Welcome to the Resources Page
This page lists my favourite resources broken down by type of resource.
Some are resources I have bought or used.
Others are resources I have created to help you in your gardening and homesteading journey.
I am a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for this site to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Quick Links
Downloads
Free downloads that are available in the Downloadables Library - sign up once and get access to all of them!
Books
Books that I recommend or have written myself.
Buying Guides
Recommended tools and other supplies to support your growing efforts.
Video
Videos showing you how to do something or provide inspiration in the way of homestead tours and updates.
Community
Join the community by signing up for the weekly emails and follow me on social media.
Courses
Under planning. Let me know what courses you'd be interested in.
Downloads
Fall Cleanup & Preparation Checklist
Keep track of what you need to do to prepare your garden for winter in the vegetable garden, orchard, flower garden and greenhouse.
Garden Supplies Checklist
Print out and use the checkboxes to note down what you have and what you don’t have, so you can stock up your garden shed to avoid running out.
Garden Features Worksheet
Print out and take this with you if you are buying a house. Includes lots of space to make rough sketches of the property and make notes.
Garden Planning Worksheet*
Print out and print out and plan out your gardening year. Includes lots of space to plan out your vegetable garden, projects, and maintenance routine.
Homeowner Vacation Checklist And Caretaker Vacation Checklist*
Both checklists help prepare you, your garden and the caretaker of your garden when you go on vacation, especially during the main growing season.
Outdoor Lumber Cheatsheet*
This lists possible uses of lumber in the garden for various projects, then covers the various types of lumber including cost, pros, cons and types for each.
Vegetable Crop Rotation Cheatsheet*
This lists all the vegetable plant families and shows you how to plan your crops in a typical 4 bed rotation sequence.
Spring Cleanup & Preparation Checklist*
Keep track of what you need to do to prepare your garden for summer in the vegetable garden, orchard, and greenhouse.
Your Idea Here
Got an idea for a downloadable that would help you and others? Suggest one today!
Books
Family Raised Bed Garden By Marc Thoma
The busy parent's guide to growing vegetables at home. Learn how you can easily grow lots of healthy, fresh food for your family in a beautiful raised bed garden at home, even if you’ve never gardened before.
Children's Garden Planter Box By Marc Thoma
Learn how to build a strong, attractive planter box for your child (even if you are not a woodworker). Provide your child with their own space to be creative and grow their own tasty, healthy vegetables and fruit.
Tranquil Garden "25 Simple Ideas" by Marc Thoma
Note: this book is aimed at general gardening, not specific to homesteading or growing food.
The Tranquil Garden eBook will show you 25 ideas to transform your yard into a tranquil garden a few steps at a time.
Jamie At Home – Cook Your Way To The Good Life By Jamie Oliver
This book is a combination of a recipe book and a vegetable gardening book – the perfect combo in my opinion! Each chapter introduces a food, follows with some recipes and ends with a “how I grow…” section where Jamie explains how he grows the food.
Read the full review...
A Year On The Garden Path – A 52-Week Organic Gardening Guide By Carolyn Harriot
This book is a week-by-week guide on how to grow organically. Carolyn Harriot took a neglected property close to Victoria and turned it into a high-yield food garden, growing vegetables, herbs and fruit organically without pesticides, chemical fertilizers or herbicides.
Read the full review...
The Year-Round Solar Greenhouse – How To Design And Build A Net-Zero Energy Greenhouse By Lindsey Schiller And Marc Plinke
This book is a comprehensive guide to building a greenhouse that is energy efficient and uses the energy of the sun to heat and cool the interior.The authors first go over some basics to building a greenhouse that controls heat gain and heat loss.
Read the full review...
The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener: How To Grow Your Own Food 365 Days A Year, No Matter Where You Live By Niki Jabbour
This book busts the myth that you cannot grow vegetables in winter other than in mild climates. Niki shares her experience of growing vegetables year-round in Nova Scotia, on the east coast of Canada, where the winters are often cold and stormy.
Read the full review...
