Pam Dawling - Sustainable Market Farming: Intensive Vegetable Production on a Few Acres

Praise for Sustainable Market Farming

Sustainable Market Farming is a great book! It is beneficial to those who want to grow a substantial part of their own food supply, in addition to those growing for the markets. Besides knowledge of the soil and the crops, this book has information for managing a crew (even if your crew is only you), trimming and storing for the kitchen, and saving seeds. It is evident that Pam knows what it is like to be in the fields and to truly feed people.

Cindy Conner, permaculture educator, Homeplace Earth.

A great read full of solid, practical information. This book should be one of the must-haves on the bookshelf of every sustainable market farmer, whether novice or long time grower. Great cultural information on most any crop a market grower might be cultivating or contemplating. She includes outdoor production, season extension, crop rotation, pests and diseases and much more in a friendly easy to read style. Pam will be your best resource for growing information for years to come.

Paul and Alison Wiediger, Au Naturel Farm

Whether you are new farmer just starting out, an experienced producer looking to move into year-round production on a few acres or a home gardener who is serious about food production this book is for you. Pam has done a fantastic job making the book well organized and easy to read for the beginner but detailed enough to be a useful reference for experienced growers who want to bring a variety of healthy fresh delicious food to market year-round. What really gets me excited about Sustainable Market Farming is finally having the details and examples come from the mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Sustainable Market Farming is a book I plan on referring to regularly for years to come.

Ira Wallace, author, Guide to Vegetable Gardening in the Southeast and
coordinator, variety selection and outreach, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

Pam Dawlings book is simply the best new cutting-edge resource for small organic producers like us who grow for CSAs and farmers markets. Ill be spending the winter off-season poring over everything from the detailed crop-planning to organic insect control measures and high tunnel cropping, as the information is both relevant and timely for our farms evolution. A gold mine of practical farming knowledge!

Mark Cain, Dripping Springs Garden, Huntsville, Arkansas

If you are just getting started growing vegetables, or you are an experienced farmer or homesteader and still have unanswered questions, get this book! Thorough, accurate, and written in accessible language, Sustainable Market Farming covers all aspects of production from planning, planting, crop rotation, soil, and pest management to harvest and storage; and imparts in-depth knowledge of each crop and the care it needs to thrive. I cant wait to get my copy it will fill a huge gap in my library.

Mark Schonbeck, consultant in sustainable agriculture, Floyd, VA

After years of reading Pams columns in Growing for Market, and visiting the Twin Oaks farm in the fall of 2011, I have been looking forward to her book. The integration of soil management, crop planning and production methods with hoophouse and cold cellar recommendations makes this book a valuable addition to the library of both beginning and seasoned vegetable farmers, and a unique text for vegetable production and urban farming classes. Thanks, Pam!

John Biernbaum, Professor of Horticulture, Michigan State University

Pam Dawling is an experienced market gardener who employs her significant knowledge into feeding members of the Twin Oaks Community in Louisa, Virginia. For over a decade, Pam has led the Twin Oaks garden crew, providing year-round fresh produce to 100 people in a Community Supported Agriculture program. Pam is a wealth of practical know-how and has compiled her understanding of successful market gardening into this important manual. This is a must-read book for beginning gardeners and small farmers who are serious about market gardening, as well as for experienced market gardeners and students majoring in agricultural sciences.

Reza Rafie, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Horticulture Extension Specialist,
Small Fruits and Vegetables, School of Agriculture, Virginia State University

Ive been using this book since receiving it, to plant my winter crops and plan for spring. Dawling explains the hows and whys, while also informing and encouraging the what ifs. Balanced in depth, usefulness and inspiration; great for anyone wanting to grow (more) food for the table.

Richard Moyer, Moyer Family Farm, Virginia

SUSTAINABLE

MARKET
FARMING

INTENSIVE VEGETABLE PRODUCTION
ON A FEW ACRES

PAM DAWLING

FOREWORD BY

LYNN BYCZYNSKI, Growing For Market

Copyright 2013 by Pamela Dawling.
All rights reserved.

Cover design by Diane McIntosh.
Greenhouse: author supplied
All other images: iStock
Chapter opener illustrations (unless otherwise noted):
Jessie Doyle (jessiedoylesstuff.blogspot.com/)

Printed in Canada. First printing January, 2013

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-86571-716-9
eISBN: 978-1-55092-512-8

Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of Sustainable Market Farming
should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below.

To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free
(North America) 1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com

Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:

New Society Publishers
P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada
(250) 247-9737

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Dawling, Pam
Sustainable market farming : intensive vegetable production
on a few acres / Pam Dawling ; foreword by Lynn Byczynski.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-86571-716-9

1. Vegetable gardening. 2. Organic farming. 3. Sustainable
agriculture. I. Title. II. Title: Market farming.

SB321.D39 2012635C2012-907150-1

New Society Publishers mission is to publish books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models this vision. We are committed to doing this not just through education, but through action. The interior pages of our bound books are printed on Forest Stewardship Council-registered acid-free paper that is 100% post-consumer recycled (100% old growth forest-free), processed chlorine free, and printed with vegetable-based, low-VOC inks, with covers produced using FSC-registered stock. New Society also works to reduce its carbon footprint, and purchases carbon offsets based on an annual audit to ensure a carbon neutral footprint. For further information, or to browse our full list of books and purchase securely, visit our website at: www.newsociety.com

by Lynn Byczynski

by Lynn Byczynski
Editor and Publisher, Growing for Market magazine
www.growingformarket.com
November 2012

This book could not have come at a better time. Vegetable gardening is more popular than it has been in decades. Across North America, people are trying to grow more of their own food. Young adults and retired people are starting market gardens, teenagers are working on urban farms, families are tilling up their lawns to plant gardens for themselves and neighbors. If you are among the vegetable growing population, whether you have a small backyard plot or many acres,