Queer Country Wisdom No.3: Getting Started with Cold-Climate Gardening
Dear Queer Country Wisdom,
I’ve never had much of a green thumb, unfortunately, but all these conversations I’m seeing online about climate change, sustainability, supply chain disruption, etc. have me feeling like I should be a little more…self-sufficient? Green? I feel like it must be nearly impossible to grow much food year-round in our climate, but I’d at least like to take a stab at it.
So…where does a cold-climate gardening noob start?
Sincerely,
Black Thumb
Dear Black Thumb,
The answer to your question is at once very complex and also blessedly simple: pick up a couple of farming/homesteading books from Chelsea Green Publishing.
Not just any old thing from Amazon will do, because A) there’s plenty of AI-generated garbage on there these days and B) a wealth of the books from Chelsea Green are tailored just for Vermont’s climate (though they work amazingly for anyone anywhere). CG has an office down in WRJ (White River Junction) and you can often find books from their collection in local stores, but buying direct from them online is alright, too.
In going from Zone 7b gardening (Asheville, NC) to Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, I’d might as well have never put a seed in the ground - the differences are so great. Luckily for me, I attended the NOFA-VT Winter Conference my first year in Vermont, passed by the Chelsea Green table, promptly spent $200, and the rest is history.
Since that day, I’ve grown my collection of Chelsea Green books considerably, and my knowledge grows with each book I get. Here are just a few of the CG books I’d recommend starting with for a black-thumb Vermont gardener like yourself.
First off, you can’t go wrong with Eliot Coleman books. I have The Winter Harvest Handbook and The New Organic Grower - both classics, and very useful.
Right up there with Eliot Coleman’s books is The Living Soil Handbook by Jesse Frost. Even though Jesse is down in Kentucky (at Rough Draft Farmstead), this book is one of the most useful you’ll have on your garden or homestead bookshelf. Equally nifty: Jesse hosts The Grower’s Daily Podcast, and the No-Till Growers Network also has a composting podcast and a winter grower’s podcast. I can’t tell you how helpful those podcasts have been. Bonus: you can listen to them while your hands are in the dirt!
I have some other great recommendations from Chelsea Green, but I don’t want to overwhelm you with too much, too soon. But if you ever get chickens, I hope you’ll come back to ask questions about them, because the reading recommendations there are stellar…and chickens make great year-round composters for any gardener or homesteader!
Here’s to your thumb - I can already see it turning green. :)
Good luck!
Warmly,
Miz Jack Thomas
