Sustainable Market Farming: Intensive Vegetable Production on a Few Acres

by Pam Dawling

Overview

Growing for 100 - the complete year-round guide for the small-scale market grower.

Across North America, an agricultural renaissance is unfolding. A growing number of market gardeners are emerging to feed our appetite for organic, regional produce. But most of the available resources on food production are aimed at the backyard or hobby gardener who wants to supplement their family's diet with a few homegrown fruits and vegetables. Targeted at serious growers in every climate zone, Sustainable Market Farming is a comprehensive manual for small-scale farmers raising organic crops sustainably on a few acres.

Informed by the author's extensive experience growing a wide variety of fresh, organic vegetables and fruit to feed the approximately one hundred members of Twin Oaks Community in central Virginia, this practical guide provides:

• Detailed profiles of a full range of crops, addressing sowing, cultivation, rotation, succession, common pests and diseases, and harvest and storage
• Information about new, efficient techniques, season extension, and disease resistant varieties
• Farm-specific business skills to help ensure a successful, profitable enterprise

Whether you are a beginning market grower or an established enterprise seeking to improve your skills, Sustainable Market Farming is an invaluable resource and a timely book for the maturing local agriculture movement.

Pam Dawling is a contributing editor with Growing for Market magazine. An avid vegetable grower, she has been farming as a member of Twin Oaks Community in central Virginia for over twenty years, where she helps grow food for around one hundred people on three and a half acres, and provides training in sustainable vegetable production.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780865717169
Publisher:	New Society Publishers
Publication date:	02/01/2013
Pages:	456
Sales rank:	939,683
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	16 Years

About the Author

Pam Dawling has been farming and providing training in sustainable vegetable production in a large variety of climates for over 40 years, 14 of which have been hoophouse growing, and is the author of the best-selling Sustainable Market Farming . She lives and grows at Twin Oaks community in Virginia.

