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Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long
If you love the joys of eating home-garden vegetables but always thought those joys had to stop at the end of summer, this book is for you. Eliot Coleman introduces the surprising fact that most of the United States has more winter sunshine than the south of France. He shows how North American gardeners can successfully use that sun to raise a wide variety of traditional winter vegetables in backyard cold frames and plastic covered tunnel greenhouses without supplementary heat. Coleman expands upon his own experiences with new ideas learned on a winter-vegetable pilgrimage across the ocean to the acknowledged kingdom of vegetable cuisine, the southern part of France, which lies on the 44th parallel, the same latitude as his farm in Maine.
This story of sunshine, weather patterns, old limitations and expectations, and new realities is delightfully innovative in the best gardening tradition. Four-Season Harvest will have you feasting on fresh produce from your garden all through the winter.
To learn more about the possibility of a four-season farm, please visit Coleman's website www.fourseasonfarm.com.
This story of sunshine, weather patterns, old limitations and expectations, and new realities is delightfully innovative in the best gardening tradition. Four-Season Harvest will have you feasting on fresh produce from your garden all through the winter.
To learn more about the possibility of a four-season farm, please visit Coleman's website www.fourseasonfarm.com.
236 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
About the author
Eliot Coleman
10 books66 followersEliot Coleman is an American farmer, author, agricultural researcher and educator, and proponent of organic farming. He wrote The New Organic Grower. He served for two years as Executive Director of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), and was an advisor to the U.S. Department of Agriculture during its 1979–80 study, Report and Recommendations on Organic Farming, a document that formed the basis for today's legislated National Organic Program (2002) in the U.S.
On his Four Season Farm in Harborside, Brooksville, Maine, he produces year-round vegetable crops, even under harsh winter conditions (for which he uses unheated and minimally heated greenhouses and polytunnels). He even manages to grow artichokes, claiming that "I grow them just to make the Californians nervous."
Coleman is married to gardening author Barbara Damrosch. For several years, from 1993, they co-hosted the TV series, Gardening Naturally, on The Learning Channel. Coleman and his wife continue to grow and locally market fresh produce.
On his Four Season Farm in Harborside, Brooksville, Maine, he produces year-round vegetable crops, even under harsh winter conditions (for which he uses unheated and minimally heated greenhouses and polytunnels). He even manages to grow artichokes, claiming that "I grow them just to make the Californians nervous."
Coleman is married to gardening author Barbara Damrosch. For several years, from 1993, they co-hosted the TV series, Gardening Naturally, on The Learning Channel. Coleman and his wife continue to grow and locally market fresh produce.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 113 reviews
July 26, 2011
You know how every once in a while a book comes along and rocks your world? Well, that's this book for me. (You might already have guessed that when you consider that this is the first review I've added in the last year or so.) E. Coleman tells the reader how to harvest from the garden *all year long*. Where? Florida, Californa, Georgia, etc etc? Nope, in zone 5! That's me! No, tomatoes will not grow in February here, but, for example, a person can grow cold-hardy mache (a European green aka corn salad or vit) in the fall, cover it with a cold frame and add a little extra insulation, and harvest it through much of the winter! Even if harvested when frozen, it will be tasty and fresh, not mushy as one might expect. Awesome! I feel like I've been missing out all these years! His techniques require some equipment and planning, but not pricey heaters and technology; just simple, old-world practices used in Europe for centuries (he traveled to France to learn many of the basics, and describes his adventures there). Many, many great tidbits can be found in this book, utilizing mulch, cold frames, row covers, and cold indoor storage to eat fresh, nutritious, organically grown veggies all winter long. Next up, I'm checking out his Winter Harvest Handbook for an updated version of this one.
Edited 7/26/11 to add: After having completed Winter Harvest, I see that it does contain some info from this book, but is more suited to the large-scale market gardener/farmer. Read this one (Four Season Harvest) if you want info to utilize in your home garden.
Edited 7/26/11 to add: After having completed Winter Harvest, I see that it does contain some info from this book, but is more suited to the large-scale market gardener/farmer. Read this one (Four Season Harvest) if you want info to utilize in your home garden.
