The No-Till Organic Vegetable Farm by Daniel Mays

The No-Till Organic Vegetable Farm by Daniel Mays ISBN-13: 9781635861891 Harcover: 256 pages Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC Released: October 13th 2020

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
No-till farming — a method of growing crops and providing pasture without disturbing the soil with tillage — has become a proven and enormously important alternative to standard farming practices. In this comprehensive guide to no-till vegetable farming for aspiring and beginning farmers, author Daniel Mays — himself the owner and manager of a no-till farm in Maine — details the many benefits of this system, along with how to establish no-till beds, intensive crop planning, mulching strategies, techniques and timing of occultation and solarization, selection and timing of no-till cover crops, holistic approaches to weed management, and efficient methods of harvest and post-harvest handling.

The book presents innovative labor structures that replace reliance on expensive machinery, as well as streamlined planning and record-keeping tools, marketing strategies, and the value of community engagement through programs like CSA, food justice initiatives, and on-farm education. It shows farmers concerned about the future of their profession and the planet that, together, all of these elements form a cohesive system that works toward the health of the soil, the farm as a whole, the natural environment, and the people it feeds and employs.


My Review:
The No-Till Organic Vegetable Farm details how to start and run a successful market garden using organic and no-till methods. The focus of the book was more on teaching a beginner the details needed to successfully buy a farm and start a market garden. However, the author also included details about how to do this using an organic, no-till method. He covered topics like:

What to look for when buying land, things to think about when designing the farm layout, how to break ground (with and without tilling) and start your vegetable beds, things to consider when deciding what to plant and where to plant it, making a greenhouse and equipping it, transplanting and direct seeding, ways to irrigate and how to maintain a system, how to deal with weeds including mulching and manual weeding, using compost as mulch, using cover crops and what to do when it's time to plant, how to break up compaction and avoid it to begin with, multi-cropping, planting beneficial plants elsewhere on the farm, using livestock with the beds, fertilization, dealing with pests and disease, how to harvest efficiently and keep crops clean and fresh, the different ways you can sell your produce, how to hire laborers, record keeping, and more.

He gave specific examples of how they do these various things on his farm and included many full-color photographs of what this looks like. This is a very informative book and is probably most helpful to those who live in a more northern climate like he does (in Maine). I felt like he was not aware of some issues that come up in the South where the winters are mild. Since I'm already an organic farmer and was mostly interested in the no-till method, I was a little disappointed that he did not cover these issues pertinent to my region. However, I did learn quite a lot of new information about no-till and how it works, and I plan to use some of this information next year in my hobby garden.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.