Customer Reviews
Difficult to find a better book than this - By: DAVID-LEONARD WILLIS, 22 Jan 2004 
Practical idealists, the Shakers demonstrated that it is possible for man to create the environment & way of life he wants, not by complaining about the system but by building their own domain arranged to their liking. Eliot Coleman, farm manager of the Mountain School Program of Milton Academyin Vershire, Vermont, has demonstrated that it is possible to undertake small-scale, commercial farming & gardening without the use of harmful pesticides by using cost-effective, environmentally sustainable methods to produce spectacular results with economy of effort & means. By offering a wealth of ideas; by identifying the most efficient & practical machinery & tools; by offering simple & efficient production techniques; & advising on the most remunerative marketing methods, this book is for the gardener & small farmer who has an unfulfilled dream to established an organic enterprise with minimal expense. When low cost production methods are allied with the right machinery & marketing practices, the viability of the 1-5 acre farm producing high quality food is not only possible but also enjoyable & profitable.
The advantage enjoyed by the small farmer is quality. If the product is first class &in demand & you are a dependable supplier at reasonable cost there is never a problem finding customers. But it needs hard work & intelligence. When startingin the era of 'get big or get out' there were almost no models of commercially successful organic small farmers to provide inspiration & ideas & where they existed it was exhausting & neither cost effective nor efficient. But by seeking out the best from different parts of the world Coleman found the optimum to be about 2.5 acres per grower - enough to produce quality vegetables for 100 people. Produce from the school farm now set the quality standards for the area. He learned much from Helen & Scott Nearing - they were the most practically organized country people he has met - especially their skillsin observation & planning. Coleman sets out the year's work on paper during the winter & has a notebook with sections for each crop. He rotates crops until he finds the optimum - the single most important practicein a multi-cropping program. "The 8-year rotation presented below is a good one to conclude with because it is the one I have followed since 1982. It has been well tested. I have thought about modifying it countless times but never have. Its virtues always seem to outweigh its defects, although that isn't to say it can't be improved. I'm sure it can. But it has been a dependable producer & I offer it here as a tried-and-true example of a successful rotational sequence that incorporates many crop benefits. The goal of this particular rotation is to grow 32 vegetable cropsin adequate quantities to feed for a year the community of 60-some people who eat dailyin the Mountain School dining hall. Since we have found that we can feed 40 people per acre, the rotation below represents 1.5 acres of land. The salad crops not included here are grownin a separate small salad garden close to the kitchen." However, the author points out that tomatoes do better being grownin the same place each year fertilized by their own waste.
Factors that affect plant growth - light, moisture, temperature, soil fertility, mineral balance, biotic life, weeds, pests, seeds, labor, planning & skill - need to be arranged to the plant's liking with the grower coordinating & combining them into a harmonious whole much like the conductor of an orchestra. Successful farmers understand that their role is to help the seed do what it is already determined to do. Good farming practices such as crop rotation, animal manures, green manures, cover crops, mixed cropping, mixed stocking, legumes, crop residues, & season extension have been used for generations, but removing the limiting factors to plant growth & generating a balanced soil fertility are ultimately the secret of success.
There are 22 chapters, each one dealing with an important element of success such as green manures, tillage, direct seeding, transplanting, weeds, pests, harvest, marketing, season extension. In addition there are three appendices on tools, the major vegetable crops & a one-page schematic outline of biological agriculture. If you plan to buy just one book on organic growing, you will find it difficult to beat this book.
well laid out reference manual on organic principles. - By: cojo@wilki88.freeserve.co.uk, 26 Oct 2000 As a newcomer to organic agriculture & permaculture practices.I have read several works on the principles of organic agricultural practices but keep coming back to this excellent book.The only drawback I have foundin reading it is that it is slightly more biased to the small scale commercial grower.Having said that ,all the points it brings out are relevant to all the organic philosiphies.Once again though it is an invaluable aid & thought provoking piece of work.I would highly recommend it.
A PRIMARY WORK FROM A MASTER - By: , 08 Jul 1999 For over three thousand years there has been a written record of agricultural & horticultural curiosity & creativity. It is a domain of understanding where observation has always been the source of creativity. During that long history there have been many brilliantly creative observers of nature whose passions form the backbone of what we know about growing plants. Eliot Coleman is one of those true masters. He has spent his life applying his enormous, practical curiosity to HOW TO GROW FOOD PLANTS. If you grow vegetables & fruits, for pleasure or for market, you owe it to yourself to sit at the feet of one of the very best.
from Nicholas Lore, best selling author of "THE PATHFINDER: How To Choose or Change Your Career for a Lifetime of Satisfaction & Success"
useful to growers on any scale - By: , 11 Jun 1999 I could not recomend another book more highly. The informationin this book is useful to growers on any scale. The chapters on soil preparation & crop rotaion are worth the price alone. I am online right now ordering a copy for my dad as a gift. Enjoy!
Organic Gardening explained both Factually & Philosophically - By: , 14 May 1999 Eliot Coleman has written a masterful treatment of a deeply important subject. Not only does he offer an array of practical, time tested methods to help the reader successfully garden organically, he also tells the reader WHY one would wish to do so.
