Top 50 Food Growing People

May 17 2009

This is my highly subjective list of people who I think have contributed the most to the “grow your own food” community. If you know of someone I’ve missed please leave a comment below the list:

	Jules Dervaes * Founded the “Dervaes Institute” in 2006 * Creator of the public urban homestead model “Path to Freedom” http://www.pathtofreedom.com/about/background/theman.shtml
	D. G. Hessayon * Wrote gardening manuals “Expert Guides” (50 million printed) * Guinness World Record for “bestselling non-fiction author of the 1990s” * Awarded the Royal Horticultural Society’s “The Veitch Memorial Medal”
	John Jeavons * Developed the “Grow Biointensive” method * Wrote “How to Grow More Vegetables” (500.000 copies) http://www.johnjeavons.info
	Eliot Coleman * Wrote “The New Organic Grower” (1989) * Co-owner of “The Four Seasons Farm” * Executive Director of the “International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM)”
	Alan Titchmarsh * Awarded the Royal Horticultural Society’s “Victoria Medal Of Honour” in 2004 (RHS in UK) * Runs his own charity: “Garden for schools” and “Seeds for Africa” * Host of TV program “Gardeners’ World” in UK
	Kent Whealy * Co-founder of “Seed Savers Exchange” * Received “The Genius Award”
	Amy P. Goldman * Wrote “Melons for the Passionate Grower” (2002) (American Horticultural Society 2003 Annual Book Award) * Wrote “The Heirloom Tomato” (2008) * Wrote “The Compleat Squash” (2004) (American Horticultural Society Book Award)
	Barbara Damrosch * Co-owner of “The Four Seasons Farm” * Wrote “The Garden Primer” * Co-hosted the TV-series “Gardening Naturally”
	Jeff Lowenfels * The world’s longest running garden columnist (32 years) * Wrote “Teaming with Microbes” * Founder of “Plant a Row for The Hungry”
	Maria Thun * Publishes an annual biodynamic gardening calender in 18 languages * Wrote “Gardening for Life” (2000)
	Mel Bartholomew * Wrote “Square Foot Gardening” (1981) * Created the “Square Foot Gardening Foundation” http://www.squarefootgardening.com
	Michael Pollan * Wrote “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” (2006) * Wrote “Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education” (1991)
	Carol Klein * Own plant nursery, “Glebe Cottage Plants” * TV show “Grow Your Own Veg” * In the TV show, “Gardeners’ World”
	Carol Cox * Ecology Action’s Garden Research Manager * Co-author of “The Sustainable Vegetable Garden”
	Toby Hemenway * Wrote “Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture” * Associate editor of “Permaculture Activist” from 1999 to 2004
	Barbara L. Bowling * Wrote “Berry Grower’s Companion” (2005) * Was chairperson of the “American Society for Horticultural Sciences’ Viticulture and Small Fruit Working Group”
	Joy Larkcom * Wrote “Grow Your Own Vegetables” (2002) * Was in 1993 awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal for her services to horticulture by the RHS, and was also Garden Writer of the Year in 1993
	Charles Dowding * Wrote “Organic Gardening: The Natural No-Dig Way” (2007) * Created a market garden in rural Zambia * Gave lectures to the RHS in Tokyo http://www.charlesdowding.com
	Eric Toensmeier * Wrote “Perennial Vegetables” * Co-author with Dave Jacke of the two-volume permaculture design manual “Edible Forest Gardens” * Manages the Tierra de Oportunidades new farmer program of Nuestras Raices
	Shane Smith * Wrote “Greenhouse Gardener’s Companion” * Director and a founder, in 1977, of the Cheyenne Botanic Garden, Wyoming’s only public botanic garden
	Stella Otto * Wrote “The Backyard Orchardist” (1995) * Benjamin Franklin Award winner (1994) * Fruit farm owner
	Fern Marshall Bradley * Author of Rodale’s Vegetable Garden Problem Solver (2007) * Co-author of “Vegetable Gardening” (2006) * Managing an organic market garden in western New Jersey
