No-Till Organic Vegetable Farm: How to Start and Run a Profitable Market Garden and Build Health in Soil, Crops and Communities

by Daniel Mays

No-till — a method of growing crops and providing pasture without disturbing the soil — has become an important alternative to standard farming practices. In this comprehensive guide to successful no-till vegetable farming for aspiring and beginning farmers, author Daniel Mays, owner and manager of an organic no-till farm in Maine, outlines the environmental, social, and economic benefits of this system. The methods described are designed for implementation at the human scale, relying primarily on human power, with minimal use of machinery. The book presents streamlined planning and record-keeping tools as well as marketing strategies, and outlines community engagement programs like CSA, food justice initiatives, and on-farm education.

• ISBN13: 9781635861891
• Publish Date: 10 November 2020
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Storey Publishing LLC
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 240
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The No-Till Organic Vegetable Farm is a comprehensive and well written guide to creating, troubleshooting, and running a market garden farm without tilling/digging (which we are beginning to find out is actually harmful in most situations). Due out 10th Nov 2020 from Storey Publishing, it's 256 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

Although ostensibly aimed at the professional mid-scale farmer, there are a wealth of takeaways for the home hobbyist gardener with logical accessible implementable advice for starting up, making plans, doing the work, planting, irrigation systems, weeding, soil building and soil care, harvesting, marketing produce, labor, recordkeeping, and measuring success. The author provides the benefit of his near-decade of experience performing and succeeding at the necessary tasks to steward the earth he farms, produce quality food, and strengthen local economies and provide a valuable sustainable service to the local community. The book also includes a glossary, links and resource lists for further reading, and a cross referenced index.

Five stars. Lots and lots (and lots) of inspiration. Aesthetically an enjoyable read with a truly astounding amount of meticulous research and annotation. This would make a superlative selection for garden groups, community gardening, allotment/collective libraries, smallholders, and garden lovers.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.