Reddit reviews Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long, 2nd Edition
We found 13 Reddit comments about Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long, 2nd Edition. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Ships from Vermont
We could import a heck of a lot less than we do. Eliot Coleman farms in an environment almost identical to NS, zone 5.
http://www.amazon.ca/Four-Season-Harvest-Organic-Vegetables-Edition/dp/1890132276
Did you know that tomatoes were grown in Northern BC during the depression? That cherries can be grown in zone 3? Figs in zone 5? Olives are being grown in BC and the first crops will be within 5 years? Ginseng is being grown for China in the Okanogan? People in Vancouver are growing lemons (Meyer) outdoors year round? Pawpaws in Ontario? Amazing, isn't it.
One more photo: http://imgur.com/aSTCU
Four-Season Harvest by Elliot Coleman was invaluable. He targets commercial growers, but it's a handy guide for any of us trying to grow year-round in the north.
Greenhouse film
Floating row cover
Note, no affiliate id and I'm not associated with the above, it's just where we bought our supplies (and I can't say enough great things about Jonny's, we've been very happy with them)
We put the hoops up and then covered with the agribon when it first started to hit the low 30's. Once our lows started reaching the teens at night, I put the greenhouse film over the row cover.
On sunny days, you absolutely need to go out and pull the plastic cover back. I was lazy and lost my lettuce due to heat stress during a week where it was in the 20's during the day. Yes, it does get that hot.
You're right, you need cool weather crops. Spinach, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, kale, beets, lettuce.... those all do fantastic. I'd imagine peas would too but it just seemed like too much of a hassle trying to trellis peas under hoops.
As far as challenges we faced. We started the broccoli in August but the variety really needed a cold snap and then warm spell to produce. So, it grew slow all winter and then we ended up getting our first harvest in March. And, again, you need to be on top of venting the hoops when it's sunny. Watering can be a bit of a pain as well. I only had a hose so I had to drain the hose after I watered each time. Of course, there's not nearly as much evaporation in the winter so watering is less frequent.
On the plus side... there really is nothing like a carrot that's only been grown in the cold. They're as sweet as candy. There's also nothing like trudging through a foot of snow and coming back in with half a pound of fresh spinach for a pizza.
I am relatively new to this subject and these books have been useful for me:
The Urban Homestead A good introductory book that touches on a lot of relevant topics.
Gaia's Garden This is not specifically a homesteading book but it is a very useful book for growing food and learning about small scale permacultural design.
Four Season Harvest Another useful book for growing, especially for those of us in cold climates.
Country Wisdom & Know How A fun reference for many homestead topics.
Successful organic gardening and farming is a question of figuring out how to turn what seem like liabilities into assets. It seems like you have too much sun. Try putting up some shade cloth to block out sun during the most intense parts of the day. Mulch your plants. A lot. Mulch will save you.
Read some books. Eliot Coleman's books are fabulous, and contain a lot of good general information even though the author lives in Maine. I particularly recommend Four Season Harvest. Gaia's Garden is great, and is well suited to someone who owns very little land. Teaming with Microbes is an easy-to-read introduction to bringing your soil to life. And Roots Demystified has some great information about how to best design watering systems for specific plants you're growing. These books all have good pest-fighting information.
You can PM me if you have any questions. Get started!
If he really wants to step it up, this book by Eliot Coleman. He lives in Maine and gardens year round!
http://www.amazon.com/Four-Season-Harvest-Organic-Vegetables-Edition/dp/1890132276/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1410619791&sr=8-2&keywords=year+round+gardening
First check with your landlord with what you can do. Then get a bunch of gardening books from the library. Right now is when you get things in for a fall harvest. In late July through August is when you would want to get in winter crops. Yes, you can grow things in Toronto in winter you just need protection. I would see what your local nursery has in the way of vegi and herb starts and get some good potting soil and put them in containers. Spend some extra cash and see if you can get a large healthy Tomato that is filled with flowers and put it in at least a 5 gallon pot.
I just took a look at your post history and it looks like you are in Newfoundland, CA?
I think your best bet is leafy greens. The leaf arrives before flowers, fruits and seeds, so is a safer option than most. Many greens will grow while there is enough sun and then stop, but will not die in a greenhouse and so can still be harvested in December and January.
Here's a Mother Earth News article on winter hoophouse crops. If you are actually providing some supplemental heat you are way ahead of the game. If you've got twenty bucks to spare or have a good library, get a hold of Four Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman—a huge resource for winter growing.
Both if you can. Chickens as they are omnivores and will eat almost everything. For plants you can pick and choose what will do best for you. In the case you are presenting I would suggest getting plants that people in dryer or hotter climates grow. Start growing them now along with other plants for diversity.
Some books I suggest
If your going to be supplying your cafe you need to make it a reliable stream of quality food. Ask yourself do I have the experience, skill, and labor to match the standard of produce that you are currently sourcing from other places?
I know of a guy in MA that had a restaurant and then tried to supply it from his own farm. He employed a few professionals and they did a great job for starting out, but they still couldn't supply the same quality produce the restaurant was used to. The cooks were disgruntled but the boss made them use it anyways. He decided to discontinue the farming operation this year because it wasn't working.
Some vegetables can be grown in unheated greenhouses. http://www.amazon.com/Four-Season-Harvest-Organic-Vegetables-Garden/dp/tags-on-product/1890132276
My first year I made many mistakes but learned from them and I'm going to be much more successful in growing and business this year.
I recommend a book called Four Season Harvest by Elliot Coleman. Great introduction on how you can produce year round.
http://www.amazon.com/Four-Season-Harvest-Organic-Vegetables-Edition/dp/1890132276
Purple Nurple
I have tons of passions. My biggest passions are equal rights, justice, and farming. Equality and justice are really important to me and farming is something I really enjoy doing.
This book reminds me of my passion of farming
There are tons of farmer/homesteader/gardener memoirs. I think my mom alone probably has a zillion. Unfortunately I haven't read that many myself, but a few titles that I remember from her shelves include:
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
Enslaved by Ducks
The Egg and I
Hit by a Farm
Here's one that (amazingly enough) she doesn't have, but which is on my to-read list: http://www.amazon.com/Paradise-Lot-One-Tenth-Making-Edible/dp/1603583998/
On a more practical front, this guy may change your life ;)
http://www.amazon.com/Four-Season-Harvest-Organic-Vegetables-Edition/dp/1890132276/
http://www.amazon.com/The-Winter-Harvest-Handbook-Greenhouses/dp/1603580816/
ETA: Thought of a few more from mom's collection:
The Dirty Life
Rurally Screwed
The Bucolic Plague
>They plan on moving to Hawaii to have year-round growing.
They really ought to read Four Season Harvest before making such a drastic move...