About Garden Planet Book

Garden Planet Book is an independent guide to organic and no-spray food gardening at home. It covers five subjects in depth: organic labels and rules, soil, pests and disease, seed starting and season extension, and berries.

The site exists because most garden advice online is repeated rather than checked. A tip gets copied from one site to the next until it reads like common knowledge, whether or not anyone ever tested it.

How pages are written

Every factual claim on the site links to its source, usually a university extension service, a USDA or EPA document, or a published study. Specific numbers (soil test thresholds, germination temperatures, chill hours, frost probabilities) are only included when a source gives them, and the source is linked in the sentence where the number appears.

When good sources disagree, the page says so and shows the range rather than picking the number that makes the tidiest advice. When the research doesn't exist or doesn't settle a question, the page says that too.

The full rules are in the editorial policy, and every outside source cited anywhere on the site is listed on the sources page.

What this site is not

This is not a substitute for your local extension office. Growing conditions, pest pressure, and planting dates vary enormously by region, and your state's land-grant university publishes guidance tuned to your climate and soils. Where local guidance and a general page here differ, follow the local guidance.

The site does not sell plants, seeds, or products, and it does not accept payment to review or recommend them.

Corrections

If a page misstates a source, links to something that no longer supports the claim, or has gone out of date, please say so through the contact page. Corrections are made to the page itself.