A review by kristidurbs
The Market Gardener: A Successful Grower's Handbook for Small-Scale Organic Farming by Jean-Martin Fortier

4.0

Fantastic resource for someone wanting to be a gardener -- whether at home or for market -- and wants to increase productivity on a small space (acre or less). I appreciated immensely their insight into growing techniques as well as the extensive resources in the appendices. His appendix that goes crop by crop is also great for its detail for both growing and harvesting. The chapter and discussion of crop planning throughout was straightforward, easy to follow, and I think would be easy to emulate and adapt to one's own growing operation. Also, pest and disease issues are certainly site specific, but one could at least employ and adapt their tactics for one's own site.

The difficult parts for other growers to emulate about this book include:
the heavy reliance on compost,
the prevalence of greens in crop rotation that may not be practical for every grower and the absence of other crops that may be desired to grow,
glossing over the need to give the land rest and lie fallow for seasons in order to prevent "mining" the soil.