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My guest for this episode is Jean-Martin Fortier, the author of The Market Gardener and Canadian Small Scale Farmer.
During our conversation today we discuss how he came to farming, his on-farm practices, how small is profitable, and the importance of standardization and simple practices. Together he, his wife, and two farm workers raised and sold over $140,000 in produce during the last growing season, with a net profit of $70,000 for him and his family, all on an acre and a half of intensively managed garden beds. Here is a model for anyone who wants to farm successfully.
If you enjoy this interview with Jean-Martin, or any other in the archives, support the show by making an on-going monthly contribution to the show. Find out how at: www.thepermaculturepodcast.com/support
In my review of Mr. Fortier’s book, and in this interview, I expressed how much I enjoyed his work. This is a handbook that I wish I’d had when first setting up my front yard garden. Combine this book with Peter Bane’s The Permaculture Handbook and you have all the makings of a small-scale permaculture farm that is holistic and integrative, with a Zone One Vegetable garden that can provide regular and routine cash crops, while developing perennial agriculture systems in other areas.
ResourcesThe Market GardenerMarket Gardening Tools
On this subject of small scale farming, you may enjoy listening to the life and times of starting and running a farm, including those with
my friend Erin Harvey of The Kale Yard, and Wayne Herring, of Herring’s Green Grass Farm. Give those a listen and have a better understanding of whether or not this life of farming is for you.
Erin HarveyStarting a Small Scale Farm
Wayne HerringStarting a Sustainable Family FarmFarming During TransitionListener Questions – Small Scale Farming
The last note for this episode is a reminder that the show goes on the road in September and October and I’d like to invite you to join me.
September 6th photographer John and I attend the Finger Lakes Permaculture Tour, in and around Ithaca, New York.
September 12th and 14th we’ll be at the Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Spring, Pennsylvania.
October 11th, I’ll be at CHABA-Con in Bridgeton, New Jersey. Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute is the keynote speaker.
October 21st, I’ll be at the Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op at Grandin Village at 630PM for a discussion on “Permaculture: Creating a Better World by Design.”
If there is any way I can assist you in creating the world you want to live in, answer questions on permaculture, or help to connect you to the resources you need, feel free to get in touch.
E-mail: show@thepermaculturepodcast.com
Phone: 717-827-6266
The Permaculture Podcast with Scott Mann
P.O. Box 16
Dauphin, PA 17018
Facebook: Facebook.com/ThePermaculturePodcast
Twitter: @permaculturecst
(Episode: Jean-Martin)
http://www.thepermaculturepodcast.com/2014/jean-martin/