The New Organic Grower: A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener (A Gardener's Supply Book) [Paperback]

Eliot Coleman (Author), Sheri Amsel (Illustrator), Molly Cook Field (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1995 | Series: A Gardener's Supply Book

With more than 45,000 sold since 1988, The New Organic Grower has become a modern classic. In this newly revised and expanded edition, master grower Eliot Coleman continues to present the simplest and most sustainable ways of growing top-quality organic vegetables. Coleman updates practical information on marketing the harvest, on small-scale equipment, and on farming and gardening for the long-term health of the soil. The new book is thoroughly updated, and includes all-new chapters such as: *Farm-Generated Fertility-how to meet your soil-fertility needs from the resources of your own land, even if manure is not available. *The Moveable Feast-how to construct home-garden and commercial-scale greenhouses that can be easily moved to benefit plants and avoid insect and disease build-up. *The Winter Garden-how to plant, harvest, and sell hardy salad crops all winter long from unheated or minimally heated greenhouses. *Pests-how to find "plant-positive" rather than "pest-negative" solutions by growing healthy, naturally resistant plants. *The Information Resource-how and where to learn what you need to know to grow delicious organic vegetables, no matter where you live. Written for the serious gardener or small market farmer, The New Organic Grower proves that, in terms of both efficiency and profitability, smaller can be better.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Coleman's personable work draws together the experience and wisdom of his 25 years as a vegetable gardener in Maine. It includes nearly all the material in the previous edition (LJ 11/1/89), communicating a respect and feeling for "the land" and its processes. Every page is imbued with the wisdom and careful observations he and his associates have gathered; from soil structure to "mobile greenhouses" that expand the growing season, each method is thought through to its ultimate impact on the earth and on economic survival. Well-presented graphics illustrate methods and techniques. This new edition includes sidebar references and notes, new chapters on creating fertile soil (without importing items such as manure from sources that may not use organic methods), and use of existing information channels to learn of new information. Of interest for even the smallest veggie patch grower. The Dirt Doctor's Guide to Organic Gardening presents many of the same sustainable concepts with the vehemence of its radio talk show host and news columnist author. Garrett gives tips on a broader range of home gardening, including landscaping and wildlife, and spends much effort on the abuses of past and current practice. Basics are presented briefly, with many eco-asides that help break up the dense, information-rich text. Lack of visuals makes the material harder to absorb, yet one is constantly copying out directions as they appear. These tidbits and the coverage of issues concerning Southern gardens make the title of value, though gathering the tips in an appendix or special section would have provided better access. For general collections.
Sue Gardner, Albert Wisner Lib., Warwick, N.Y.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"This is the best book on small-scale farming I've read in years."--Pat Stone, Mother Earth News

"I know of no other person. . . who can produce better results on the land with an economy of effort and means than Eliot. He has transformed gardening from a task, to a craft, and finally to what Steward Brand would cal 'local science'."--Paul Hawken, from the Foreword

"Anybody seriously tempted to try. . . raising healthy food on healthy land. . . must first read The New Organic Grower. Coleman, who has been a quiet leader in the American organic movement for several decades, presents a balanced, logical exposition of his subject."--Horticulture



"Coleman conveys a vast amount of detailed information without ever insulting the intelligence of the reader. He speaks as if to a fellow home or market gardener, sharing what works for him and discussing what he knows and what he doesn't know. The New Organic Grower will be the book you dog-ear and feather with yellow sticky pages, returning to it time and again."--San Francisco Chronicle



"Eliot Coleman's book will help market gardeners establish the vital and profitable link between farm and city during the 1990s. Every small-scale grower and serious gardener should have a copy."--Robert Rodale

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: Chelsea Green; 2 Rev Exp edition (October 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 093003175X
• ISBN-13: 978-0930031756
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 1.1 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,306 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Gardening & Landscape Design > By Technique > Organic
  • #40 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Sustainable Living

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

114 of 115 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The New Organic Gardener July 7, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I would like to start up a small garden market and was looking for a good book to get me started. This book provided more than I asked for! It was very thorough on every detail of what would be involved - making a good soil, rotating crops, green manure, composting, greenhouses, seed producers, materials and costs, the benefit of animals, hiring/firing workers, marketing your product, irrigation, finding a good land plot to begin with and so much more! His information about start up costs and materials is in a simplistic, not extravagant and expensive way. He stresses reusing and recycling just about everything to save time, money, effort, and most importantly, our valuable earth resources. Although he makes strong suggestions about what will work successfully, he is always open to new ideas and techniques that could better improve any small farm. I appreciate his open-mindedness to new ideas and the value of constant learning. Reading this book makes you want to go out and start a farm right away with confidence that you'll be successful!

174 of 179 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for organic growers December 13, 2000

By R. Griffiths

Format:Paperback

This amounts to the 'bible' of organic growing. It is informative and inspirational in equal measure. While the approach Coleman takes is particularly suited to market gardening, it is also eminently suitable for smaller-scale gardeners who simply wish to feed their family.

Coleman writes, 'The premise of this book is that you can make a good living on 5 acres or less of intensive vegetable production. Thus it is those acres that concern us most.' (p16)

In a nutshell, Coleman's approach is to:

- plan and market effectively

- develop the healthiest soil

- grow the most valuable crops

- extend the growing season to the maximum

He show just how to do this in 334 pages with 28 chapters and four appendices. There isn't space here to offer a contents list, but here are some highlights:

Chapters addressing the question 'why do it?' - Agricultural craftsmanship', 'a final question'

Chapters on 'season extension', mobile greenhouses and 'the winter garden'.

'Plant-positive' solutions to pests.

Chapters on marketing strategy and marketing.

However, 'The New Organic Grower' covers far more than this - in fact everything you could need to start successful organic vegetable production! Readers living in cool/temperate climates may also want to check out Coleman's other popular book, 'Four Season Harvest'.

109 of 112 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Difficult to beat this book January 29, 2004

By DAVID-LEONARD WILLIS

Format:Paperback

Practical idealists, the Shakers demonstrated that it is possible for man to create the environment and 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 Academy in Vershire, Vermont, has demonstrated that it is possible to undertake small-scale, commercial farming and gardening without the use of harmful pesticides by using cost-effective, environmentally sustainable methods to produce spectacular results with economy of effort and means. By offering a wealth of ideas; by identifying the most efficient and practical machinery and tools; by offering simple and efficient production techniques; and advising on the most remunerative marketing methods, this book is for the gardener and 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 and marketing practices, the viability of the 1-5 acre farm producing high quality food is not only possible but also enjoyable and profitable.

The advantage enjoyed by the small farmer is quality. If the product is first class and in demand and you are a dependable supplier at reasonable cost there is never a problem finding customers. But it needs hard work and intelligence. When starting in the era of 'get big or get out' there were almost no models of commercially successful organic small farmers to provide inspiration and ideas and where they existed it was exhausting and 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 and Scott Nearing - they were the most practically organized country people he has met - especially their skills in observation and planning. Coleman sets out the year's work on paper during the winter and has a notebook with sections for each crop. He rotates crops until he finds the optimum - the single most important practice in 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 and 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 crops in adequate quantities to feed for a year the community of 60-some people who eat daily in 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 grown in a separate small salad garden close to the kitchen." However, the author points out that tomatoes do better being grown in 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 and skill - need to be arranged to the plant's liking with the grower coordinating and 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, and season extension have been used for generations, but removing the limiting factors to plant growth and 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 and 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.