On-My-Bookshelf
Small Farms Annotated Bibliography
Decision-Making
Savory, Allan & Butterfield, Jody. (1999). Holistic Management: A New Framework for Decision Making. 2nd Ed. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.
An in-depth look at the holistic management framework for ecosystem management and decision making. Considers the range of environmental, human, social and economic factors that go into decision making. A complex book, but a necessity for small farmers.
Hayes, Kathryn. (2004). Exploring the Small Farm Dream: Is Starting an Agricultural Business Right for You? 1st Ed. Belchertown, Massachusetts: The New England Small Farm Institute.
A decision-making workbook with worksheets and information on how to choose a small farm enterprise. Very easy to use and very well organized.
Macher, Ron. (1999). Making Your Small Farm Profitable. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing.
Goes through 25 guiding principles for the small farm. Great information and questions asked. This book comes from the publisher of the magazine Small Farm Today. Helps you decide which crops and new markets to undertake.
DiGiacomo, G., King, R. & Nordquist, D. (2003). Building a Sustainable Business: A Guide to Developing a Business Plan for Farms and Rural Businesses. St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture.
Very comprehensive planning book with worksheets to plan for all aspects of a farm business. Very well organized and encourages detailed planning.
Grudens-Schuck, N., Knoblauch, W., Green, J., & Saylor, M. (1988). Farming Alternatives: A Guide to Evaluating the Feasibility of New Farm-Based Enterprises. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University.
General
Schwenke, Karl. (1991). Successful Small-Scale Farming: An Organic Approach. 2nd Ed. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing.
Useful information for those new to organic. Excellent appendices with interesting information related to the small farm. Yield tables also included.
Animals/Grazing Management
Murphy, Bill. (1987). Greener Pastures On Your Side of the Fence: Better Farming with Voisin Management Intensive Grazing. 4th Ed. Colchester, Vermont: Arriba Publishing.
Describes Andre Voisin’s management intensive grazing system with topics including pasture plants and ecology; pasture nutrition; grazing animals and habits; paddock layout and fencing; feed planning; livestock production and benefits of feeding on an intensive paddock design. Very good introduction to the intensive grazing system.
Salatin, Joel. (1999). Pastured Poultry Profits: Net $25,000 in 6 months on 20 acres. Swoope, Virginia: Polyface, Inc.
The book on pastured poultry. A good primer and funny, too.
Lee, A. & Foreman, P. (2002). Day Range Poultry: Every Chicken Owner’s Guide to Grazing Gardens & Improving Pastures. Montpelier, VT: Good Earth Publications.
Another good one on pastured poultry production.
Ekarius, Carol. (1999). Small-Scale Livestock Farming: A Grass-Based Approach for Health, Sustainability, and Profit. North Adams, Massachusetts: Storey Publishing.
A great introduction to grass-based farming with information on various species, holistic management, marketing and animal husbandry.
Logsdon, Gene. (2004). All Flesh is Grass: Pleasures & Promises of Pasture Farming. Swallow Press.
Great book and storytelling about the benefits of pasture farming. Gene Logsdon has a great sense of humor, so you are learning while you laugh.
Soils & Composting
Rynk, Robert. (Ed). (1992). On-Farm Composting Handbook. Ithaca, NY: NRAES Cooperative Extension.
Great manual for farm composting and comes with a field guide.
Magdoff, Fred & van Es, Harold. (2000). Building Soils for Better Crops. 2nd Ed. Sustainable Agriculture Network Handbook Series; bk. 4.
Excellent primer on soil fertility principles including basics on manures, composting, cover cropping, tillage and crop rotations. Gives a nice introduction to basic soil health and fertility principles from a sustainable agricultural perspective.
Managing Cover Crops Profitably. 2nd Ed. Sustainable Agriculture Network Handbook Series; bk 3.
Great handbook on the various cover crops and how they are used in sustainable agriculture from weed suppression to soil building. Also, good charts and case studies and general overview of crop rotations and soil principles.
Smilie, Joe & Gershuny, Grace. (1999.) The Soul of Soil: A Soil-Building Guide for Master Gardeners and Farmers. White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing.
Great resource book on soil management, fertility and health. Very good tables as well.
Martin, Deborah & Gershuny, Grace. (1992). The Rodale Book of Composting. Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Press.
A good introduction to composting on the small-scale. Goes over basic principles of composting including materials, manures, methods, structures, shredders and use.
Insects/Pests
McCandless, Linda. (Ed). (2005). Resource Guide for Organic Insect and Disease Management. Geneva, NY: Cornell University.
Excellent guide for organic farms on diseases by major horticultural crops with color photo plates as well as information on organic materials for insect control.
Altieri, Miguel A., Nicholls, Clara I., & Fritz, Marlene A. (2005). Manage Insects on Your Farm: A Guide to Ecological Strategies. Sustainable Agriculture Network Handbook Series; bk 7.
Nice case studies of various farm using different ecological pest management strategies. Goes over basic principles for ecological insect management and puts it all together for an overall pest management strategy.
