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Books and Resources

Suggested books
For more information on organic farming, you may wish to read the following books:
   •      Rodale’s All New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening, edited by Fern Marshall Bradley and Barbara W. Ellis.
• Successful Small-Scale Farming: An Organic Approach, by Karl Schwenke.
   •      The New Organic Grower: A Masters Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener, by Eliot Coleman, et al.
   •      Four Season Harvest: How to Harvest Fresh Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long, by Eliot Coleman, et al.
   •      Texas Organic Gardening by Howard Garrett

Sites of interest
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA):
• Alternative Farming Systems Information Center - CSA
[http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csa.shtml]
The Alternative Farming Systems Information Center is accredited by the USDA’s National Agriculture Library and seeks to identify resources about sustainable food systems and practices.

• National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service - CSA
[http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/csa.html]
The National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service offers a wealth of publications and resources about sustainable agriculture in general and Community Supported Agriculture in specific.

• Journey to Forever - CSA
[http://journeytoforever.org/farm_csa.html]
Journey to Forever is a project of a NGO started in Hong Kong intended to fight poverty and hunger through environmentally sustainable means. Their website contains an index of articles on small-scale farming as well as extensive information on many subjects related to conscientiously grown food.

•      Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education - CSA
[http://www.sare.org/csa/]
SARE supports small-scale, community-oriented, environmentally sound
farming through a nationwide research and education grants program.

•      Robyn Van En's Center for CSA Resources
[http://www.wilson.edu/wilson/asp/content.asp?id=804]
The Robyn Van En Center provides a national resource center about
Community Supported Agriculture, based out of Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. It offers outreach and works to gain publicity about CSA farms in order to benefit community farmers and consumers everywhere.

Of Local Interest:
• Sustainable Food Center
[http://www.sustainablefoodcenter.org/]
Austin’s Sustainable Food Center is dedicated to improving access to local, healthy and affordable food in Austin and around Central Texas. Their programs include Austin’s Farmers Markets.

• Austin Progressive Calendar
[http://www.austinprogressivecalendar.com/]
Austin Progressive Calendar lists events related to sustainable living in Austin.

• Austin Organic Gardeners
[http://www.main.org/aog/index.htm]
Austin Organic Gardeners is a local group of gardeners that meets once each month and shares information and techniques for organic gardening. Their website includes much of this information, as well as a growing calendar and links to other pertinent sites.

• World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms
[http://www.wwoof.org/]
Wwoof is an organization that links organic farms around the world with volunteer farmers. Its goal is to benefit both farms and town-dwellers who want to learn about farming and experience farm life by improving communications throughout the organic movement.

Genetically Modified Organisms/Genetic Engineering of food:
   •      Say No To GMOs!
[http://www.saynotogmos.org/]
Say No To GMOs! is a Texas based website rich with information about resources for learning about genetically modified organisms.

•      Mothers for Natural Law
[http://www.safe-food.org/welcome.html]
Mothers for Natural Law is a campaign for mandatory labeling of genetically engineered food. Their website contains resources both for education and for activism around this issue.

•      The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods
[http://www.thecampaign.org/]
The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods has an activism-oriented website with many resources and opportunities for grassroots action.

•      The GE Food Alert
[http://www.gefoodalert.org/index.cfm]
The GE Food Alert was started by a small group of organizations opposed to the use of genetically engineered food without adequate labeling or independent testing. It remains a resource for learning about genetically engineered food and the GEFA website contains a great deal of recent news on the issue.

•      Organic Consumers Organization
[http://www.organicconsumers.org/gelink.cfm]
The Organic Consumers Organization is a consumer group dedicated to providing information related to organics, genetic engineering, food safety, food and health issues, and fair trade products.

• Genetically Engineered Food Safety Problems
[http://www.psrast.org/intro1.htm]
A brief summary of possible health hazards pozed by genetically engineered food, published by Physicians and Scientists for Responsible Application of Science and Technology (PSRAST).

Earth Friendly Bug Repellents
There has been some thought about use of insect repellent on the farm. We are trying to keep our crops organic, but if we use chemically based insect repellents to keep those militantly huge mosquitoes off us while we harvest our food, we defeat the purpose of being organic. Here are some of the solutions we’ve found:

http://www.greenlightco.com
Green Light sells organic insect deterrents. Their all natural, chemical free spray is safe for children and pets but effectively repels mosquitoes.

http://www.dirtdoctor.com
The Dirt Doctor is full of information, including several organic ways to discourage fire ants.

http://www.wildroots.com/recipe/Insect_Repellents/
Stony Mountain Botanical has a variety of recipes for natural insect repellents.

The all-natural mosquito solution:
My mother used to be plagued by mosquitoes. If there was one, single mosquito within a mile of her, it seemed to bite her. I wondered, "Why do mosquitoes like her, and not like me?" Then I read a gardening book of old wives tales and new scientific advice. It boasted a secret two-part formula for naturally repelling mosquitoes, swearing by it's ability to deter the little demons. Here's the deceptively simple secret: take Vitamin B complex and don't eat bananas!

I thought it was crazy when I first read it. But it worked like a miracle cure for my mom. I read the article to my mother and we laughed, as she was eating a lot of bananas and she rarely took Vitamin B. She gave up bananas and started taking her vitamins. Skeptic that she was, she had to admit it made a big improvement. She started enjoying the great outdoors much more.

The last two times I've seen Oasis Gardeners pestered by mosquitoes, I've told them about this secret formula. And both times they've confessed that they've just had a banana with breakfast that day. Mere coincidence? You decide!

Enjoy the great outdoors!

greens