The Market Gardener - by Jean-Martin Fortier (Paperback)

About the Book

As local organic agriculture continues to flourish, a cohort of young professional growers are leading the way with innovative ideas about farming. The Market Gardener provides hands-on information about growing for CSA and farmers markets. Based on low-tech, high-yield methods of production, this is a modern, micro-scale farming handbook.

Book Synopsis

Transform 1.5 acres into a 6 figure annual income through proven small-scale organic farming methods. Jean-Martin Fortier demonstrates how he and his wife built a thriving market garden operation feeding 200+ families while maintaining work-life balance using low-tech, high-yield techniques that work in any climate.

Why This System Works Where Others Fail:

Unlike industrial farming that requires massive acreage and equipment, this micro-farming approach maximizes profits per square foot through intensive, sustainable methods. Based on 10+ years of real-world success, these techniques have been replicated by thousands of growers worldwide.

What You'll Master:

• Profitable crop selection - which vegetables generate $15-20 per square foot annually
• Efficient farm layout - design systems that minimize work while maximizing yields
• Tool and equipment choices - cost-effective alternatives to expensive machinery
• Four-season production - extend harvests for year-round income streams
• Direct marketing strategies - command premium prices through CSA and farmers markets
• Financial planning templates - track profits, plan cash flow, and scale systematically

Proven Results from Real Farmers: Over 200,000 copies sold worldwide have helped farmers like you transition from hobby gardening to profitable small-scale agriculture. Jean-Martin's students report achieving financial independence on 2-5 acres using these exact methods.

Start building your profitable market garden operation today. This isn't theory - it's a complete playbook from someone who's actually making a living from small-scale farming.

From the Back Cover

Grow better not bigger

...should be of great use to market growers everywhere.
-- Eliot Coleman, organic farming pioneer and author, Winter Harvest Handbook

This is a fantastic addition to any aspiring market gardener's library...
-- Josh Volk, Slow Hand Farm, Portland, Oregon

AS LOCAL ORGANIC agriculture continues to flourish, young professional growers like Jean-Martin Fortier are leading the way with their innovative ideas about how to start a farm. Growing on just 1.5 acres, he and his wife have been making a good living from their vegetable operation for over 10 years, feeding more than 200 families through their thriving CSA and seasonal market stand.

Based on low-tech, high-yield methods of production, The Market Gardener is packed with practical information on:

• Setting-up a micro-farm by designing biologically intensive cropping systems, all with negligible capital outlay
• Farming without a tractor and minimizing fossil-fuel inputs through the use of the best hand tools, appropriate machinery and minimum tillage practices
• Growing mixed vegetables systematically with attention to weed and pest management, crop yields, harvest periods and pricing approaches.

The Market Gardener is a complete, modern, micro-scale farming handbook which shows that making a living wage growing food without large capital outlay or access to an acreage may be closer than you think.

... picks up right where Eliot Coleman has left us, applying many of his core principles, but doing it in such a brilliant way as to provide beginning farmers a solid framework of the information they need to start up and become successful small-scale organic growers themselves.
-- Adam Lemieux, Product Manager of Tools & Supplies, Johnny's Selected Seeds

JEAN-MARTIN FORTIER and his wife Maude-Hélène Desroches are the founders of Les Jardins de la Grelinette, an internationally recognized micro-farm known for its high productivity and profitability using low-tech, high-yield methods of production. A leading practitioner of biologically intensive cropping systems, Jean-Martin has more than a decade's worth of experience in organic farming. Jean-Martin lives and farms in Southern Quebec, Canada, with his wife and their two children.

About the Author

Jean-Martin Fortier is a farmer, author, educator, and advocate for regenerative, human-scale, profitable agriculture. For over 20 years he and his wife Maude-Helene Desroches have operated les Jardins de la Grelinette, a successful 2-acre microfarm.The Market Gardener, has sold a quarter million copies in nine languages, describes the biointensive principles used at his micro-farm. In 2015, he established a research farm, la Ferme des Quatre-Temps, where he trains apprentices and develops new strategies for market gardening, including year-round production. His methods of production are taught to a worldwide audience through the Market Gardener Masterclass, an online course of the Market Gardener Institute, which is tailored to small-scale food growers. He is the founder of Growers & Co., a tool and apparel company which celebrates sustainable, local, and equitable food producers. He is the co-author of The Winter Market Gardener and author of the Grower's Guides from the Market Gardener series. Jean-Martin farms and lives in Quebec, Canada.