Eliot Coleman

Eliot has over 30 years experience in all aspects of organic farming, including field vegetables, greenhouse vegetables, rotational grazing of cattle and sheep, and range poultry. He is the author of The New Organic Grower (Chelsea Green, 1989, revised, expanded second edition, 1995), Four Season Harvest (Chelsea Green, 1992, revised, expanded second edition, 1999) and The Winter Harvest Manual. He has contributed chapters to three scientific books on organic agriculture and has written extensively on the subject since 1975. He also wrote the foreward to Keeping Food Fresh: Old World Techniques and Recipes (1999), by the gardeners and farmers of Terre Vivant.

During his careers as a commercial market gardener, the director of agricultural research projects, and as a teacher and lecturer on organic gardening he has studied, practiced and perfected his craft. He served for two years as the Executive Director of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements and was an advisor to the US Department of Agriculture during their landmark 1979-80 study, Report and Recommendations on Organic Farming.

He has conducted study tours of organic farms, market gardens, orchards, and vineyards in Europe and has successfully combined European ideas with his own to develop and popularize a complete system of tools and equipment for organic vegetable growers. He shares that expertise through his lectures and writings, and has served as a tool consultant to a number of companies. He presently consults and designs tools for Johnny's Selected Seeds.

With his wife Barbara Damrosch, he was the host of the TV series Gardening Naturally on The Learning Channel. He and Barbara presently operate a commercial year-round market garden, in addition to horticultural research projects, at Four Season Farm in Harborside, Maine.

For more information visit fourseasonfarm.com.

Eliot's Upcoming Events

• Eliot Coleman at Minnesota Season-Extension workshop
  
  St. Cloud Civic Center, St. Cloud MN
  January 15, 2009, 1:00 pm

  Make plans now to attend “EXPAND YOUR ZONE - EXTEND YOUR SEASON,” a season extension workshop led by one of the nation’s leading experts, Eliot Coleman, author of The New Organic Grower, Four Season Harvest, and Winter Harvest Manual. Eliot Coleman will discuss suitable crops, soils and fertility management, tunnels and tunnel construction, timing of plantings, yearly scheduling, growing crops not normally grown in northern zones, and much more. The workshop will be held Thursday, January 15, 2009, 1:00 to 5:30 PM at the St. Cloud Civic Center. The $50 Registration Fee includes the workshop, afternoon break, and a copy of Eliot Coleman’s book, Winter Harvest Manual. Seating is limited. The event is brought to you by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the University of Minnesota Southwest Research and Outreach Center with additional funding from: Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy Sow the Seeds Campaign, Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, Wedge Co-op, Organic Valley, and UM Southeast Regional Sustainable Development Partnership.

• Eliot Coleman keynote at NOFA-Mass conference
  January 17, 2009, 9:00 am

  Eliot Coleman will deliver the keynote speech at the annual winter conference of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Massachusetts (NOFA-Mass) on January 17th, 2009. Visit the NOFA-Mass website for more information.