The health of the biosphere demands our attention. We are called to consider what we are doing that harms the environment, and how, in turn, we too might be negatively impacted. Our attention has been drawn, large-scale, to carbon footprints and renewable resources. But right in our own kitchens, take a look at the food that ends up there, and think about the deleterious effects its growing, processing, and transporting could have on both the environment and us. Consider the chemicals used as fertilizer and pesticides, and the fossil fuel-powered machines and vehicles. Consider the dangers of possibly toxic ingredients, uncertain outcomes of genetic engineering, and long-term health risks like diabetes, heart disease and obesity. If any of those reasons weren’t already enough to convince you to grow as much as possible of your own organic food, maybe an inconvenient truth has changed your mind now. And (re)turning to the classics of Eliot Coleman is a good place to start fresh.

Eliot Coleman, a farmer for almost forty years, remains a man with a message. In 1989, he wrote The New Organic Grower (revised in 1995, published by Chelsea Green) and in 1992, Four-Season Harvest (revised in 1999, published by Chelsea Green). Both books describe Coleman’s “plant-positive” approach to year-round, organic growing. Coleman and his wife, Barbara Damrosch, practice what they preach on the coast of Maine in Harborside, at Four Season Farm, land once part of Helen and Scott Nearing’s homestead. Over the years, Coleman and Damrosch have not only honed the skills of growing chemical-free crops but widely promote the cause.

In an essay published by The Nation magazine in September 2006, Coleman argued that organic agriculture is part of an attitude that “could be the impetus for re-forming society.” He explained that improving soil fertility and plant resistance to pests can be done with a preventive approach, rather than treating the symptoms once there are problems like low yields or poor quality. The goal of organic farming, he wrote, is “to cultivate ease and order rather than battle futilely against disease and disorder.” Coleman drew a comparison to the medical profession which would rather sell symptomatic treatments than address causes, and a government that, in making the world a safer place, favors weaponry over diplomacy. He concludes that organic farming is radical politics: “Its success exposes the artificiality of our symptom-focused economy and shows why society’s most intractable problems never seem to get solved.”

The New Organic Grower is subtitled “A Master’s Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener.” Coleman is thorough, thoughtful, and personal as he offers advice on how to garden for home use or grow for small-scale commercial sales. He considers factors like costs, equipment, soil enrichment, composting, crop selection and rotation, marketing, and insect, weed and disease control. His Four-Season Harvest focuses on sustaining year-round horticulture, including the building and use of cold frames, raised beds, plastic greenhouses, floating row covers, “mobile tunnel” greenhouses that can be moved to cover crops at different times, coping with snow, and recommended seasonal crops.

Growing much of one’s own food, and doing that in a manner harmonious with nature is still, after all these years, a somewhat unconventional undertaking. Coleman remains a visionary. His books not only educate but inspire. Paul Hawken pays tribute in his foreword to The New Organic Grower, writing, “He has transformed gardening from a task, to a craft, and finally to what Stewart Brand would call `local science.’ ” He concludes, “Eliot not only embodies this intimate science of place…it is this seasoned knowing that he shares here.”