	Mike * Blogs about a 2 acres market garden * His blog has 1400 daily readers * 1300 links back to his blog from other websites http://tinyfarmblog.com
	Rose Marie Nichols McGee * Co-author of “McGee & Stuckey’s Bountiful Container” * Blogs about gardening and food (100 links back to her blog) * Rose Marie is President of Nichols Garden Nursery http://nicholsgardennursery.wordpress.com
	Joe Swift * Wrote “Joe’s Allotment” (2009) * Wrote “Joes Urban Garden Handbook” * Host on BBC’s “Gardeners’ World”
	Steve Solomon * Wrote “Gardening When It Counts” (2006) * Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades (2006) * Wrote and self-published “Growing Vegetables South of Australia” (2002) http://www.soilandhealth.org/05steve%27sfolder/05aboutmeindex.html
	Gayla Trail * Wrote “You Grow Girl: The Ground Breaking Guide to Gardening” (2005) * Blogs about gardening * 2200 links back to her blog from other websites http://www.yougrowgirl.com
	Marjorie Harris * Wrote “Seasons of My Garden” (1999) * Wrote “The Healing Garden” (1996) * Wrote “In the Garden: Thoughts on the Changing Seasons” (1995)
	Jerry Baker * Wrote several books on gardening * Host on gardening TV and radio shows
	Liz Primeau * Wrote “Front Yard Gardens: Growing More Than Grass” (2003) * Founding editor of Canadian Gardening magazine * Former host of Canadian Gardening Television on HGTV
	Steve Ott * Wrote “Homegrown Vegetable Manual” (2009) * Co-author of “The A-Z Guide to Growing and Cooking Farm-fresh Food” (2008) * Editor of Kitchen Garden magazine http://www.kitchengarden.co.uk/thismonth.php
	Sarah Raven * Wrote “The Great Vegetable Plot” * Guest presenter on BBC’s “Gardeners World”
	Alys Fowler * Wrote “The Thrifty Gardener” (2008) * Horticultural researcher on “Gardeners’ World” on BBC in the UK
	Suzanne Peabody Ashworth * Wrote “Seed to Seed” (2002) * Owner of “Del Rio Botanical” http://www.delriobotanical.com/site_main.html
	Stu Campbell * Wrote “Let it Rot: The Gardener’s Guide to Composting” (2003) * Wrote “Mulch it!” * Wrote “Improving Your Soil”
	Anais Dervaes * Blogs about urban homesteading in California * 1900 links back to her blog from other websites http://urbanhomestead.org/journal
	Andy McKee * Wrote “The Polytunnel Handbook” (2009) * 500 links to his blog from other websites http://hedgewizardsdiary.blogspot.com
	Carleen Madigan * Wrote “The Backyard Homestead” (2009)
	Carole B. Turner * Wrote “Seed Sowing and Saving” (1998)
	Dick Raymond * Wrote “Joy of Gardening” * Head vegetable gardening specialist at Garden Way Gardens
	Edward C. Smith * Wrote “The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible” * Wrote “Incredible Vegetables from Self-Watering Containers”
	Kenneth E. Point * Internship on a forty acre organic farm (1985 – 1994) * Blogs about gardening (2005 – 2009) * 800 links to his blog from other websites http://www.veggiegardeningtips.com
	Tonopah Rob * Owner of 2,800 square meters farm in Tonopah, Arizona * Sold more than 550 kg produce in one weekend at Tonopah Rob’s Vegetable Farm stand http://tonopahrob.com
	Gillian Carson * Blogs about gardening * 1000 daily readers * 800 links to her blog from other websites http://mytinyplot.co.uk
	Sally Jean Cunningham * Wrote “Great Garden Companions” (2000) * Has a TV and radio show on gardening
	R. J. Ruppenthal * Wrote “Fresh Food from Small Spaces” (2008)
	Emma Rawlings * Co-author of “The A-Z Guide to Growing and Cooking Farm-fresh Food” (2008)
	Jeff A. Hartenfeld * Co-author of “The Farmers’ Market Book” (2007)
	Cavagnarok David * Co-author on “The Complete Vegetable & Herb Gardener : A Guide to Growing Your Garden Organically” (1997)
	Sharon L. Lovejoy * Wrote “Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children” (1999) * Serves on the National Children and Youth Garden Advisory Panel of the American Horticultural Society http://sharonlovejoy.blogspot.com