May 31, 2020
Fantastic read. Highly recommend to all veggie gardeners.
February 15, 2008
A very practical (and entertaining!) book with lots of useful information and time-saving steps for those of us northern folk who want fresh garden produce all year long. The author is from Maine and grows salad greens in a simple and inexpensive cold frame all winter long. The book is especially helpful about choosing hardy winter seed varieties from both local and european traditions.
March 17, 2007
Eliot Coleman has mastered the art of season extension in the bitter cold regions of northern New England. The book breaks down several techniques for growing vegetables under cover to enjoy throughout the winter. There's also a great section with a complete description of each vegetable along with several facts for growing with rotations, cover crops, and soil amendments. Great book for any home gardener.
April 26, 2008
You really can grow foods all year round no matter where you live. This book guides you in determining which vegetables grow best in your local climate, and when to plant and harvest them. It is comprehensive and very well organized--a great help in developing and managing a simple and balanced garden. I like this guys style--simple, organized, well thought-out, and earth-friendly.
November 20, 2019
A practical and philosophical work, periodically touching upon Eliot and Barbara's travels through Southern France as they seek inspiration from home and market garden techniques and traditions with comparable winter daylight hours. Highly recommended for those interested in having a bountiful winter harvest. The only qualm I have is with Appendix C, which argues, in a rather haphazard manner, for the use of plastics in greenhouse construction. The calculations juxtaposing the BTU of importing California salad greens to Maine versus the BTU of greenhouse polyethylene sheets are plausible as they are, yet all the unconsidered factors mentioned (pollution from plastic manufacturing and recycling, fuel for transport etc.) are weighty enough to deem the whole discussion invalid at worst. I felt that this chapter could have been stronger had the last paragraph (on the need for innovation in producing greenhouse sheets from renewable materials) been given more emphasis. If market gardening continues to gain popularity and manifests in more greenhouse plastic demand, we must not and cannot justify our actions with comparisons of this nature.
November 21, 2016
I am so sad to be finished reading this book. Elliot Coleman is passionate and highly knowledgeable about vegetables. His enthusiasm is inspiring and contagious. He also writes well.
This book does overlap a good bit of the information from The Winter Harvest Handbook. That book is newer, written after years of growing in winter in unheated greenhouses in zone 5 commercially, and contained more history of the French market growers and their tradition of hotbeds, cloches, and winter gardening generally. This earlier book comes from his home garden for personal consumption, and is also full of stories of traveling through the parts of France that share the same latitude as his home in Maine (and therefore get similar sun in winter). Having read the newer book, I hadn't planned on reading this one, but then someone got it for me -- and I'm glad he did. It was a delight, and from a somewhat different perspective from The Winter Harvest Handbook.
This book does overlap a good bit of the information from The Winter Harvest Handbook. That book is newer, written after years of growing in winter in unheated greenhouses in zone 5 commercially, and contained more history of the French market growers and their tradition of hotbeds, cloches, and winter gardening generally. This earlier book comes from his home garden for personal consumption, and is also full of stories of traveling through the parts of France that share the same latitude as his home in Maine (and therefore get similar sun in winter). Having read the newer book, I hadn't planned on reading this one, but then someone got it for me -- and I'm glad he did. It was a delight, and from a somewhat different perspective from The Winter Harvest Handbook.
January 12, 2018
This a book from a master, and I can't give it less that five stars. It contains detailed and very practical information on season extension for small-scale growers. It shares multiple approaches to low-cost season extension hardware, such as low-tunnels, high-tunnels, cold frames, and hoop houses. It also has detailed information on which crops are most appropriate for season extension. Lastly, it makes clear how the hardware and crops interact, and provides examples of growing schedules and approaches.
If you are looking for more general information on small-scale growing, I recommend you look instead at Eliot Coleman's The New Organic Grower. This book focuses primarily on season extension.
If you are looking for more general information on small-scale growing, I recommend you look instead at Eliot Coleman's The New Organic Grower. This book focuses primarily on season extension.
