating preferences run to Mediterranean cuisines so you will find mostly that here.

Chez Panisse Fruit by Alice Waters
Chez Panisse Vegetables by Alice Waters

From Tapas to Meze by Joanne Weir - Mediterranean small plates.

Herbal Kitchen: Cooking With Fragrance and Flavor by Jerry Traunfeld

Honey From a Weed by Patience Gray - A wonderful read about living and eating in the Mediterranean.

Italy in Small Bites by Carol Field - Italian small plates.

La Cocina de Mama by Penelope Casas - Spanish home cooking.

On Vegetables by Jeremy Fox

Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi
Plenty More by Ottolenghi

Provence: The Beautiful Cookbook by Richard Olney and Jacques Gantie - The vegetable section in this book is well thumbed and splattered.

Red, White and Greens by Faith Willinger - An Italian way with vegetables.

Roger Verge's Vegetables in the French Style

Six Seasons, A New Way With Vegetables by Joshua McFadden with Martha Holmberg

Sunday Suppers at Lucques by Suzanne Goin - This one has been coming off the shelf a lot recently for its seasonal and sensational recipes.
The A.O.C. Cookbook by Suzanne Goin - More seasonal goodness from Suzanne

The Food of Southern Italy by Carlo Middione - One of my first Italian cookbooks and still a favorite.

The Herbfarm Cookbook by Jerry Traunfeld - How to cook with herbs.

The Italian Country Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper - Rustic Italian cooking.

The Rose Pistola Cookbook by Reed Hearon and Peggy Knickerbocker - The book that taught me how to make my favorite pizza crust.

The Savory Way by Deborah Madison - Flavorful vegetarian cooking.

The Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rodgers - Fresh seasonal ingredients and careful preparation are the hallmark of the food at Zuni Cafe, do dine there if you visit San Francisco.

Tuscany: The Beautiful Cookbook by Lorenza De'Medici - Lots of beautiful photos and great recipes too.

Vegetables From an Italian Garden: Season by Season Recipes - from Phaidon Press

Vegetable Literacy by Deborah Madison
Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison - How to cook just about any vegetable from the garden and then some.

Verdura: Vegetables Italian Style by Viana La Place

You Say Tomato by Joanne Weir