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GreenThumb Growing Food Toolkit PDFs

Updated July 2020

 

GreenThumb supports community gardeners in growing food through educational workshops and materials. Below you will find most of our workshop handouts, as well as many resources from partnering organizations, on topics related to food production. We will continue to add to this page and update our educational resources as time and capacity allows.

For links to video recordings of our webinars, click here. References below are informational only and do not represent GreenThumb policy. For GreenThumb policy, please refer to the GreenThumb Gardeners’ Handbook.

 

TOPICS

Composting

Outdoor Composting Guide - English - NYC Compost Project

Outdoor Composting Guide - Spanish - NYC Compost Project

Composting Tipsheet - Bilingual - NYC Compost Project

Troubleshooting Your Compost - NYC Compost Project

Decomposer Tipsheet - NYC Compost Project

Using your Compost - NYC Compost Project

WEBINAR: Vermicomposting at Home (& Earth Day Opening Remarks) - Facilitated by Claudia Urdanivia and Vanessa Ventola (GreenThumb)
Password: Worms2020!


Container Gardening

Start a Rooftop Container Garden - Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Two-Bucket Sub-Irrigated Container - source unknown 

WEBINAR: Reclaiming Ancestral Knowledge: Hydroponic Window Gardening - Facilitated by Adriano Espaillat, Jr. and Yadira Garcia (Happy Healthy Latina)
Password: Hydroponics1!

 

Cover Crops

Cover Crops - GreenThumb

 

Crop Planning and Companion Planting

Seasonal Vegetable Gardening Guides - Bronx Green-Up of The New York Botanical Garden

Plant Families Chart - GreenThumb

Square Foot Gardening - GreenThumb

Planting Vegetables for a Continuous Harvest - ATTRA

Planting Calendar for Vegetables - English - Cornell Cooperative Extension

Planting Calendar for Vegetables - Spanish - Cornell Cooperative Extension

Vegetable Planting Times - Cornell Cooperative Extension

Companion Planting for Vegetables - Bronx Green-Up of the New York Botanical Garden

 

Fruit Trees and Brambles

Pruning Fruit Trees - Bronx Green-Up of the New York Botanical Garden

Pruning Fruit Trees - Cornell Cooperative Extension

Cornell Guide to Growing Fruit - Cornell Cooperative Extension

WEBINAR: Growing Brambles: Raspberries, Blackberries, and Other Cane Fruit - Facilitated by Babbie Dunnington and Richard Squire (GreenThumb)
Password: Brambles2020!

WEBINAR: Open Orchard School: Fruit Tree Grafting - Facilitated by Sam Van Aken (Open Orchard, Trust for Governors Island)
Password: Grafting2020!

WEBINAR: Open Orchard School: Bud Grafting and Summer Tree Care - Facilitated by Sam Van Aken (Open Orchard, Trust for Governors Island)

 

Irrigation and Rainwater Collection

Drip Irrigation Planning & Design - GreenThumb

Rainwater Harvesting How-To-Guide, Videos, and More - GrowNYC

WEBINAR: Drip Irrigation 101 - Facilitated by Lory Henning and Arlene Roberts (Maple St. Community Garden); and Mara Gittleman (GreenThumb)

 

Mulch

How to Use Mulch - Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Mulch Tipsheet - NYC Compost Project

 

Mushrooms

Growing Mushrooms in an Urban Environment - Cornell Cooperative Extension

Wine Cap Factsheet - Cornell Cooperative Extension

WEBINAR: Marvelous Mushrooms - Facilitated by Gil Lopez (Smiling Hogshead Ranch)
Password: Mushrooms2020

 

Pollinator Habitat and Beneficial Insects

Habitat Gardening - NYC Parks Horticulture

Guide to Insectary Plants - Cornell Cooperative Extension

Tips for Successful Pollinator Gardens - Butterfly Project NYC

Beneficial Insects Poster - University of California

Make Your Garden a Haven for Insect Diversity - Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Butterfly Gardening - Bronx Green-Up of the New York Botanical Garden

WEBINAR: How to Make and Use Native Seed Balls to Protect Biodiversity - Facilitated by Jade Johnson and Navida Vignoles (New York Botanical Garden)
Password: SeedBalls2020!

