Having farmed on a small scale for over 5 years, I recommend The Market Gardener as the best book for beginning gardeners and farmers. Even if you only have a backyard garden, you’ll learn so much from experienced farmer and author Jean-Martin Fortier. You’ll be inspired and encouraged when you see how much you can grow in a small garden. If you’ve been gardening a while, this book will give you many new ideas and help set a direction for excellence. If you love to garden but lament that it could never be a full time occupation, this is the book for you. A couple on just over an acre, with some part time help can make a comfortable income with these methods. It won’t be easy or immediate but it’s definitely possible.
This book explains the whole process – finding a market for your produce, selecting and preparing your site, minimizing costs, fertilizing, dealing with pest and weeds, harvesting, storage, and so on. We will adopt the book’s methods little by little over the seasons. You can do the same. Even starting with a small plot and hand tools, you can plan your way forward to more production, better soil, more nutritious produce, and a larger market. The world needs many more local, sustainable, profitable small farms and this book will be a great help to anyone interested in the field. Our farm received a free review copy of the book from the publisher. So impressed with the book, we bought another copy to give to a young, aspiring farmer who helps with our market garden.