Resource Corner
What We’re Reading, Watching & Attending
Written by Harold Tarver
September 30, 2025
Looking for inspiration beyond your garden bed? Each month we highlight books, articles, and programs that nurture both skills and imagination. Whether you’re planting your first pot of herbs, learning about pollinator habitats, or diving into stories of food justice, these resources can help you grow knowledge alongside your crops.
I. Internet Resources:
- Home Gardening Extension Master Gardeners (EMG) Programs:
Sources where you can find your nearest EMG Program:
- Extension Master Gardener National Committee (EMGNC) Website (Directory of all 50 states)
- American Horticultural Society also shares a directory: Website
2.Herb gardening:
- Herb gardening is gardening too. Here CalFresh offers some advice on herb gardening: Website
- Here is some advice and considerations for growing herbs indoors Website
3.Ujamaa Cooperative Farming Alliance and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange are advancing the practice of seed saving by promoting the p roduction and sharing of heirloom varieties. Their efforts help preserve biodiversity, honor cultural traditions, and ensure that seeds—and the stories they carry – are passed on to future generations.
4.More about bees — we are sharing information from two sources. First the Pesticide Action Agroecology Network’s helpful Honeybee Haven website which is full of helpful information. It is also important to recognize that like many living species, environmental and predatory factors are putting bee colonies at risk. Here is an informative article from the Guardian that highlights this issue.
II. Beginner-friendly Reading List - Some great picks by BIPOC authors:
- The Urban Garden: 101 Ways to Grow Food and Beauty in the City — Kathy Jentz & Teri (Teresa) Speight (2022)
Project-based, small-space how-to (containers, vertical growing, salad tables). Speight is a Black garden writer and co-author. The Quarto GroupNorthern GardenerWelcome to Cottage in the Court - ¡Verdura! – Living a Garden Life — Perla Sofía Curbelo-Santiago (2024)
30 simple, budget-friendly projects; approachable entry point for new home gardeners; recognized with a 2025 GardenComm award. (Author from Puerto Rico; also available in Spanish.) The Quarto Groupgreatgrowalong.comAmazon - Small Space Revolution — Tayshan Hayden-Smith (2024)
Hands-on ideas for balconies, stoops, and pocket plots, with a community/“decolonise horticulture” lens from a Black British gardener-activist. Google BooksThe GuardianPenguinRandomhouse.com - The Chinese Kitchen Garden — Wendy Kiang-Spray (2017)
Friendly, seasonal guidance to grow & cook Asian vegetables—great for edible gardeners starting out (clear plant profiles + techniques). Wendy Kiang SprayAmazon - Black Girls Gardening — Amber (Ambar) Grossman (2025)
Community stories plus practical starter tips (from seeds to building beds); uplifting, beginner-oriented vibe. Chronicle BooksArchitectural Digest - In the Garden: A Botanically Illustrated Gardening Book — Sandra Lynn McPeake Great for the coffee or kitchen table, this book includes basic growing information and detailed images of vegetable growth cycles from seedlings to the inside of veggies. McPeake provides gardening tips about supplies that growers will need and how to keep a gardening journal. Learn to share and grow with this illustrated guide. More..
- Black Flora — Teresa J Speight Flowers make great companions for veggies. Pollinators—like bees and butterflies—need blooms, and your crops need pollinators. Add flowers in pots or at the ends of beds to boost harvests and keep your garden buzzing. For inspiration, explore, which celebrates the beauty and community power of flowers. Website
III. Staff Picks:
- Little Joey Starts a Farm — Joseph Philmore Harrison (Little Joey) A cheerful, child-centered, beginner-friendly story that invites city-dwelling families to grow a little food now. Short, plain-language prompts and doable projects make it perfect for first gardens—containers, patio pots, or a 3×3 bed. Read it, get inspired, pick one crop, and start. Here is a YouTube Trailer, including how to buy the book from the Pan-African Connection Bookstore.
