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The New Organic Grower

The New Organic Grower

A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener
by Eliot Coleman 1989 340 pages
4.42
1k+ ratings
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Key Takeaways

1. Master the craft of biological agriculture for sustainable, profitable farming

Working with living creatures, both plant and animal, is what makes agriculture different from any other production enterprise.

Embrace nature's wisdom. Biological agriculture is not about dominating nature, but working in harmony with it. This approach views the farm as a living ecosystem where every element – from soil microorganisms to crop rotation – plays a crucial role. By understanding and nurturing these natural processes, farmers can create a more resilient and productive system.

Develop a holistic perspective. Successful biological agriculture requires thinking beyond individual crops or seasons. Consider how each decision affects the entire farm ecosystem:

  • Soil health and structure
  • Biodiversity (both above and below ground)
  • Water retention and quality
  • Long-term fertility
  • pest and disease resistance

By focusing on these interconnected elements, farmers can reduce their reliance on external inputs, lower costs, and improve the overall health and productivity of their land.

2. Embrace small-scale, intensive farming as a viable and rewarding career

Five acres (2 hectares) is the optimum size because it is about as much land as a couple or small family can manage.

Small can be mighty. Contrary to popular belief, small-scale farming can be highly productive and economically viable. By focusing on intensive, high-value crops and efficient land use, farmers can generate a good income from a relatively small area. This approach allows for greater attention to detail, better quality control, and more flexibility in responding to market demands.

Benefits of small-scale farming:

  • Lower initial investment and operating costs
  • Easier to implement sustainable practices
  • Greater crop diversity and resilience
  • More personal connection with customers
  • Improved work-life balance
  • Opportunity for value-added products and direct marketing

Small-scale farming also offers the chance to create a more intimate connection with the land and community. This deeper engagement can lead to increased job satisfaction and a sense of purpose beyond just making a living.

3. Cultivate healthy soil through organic methods and crop rotation

Crop rotation is the single most important practice in a multiple-cropping program.

Soil is the foundation. Healthy soil is the cornerstone of successful organic farming. By focusing on building and maintaining soil health, farmers can naturally improve crop yields, reduce pest and disease problems, and increase the farm's resilience to environmental stresses.

Key practices for soil health:

  • Crop rotation: Alternate crops to break pest cycles and balance nutrient demands
  • Cover crops and green manures: Protect and enrich soil between cash crops
  • Composting: Recycle organic matter to feed soil microorganisms
  • Minimal tillage: Preserve soil structure and beneficial organisms
  • Avoid synthetic chemicals: Encourage natural soil ecology

Implementing these practices creates a virtuous cycle: healthier soil supports stronger plants, which in turn contribute more organic matter back to the soil. This approach reduces the need for external inputs and builds long-term fertility and productivity.

4. Implement efficient planting and harvesting techniques for maximum yield

Planning and observation are the most important lessons I learned about farming.

Optimize every step. Efficient planting and harvesting techniques are crucial for maximizing productivity on a small farm. This requires careful planning, appropriate tools, and a willingness to continually refine your methods.

Key strategies for efficiency:

  • Use precision seeders and transplanters for accurate spacing
  • Implement raised beds or intensive planting layouts
  • Choose appropriate varieties for your climate and market
  • Time plantings for continuous harvests
  • Invest in ergonomic tools to reduce labor and increase speed
  • Develop systems for quick post-harvest handling and storage

Careful observation and record-keeping are essential. By tracking what works well and what doesn't, farmers can continuously improve their techniques and adapt to changing conditions. This attention to detail often leads to higher yields and better quality produce.

5. Extend growing seasons with innovative climate modification strategies

Season extension is desirable if it can be attained economically.

Lengthen your harvest window. Extending the growing season allows farmers to produce crops earlier and later in the year, potentially commanding higher prices and maintaining a more consistent income stream. While high-tech solutions exist, many effective strategies are low-cost and accessible to small-scale farmers.

Season extension techniques:

  • Row covers and low tunnels
  • Unheated high tunnels or hoop houses
  • Cold frames and hotbeds
  • Careful variety selection for cold tolerance
  • Succession planting and overwintering crops
  • Microclimates (e.g., south-facing slopes, windbreaks)

By combining these techniques, farmers can significantly extend their productive season without relying on energy-intensive heated greenhouses. This approach allows for a broader crop selection and helps meet customer demand for fresh, local produce year-round.

6. Develop a diverse marketing strategy to ensure consistent demand

Quality is the lynchpin of a small-scale grower's business.

Diversify your outlets. A successful small farm needs a robust and varied marketing strategy to ensure consistent demand and fair prices for their produce. By developing multiple sales channels, farmers can reduce risk and better match their production to market needs.

