With more than 200,000 copies sold and buoyed by the international success of the first edition of The Market Gardener, A Successful Grower’s Handbook for Small-Scale Organic Farming, Jean-Martin Fortier has continued to perfect his diversified market gardening techniques and to test tools to optimize his organic crops on small surfaces in this second revised and expanded edition.
Now translated into 7 languages and the recipient of awards and rave reviews, The Market Gardener, A Successful Grower’s Handbook for Small-Scale Organic Farming remains a must-read for all those interested in small-scale organic agriculture. This type of agriculture contributes to the resilience of local communities and is capable of feeding the population while presenting itself as an alternative to the industrial agriculture that pollutes the planet and is harmful to our health.
Now considered a reference in organic farming, this practical guide provides growing notes on more than 25 vegetables and teaches you step-by-step how:
- Choose a site location based on permaculture
- Minimize start-up investments
- Use alternative machinery to the tractor
- Grow in permanent beds with a minimum tillage approach
- Fertilize your crops organically
- Controlling diseases and pests effectively
- Weeding with the best tools
- Extending the growing season
- Develop a crop calendar
- Good financial planning
Loved by small farmers all over the world

“Jean-Martin’s book is very well done and should be of great use to market growers everywhere.”
“Exchange of ideas and information is so important because when we pass ideas on, the next person gets to start where we got to and take the ideas to another level.”
— Eliot Coleman, Organic Farming Pioneer and Author of The Winter Harvest Handbook

“This is a fantastic addition to any aspiring market gardener’s library, and even has a few new ideas for old hands.”
“Jean-Martin has laid out all of the basics for how we can farm more profitably, productively and passionately on a more human sized scale.“
— Josh Volk, Slow Hand Farm
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More praise for The Market Gardener
“This book fulfills a significant demand for quality information about growing edibles sustainably for profit on a small community-based scale”
– Anne Marie Van Ness, American Horticultural Society
“Fortier’s introductory book on market gardening is a fine, authoritative reference that is already an indispensable part of many growers’ libraries, and seems bound to become a classic.
– Frank Kaminski, Resilience.org
“Jean-Martin Fortier’s The Market Gardener is the book to have at your hand, on the table while you eat lunch, on your bedside table for the few minutes before sleep. This is a direct, clear, guide for day-to-day operations of your small farm.
– Ruben Anderson, smallanddeliciouslife.com
“JM Fortier’s The Market Gardener is my go to encyclopedia for diversified small-scale agriculture. I consider him one of the most accessible and knowledgeable experts in the field and have implemented many ideas from his book into my own farm.” – Jordan Collin, Aotearoa Market Garden, New Zealand”Jean-Martin Fortier picks up right where Eliot Coleman has left us, applying many of his core principles, but doing it in such a brilliant way as to provide beginning farmers a solid framework of the information they need to start up and become successful small-scale organic growers themselves.”
– Adam Lemieux, Product Manager of Tools & Supplies, Johnny’s Selected Seeds