Extension Sources
Everything on this site traces back to one of these. They are listed here so you can go to the originals directly, which is usually a better use of your time than reading me summarize them.
Why extension services
Cooperative Extension is the outreach arm of the land-grant university system. Extension publications are written by people running the trials, reviewed institutionally, and corrected when they turn out to be wrong. Very little other gardening content meets any of those three conditions.
The catch is that extension material is regional by design. Advice from Minnesota about overwintering strawberries will not transfer cleanly to South Carolina, and the sources below are worth reading with that in mind. Where this site cites a regional source for a general principle, it says so.
Find your own
Every US state has an extension service, and most answer questions from home gardeners at no charge. Yours will know your soil, your frost dates, and your local pest pressure better than any national site. Search for your state's name plus "cooperative extension", or find your county office through your land-grant university.
This is the single most underused resource in home gardening. A county extension agent will identify a disease from a photo and tell you whether it is worth treating, which is a better outcome than anything a search engine will give you.
Sources cited on this site
Fruit and berries
- University of Minnesota — Growing strawberries in the home garden
- University of Minnesota — Growing raspberries in the home garden
- University of Minnesota — Strawberry end-of-season renovation
- Penn State — Crown and root issues in strawberries
- Penn State — Pruning brambles in home fruit plantings
- Clemson HGIC — Growing strawberries
- NC State — Blackberries for the home garden
- NC State — Southeast Regional Caneberry Production Guide: cultivars
- NC State Rubus portal — orange rust advisory
- Ohio State CEA Center — Strawberry planting materials
Soil and nutrients
- University of Minnesota — Compost and soil organic matter: the more, the merrier?
- University of Minnesota — Correcting too much compost and manure
- University of Minnesota — Soil testing for lawns and gardens
- Iowa State — How to interpret soil test results
- Oregon State — Wood chips as mulch
- UC ANR — Myths of mulch
- University of New Hampshire — Cover cropping in the home garden
Pests and disease
- University of Georgia — Why your ladybugs aren't doing what you think
- University of Nevada — Lady beetle releases
- University of Minnesota — Squash vine borers
- Colorado State — Insecticidal soap
- Cornell — Low impact pesticides
- Michigan State — IPM for the vegetable garden
- UC IPM — Organic, natural and less toxic: what's the difference
Seed starting and season
- The Garden Professors — Understanding last frost and planting dates
- UC ANR — Ask a Master Gardener: last frost date
- University of Maine — Starting seeds at home
- Penn State — Season extenders and growing fall vegetables
- Colorado State PlantTalk — Buying and hardening transplants
Regulatory