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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.
"Jean-Martin's book is very well done and should be of great use to market growers everywhere. Exchange of ideas and information is so important because when we pass ideas on, the next person gets to start where we got to and take the ideas to another level."
— Eliot Coleman, organic farming pioneer and author of the Winter Harvest Handbook
"I've read this book in French and all I can say is that, if you want to engage yourself in the market gardening, The Market Gardener is far more than a simple manual, it's the story of a life and a major giveaway of knowledge without the shadow of a secret. A must have, nothing else."
— Michel Michiels, Arlon / Belgium
"We are so excited that Le Jardinier-Maraîcher is finally translated in English! This book was an inspiration for many of our French members (we are a farmers' co-op) and now we can recommend it to all.... especially to the new generation interested in small scale farming...Thank you."
— Nicole Briand Communications, La Récolte de Chez Nous / Really Local Harvest
"In his revolutionary book, JMF brings about a change of paradigm that couldn't come any sooner. New gardeners will find in this book a step-by-step recipe that almost guarantees success, while the more seasoned ones can use it as a steppingstone for future achievements. Ever since its release in Quebec, it has reached thousands of readers and caused a ripple of benefits: people of all ages, especially the young, can now aspire to buy or rent their own land and live a fulfilling-and profitable-life in the countryside, which a few years back was still a wild dream for most of us. Aside from being very technically dense, it offers viable solutions to social problems such as land access, unemployment in regions, and the unsustainable nature of modern agricultural practices. It has literally been training an entire army of Davids that is now starting to address the bulk of these problems, or Goliath. And it's happening all across the province! Most importantly, this book deeply inspired me and gave me hope for the future without having to consult an eco-therapist."
— Alexandre J-Nicole, Biologist, graphic designer and illustrator
"Jean-Martin Fortier extols the virtues of being small-scale, and expertly details the use of such scale-appropriate tools as broadforks, seeders, hoes, flame weeders, low tunnels, high tunnels, and many other unique tools, specifically designed for this brand of farming. He 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 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.
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Preface
1 Small Is Profitable
Can You Really Live ff 1.5 Acres?
Not Just Making a Good Living, but Making a Good Life
2 Succeeding as a Small-Scale Organic Vegetable Grower
A Biologically Intensive Approach
Minimizing Start-Up Costs
Minimizing Production Costs
Direct Selling
Adding Value to the Crops
Learning the Craft
3 Finding the Right Site
Climate and Microclimate
Market Access
Growing Space Needed
Soil Quality
Topography
Drainage
Access to Water
Infrastructure
Assessing Possible Pollution Problems
4 Designing the Market Garden
Buildings and Foot Traffic
Standardizing the Garden Layout
Locating the Greenhouse and Tunnels
Protection against Deer
Windbreaks
Irrigation
5 Minimum Tillage and Appropriate Machinery
Permanent Raised Beds
The Two-Wheel Tractor
The Broadfork (Grelinette)
Tarps and Pre-Crop Ground Cover
To Till or not to Till
6 Fertilizing Organically
Soil Tests
Crop Requirements
Managing Soil Fertility
Good Compost
Relying on Natural Fertilizers - Why?
Establishing Crop Rotation
Crop Rotation at Les Jardins de la Grelinette
Green Manure and Cover Crops
Connecting with Soil Ecology
7 Starting Seeds Indoors
Seeding in Cell Flats
The Soil Mix
Filling Cell Flats
The Seedling Room
The Evolving Plant Nursery
Heating and Ventilation of the Nursery
How to Water Seedlings
Potting up
Transplanting into the Gardens
8 Direct Seeding
Precision Seeders
Seedbed Preparation
Record Keeping
9 Weed Management
Cultivating with Hoes
Weeding with Tarps
The Stale Seedbed Technique
Flame Weeding
Mulching
Weed Control Technology
10 Insect Pests and Diseases
Scouting
Disease Prevention
Using Biopesticides
11 Season Extension
Floating Row Cover and Low Tunnels
Caterpillar Tunnels
Hoophouses
12 Harvest and Storage
Harvesting Efficiently
Harvest Help
The Cold Room
13 Crop Planning
Setting Farming Objectives
Determining Production
Establishing a Crop Calendar
Making a Garden Plan
Record Keeping
Conclusion: Farming for Ecology, Community, and Lifestyle
Appendix 1: Crop Notes
Appendix 2: Tools and Suppliers
Appendix 3: Garden Plan
Appendix 4: Annotated Bibliography
Appendix 5: Glossary
Index
About the Author