Garden Book Review:Winter Harvest Handbook by Eliot Coleman
I bought “The Winter Harvest Handbook:Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses”, by Eliot Coleman, based on the reviews on the back of the book.
click to order on amazon
Turns out there’s a good reason that so many professional writers, TV hosts and food industry types have raved about The Winter Harvest Handbook - it’s worth every penny and will be on my garden reference shelf forever.
When he’s not writing books (The New Organic Grower), Eliot Coleman is a farmer in Maine with over 40 years of experience in all aspects of organic farming. He has devised a system for extending the fresh harvest season for vegetables well beyond what we normally expect. The book describes the crops, the tools, the planting schedules, and the techniques he uses to manage his four season farm.
Coleman has developed a method of growing cool season crops in the winter (spinach, lettuce, claytonia, scallions, carrots, etc) with little or no energy inputs (heat). He extends many crops’ harvests by covering them with various materials inside unheated (or barely heated) mobile greenhouses. These greenhouses are moved atop garden beds on a pre-determined schedule to protect the crops from the winter weather. Simply ingenious.
He also describes his historical inspiration (the French gardens in 19th century Paris), soil fertility, marketing the crops, and the case for using organic methods for growing.
The Winter Harvest Handbook is very informative and I highly recommend it.
(FTC Disclosure: book purchased for review)
Great book find. Thanks for sharing.