When I moved to the North Country, one of the first books I bought was the Four Season Harvest to better understand the how’s and why’s of season extension in the garden. The Market Gardener, a book now available in English by Jean-Martin Fortier, picks up right where Elliot Coleman left off.
How to Make Six Figures Off 1.5 Acres
The Market Gardener: A Successful Growers Handbook for Small-Scale Organic Farming is about the practical aspects of gardening and living the good life being a market gardener. The book details how Jean-Martin’s 1.5 acre farm in eastern Quebec is able to gross over $140,000 in annual sales. By applying the knowledge he has gained from years of experience and by understanding intensive farming methods, his hopes are that other farmers on small plots can also thrive. An inspiring foreword by Greenhorns founder and film-maker Severine von Tscharner Fleming is also featured in the book.
To grow better instead of bigger became the basis for our model. With simplicity in mind, we began researching horticultural techniques and tools that could make farming on our one-and-a-half-acre plot a viable reality – Jean-Martin Fortier
The Rock Star Farmer
Le Jardinier Maraicher, the original French version of the book, sold over 10,000 copies in a very short period of time. This has turned Jean-Martin into somewhat of a celebrity among agrarians across Canada. But rather than having me wax poetically about the whole story, I recommend you have a listen to Jordan Marr from The Ruminant Podcast and his wonderful interview with the rock star farmer himself. Now on to the book giveaway.
A book giveaway in time for Spring!
With Spring on the horizon and appetites growing for getting out into the garden, I decided it would be great fun to have a giveaway! The first of it’s kind on my blog. I’m giving away two copies of The Market Gardener (one paperback, one Kindle version) in the raffle below. There are three ways to enter. Enter now for a chance to win one!
Of course there’s no need to wait until the raffle is finished, you can go here to order your copy. Jean-Martin has an extensive list of all of the tools and equipment he is using at La Grelinette, plus more information about the farm on his website.
