It is said that you should never meet your hero. I disagree.
This story starts with a book I found in Barnes and Noble back in 2002. I was 16, and my family and I were shopping in one of the neighboring towns near Memphis, Tennessee. The only reason I know how old I was is because I actually scribbled, “Bought June 2002,” inside the front cover.
I found the gardening section way off in a back corner of the store. Which, let’s be honest, that is usually where that section is stuck. I was scanning the titles on bindings when near the bottom of a case, four words caught my eye. The New Organic Grower. It was written by some guy I’d never heard of named Eliot Coleman. I remember it being a hefty book, so I pulled it from the shelf and began to scan the pages. After flipping through it and seeing the incredible detail inside, I thought, “I’ve been looking for this book my whole life."
Of course, now that I’m in my thirties I chuckle thinking I had that thought almost 20 years ago. Maybe it went through my mind because I had been gardening for over ten years already from the young age of five? (A fun aside, this summer marks my thirtieth year tending the soil and growing plants in some form or fashion). My parents worked days, and they dropped us off at my great-grandfather’s house where he and my grandmother (Granny) lived. Mom called him Granddad since that’s what he was to her, and that name stuck for me, too.
Granddad would inevitably go out and work in his garden, and I looking for something to do would follow him. The memories are a bit of a haze. The strongest is me following his Troy-Bilt tiller and smoothing our footsteps out with a rake. I also remember his strawberry patch where he’d renovate a row every year, and his okra, but I never went near it because Granny said it would itch us. And, I remember his tomatoes and tomato cages made from concrete reinforcing wire. One year, when I really got into gardening, he created a small spot for me to grow some things. I grew a two pound tomato that year. For me it was no longer just something to do. I was hooked, and it was thanks to him.
Granddad passed away when I was 13. I remember it being cold and windy standing out in the graveyard. Granny offered to let me keep working Granddad’s garden. She knew I loved growing plants, and she probably wanted some company, too. We didn’t really have a good location at our house. My parents had let me try at home, but the only sunny area was between two black walnut trees. Now, I know about allelopathy, but then I didn’t know why my home garden struggled so much as a kid. So, Granddad’s garden became my sandbox for trying out new ideas for growing plants.
But, with Granddad’s death, my source of knowledge and information about how to garden that I had relied on was gone. I’ve always had this pursuit of figuring out which way is the best way. I don’t know if it is genetic or if my parent’s taught me to think that way. I realize now that there can be many “best” ways to approach something. But, as a kid, I wanted to have the best garden. I had this idea of gardening in harmony with earth. So, I started reading gardening books. Enter The New Organic Grower.
If you don’t know much about him, Eliot Coleman is considered by many to be one of the top leaders and pioneers for the organic movement in the United States, and The New Organic Grower is a testament to his work. Eliot’s book helped me learn to think as a young horticulturist. It was the science, wisdom, and experience of good growing, and I loved his approach to trying new things. The chapter he wrote titled “Pests?” was eye opening and well researched. He asked the question what if diseases and insects aren’t problems but messengers that something is wrong with plant production? Eliot also wrote about developing new equipment and technologies like the collinear hoe, a tool I use all the time in my garden, and movable greenhouses. His stories and guidance about how to grow plants in winter astounded me. I never wanted the gardening season to end in Tennessee, and here was a guy growing fresh produce during the winter in Maine! If he could, I could. I started building cold frames and low tunnels covered with plastic. And, I learned about attention to detail with growing plants, one of his central beliefs a steward of the land should hold and practice and how stacking small benefits he called one percenters could lead to cumulative gains in plant growth.
I read that whole book—probably at least twice—about his experiments and methods at Four Season Farm and carried it with me into the garden so many times that the edges and pages are still smudged with soil. My parents continued to feed my learning by getting me Eliot’s Four Season Harvest and two long VHS videos of him giving presentations. We even taped his show Gardening Naturally. I was officially a fan.
