The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year-Round Vegetable Production Using Deep-Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses

The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses, by Eliot Coleman, with Photographs and Illustrations by Barbara Damrosch, Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2009.

Eliot Coleman has a new book out and it is a measure of his popularity with readers of all stripes that I had to wait from April to June on the waiting list at the Indianapolis Marion County Public Library(IMCPL) to receive a copy, and then promptly had the book recalled as soon as I got it home. I'll get back on the list as soon as I return the book, and eventually I'll spring for the cost of ownership. This book represents a significant advance in some of the production aspects over other books by Coleman, even those others from Chelsea Green. Especially delightful are the full-color photos of Coleman's garden operation. As we have come to expect, Coleman brings the same care and craft to writing that he so obviously brings to growing beautiful, healthy vegetables. For those who already own The New Organic Grower's Four-Season Harvest (1992, 2002) or Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long (1992, 1999) or The Winter Harvest Manual or The New Organic Grower (revised edition, 1995; see the previous blog entry), there will be much that is familiar here, but as Coleman points out, there has also been an evolution in his methods as he constantly seeks improvement. Those who own his other books will want the updates provided here. There are new varieties of vegetables, new techniques for gardening and building greenhouses, new tools and new resources.

The thing that fascinates me most about Coleman is that we have here a practitioner who is also very much historically aware and steeped in the literature of his craft. I would read and buy his books for their historical summaries (so aptly labeled "historical inspiration") and bibliographies (especially the annotated "historical reading list") alone, as much as for the lists of tried and true vegetable varieties and gardening techniques. Every last page has both instruction and inspiration.

I am not ready (yet) to launch a full-time operation, so some of what Coleman provides is beyond my ability to incorporate. For example, I can admire his greenhouse design, but I'm more likely to implement his "quick hoops" (maybe even this fall). His lists of succession planting dates and the yearly schedule are quite helpful in a suggestive way for those who would like to "go and do likewise." (And who wouldn't...like to go and do likewise?) And his gentle presentation of the more philosophical aspects of what he calls "deep-organic" gardening (a combination of local, sustainable, etc.) is winsome. Unlike many of the strident voices we hear today, Eliot Coleman's voice is one of experience tempered by the Maine winters. He knows whereof he speaks and he lets it permeate his writing. Thanks, Mr. Coleman, for sharing your gift with us.