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

Jean-Martin Fortier

mar 2014 · New Society Publisher

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“Few books have grabbed my attention as dramatically as this one—because it’s ultimately do-able for thousands of would-be food and farm healers.” —Joel Salatin, Polyface Farm
 
Grow better not bigger with proven low-tech, human-scale, biointensive farming methods
 
Making a living wage farming without big capital outlay or acreages may be closer than you think. Growing on just 1.5 acres, Jean-Martin and Maude-Helene feed more than 200 families through their thriving CSA and seasonal market stands. 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 more lucrative and viable in the process.
 
The Market Gardener is a compendium of 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 approaches.
 
Inspired 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.
 
“Very well done and should be of great use to market growers everywhere.” —Eliot Coleman, organic farming pioneer and author of The New Organic Grower
 
“Both visionary and practical, it is a work of rare intelligence.” —Charles Herve-Gruyer, permaculture teacher and grower at la Fermedu BecHellouin, France

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Jean-Martin Fortier and his wife Maude-Helene Desroches are the founders of Les Jardins de la Grelinette, an internationally recognized micro-farm famous for its high productivity-profitability using low-tech, high-yield methods of production. He lives in Quebec, Canada.