Food Gardening

Growing your own food can be a very satisfying effort that pays off in a number of ways: your fruits and vegetables are fresher and you can choose the exact varieties that you and your family enjoy.  Plus, you can save substantial amounts of money over purchasing them at the grocery or farmers' markets.  We can provide resources and advice to help you start small, and gradually move up to producing more of your families food.  Visit our pages in this section for more information on the first and last dates for planting vegetables in our area, setting up a rotation for your vegetable beds, and much more.

Cornell Resources

Cornell's Home Gardening website has links to excellent resources, including Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners, Vegetable MD Online, Vegetable Disease Factsheets, and -to growing guides for more than 50 different vegetables. http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/homegardening/scene0391.html

You've gotten your soil tested, now how do you use the results?  This handout from Cornell Gardening will help you match your test results with appropriate soil amendments to improve the soil in your vegetable garden!  Getting the Most out of Your Vegetable Garden Soil Test Report

Cornell Garden Learning offers a page on Food Gardening that includes vegetable growing guides, suggested vegetable varieties for NYS gardeners, tomato varieties that are resistant to Late Blight, information on indoor vegetable seed starting, plans for a low-cost light frame, suggested cover crops fro vegetable growers, and additional resources on home fruit growing and agroforestry.

Community Garden Locations

If you are interested in growing your own food but don't have space for a garden, consider renting a plot in a community garden near you. Visit the following link for a list of community gardens in Tompkins County and contact information for each: http://ccetompkins.org/gardening/community-connect...

Seeds

Seed Starting. Indoor Vegetable Seed Starting (January 2015) is a 2-page handout from Lori Brewer/Cornell's Garden Based Learning program that covers selecting seed varieties, supplies you'll need to start seeds indoors, germination specifics, and more.  

Seed Saving.  This Cornell University Library Guide on "Seed Saving" compiled by Jeff Piestrak includes links to relevant Cornell University initiatives, Conservation & Biodiversity Groups, Grower Resources/Directories/Support, Industry/Trade Groups & Resources, Seed Libraries, Seed Sovereignty, Other Seed Saving Organizations/Networks/Events, and General Learning Materials on saving seeds.

Last updated January 29, 2021