WEBINAR: Native Plants of the GreenThumb Plant Distribution - Facilitated by Cindy Goulder
Password: NativePlantsDistro2020 

WEBINAR: Spring Care of Pollinator Perennials - Facilitated by Cindy Goulder

WEBINAR: Design your Garden to Attract Pollinators - Facilitated by Bronx Green-Up of The New York Botanical Garden and Butterfly Project NYC

 

Pest and Disease Management

Organic Pest Control Techniques - GreenThumb

Top Ten Garden Insect Pests - GreenThumb

Nine Keys to Plant Disease Prevention - Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Make your own Natural Pest Spray - GreenThumb

 

Raised Beds

Wheelchair Accessible Raised Beds - GreenThumb

 

Record Keeping & Data Collection

Farming Concrete Garden Data Collection Toolkit - Farming Concrete

Farming Concrete Data Entry Portal - Farming Concrete

Farming Concrete Open Data Downloads - Farming Concrete

Online Garden Monitoring Systems - A Tool for Community Engagement - Facilitated by Sarah McMillian and Briana Garcia (Temboo)

 

Season Extension

Low Tunnels - GreenThumb

Cold Frames - Cornell Cooperative Extension

Season Extension - GrowNYC

Growing All Seasons - USDA NRCS High Tunnels Initiative

WEBINAR: The Highs and Lows of High and Low Tunnels - facilitated by Onika Abraham (Farm School NYC) and Joseph Heller (USDA NRCS)
Password: HighTunnels2020!

 

Seed Propagation/Seed Starting

Starting Seeds Indoors and Out - Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Planting Vegetable Seeds Outdoors - Bronx Green-Up of the New York Botanical Garden

Starting Seeds Indoors - English - Bronx Green-Up of the New York Botanical Garden

Starting Seeds Indoors - Spanish - Bronx Green-Up of the New York Botanical Garden

Seed Starting Log Worksheet - English and Spanish - Bronx Green-Up of the New York Botanical Garden

Germination Test: Are Your Old Seeds Still Good? - Brooklyn Botanic Garden

WEBINAR: Starting Seeds at Home - Facilitated by Lillian Reyes (GreenThumb)
Password: Seeds2020!

WEBINAR: Grow Greens on your Windowsill - Facilitated by Maureen O'Brien (Brooklyn Botanic Garden)
Password: WindowGreens2020!

 

Seed Saving

Seed Saving Chart - Seed Matters

Six Tips for Saving Seed - Seed Matters

Seed Saving Guide - Seed Savers Exchange

How to Build and Manage a Community Seed Library - Facilitated by Eric Rodriguez (The High Line)
Password: SeedLibrary2020!

Sharing our Farm Traditions

Soul of Food series by Maya Marie S. Learn more about Maya's work at the Seeds & Receipts website and instagram and at Bring it Home. 

Site Planning

Garden Planning and Design - Bronx Green-Up of the New York Botanical Garden

 

Soil Health and Safety

Healthy Soils, Healthy Communities: Science-based information about soil contaminants and healthy gardening practices - Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Safe Gardening in New York City: How to Reduce Your Exposure to Contaminated Soil - English - NYC Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene, Lead Free NYC, and GreenThumb 

Safe Gardening in New York City: How to Reduce Your Exposure to Contaminated Soil - Spanish - NYC Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene, Lead Free NYC, and GreenThumb  

Soil Basics - Cornell Cooperative Extension

10 Best Practices for Healthy Gardening - English - Cornell Cooperative Extension

10 Best Practices for Healthy Gardening - Spanish - Cornell Cooperative Extension

Testing for Soil Nutrients - Cornell Cooperative Extension

Testing your Soil - Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Understanding Your Test Results: Metals in Garden Soils and Vegetables - Cornell Cooperative Extension

Replenishing your soil - GreenThumb

Soil Food Web - GreenThumb

WEBINAR: Contaminants in your Soil? Best Practices to Reduce Risk for a Healthy Garden - Facilitated by Sara Perl Egendorf (Brooklyn College)
Password: Soil2020!

WEBINAR: Carbon Sponge Kit: Monitoring Soil Health - Facilitated by Katharhy G. and Brooke Singer (Carbon Sponge)
Password: CarbonSponge2020

 

Trellising

Building Trellis in your Garden - GreenThumb

Trellising Part 1 and Part 2 - East New  York Farms!

 

Vegetable Gardening Guides, Toolkits, and Other Learning Resources for Growing Food

Vegetable Growing Guides - Cornell University

Master Gardener Curriculum - Cornell Cooperative Extension

Crop-by-Crop Growing Guides - Seed Savers Exchange

Guide to Urban Farming in NY - Cornell Small Farms Program

Community Garden Guides - USDA NRCS

WEBINAR: Growing Peanuts and Cotton in NYC - Facilitated by Willie Morgan and Aaron Morgan (Our Little Green Acre)
Password: PeanutsCotton2020

 

Weeds

Weed of the Month Series - Brooklyn Botanic Garden

 

 

Downloads:

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