The complete year-round guide to organic vegetable production for market gardeners and small-scale farmers – now fully revised and updated
Sustainable Market Farming is the comprehensive, go-to reference for serious growers in every climate zone. Extensively revised and updated, this brand new, fully illustrated edition is packed with detailed information on everything from planning to harvest, and features in-depth profiles of a full range of crops.
Informed by the author's experience leading decades of intensive year-round organic vegetable production on a few acres to feed a community of 100 people, this complete practical guide includes:
The most current farm-specific planning and organizational business skills to ensure a profitable, successful, smooth-running, professional enterprise
Cutting-edge information describing new and efficient techniques, strategies for season extension, approaches for integrated pest, disease, and weed management, and preferred climate-smart, disease-resistant varieties to add to your repertoire
Updated guidelines for improving and maintaining soil quality and finding resilient, regenerative solutions to align farming practices with new environmental challenges
Precise growing guides for a cornucopia of vegetables, addressing selection of varieties, soil, water, and fertility requirements, sowing, cultivation, crop rotation, succession planting, common pests and diseases, harvest, storage, and more.
Whether you are a beginning grower, an aspiring market gardener, or an established enterprise seeking to take your operation to the next level, Sustainable Market Farming is the book you will find yourself returning to again and again throughout a long farming career. An exciting, timely, and invaluable resource.
Foreword by Andrew Mefferd
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Sustaining Community and Agriculture
Part I: Techniques
Planning
Chapter 1: Year-Round Production
Chapter 2: Create Your Crop Plan and Field Manual
Chapter 3: Crop Review
Chapter 4: Crop Rotations for Vegetables and Cover Crops
Chapter 5: Seed Storage, Inventory and Orders
Chapter 6: Scheduling Transplants
Chapter 7: How Much to Grow
Planting
Chapter 8: Crop Spacing
Chapter 9: Transplanting Tips
Chapter 10: Direct Sowing
Chapter 11: Hot Weather Germination of Seeds
Chapter 12: Succession Planting for Continuous Harvesting
Sustainable Crop Protection
Chapter 13: Season Extension
Chapter 14: Mulches, Organic and Plastic
Chapter 15: Cold-Hardy Winter Vegetables
Chapter 16: Growing Vegetables Year-Round in a Hoophouse
Soil and Crop Quality
Chapter 17: Maintaining Soil Fertility
Chapter 18: Drip Irrigation
Chapter 19: Cover Crops
Chapter 20: Cover Crops Chart
Chapter 21: Sustainable Disease Management
Chapter 22: Sustainable Weed Management
Chapter 23: Sustainable Pest Management
Harvest and Beyond
Chapter 24: Manual Harvesting Techniques
Chapter 25: Winter Vegetable Storage
Chapter 26: Root Cellars
Part II: Crops
Legumes
Chapter 27: Snap Beans (Bush and Pole)
Chapter 28: Southern Peas, Asparagus Beans and Limas
Chapter 29: Fava Beans (Broad Beans)
Chapter 30: Edamame
Chapter 31: Snap Peas and Snow Peas
Chapter 32: Peanuts
Brassicas
Chapter 33: Broccoli, Cabbage, Kale. Kohlrabi and Collards in Spring
Chapter 34: Broccoli, Cabbage, Kale and Collards in Fall
Chapter 35: Asian Greens
Other Greens
Chapter 36: Spinach
Chapter 37: Chard and Other Summer Greens
Chapter 38: Lettuce All Year Round
Roots
Chapter 39: Carrots, Beets and Parsnips
Chapter 40: Celery and Celeriac
Chapter 41: Radishes for All Seasons
Chapter 42: Turnips and Rutabagas
Cucurbits
Chapter 43: Summer Squash and Zucchini
Chapter 44: Winter Squash and Pumpkins
Chapter 45: Cucumbers and Muskmelons
Chapter 46: Watermelons
Alliums
Chapter 47: Garlic
Chapter 48: Bulb Onions
Chapter 49: Potato Onions
Chapter 50: Leeks
Chapter 51: Unusual Alliums
Nightshades
Chapter 52: Tomatoes
Chapter 53: Peppers
Chapter 54: Eggplant
Chapter 55: Potatoes
The Orphan Crops
Chapter 56: Okra
Chapter 57: Sweet Corn
Chapter 58: Sweet Potatoes
Chapter 59: Asparagus
Seed Crop Production
Chapter 60: Seed Growing
Chapter 61: The Business of Seed Crops by Ira Wallace
Resources
Index
About the Author
Height:229
Width:203
Spine:30
Weight:971.00