The Market Gardener: A Handbook for Successful Small-Scale Organic Farming

Posted on 25 August 2017 by Jean-Martin Fortier

Les Jardins de la Grelinette is a micro farm located in eastern Quebec, just north of the American border Growing on just 1.5 acres, owners Jean Martin and Maude Hel ne feed than two hundred families through their thriving CSA and seasonal market stands and supply their signature mesclun salad mix to dozens of local establishments The secret of their success is the low tech, high yield production methods they ve developed by focusing on growing better rather than growing bigger, making their operation lucrative and viable in the process The Market Gardener is a compendium of la Grelinette s proven horticultural techniques and innovative growing methods This complete guide is packed with practical information on Setting up a micro farm by designing biologically intensive cropping systems, all with negligible capital outlay Farming without a tractor and minimizing fossil fuel inputs through the use of the best hand tools, appropriate machinery, and minimum tillage practices Growing mixed vegetables systematically with attention to weed and pest management, crop yields, harvest periods, and pricing approachesInspired by the French intensive tradition of maraichage and by iconic American vegetable grower Eliot Coleman, author and farmer Jean Martin shows by example how to start a market garden and make it both very productive and profitable Making a living wage farming without big capital outlay or acreages may be closer than you think.Jean Martin Fortier is a passionate advocate of strong local food systems and founder of Les Jardins de la Grelinette, an internationally recognized model for successful biointensive micro farming. New Download [ The Market Gardener: A Handbook for Successful Small-Scale Organic Farming ] By [ Jean-Martin Fortier ] For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr Probably the biggest impact this book had on my gardening was that, reading it in January thankfully , I immediately drew up my year s production goals, though not monetary like Fortier s I then created a bed plan based on these goals, which was an enlightening task I drastically reduced some crops and significantly increased others In the past, my goal was always to just grow something, anything I ve never had specific crop goals per se and have beenlackadaisical about how much of th Probably the biggest impact this book had on my gardening was that, reading it in January thankfully , I immediately drew up my year s production goals, though not monetary like Fortier s I then created a bed plan based on these goals, which was an enlightening task I drastically reduced some crops and significantly increased others In the past, my goal was always to just grow something, anything I ve never had specific crop goals per se and have beenlackadaisical about how much of this or that I ve planted As a result I ve been disappointed or overwhelmed by the volume I ve gotten from a pa...I put off picking up this book because I have no inclination to sell any of my food, even though I devote quite a lot of time to producing all the vegetables my husband and I eat in a year I shouldn t have delayed Because Fortier s beautifully illustrated and easy to read book fills in gaps in my production campaign, giving me ideas for streamlining production so my crops will bebountiful with less work His focus on hand tools and on high density production makes this a book that will s I put off picking up this book because I have no inclination to sell any of my food, even though I devote quite a lot o...This is one of my favorite gardening books, due to Fortier s excellent writing and practical knowledge running a small organic farm It goes to show that you can be a very profitable farm on small acreage without the pesticides, without the chemical fertilizers and without the giant tractor combine systems not to mention the accompanying financing and debt used by standard commercial farms As my garden has grown from backyard plot to mini farm size, I ve increasingly incorporated the...I started reading another market gardener book at the same time, but found Fortier s book to be far easier to read, and the language faraccessible perhaps due to the original being written that way, or the translator Even if you have no intention of selling anything you produce, this book provides great information on crop rotation, organic methods of fertilization, and successive planting basically everything needed to keep your garden organic as well as maintaining the highest pro I started reading another market gardener book at the same time, but found Fortier s book to be far easier to read, and the language faraccessible perhaps due to the original being written that way, or the translator Even if you have no intention of selling anything you produce, this book provides great information on crop rotation, organic methods of fertilization, and successive planting basically everything needed to keep your garden organic as well as maintaining the highest production as possibl...Amazing Life changing.This is truly an exceptional book, one that I refer to regularly as a home gardener It is full of concise, thoughtful, and practical information related to growing high quality vegetables The charts and illustrations are simple but clear and effective Fortier is on the cutting edge of small scale growing, and I look forward to learningabout his new research farm in his next book.If I have one small quibble, it s that the actual shape of the book is slightly awkward its wide pages flop This is truly an exceptional book, one that I refer to regularly as a home gardener It is full of concise,...InformativeGood food, organically and locally grown is the trend of the future The market garden satisfies our needs and benefits the environment as well You won t get rich, but you will have a fulfilling life This book will definitely set you on the ...Too many organic farmer memoirs are airy affairs about hugging trees and communing with nature, it is good to finally see something nuts and bolts that puts aside sentimentality Fortier illustrates that ...Love this text When I retire, I am going to be a full time market gardener Informative and inspiring, this book is a treasure.I m not a market gardener, though I may be a one crop one in the future Still, I find the entire back to local organic small farm movement heartening and am very interested in it The information here is clearly presented, and as I m an intensive planting, seed starting home gardener, there was useful information for me in here as well I pu...

The Market Gardener: A Handbook for Successful Small-Scale Organic Farming

25 August 2017

Jean-Martin Fortier