Flint, Mary Louise. (1998). Pests of the Garden and Small Farm: A Grower’s Guide to Using Less Pesticide. 2nd Ed. Berkeley, California: University of California Press.
A great book for helping to identify pests with color plates of various insects in different stages of development. Goes through various controls. A companion book to the Natural Enemies Handbook.
Flint, M.L. & Dreistadt, S. (1998). Natural Enemies Handbook: The Illustrated Guide to Biological Pest Control. Berkeley, California: University of California Press.
A companion book to the Pests of the Garden and Small Farm. Excellent color plates and identification of natural enemies of pests on the small farm.
Vegetable Production
Coleman, Eliot. (1995). The New Organic Grower: A Master’s Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener. White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing Company.
A classic for organic vegetable farming. Succinct information on crop rotation, soil fertility, cover cropping etc.
Grubinger, Vernon. (1999). Sustainable Vegetable Production from Start-Up to Market. Ithaca, New York: NRAES Cooperative Extension.
Great beginner vegetable production handbook. Includes great information on how to get started, business management, and thorough investigation into tillage, soil fertility, crop rotations, etc.
Jeavons, John. (1995). How to Grow More Vegetables than you ever thought possible on less land than you can imagine. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press.
The Biointensive Gardening Bible. Great info and charts on yields, companion planting, and developing garden plan. For use on a small-scale, but has some really good information on basic hand bed preparation as well as soil fertility, etc.
Engeland, Ron L. (1991). Growing Great Garlic: The Definitive Guide for Organic Gardeners and Small Farmers. Okanogan, Washington: Filaree Productions.
The guide for growing garlic. Everything you need to know about growing garlic.
Fruit & Berries
Otto, Stella. (1993). The Backyard Orchardist: A complete guide to growing fruit trees in the home garden. Maple City, Michigan: OttoGraphics.
Goes through the various pome and stone fruits as well as gives introduction to fruit production. A good starting book.
Hill, Lewis. (1992). Fruits and Berries for the Home Garden. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing.
Another good introductory book with chapters on various fruits, pollination, soils, and disease control.
Dairy
Padgham, Jody. (Ed.). (2006). Organic Dairy Farming: A Resource for Farmers. Gay Mills, WI: Orang-utan Press.
A compilation of works by various authors with knowledge of organic dairying. Great introductory material on organic health care, dairy nutrition, milk quality and cow/calf management.
Marketing
Gibson, Eric. (1994). Sell What You Sow! The Grower’s Guide to Successful Produce Marketing. Auburn, CA: New World Publishing.
A comprehensive look at marketing produce from direct markets to wholesale. Great resource for on marketing.
Lee, Andrew. (1998). Backyard Market Gardening: The Entrepeneur’s Guide to Selling What You Grow. Good Earth Publications.
A classic on marketing and business. Introduction by George DeVault and foreword by Jim Hightower.
Hamilton, Neil. (1999). The Legal Guide to Direct Farm Marketing. Des Moines, IA: Drake University.
Great primer on all the rules related to direct marketing.
Propagation/Greenhouse
Smith, Shane. (2000). Greenhouse Gardener’s Companion: Growing Food and Flowers in Your Greenhouse and Sunspace. Golden, Colorado: Fulcrum Publishing.
Great resource guide on greenhouse everything! General information on greenhouses, design, propagation, selection and microclimates.
Weeds
Whitson, Tom D. (Ed.). (2004). Weeds of the West. 9th Ed. University of Wyoming.
Excellent photographs of various weeds of the west. Goes through identification and various stages of development. A must-have weed id book.
Bowman, Greg. (Ed). (2002). Steel in the Field: A Farmer’s Guide to Weed Management Tools. Beltsville, Maryland: Sustainable Agriculture Network Handbook Series 2.
Goes through various weed management tools for agronomic row crops, horticultural crops and dryland crops.
Oregon State University (2005). Weed ‘Em & Reap, Part 1 & 2: Tools for Non-Chemical Weed Management in Vegetable Cropping Systems. DVD.
Great videos of Oregon farmers using weed management strategies on their farms.
Philosophy
Jackson, D.L. & Jackson, Laura L. (Eds.). (2002). The Farm as Natural Habitat: Reconnecting Food Systems with Ecosystems. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.
One of my favorites. A collection of essays from numerous writers on topics of restoration and farms, ecosystem management and agriculture and agroecological restoration. Wonderful case studies and information.
Kains, M.G. (1973). Five Acres and Independence: A Handbook for Small Farm Management. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
An older book, but a classic and an interesting read on various topics from weeds to tools to bees. A nice addition to the bookshelf.
Freyfogle, Eric T. (Ed.). (2001). The New Agrarianism: Land, Culture and the Community of Life. Washington D.C.: Island Press/Shearwater Books.
A wonderful collection of essays on agrarianism including work by Wendell Berry, David Kline, Bill Kittredge, David Orr, and Gene Logsdon.
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