From Publishers Weekly
From first sentence to last, Coleman's ( The New Organic Gardener ) book is a delight--an earnest guide written with an impish sense of humor. It will refresh anyone who wants to get the most from a vegetable garden yet doesn't want to devote too much time and energy to the process. Apparently Coleman thoroughly enjoys every phase of gardening--from planting crops to weeding. Who else has ever suggested, only half in jest, dancing with a hoe? Or keeping a pair of ducks for pest patrol? This is that kind of book. It's also a book full of valuable information on how to harvest fresh vegetables and salad ingredients literally year-round--yet without an expensive greenhouse or indoor light garden set-up. Coleman combines succession planting (small sowings three or more times, rather than one big endeavor) with cold-frame growing in the winter months. He includes how-tos for building simple cold-frames. Given the fact that he lives in Maine, his advice seems all the more reliable. He believes in simplicity ("If what I am doing in the garden seems complicated, it is probably wrong"), seasonality (tomatoes in summer, broccoli in fall, mache in February) and diplomacy in the garden (which "has more to teach us than just how to grow food"). Here, his philosophy of organic growing is shared easily. The book concludes with an extensive chapter on the vegetables that comprise his "cast of characters." Illustrated. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Book News, Inc.
Everyone who grows vegetables must know Coleman. He's the organic methods expert--the one who knows how to maximize both garden yield and gardening pleasure, year round. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Originally published in 1992, Four-Season Harvest introduced readers to Eliot Coleman's simple, efficient system for growing and harvesting vegetables throughout the year, no matter what the climate. Now, in this revised and expanded edition, Coleman takes his gardening classic several steps further, describing the continuing evolution and perfection of the winter gardening concept.

Especially noteworthy is the knowledge, wisdom, and inspiration that Coleman received on a winter pilgrimage to southern France in 1996. What he had realized is that, although the climate may be different there, southern France (and parts of Italy) lies along the 44th parallel, the same latitude as Coleman's farm in Maine. That means that daylength is the same in both regions, and the amount of sunlight is the key that regulates plant growth. The simple crop-protection and storage schemes that Coleman has developed enable any home gardener in a place such as New England to. enjoy fresh food year-round, la the traditional cuisine of rural southern France.

SYNOPSIS

Can you imagine bringing a little taste of southern France to northern New England winters?Originally published in 1992, Four-Season Harvest introduced readers to Eliot Coleman's simple, efficient system for growing and harvesting vegetables throughout the year, no matter what the climate. Now, in this revised and expanded edition, Coleman takes his gardening classic several steps further, describing the continuing evolution and perfection of the winter gardening concept.

Especially noteworthy is the knowledge, wisdom, and inspiration that Coleman received on a winter pilgrimage to southern France in 1996. What he had realized is that, although the climate may be different there, southern France (and parts of Italy) lies along the 44th parallel, the same latitude as Coleman's farm in Maine. That means that daylength is the same in both regions, and the amount of sunlight is the key that regulates plant growth. The simple crop-protection and storage schemes that Coleman has developed enable any home gardener in a place such as New England to enjoy fresh food year-round, ￯﾿ﾽ la the traditional cuisine of rural southern France.

Coleman's usual emphasis on nutrition and great taste, natural processes, and ingenious inexpensive low-tech solutions is delightfully enhanced in the new Four-Season Harvest by stories and culinary insight from his tour of France, descriptions of unfamiliar varieties suited to winter gardening in the U.S., and expanded discussions of how to grow and use his vegetable "Cast of Characters."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Eliot Coleman is a consultant and expert on chemical-free agriculture. He teaches organic farming at the College of the Atlantic in Maine and has written numerous articles on organic techniques as well as the best-seller book, The New Organic Grower: A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener (Chelsea Green, 1989; revised edition 1995). He grows his own vegetables year-round on his farm in Harborside, Maine.

FROM THE CRITICS

Peter V. Fossel

Four-Season Harvest is a magnificent work. It's enticing, inspiring, sensible, and it opens a whole new world for rthe home grower. —Country Journal

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING