I don’t know about you, but when I find a neat online resource, I like to share it with others. And no, I’m not talking about a youtube video of a piano-playing cat – cute though it may be! No, I’m talking about serious stuff that educates or makes life simpler. Here are a few of my favorites for gardeners.
Tomatoes are the favorite of backyard gardeners everywhere, and in recent years there has been a growing interest in heirloom varieties. But the array of choices can be dizzying! If you want to learn more about specific heirloom tomato varieties, but without the hype often found in seed catalogs, you should check out Tatiana’s TOMATObase. Last time I looked there were 3,349 varieties listed there, organized by color, type, origin, growth habit, etc. The varieties range from the popular Brandywine to the rather obscure Purple Smudge. The database is the work of Tatiana Kouchnareva, a tomato enthusiast from Anmore, British Columbia.
As for seed catalogs, I don’t know about you, but I get dozens of them every year. It’s nice to sit and leaf through my favorites, but it can be a real drag trying to find a specific variety. Wouldn’t it be neat to find all the sources for your favorite seeds and plants with a single search? The folks at Mother Earth News have made it easy to do just that. Their Seed and Plant Finder lets you search over 500 mail order seed companies to find your favorite varieties. Got something ‘bugging’ your vegetables? A companion feature is Mother’s Organic Pest Control and Garden Products Finder.
And speaking of vegetable varieties, Cornell University has put together a great resource with their Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners. It features information on varieties of over 75 different vegetables, along with reviews and ratings by home gardeners. Cornell also has their Vegetable Growing Guides online, with detailed growing instructions for 58 vegetables.
Those are a few of my favorite online resources for gardeners. What about you? Do you have any favorite sources of information for gardeners and gardening? Share your favorites with us!