January 3, 2012
Just because I have a history of failing miserably in the garden doesn't mean I'm giving up. Ohhhh no. 2012 will be the year I don't totally suck at keeping plants alive! (This book was great, by the way. If a person is going to go to the trouble of becoming a gardener, it seems silly to only use those skills for a few months out of the year. This guy gives practical, common-sense advice backed by years of experience and experimentation. If he can have fresh salad greens in the dead of winter in Maine, I figure he knows his stuff.)
August 15, 2017
My favorite, most useful, "Here's how to make it work for you" gardening book. Eliot gets a kick out of giving his brutally honest opinions about how vegetables taste in winter supermarkets, or supermarkets in general. Everyone can agree that there's nothing like a homegrown tomato or melon fresh out of the garden. I really enjoyed the philosophy of gardening, the practical, non-competitive approach to growing tasty things all year round for your own table, and the very readable style it was written in. It almost made me want to learn French!!!
February 3, 2017
Excellent reading and resource book for gardening year-round. It's not about having a heated greenhouse or fancy equipment, but instead about growing what items matched for the season and your location and utilizing as many natural environmental controls as possible. I have pages of notes and plan on trying several of the winter crops suggested.
July 14, 2018
This is one of those resources that I borrowed from the library initially and now intend to purchase because I just know I'm going to be referring back to it time and again. Super grateful to have guidance from someone well-versed in growing crops during the cold seasons, with inexpensive, traditional methods.
November 3, 2017
Didn't go into enough detail on most of the things I am interested in (there was a good amount of detail on tools, greenhouses, row coverings and other winter centered topics and could be good if that's your bag).
August 5, 2019
Motivating - this is a great reference book and I’m excited to start our winter garden this year!
March 1, 2023
Four-Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman is a valuable book for anyone wanting to harvest fresh vegetables in winter. Four-Season Harvest goes into detail on designing a garden that can thrive in winter (cold frames, greenhouses, high tunnels, etc.) while also covering more general topics on organic gardening (soil, natural pest control, compost, etc.). Some of the information I wasn’t expecting, or really looking for, but once he explained its purpose, I realized how beneficial it would be in my own garden (garden helpers & microclimates).
Eliot isn’t new to the scene. He has been practicing organic farming for over 50 years and has been writing books since the 1970’s. To top it all off, his passion about this book, is apparent when you learn his own farm is named Four Season Farm and is in Maine. A lot of the books you find nowadays are people from temperate locations like California writing about gardening all year. Not very helpful to the majority living anywhere else. The knowledge you will find in his books can apply to almost anyone throughout the US.
The only complaint is the anecdotal descriptions of the author’s travels through France. Although I can see how they relate to the topics, I found it distracting. Others may easily find it charming amongst the more technical information. Keep in mind, this book was written in the 90’s, so the information isn’t presented in nice bullet points, or summaries with big, pretty pictures, but this is one of those books that is full of a wealth of interesting & practical information that will always be relevant & valuable.
Eliot isn’t new to the scene. He has been practicing organic farming for over 50 years and has been writing books since the 1970’s. To top it all off, his passion about this book, is apparent when you learn his own farm is named Four Season Farm and is in Maine. A lot of the books you find nowadays are people from temperate locations like California writing about gardening all year. Not very helpful to the majority living anywhere else. The knowledge you will find in his books can apply to almost anyone throughout the US.
The only complaint is the anecdotal descriptions of the author’s travels through France. Although I can see how they relate to the topics, I found it distracting. Others may easily find it charming amongst the more technical information. Keep in mind, this book was written in the 90’s, so the information isn’t presented in nice bullet points, or summaries with big, pretty pictures, but this is one of those books that is full of a wealth of interesting & practical information that will always be relevant & valuable.
January 13, 2018
This mother f@#$!r is a persuasive, obsessive compulsive gardening genius, one result of which is a snow-covered 10' x 20' greenhouse now standing in our Pittsburgh back yard.
