Organic Gardening & Seed Saving Books & CDs
Gardens of Destiny with Dan Jason. A Feature Documentary by Jocelyn Demers
Filmmaker, Jocelyn Demers meets Dan Jason on Salt Spring Island on Canada's west coast. Dan is an organic gardener with a fantastic selection of seeds, vegetables, grains, medicinal plants and flowers. He is also the head of the grassroots organization called the Seed and Plant Sanctuary for Canada, a network of Canadian gardeners who are preserving as much plant diversity as is possible. Mr. Jason has been a long time critic of the non-organic food system in North America. Jocelyn Demers explores Dan's garden and seed world and investigates what other experts from the agriculture milieu think about Dan's observations.
The copies on sale on this website are for personal use only. For TV rights or educational rights contact the filmmaker at demers276@hotmail.com
GARDENS OF DESTINY investigates many important issues related to pollution and health. These include genetic engineering, Terminator seeds and the pitfalls of industrial agriculture. Additionally, it examines how organic food has proven to be protective against cancer.
GARDENS OF DESTINY offers several easy and sometimes fun solutions for citizens and governments. Two of these remedies include supporting organic growers and starting your own organic garden.
75 minutes, available for $20
West Coast Gardening: Natural Insect, Weed & Disease Control by Linda Gilkeson.
This new book for organic gardeners describes safe, effective ways to control pests in vegetables and fruit as well as ornamentals and lawns. The introductory section covers pest management basics, with an emphasis on prevention. There is a chart of symptoms to help diagnose pest problems and a section on least-toxic and homemade pesticides.
The main part of the book contains over 60 entries on common insects and other pests, diseases, disorders and weeds. Each entry provides identification tips, information on life cycles and how to use preventive methods and non-toxic controls successfully. There is an extensive section on beneficial insects and how to make allies out of them, including a ‘Top 12’ list of plants that attract them.
The final section on managing weeds includes labour saving tips for hand weeding and how to grow a healthy, weed-free lawn. There are over 155 photographs and illustrations to make it easy to identify pests, beneficial insects and diseases.
Available for $22.00
New. Tableland
Award-winning film producer, Craig Noble embarked on an odyssey across North America, filming and interviewing people, including myself, who are living and demonstrating the beauty, joy and sustainability of local agriculture. A superbly crafted and totally inspiring film.
$20 per DVD
Saving Seeds As If Our Lives Depended On It by Dan Jason
My new book is divided into four parts, all part and parcel of my urging you to partake in the responsibility and the joy of saving seeds.
Part 1 is a personal overview of how seed affairs have gotten to be what they are. This section is an encapsulation of twenty years of observing the seed world while participating in it as a mail order seed company.
Part 2 has some thoughts I now have about seeds and some of the background experiences that led to those thoughts. I'm hoping this section excites you to the possibilities of what might be in store for you if you take The Seedy Road.
Part 3 is a beginner's guide to saving seeds. Saving seeds is simple, easy and straightforward.
Part 4 lets you know that the revitalization of seeds is already a social movement. Beyond actually growing seeds, there are many ways to participate effectively in the preservation of our seed heritage.
2nd Edition $10
A list of all of Dan's books available from Amazon.com
- The Whole Organic Food Book: Safe, Healthy Harvest from Your Garden to Your Plate (2001)
- The Really Whole Food Cookbook (1994)
- Greening the Garden: A Guide to Sustainable Growing (1991)
- Your own food: A forager's guide (1979)
We also recommend a new book from our friend Linda Gilkeson.
Year-Around Harvest: Winter Gardening on the Coast
This 68 page manual fills a gap in the gardening literature by showing how gardeners in the mild climate of the West Coast can enjoy fresh vegetables and fruit all year. The emphasis is on how to grow over 30 kinds of hardy salad greens, root crops and other vegetables that can be harvested directly from the garden, fall through spring (without a coldframe or greenhouse). The author describes how to choose varieties for the longest harvest, when to plant each crop and gives simple methods for protecting crops during cold snaps. She also covers planning winter crops to fit in with summer planting schedules to make the most efficient use of garden beds.
The manual includes a chapter on curing and storing methods for summer grown vegetables and fruit that keep well for fresh eating over the winter. There is a chapter on managing common pests organically and a chapter on simple methods for saving and storing seeds. Rounding out the contents are lists of references and seed suppliers, an index and an 'A-to-Z' section with cultural details for key winter crops.
$15.00 (postage extra)