Potential marketing channels:

  • Farmers markets
  • Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs
  • Restaurant and institutional sales
  • Farm stands and U-pick operations
  • Wholesale to local retailers
  • Online sales and delivery services

Focus on building strong relationships with customers by emphasizing quality, freshness, and the unique story of your farm. Educate consumers about the benefits of locally grown, organic produce to create loyal customers who value your products.

7. Continuously educate yourself and share knowledge with fellow farmers

The combined efforts of organic farmers can be their own best information service.

Never stop learning. Successful farming requires a commitment to lifelong learning and adaptation. Stay current with new research, techniques, and market trends through a combination of formal education, peer-to-peer learning, and hands-on experimentation.

Ways to expand your knowledge:

  • Attend agricultural conferences and workshops
  • Join farmer networks and associations
  • Read industry publications and research papers
  • Participate in on-farm trials and research projects
  • Mentor new farmers and share your experiences
  • Collaborate with local agricultural extension services

Importantly, be generous in sharing your own knowledge and experiences with other farmers. This culture of mutual support and information exchange benefits the entire organic farming community and helps drive innovation in sustainable agriculture.

8. Integrate livestock to enhance soil fertility and diversify income streams

Livestock can be considered as a part of the crop-rotation plan or as a separate operation altogether.

Animals as farm partners. Integrating livestock into a vegetable farm can provide multiple benefits, including improved soil fertility, additional income streams, and more efficient use of land and resources. Even on a small scale, the right livestock can complement crop production and create a more diverse, resilient farm ecosystem.

Livestock integration strategies:

  • Rotational grazing on cover crops or fallow fields
  • Poultry for pest control and soil improvement
  • Composting animal manure for fertilizer
  • Small ruminants for brush control and marginal land use
  • Value-added products (eggs, meat, wool) for direct marketing

When choosing livestock, consider your farm's resources, local regulations, and market demand. Start small and scale up as you gain experience and refine your management systems.

9. Adopt a plant-positive approach to pest management for long-term success

Well-grown plants are inherently insusceptible when properly grown and only become subject to insect and disease problems when they are stressed by unfavorable growing conditions.

Prevention over treatment. Instead of focusing on killing pests, concentrate on creating an environment where plants naturally thrive and resist pest pressure. This approach, often called "plant-positive" or "health-centered" farming, is more sustainable and cost-effective in the long run.

Key elements of plant-positive pest management:

  • Build healthy, biologically active soil
  • Choose resistant varieties suited to your climate
  • Provide optimal growing conditions (water, nutrients, light)
  • Encourage beneficial insects and natural predators
  • Practice good sanitation and crop rotation
  • Use physical barriers when necessary (row covers, fencing)

When pest issues do arise, view them as indicators of underlying imbalances in your farming system. Address the root causes rather than simply treating symptoms. This approach leads to stronger, more resilient plants and reduces the need for costly and potentially harmful interventions.

Last updated:

FAQ

What is The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman about?

  • Comprehensive organic manual: The book is a master’s guide to small-scale, biologically based organic vegetable production, covering everything from soil fertility to marketing.
  • Focus on small farms: Coleman advocates for economically viable, low-input, high-efficiency farms, typically around five acres, that produce high-quality vegetables.
  • Biological agriculture philosophy: The approach centers on working with natural systems—soil microorganisms, crop rotations, and green manures—to create sustainable, fertile soils and healthy crops without synthetic chemicals.

Why should I read The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman?

  • Proven, practical expertise: Coleman shares over three decades of hands-on organic farming experience, offering tested methods rather than unproven theory.
  • Holistic farming system: The book integrates production, soil management, pest control, and marketing, providing a complete system for successful organic growing.
  • Empowerment for small farmers: It challenges the “bigger is better” mindset and provides a roadmap for profitable, manageable small-scale organic farming.

What are the key takeaways from The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman?

  • Biological system management: Success in organic farming comes from managing living systems—soil, plants, and environment—rather than relying on purchased inputs.
  • Soil health is central: Building and maintaining fertile soil through compost, green manures, and crop rotation is the foundation of the system.
  • Plant-positive pest management: Healthy, unstressed plants naturally resist pests, reducing or eliminating the need for pesticides.
  • Economic viability: Small-scale organic farms can be profitable with low capital investment and efficient, diversified production.

What are the best quotes from The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman and what do they mean?

  • “Healthy plants are not bothered by pests.” This encapsulates Coleman’s plant-positive philosophy, emphasizing prevention through plant health rather than pest eradication.
  • “The pest-free plant is not the normal plant with something added, but rather the normal plant with nothing taken away.” This highlights the idea that pest problems arise from deficiencies or stress, not from a lack of pesticides.
  • “Good farming is a craft.” Coleman views farming as skilled, attentive work that requires observation, adaptation, and respect for natural systems.