The Zero-Mile Diet – A Year-Round Guide To Growing Organic Food By Carolyn Harriot
This book follows a month-by-month format expanding on the info presented in Carolyn's first book. She focuses more on specific types of produce, with more detailed information on each and emphasizes the benefits of growing your own food, just steps from your kitchen.
Read the full review...
Japanese Gardens In A Weekend – Projects For One, Two Or Three Weekends By Robert Ketchell
This book is a guide to constructing over 20 Japanese features in manageable steps. You can complete each project in either one, two or three weekends. Read the full review...
Buying Guides
10 Must Have Gardening Tools That You Need To Start Gardening
Tools are a key to having a successful garden. These 10 tools will make maintenance easier and faster.
15 Special Gardening Tools That You Will Find Helpful
Tools are a key to having a successful garden. These 15 special gardening tools can help you if you have specialized tasks that you need to do.
15 Woodworking Tools That You Can Use In The Garden
Supplement your garden tools by including some woodworking tools. Learn which tools you can use and how you can use them.
21 Useful Gardening Supplies To Restock This Winter
Keeping your garden supplies stocked up is crucial to getting work done when you need to. Learn what supplies you need to keep on hand.
Gifts For Beginner Gardeners: 12 Last-Minute Gift Ideas
Have a beginner gardener on your holiday shopping list you still need to buy for? Get ideas for some last-minute gifts for beginner gardeners.
Best Kids Gardening Tools That Make Gardening Fun
Getting kids involved in gardening, especially growing their own food has many benefits. But they need the right tools.
videos
Urban Homestead Tour: Raised beds, greenhouse, fruit trees and more [April 2019]
Take a walk through the homestead with me as I show you the various features of the backyard garden and find what is starting to grow at this time of year.
Urban Homestead Tour: Raised beds, greenhouse, fruit trees and more [Nov 2018]
Take a walk through the homestead with me as I show you the various features of the backyard garden and find what is still growing at this time of year.
Greenhouse Passive Heating Features
Take a look with Marc at the greenhouse features that allow it to capture heat energy during the day when the sun shines and release that heat slowly at nighttime to avoid having plants inside freeze.
Fruit Tree Fertilizer: How To Make And Apply Homemade Fertilizer [How-to]
Follow along with Marc as he makes and applies homemade fruit tree fertilizer to one of his many fruit trees to feed the tree for a better harvest.
Tree Banding: How To Easily Increase Fruit Yields in 2019 [How-to]
Follow along with Marc as he applies a resin tree band to one of his many fruit trees to guard against the winter moth and avoid damage.
Raspberry Pruning Basics: Get better harvests. [How-to]
Follow along with Marc as he shows you how to prune raspberries. Learn why you need to prune and what you need to do it successfully.
Transplanting Onions with the Seeding Square [How-to]
Follow along with me as I transplant onions that I grew from seeds in my greenhouse. I use the Seeding Square to properly space out the seedlings.
Transplanting Leeks - Keeping it Simple and Easy to Do
Follow along with me as I use simple methods to transplant leeks that I grew from seeds in my greenhouse. Just eyeballing the plant spacing.
Your Video Idea Here
Got an idea for a video that would help you and others? Suggest one today!
Community
Subscribe and join others growing their own food for their families on their urban homesteads
Sign up for access to the Free Downloadables Library and also get useful tips and tricks weekly on Friday morning.
Check out lots of pins on Pinterest
Find hundreds of pins on the Tranquil Garden Urban Homestead Pinterest boards for inspiration and ideas.
Check out inspirational photos, quotes and tips on Instagram
Get inspired and connect with Marc as he posts photos of his garden, his harvests and provides inspirational quotes, tips and gardening term definitions.
Follow and interact on Facebook
Be notified when new blog posts are published. Join and post questions and successes on the Tranquil Garden Urban Homestead Facebook Group.
Courses
Coming Soon
Courses are being developed and will be available in 2019/2020! Feel free to suggest a course or topic you would be interested in learning more about.