Table of Contents

Foreword Lynn Byczynski vi

Introduction: Sustaining Community and Agriculture ix

Part 1 Techniques

Planning

1 Year-Round Production 3

2 Create Your Own Field Manual 7

3 Crop Review 14

4 Crop Rotations for Vegetables and Cover Crops 18

5 Seed Storage, Inventory and Orders 27

6 Scheduling Transplants 33

7 How Much to Grow 41

Planting

8 Crop Spacing 47

9 Transplanting Tips 53

10 Direct Sowing 61

11 Summer Germination of Seeds 65

12 Succession Planting for Continuous Harvesting 70

Sustainable Crop Protection

13 Season Extension 77

14 Cold-Hardy Winter Vegetables 83

15 The Hoophouse in Winter and Spring 90

16 The Hoophouse in Summer 99

Soil and Crop Quality

17 Maintaining Soil Fertility 108

18 Cover Crops 115

19 Cover Crops Chart 124

20 Sustainable Disease Management 134

21 Sustainable Weed Management 141

22 Sustainable Pest Management 148

Harvest and Beyond

23 Manual Harvesting Techniques 155

24 Winter Vegetable Storage (Without Refrigeration) 161

25 Root Cellars 168

Part 2 Crops

Legumes

26 Green Beans 175

27 Southern Peas, Asparagus Beans and Limas 182

28 Fava Beans 186

29 Edamame 191

30 Snap Peas and Snow Peas 196

31 Peanuts 203

Brassicas

32 Broccoli, Cabbage, Kale and Collards in Spring 208

33 Broccoli, Cabbage, Kale and Collards in Fall 217

34 Asian Greens 225

Other Greens

35 Spinach 233

36 Chard and Other Summer Cooking Greens 240

37 Lettuce All Year Round 246

Roots

38 Carrots, Beets and Parsnips 260

39 Celery and Celeriac 269

40 Turnips and Rutabagas 275

Cucurbits

41 Summer Squash and Zucchini 280

42 Winter Squash and Pumpkins 287

43 Cucumbers and Muskmelons 294

44 Watermelon 303

Alliums

45 Garlic 311

46 Bulb Onions 324

47 Potato Onions 334

48 Leeks 338

Nightshades

49 Tomatoes 342

50 Peppers 357

51 Eggplant 363

52 Potatoes 368

The Others

53 Okra 378

54 Sweet Corn 383

55 Sweet Potatoes 391

Seed Crop Production

56 Seed Growing 399

57 The Business of Seed Crops by Ira Wallace 408

Resources 415

Index 429

About The Author 435

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Sustainable Market Farming is a great book! It is beneficial to those who want to grow a substantial part of their own food supply, in addition to those growing for the markets. Besides knowledge of the soil and the crops, this book has information for managing a crew (even if your crew is only you), trimming and storing for the kitchen, and saving seeds. It is evident that Pam knows what it is like to be in the fields and to truly feed people."
— Cindy Conner, permaculture educator, Homeplace Earth.

"A great read full of solid, practical information. This book should be one of the 'must-haves' on the bookshelf of every sustainable market farmer, whether novice or long time grower. Great cultural information on most any crop a market grower might be cultivating or contemplating. She includes outdoor production, season extension, crop rotation, pests and diseases and much more in a friendly easy to read style. Pam will be your best resource for growing information for years to come."
— Paul and Alison Wiediger, Au Naturel Farm

"Whether you are new farmer just starting out, an experienced producer looking to move into year-round production on a few acres or a home gardener who is serious about food production this book is for you. Pam has done a fantastic job making the book well organized and easy to read for the beginner but detailed enough to be a useful reference for experienced growers who want to bring a variety of healthy fresh delicious food to market year-round. What really gets me excited about Sustainable Market Farming is finally having the details and examples come from the mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Sustainable Market Farming is a book I plan on referring to regularly for years to come."
— Ira Wallace, author, Guide to Vegetable Gardening in the Southeast and coordinator, variety selection and outreach, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

"Pam Dawling's book is simply the best new cutting-edge resource for small organic producers like us who grow for CSAs and farmers markets. I'll be spending the winter off-season poring over everything from the detailed crop-planning to organic insect control measures and high tunnel cropping, as the information is both relevant and timely for our farm's evolution. A gold mine of practical farming knowledge."
— Mark Cain, Dripping Springs Garden, Huntsville, Arkansas

"If you are just getting started growing vegetables, or you are an experienced farmer or homesteader and still have unanswered questions, get this book! Thorough, accurate, and written in accessible language, Sustainable Market Farming covers all aspects of production from planning, planting, crop rotation, soil, and pestmanagement to harvest and storage; and imparts in-depth knowledge of each crop and the care it needs to thrive. I can't wait to get my copy - it will fill a huge gap in my library."
— Mark Schonbeck, consultant in sustainable agriculture, Floyd, VA

"After years of reading Pam's columns in Growing for Market, and visiting the Twin Oaks farm in the fall of 2011, I have been looking forward to her book. The integration of soil management, crop planning and production methods with hoophouse and cold cellar recommendations makes this book a valuable addition to the library of both beginning and seasoned vegetable farmers, and a unique text for vegetable production and urban farming classes. Thanks, Pam."
— John Biernbaum, Professor of Horticulture, Michigan State University

"Pam Dawling is an experienced market gardener who employs her significant knowledge into feeding members of the Twin Oaks Community in Louisa, Virginia. For over a decade, Pam has led the Twin Oaks garden crew, providing year-round fresh produce to 100 people in a Community Supported Agriculture program. Pam is a wealth of practical know-how and has compiled her understanding of successful market gardening into this important manual. This is a must-read book for beginning gardeners and small farmers who are serious about market gardening, as well as for experienced market gardeners and students majoring in agricultural sciences."
— Reza Rafie, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Horticulture Extension Specialist, Small Fruits and Vegetables, School of Agriculture, Virginia State University

"I've been using this book since receiving it, to plant my winter crops and plan for spring. Dawling explains the hows and whys, while also informing and encouraging the "what ifs". Balanced in depth, usefulness and inspiration; great for anyone wanting to grow (more) food for the table."
— Richard Moyer, Moyer Family Farm, Virginia