The New Organic Grower — Eliot Coleman
About the Book
- Author
- Eliot Coleman
- Rating
- 4.5
- Categories
- Non-fiction, Farming
Eliot Coleman's classic manual for small-scale market gardeners, on growing high-quality organic vegetables on a few acres. It covers soil fertility, crop rotation, transplanting, tools, season extension and the business of selling what you grow.
My take: An excellent read for anyone who wants to grow high-quality food on a small scale, whether for your own home or as a business. Eliot offers gems of wisdom for everyone that, as I have selected below, reach beyond the market gardening space and into other areas of farming and business.
Quotes
The chemical/industrial mind-set focuses on the symptom of a problem and devises expensive products in order to palliate that symptom. The biological/organic mind-set focuses on the cause of the problem and looks to aid natural processes in such a way as to correct the cause and prevent the problem from ever occurring.
What it boils down to is that the long-term goal of a biological agriculture is to cultivate ease and order rather than battle futilely against disease and disorder.
The dream soil for vegetable production is sandy loam. This is a general term describing the proportions of three ingredients: clay, silt, and sand.
Two and a half acres (1 hectare) is the optimal size because it is about as much land as a couple or small family can manage for growing, harvesting, and maintaining fertility. By “manage” I mean both practically and professionally—practically, by using the low-cost equipment and simple techniques that fit the tasks, and professionally, by making sure there are enough people per acre to stay on top of things.
Two acres is more than sufficient land to grow a year’s worth of vegetables for 100 people.
[I] have seen too many successful vegetable growers make the overexpansion mistake. Without exception, they have each become just another company trading on the reputation they established before expanding. If demand exceeds supply, bring the two back into line by raising prices. Income will increase just as it would by expansion, but quality will not be compromised.
As social critic Eric Hoffer has commented, “Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.”