I always wanted to go visit Four Season Farm to meet Eliot. As I rose in the ranks of horticulture, I would occasionally cross paths with someone who knew him or had visited the farm, which made me feel that one day it would be possible to venture north.
In 2012 when the Perennial Plant Association met in Boston, I realized I could do an overnight trip at the end of the conference up to visit Eliot Coleman’s farm in Maine! The website stated that he could not promise to be there for visitors. I hedged my bet that in case he was not there the first day I could catch him on the way back.
I left early that Monday morning. It was a five hour drive north from Boston through some of the most beautiful, midsummer country. Eventually, I turned back south toward Cape Rosier where the farm was located. I pulled into the driveway at the Four Season Farm sign. I was surprised just how close the farm was to the ocean.
Giddy giddy!
I pulled up and parked at the farm stand surrounded by beautiful perennials. I spotted Eliot off to the side working with a guy on a bush hog. At first I was hesitant to speak with him because I did not want to disturb him, but the girl at the farm stand counter told me that he loved to talk with visitors. So, with that knowledge (and the thought, “Dude, you’ve travelled almost 1,000 miles to see this place…”), I ventured over and introduced myself to him and his friend Mark. I said that I didn’t want to interrupt his work, but I was wondering if I could chat with him for a bit.
He said that he would talk while they fixed the mower. He asked how I got into this crazy profession while he knelt over the contraption, and I told him about my great-grandfather. When I told him about me reading his books when I was 16, he said, “Oh, you are definitely crazy.” Mark said, “Or, a serial killer,” as he shifted his tools. I laughed, and they did, too.
Eliot told me his story about growing plants being an adventure that never ends. He shared with me his passion to learn, which was inspiring, and his love for reading the research journals. Eliot asked about my research, and I told him about my work on growing substrate and nutrition. He talked about the soil and said that he used soil blocks to grow plants. He alluded to his reverence for mother nature and discussed how her systems are amazing if we will just let her work.
His wife Barbara came out at one point, and they stepped aside to have a conversation. I said goodbye after they were finished and asked for a photo. He was so welcoming, and it was amazing to me to see how much he reminded me of my own great-grandfather. He invited me to walk around the farm and take photographs. Here’s a few for your enjoyment.
Wouldn’t you want to stop at such a lovely place and purchase your produce?
Inside the Four Season Farm stand is beautiful produce and clear labelling that welcomes customers.
A shot of the production fields at Four Season Farm
Note the tidy spacing between these onion transplants
They even had some cut flowers like Zinnia off to the side
One of Eliot Coleman’s practices is succession sowing. You can see in this image the even progression of crop age from recently sowed on the right to older plants on the left.
One amazing thing I learned from reading Eliot’s books was that greenhouses could be on wheels! The greenhouse in the distance can be moved down the length of this bed on the pipes. So, one greenhouse can now cover more space. Anchors hold the structure down.
Where this house currently sits are crops that like warmer weather like cucumbers. After these crops peter out, this greenhouse on wheels can be moved further down the field to cover late season crops that need additional protection.
A beautiful planting of leeks
In The New Organic Grower, Eliot details how to effectively market your produce. These seasonal salad boxes are recognized by his customers in local stores.
Young lettuce transplants spaced out in the beds.
This greenhouse was one of the permanent structures on the site. The tomatoes and cucumbers look lovely.
I can say from experience that these tomatoes were delicious!
After I walked around the farm, I stopped back by the produce stand and bought a pound of cherry tomatoes for the road and two large ones for breakfast the next morning. I left, full from marking an item off my bucket list and filling up on delicious delights from his farm. It was wonderful meeting one of my horticulture heroes and seeing Four Season Farm.
That trip was eight summers ago. I still practice things I learned from reading his books to this day, and I’m so thankful to have yet another individual in the world of horticulture who is willing to share his time and expertise to inspire us all. So, thank you Eliot Coleman for being a hero and inspiration to so many gardeners, even those of us who were once 16 years old sitting on the floor in a bookstore and green as ever to all that this incredible plant life could hold. I agree, it is certainly an adventure that never ends.