Eliot figured that since the south of France sits at latitudes comparable to his own home in Maine, that he should be able to emulate their ability to garden in the winter. Sure they have a different climate, but they also get no more or less sun, so with enough low-tech protection and some hardy plants even inhabitants in the frigid winter tundras of New England should be able to produce enough greens to feed the family. And, by gum, he's right (it's even easier in Pittsburgh).
Eliot figured that since the south of France sits at latitudes comparable to his own home in Maine, that he should be able to emulate their ability to garden in the winter. Sure they have a different climate, but they also get no more or less sun, so with enough low-tech protection and some hardy plants even inhabitants in the frigid winter tundras of New England should be able to produce enough greens to feed the family. And, by gum, he's right (it's even easier in Pittsburgh).
April 14, 2024
I currently garden in Oklahoma, so although this book was recommended in several of the two dozen gardening books I've read, I didn't pick it up until we were for certain planning a move to New York.
The book did not disappoint! I love the author's emphasis on simple systems, and the data presented in the crop protection chapters was clear and convincing. I have a good idea of how to harvest winter veggies now!
The only downside is that the book is dated - the last update is from 1999. The Yellow Pages reference is cute, but the recommendations to make potting soil with perlite or peat moss makes me wince. Overall, though, these dated references are few and far between.
The book did not disappoint! I love the author's emphasis on simple systems, and the data presented in the crop protection chapters was clear and convincing. I have a good idea of how to harvest winter veggies now!
The only downside is that the book is dated - the last update is from 1999. The Yellow Pages reference is cute, but the recommendations to make potting soil with perlite or peat moss makes me wince. Overall, though, these dated references are few and far between.
February 10, 2022
One of the most helpful gardening books I have read. Eliot Coleman is a treasure trove of information, techniques, and skill that he is willing to impart to everyone. This year I will be trying soil blocks for the first time and am very excited to see the results. This past winter I have been toying with single and double low tunnels with onions and carrots. Gardening year round is not only possible but a fun, engaging, ongoing experiment with a ton of learning experiences. Great book.
January 29, 2021
It has an interesting collection of concepts for growing food year round. It has ideas for different styles of growth covers and greenhouses, planting crops in succession, setting up organic composting that doesn't rely on plastic bins, and storage of harvests. It includes sketches and pictures, and includes several kinds of crops, everything from herbs to root veg to seasonal veg.
December 10, 2020
The best of Coleman's books for home gardeners in New England, in friendly, funny prose. Information on starting from seed, extending harvest into cold months via frames (and how to build them), and extensive indexes on various vegetables' nutritional supplement and pest prevention needs.
January 12, 2021
Such a fantastic reminder of the importance of daylight hours in the garden. I was looking to expand my gardening into the winter hours and zone 5b, and this was a trusted name that help me take the first step, with confidence.
February 13, 2023
An excellent gardening inspiration, with some new ideas to consider. I certainly should make more use of cold frames. I'm not sure that I'll ever aspire to a movable greenhouse, but it's an interesting idea. The short blurb on growing each of the various vegetables contained some good tips as well.
May 9, 2023
I didn’t exactly read this one cover-to-cover; instead I keep picking projects out of it. This year, for instance: cold frames. It’s a remarkable resource if you’re actually trying to feed yourself from your garden.
February 13, 2024
Everything I have read by Eliot Coleman has been well worth the time & very helpful. Sometimes it doesn't really apply to our climate however, but as long as you can translate it into a way to apply in our climate, I will be greatly rewarded.
June 12, 2017
Multiple times - I just need to buy this. Looks like the library copy is gone! :(
Someday....
Someday....
September 27, 2018
Some very useful information...which I will keep in the back of my mind until I am ready to commit to an extended gardening season.
February 5, 2020
This was a pretty good book. A lot of information, but also a lot of repeating throughout the chapters. Still, I found it worth the read and I gained a lot of information for my future gardening.
April 24, 2020
wonderful range of information clearly presented. will take some thinking about timings for a Southern Hemisphere gardener, inspiring never the less
January 16, 2021
Time to rule the community garden year round.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 113 reviews