Now in Paperback “A fantastic guide for organic seed breeders and producers. [Navazio] has taken organic seed production to a higher level.” —Suzanne Ashworth, author of Seed to Seed The Organic Seed Grower is a comprehensive manual for the serious vegetable grower who is interested in growing high-quality seeds using organic farming practices. It is written for both home seed savers and diversified small-scale farmers who want to learn the necessary steps involved in successfully producing a seed crop organically. Detailed profiles for each of the major vegetables provide users with practical, in-depth knowledge about growing, harvesting, and processing seed for a wide range of common and specialty vegetable crops, from Asian greens to zucchini. In addition, readers will find extensive and critical information on topics including: • Seed-borne diseases • The reproductive biology of crop plants • Annual vs. biennial seed crops • Isolation distances needed to ensure varietal purity • Maintaining adequate population size for genetic integrity • Seed crop climates • Seed cleaning basics • Seed storage for farmers • and more . . . This book can serve as a bridge to lead skilled gardeners, who are already saving their own seed, into the idea of growing seed commercially. And for diversified vegetable farmers who are growing a seed crop for sale for the first time, it will provide details on many of the tricks of the trade that are used by professional seed growers. This manual will help the budding seed farmer to become more knowledgeable, efficient, and effective in producing a commercially viable seed crop. Written by well-known plant breeder and organic seed expert John Navazio, The Organic Seed Grower is the most useful guide to best practices in this exciting and important field.

The leading one-stop reference for commercial vegetable growers for more than 50 years Rooted in tradition, branching out to the future. For more than half a century, Knott's Handbook for Vegetable Growers has provided generations of commercial growers with the most timely, accessible, and useful information available on the subject. The Fifth Edition of this highly regarded horticultural mainstay provides readers with the reliable growing and marketing information they've come to expect, while including new and updated material throughout to maintain its relevance in our ever-changing world. Filled with valuable information, largely in the form of tables and charts--from hard statistics on vegetable production and consumption to essential information for today's international markets, such as vegetable botanical names and vegetable names in nine languages--Knott's Handbook is part Farmer's Almanac, part encyclopedia, and part dictionary. It also provides detailed, practical specifics on planting rates, schedules, and spacing; soils and fertilizers; methods for managing crop pests; greenhouse vegetable and crop production; insect pest identification; harvesting and storage; and vegetable marketing. Now available in a new flexible cover designed for ease of use on the desk or in the field, this valuable workhorse features new information on: * World vegetable production * Best management practices * Organic crop production * Food safety * Pesticide safety * Postharvest problems * Minimally processed vegetables * Plus, hundreds of Web site links related to vegetable information