Here’s a successful farmsteader who only farms 1.5 acres and makes good money selling the produce at the local Farmer’s Market. He uses soil-building and no-till methods, and continue improving on efficiency in the fields to increase their quality of life as a family. They wanted to spend more time just walking through the fields with their children as well as more time spent engaging with them in nature outside of the farm.
Get the inside scoop on how successful farmer Jean Martin Fortier, author of The Market Gardener- A Successful Growers Handbook for Small-Scale Organic Farming farms and makes good money doing what he loves.
I heard years ago that you could support a family food-wise and financially with on about 1 acre of land. Now here’s a story from MotherEarthNews (where you can read more in detail) about 4 people who do that on 1.5 acres. He wrote a book about it that is listed at the bottom of this article.
In Fortier’s book, The Market Gardener, he describes how beginning farmers can follow in his footsteps to make farming on one acre profitable and fulfilling. The entirety of his garden planning is centered on building healthy soil.
The Market Gardener is a comprehensive guide to small scale farming using environmentally practices and no till methods. Fortier includes well organized chapterswhich gives the reader equal parts knowledge, encouragement, and a touch of humor. Fortier graciously includes soil building strategies, supply lists, planting charts, weed prevention techniques, disease and insect prevention steps, garden maps, cover crop recommendations, and so much more. His book illustrates how to successfully earn a living from selling vegetables through CSA shares (Community Supported Agriculture) as well as local Farmers Markets.
Fortier and his wife own Les Jardins de la Grelinette in Quebec, Canada, where four individuals operate a successful growing operation on just 1 ½ acres of permanent raised beds. Their motivation for improving on efficiency in the fields was to increase their quality of life as a family. They wanted to spend more time just walking through the fields with their children as well as more time spent engaging with them in nature outside of the farm.
The book cover…
The Workshops
In his workshop, Fortier described soil as the engine that runs the farming operation. The engine is the active fertile soil which contains a plethora of micro organisms, earthworms, fungi, spiders and life giving nutrients. He described a good soil as loose, breathable, and rich with bacterial life. In order to achieve this, the soil must have a nice warm temperature, have good pH balance, good aeration and drainage, and must be fed with organic matter including compost.
In addition, crop rotation and cover cropping are vital components to soil health. Good soil yields good crops. The natural fertilizers Fortier uses include chicken manure from a local farm, compost that is shipped in to avoid weed seeds. Fortier has tree trimming companies that clean up along power lines deliver tree trimmings to his farm that he lays on pathways to add carbon and focus on fungi in the fields.
His model of soil building focuses primarily on permaculture techniques to achieve permanent raised beds. For example, on a 100 ft bed, he makes permanent beds and lays silage tarps (a French growing method called occultation) on the fall to smother weeds. In the spring, he removes the black plastic and underneath is a layer of clear plastic which warms the soil. After a few weeks, he removes the clear plastic and then uses a rotary plow, a broad fork to loosen soil which activates life in the soil, adds vermicompost for nutrients and finally uses a harrow as the final bed preparation for loose soil to plant easily in.
To save time and resources Fortier and his crew have a strategic plan in place which is consistent, yet adaptable. They sow seeds in trays using a vacuum seeder. They transplant with a paper pot transplanting implement. They use a flame torch to remove weed seedlings from crops such as carrots. They also use a variety of hand tools such as the collinear hoe for weeding which are sharpened daily as well as a wheel hoe. They use overhead sprinklers for germination.
His advice to beginning farmers is, “Start small and then gradually add on. Focus on specialized processes that you enjoy doing”. In terms of choosing a sustainable growing model, his advice to beginning farmers is that it is best to choose one model of growing which includes operating costs, budgeting, seed selection, growing methods, weed and disease prevention and management and stick to it.
With Fortier’s method and his book, rather than reinventing the wheel, beginning farmers have a complete guide to small scale farming at their fingertips. His book is a step by step guide which walks the reader through every process included and offers plenty of troubleshooting assistance. He encourages beginning farmers to go apprentice on a farm for a season to first see if it’s a compatible profession with the individual.
For more information and practical small scale farming advice, visit Fortier’s website www.themarketgardener.com
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