Free Gardening Guides — Learn to Plant, Grow, Harvest & Preserve
Looking for free gardening guides to help you grow more of your own food? You’re in the right place!
Here on our northern Michigan homestead, above the 45th parallel, we’ve spent more than two decades learning how to grow, harvest, preserve, and prepare our own food using organic gardening practices.
I’ve gathered these free gardening resources to help you get started, build your confidence, and learn practical skills you can use in your own backyard.
Whether you’re planting your very first garden or looking to improve what you’re already growing, there’s always something new to learn.
Old-Fashioned Ways in a Modern World!
Looking for more hands-on help? Explore the gardening lessons inside Food Prood Academy.
Learn to Grow More Food… One Garden at a Time
You don’t need a tractor.
You don’t need 100 acres.
You don’t even need to know what you’re doing.
Trust me…I certainly didn’t when I planted my first few tomato plants over 20 years ago.
Since then, our family has learned to grow about 85% of the food we eat, including all of our vegetables, most of our fruit, and all of our meat.
And now I’d love to help you do the same—one crop at a time.
That’s why I’ve created these free garden guides.
Whether you’re planting your very first tomato or trying to grow enough potatoes to feed your family through winter, these guides are designed to save you time, help you avoid common mistakes, and give you the confidence to grow more of your own food.
What You’ll Learn
Inside these free guides you’ll find practical, real-life advice like:
🌱 When to plant
🌱 Common mistakes to avoid
🌱 Soil tips
🌱 Watering advice
🌱 Harvesting
🌱 Storage ideas
🌱 Cooking ideas
🌱 Preserving tips
🌱 Real-world lessons I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way.)
No fluff.
No complicated gardening jargon.
Just practical advice from someone who’s made plenty of mistakes so hopefully you don’t have to.
Current Free Guides
Why I’m Giving These Away
People ask me all the time…
“Where do I even start?”
The truth is…
You don’t need to learn everything today.
Just learn one thing.
Plant one crop.
Gain one skill.
Then do it again next year.
That’s exactly how our little homestead grew into what it is today.
Your Garden Is Just the Beginning!
Growing your own food is an amazing feeling.
But here’s something I’ve learned over the years: planting the garden is only one part of the journey.
Then comes figuring out when to harvest everything, how to save seeds for next year, what to do when the garden produces more than you expected, and how to turn all that wonderful food into meals for your family.
And no, you don’t need to learn everything at once!
That’s why I’ve put together so many different resources here at Food Prood. Whether you’re just getting started or you’ve been gardening for years, there’s always another skill worth learning.
Keep Exploring the Garden
Want more than what’s included in these free printable guides?
I’ve shared years of gardening experiences, tutorials, and lessons learned right here on the website.
From starting seeds and growing vegetables to dealing with pests, harvesting, and saving seeds, there’s plenty more to explore.
And yes, I share the things that haven’t worked, too. Because goodness knows I’ve made my share of mistakes over the years!
Explore More Gardening Tips & Tutorials
Ready to Go Beyond the Free Guides? Come Learn with Me!
Sometimes reading a guide is all you need.
Other times, you want someone to actually show you how it’s done!
That’s one of the reasons I created Food Prood Academy.
Inside the Academy, I share practical lessons from our northern Michigan homestead, where we’ve spent more than two decades learning how to grow, preserve, and prepare much of our own food.
You’ll find lessons covering:
- Starting seeds and caring for your garden
- Succession planting and growing vegetables
- Composting and improving your garden soil
- Saving seeds for future gardens
- Harvesting and preserving your food
- Cooking from scratch with what you’ve grown
- Herbs, sourdough, livestock, and everyday homesteading skills
These aren’t lessons from a perfect-looking homestead where everything always goes according to plan.
They’re real-life skills, taught through the experiences, successes, mistakes, and everyday work that go into raising our own food.
And you can start right where you are.
Old-Fashioned Ways in a Modern World — One Skill at a Time.
Grow It. Harvest It. Preserve It. Cook It.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that growing food is only the beginning.
You also need to know what to do with it!
That’s why I wrote Seed to Plate: A Homesteading Gardening Guide & Cookbook.
It’s filled with practical gardening knowledge, seed-saving information, harvesting and preservation guidance, and recipes to help you use the food you’ve worked so hard to grow.
I wrote it especially with gardeners like us in mind — those dealing with shorter growing seasons, unpredictable weather, and the realities of everyday life.
And if you’re looking for more ways to use what you’ve harvested, I’ve got plenty of resources for that, too!
Learn to Preserve Your Harvest
Browse My From-Scratch Recipes
You Don’t Have to Do It All — Just Start Somewhere
Over 24 years ago, I started with a little garden and a handful of tomato plants.
I certainly didn’t know everything I was doing!
But one garden led to another. One skill led to another. And before I knew it, those small beginnings had become a way of life for our family.
So whether you’re planting your first tomato, learning to save seeds, or hoping to fill your pantry with food you’ve grown yourself, I hope these guides help you take that next step.
Start small.
Keep learning.
And don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty!
Food is your fuel — fuel it the best!
Plant • Grow • Harvest • Preserve
Old-Fashioned Ways in a Modern World.