Brighter zinnias, fragrant carnations, snappier green beans Plant Breeding for the Home Gardener makes it easier than ever to breed and grow your own varieties of vegetables and flowers. This comprehensive and accessible guide explains how to decide what to breed, provides simple explanations on how to cross plants, and features a basic primer on genetics and advanced techniques. Case studies provide breeding examples for favorite plants like daffodils, hollyhocks, roses, sweet corn, and tomatoes.

"[Book title] is the definitive guide to plant breeding and seed saving for the serious home gardener and the small-scale farmer or commercial grower. Discover: how to breed for a wide range of different traits (flavor, size, shape, or color; cold or heat tolerance; pest and disease resistance; and regional adaptation); how to save seed and maintain varieties; how to conduct your own variety trials and other farm- or garden-based research; how to breed for performance under organic or sustainable growing methods."--Back cover.

"Noel Kingsbury reveals that even those imaginary perfect foods are themselves far from anything that could properly be called natural, rather, they represent the end of a millennia-long history of selective breeding and hybridization. Starting his story at the birth of agriculture, Kingsbury traces the history of human attempts to make plants more reliable, productive, and nutritiousa story that owes as much to accident and error as to innovation and experiment. Drawing on historical and scientific accounts, as well as a rich trove of anecdotes, Kingsbury shows how scientists, amateur breeders, and countless anonymous farmers and gardeners slowly caused the evolutionary pressures of nature to be supplanted by those of human needs and thus led us from sparse wild grasses to succulent corn cobs, and from mealy, white wild carrots to the juicy vegetables we enjoy today. At the same time, Kingsbury reminds us that contemporary controversies over the Green Revolution and genetically modified crops are not new, plant breeding has always had a political dimension."--Publisher's description.

The Tao of Vegetable Gardening explores the practical methods as well as the deeper essence of gardening. In her latest book, groundbreaking garden writer Carol Deppe (The Resilient Gardener, Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties) focuses on some of the most popular home garden vegetables--tomatoes, green beans, peas, and leafy greens--and through them illustrates the key principles and practices that gardeners need to know to successfully plant and grow just about any food crop. Deppe's work has long been inspired and informed by the philosophy and wisdom of Tao Te Ching, the 2,500-year-old work attributed to Chinese sage Lao Tzu and the most translated book in the world after the Bible. The Tao of Vegetable Gardening is organized into chapters that echo fundamental Taoist concepts: Balance, Flexibility, Honoring the Essential Nature (your own and that of your plants), Effortless Effort, Non-Doing, and even Non-Knowing. Yet the book also offers a wealth of specific and valuable garden advice on topics as diverse as: - The Eat-All Greens Garden, a labor- and space-efficient way to provide all the greens a family can eat, freeze, and dry--all on a tiny piece of land suitable for small-scale and urban gardeners. - The growing problem of late blight and the future of heirloom tomatoes--and what gardeners can do to avoid problems, and even create new resistant varieties. - Establishing a Do-It-Yourself Seed Bank, including information on preparing seeds for long-term storage and how to "dehybridize" hybrids. - Twenty-four good places to not plant a tree, and thirty-seven good reasons for not planting various vegetables. Designed for gardeners of all levels, from beginners to experienced growers, The Tao of Vegetable Gardening provides a unique frame of reference: a window to the world of nature, in the garden and in ourselves.

Kristine Albrecht is an influential dahlia breeder who has introduced award-winning dahlia varieties that are a must-have for the show circuit and the floral trade. In this step by step book she explores pollinating strategies for producing unique dahlia seeds, breeding goals, seed germination, seedling care, marketing your new varieties, and more. Kristine has 14 years of breeding experience that she shares with the reader in an informal and intimate style. She also shares beautiful pictures of some of her most popular dahlia hybrids from her urban farm."Bravo! Thank you so much for sharing your hard-won knowledge with us all. This fantastic book is a gift to the world." -Erin Benzakein, Floret Farm"As an experienced dahlia grower and amatuer hybridizer I found this book easy to read, informative, and practical with nuggets of information throughout." - Brad Freeman, Senior Judge, American Dahlia Society"Lively and clearly written guide to hybridizing dahlias to generate new varieties. Suitable for the novice and with tips experienced hands will appreciate." -Dr. Virginia Walbot, Stanford University "A pleasure to read a book from the first hand experience of a hybridist who knows what she is talking about." -Dr. Keith Hammett ~ QSM Plant Breeder

Breeding New Plants and Flowers brings the skills of hybridizing a unique plant within the scope of every gardener. Over 180 color illustrations and 50 line drawings support the text and explain the steps to this most rewarding and magical aspect of gardening. Topics covered include an introduction to the principles of breeding; descriptions of the breeding of some 30 plants, ranging from fuchsias to roses and tomatoes to strawberries; instruction on pollination, growing the seed, seedling care, taking leaf cuttings, potting on and planting out; and advice on how beginners can crossbreed successfully and how the more experienced hybridist can experiment with sophisticated crosses.

Scientist/gardener Carol Deppe combines her passion for gardening with newly emerging scientific information from many fields climatology, ecology, anthropology, sustainable agriculture, nutrition, and health science. In The Resilient Gardener, Deppe extends these principles with detailed information about growing and using five keystone crops that are especially important for anyone seeking greater self-reliance: potatoes, corn, beans, squash, and eggs.