What is Eliot Coleman's philosophy on small-scale organic farming and ideal farm size?

  • Five-acre optimum: Coleman identifies five acres as the ideal size for a small family or couple, balancing diversity, quality, and labor intensity.
  • Low capital, high return: Essential equipment and infrastructure can be acquired for $8,000–$15,000, with potential income per acre around $8,000.
  • Focus on manageability: The scale is designed for hands-on management, high-quality production, and direct marketing, rather than mechanized, industrial farming.

How does The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman recommend building and maintaining soil fertility?

  • Feed the soil, not the plant: Fertility is built through organic matter, compost, green manures, and biological processes rather than soluble fertilizers.
  • Key amendments: Regular applications of compost or manure, rock phosphate, greensand, and limestone maintain nutrient balance and pH.
  • On-farm nutrient cycling: The system reduces dependency on purchased inputs by recycling nutrients and supporting long-term soil health.

What is the role of crop rotation and green manures in Eliot Coleman's organic system?

  • Pest and disease prevention: Rotating crops disrupts pest and disease cycles, improving soil structure and balancing nutrient use.
  • Green manures as fertility builders: Leguminous green manures fix nitrogen, protect soil, suppress weeds, and add organic matter.
  • Year-round soil cover: Combining crop rotation with undersown green manures keeps soil biologically active and reduces the need for external inputs.

How does Eliot Coleman define and use soil blocks for transplanting in The New Organic Grower?

  • Soil blocks explained: Compressed cubes of potting mix serve as both container and growing medium, eliminating the need for plastic pots.
  • Root health benefits: They prevent root circling and allow easy, minimally disruptive transplanting.
  • Efficiency and sustainability: Soil blocks reduce costs, are environmentally friendly, and improve transplant quality and labor efficiency.

What are Eliot Coleman's recommended methods for weed management without chemicals?

  • Prevention through early cultivation: Shallow, timely cultivation with hand tools prevents weeds from establishing.
  • Efficient tools: Wheel hoes with oscillating blades and sharp, lightweight hand hoes minimize labor and crop damage.
  • Long-term strategy: Consistent early control and use of green manures reduce the weed seed bank and suppress weeds over time.

How does The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman approach pest management and plant health?

  • Plant-positive focus: The emphasis is on growing healthy, unstressed plants that naturally resist pests, rather than killing pests.
  • Pests as indicators: Pest problems signal plant stress or imbalance; improving soil fertility and crop rotations addresses root causes.
  • Minimal pesticide use: Coleman rejects both organic and chemical pesticides, arguing they disrupt natural balances and are unnecessary in well-managed systems.

What season extension and winter gardening techniques does Eliot Coleman describe in The New Organic Grower?

  • Climate modification: Techniques include using south-facing slopes, windbreaks, and darkening soil to increase warmth.
  • Protective structures: Plastic mulches, floating row covers, walk-in tunnels, and movable greenhouses extend the growing season.
  • Four-season harvest: Combining passive protection layers and selecting hardy crops allows for fresh winter harvests without heating.

How does Eliot Coleman integrate livestock and poultry into his organic farming system in The New Organic Grower?

  • Livestock for fertility: Horses and other livestock provide manure to improve soil fertility, requiring careful management.
  • Poultry on pasture: Chickens and turkeys grazed on legume-grass sod contribute manure, reduce mowing, and produce eggs and meat.
  • Movable housing: Lightweight, mobile coops protect poultry and facilitate daily movement to fresh pasture, integrating animals into crop rotations for mutual benefit.

Review Summary

4.42 out of 5
Average of 1k+ ratings from Goodreads and Amazon.

The New Organic Grower receives mostly positive reviews, praised for its wealth of information on organic farming techniques. Readers appreciate Coleman's expertise, innovative ideas, and practical advice. Many find it useful for market gardeners and small-scale farmers, though some note it may be too advanced for beginners. The book covers topics like soil health, crop rotation, and pest management. While some criticize its age and specific focus, most readers consider it a valuable resource for those interested in organic agriculture.

Your rating:
4.6
25 ratings

About the Author

Eliot Coleman is a renowned American farmer, author, and advocate for organic farming. He wrote The New Organic Grower and served as Executive Director of IFOAM. Coleman advised the USDA on organic farming, contributing to the National Organic Program. On his Four Season Farm in Maine, he demonstrates year-round vegetable production using innovative greenhouse techniques. Coleman co-hosted the TV series Gardening Naturally with his wife, gardening author Barbara Damrosch. Known for his expertise in sustainable agriculture, Coleman continues to grow and market fresh produce locally, inspiring farmers and gardeners with his methods and philosophy.

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