{31 Days} Back to Basics Day 19

This month I am participating
in the nester’s {31 Days} challenge.  My topic for the month is Back to
Basics.  If you would like to follow along youcan find all of my posts here.

When I think about gardening, I think a lot about
books.  Books have been extremely
instrumental in my ability to garden. 
And for a lot of people that are far removed from their food (ie parents
that did not have a garden), they do not know the first steps that you need to
take.

The first book that I would recommend, especially if you are
just starting out with gardening, is SquareFoot Gardening.  This book covers all
the basics.  It has spacing requirements
(for square foot gardening of course), how to build the boxes, the combination
of soil for the boxes, and even a section on vertical gardening.  I think that even experienced gardeners can
get some great information from this book. 

The other book that I absolutely love, which is geared more
towards overall self-sufficiency is TheBackyard Homestead.  This book is
especially good for people that have a little bit of space, but not acres and
acres to roam about.  Essentially this
book tells you how to produce all the food you need on a quarter of an
acre.  It is a book that I go through
every year, and there are some important sections on gardening as well as
animal care.

I think that if you are afraid of gardening, or are
questioning whether getting chickens is the right step, books are the best
place to start.  I know that before each
step of our homesteading journey, I have found books to help me out. 

Do you have a favorite
gardening or homesteading resource you would like to share?