Profitable winter market gardening – the complete practical guide to growing vegetables year-round in northern climates for local markets Many small farms shut down during the dark winter months. Yet with the right techniques, equipment, and cultivars, year-round growing can produce the highest quality and tastiest fresh local vegetables, all while banking a profit. Building on years of research, experimentation, and collaboration, The Winter Market Gardener is a beautifully illustrated practical guide to winter vegetable production for small farmers growing in northern climates. Coverage includes: Unique aspects of year-round vegetable production, including superior flavor and the promotion of seasonality in eating Dozens of detailed vegetable profiles featuring recommended cultivars and crop-specific tips and techniques for bountiful winter harvests Details for calculating optimal seeding dates, crop spacing, care, pest management, weed control, and harvesting Selecting shelters for your crops and climate, including row covers, low tunnels, caterpillar tunnels, and high tunnels The costs and benefits of heated versus unheated greenhouses Tool selection and use for efficiency Winter storage crops and successful autumn growing Crop planning details for winter-season production. Whether you are an experienced farmer or market grower, enthusiastic amateur, or committed consumer, The Winter Market Gardener will excite, inspire, and empower you to embrace the seasons and work with nature to produce and enjoy superior-quality local vegetables all year.

Les Jardins de la Grelinette is a micro-farm located in eastern Quebec, just north of the American border. Growing on just 1.5 acres, owners Jean-Martin and Maude-Helene feed more than two hundred families through their thriving CSA and seasonal market stands and supply their signature mesclun salad mix to dozens of local establishments. The secret of their success is the low-tech, high-yield production methods they've developed by focusing on growing "better" rather than growing "bigger," making their operation more lucrative and viable in the process.

"The Market Gardener" is a compendium of la Grelinette's proven horticultural techniques and innovative growing methods. This complete guide 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

Inspired by the French intensive tradition of "maraichage" and by iconic American vegetable grower Eliot Coleman, author and farmer Jean-Martin shows by example how to start a market garden and make it both very productive and profitable. Making a living wage farming without big capital outlay or acreages may be closer than you think.

Jean-Martin Fortier is a passionate advocate of strong local food systems and founder of Les Jardins de la Grelinette, an internationally recognized model for successful biointensive micro-farming.