Eliot's Bio

Eliot is the author of The New Organic Grower, Four Season Harvest and The Winter Harvest Handbook. He has written extensively on the subject of organic agriculture since 1975, including chapters in scientific books and the foreword to Keeping Food Fresh: Old World Techniques and Recipes by the gardeners and farmers of Terre Vivant.

Eliot has more than 40 years' experience in all aspects of organic farming, including field vegetables, greenhouse vegetables, rotational grazing of cattle and sheep, and range poultry. During his careers as a commercial market gardener, the director of agricultural research projects, and as a teacher and lecturer on organic gardening, he 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 Barbara, 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.

"Eliot Coleman's books have been called Bibles for small farmers and home gardeners."
— Dan Barbar, Chef Blue Hill and Blue Hill Stone Barns

"I have been a devotee of Eliot's for years, fully agreeing with his methods for growing in winter, spring, summer, and fall, tasty nutritious produce with a minimal consumption of fossil fuels."
— Martha Stewart, best-selling author, magazine publisher, and television host

Eliot Coleman [is] one of America's most innovative farmers.
— Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food

"I know of no other person who can produce better results on the land with an economy of effort and means than Eliot. He has transformed gardening from a task, to a craft, and finally to what Stewart Brand would call 'local science'."
— Paul Hawken, best-selling author and entrepreneur

"If we are going to create a good, clean, fair food system, we've got to learn how grow affordable, local food year-round and make a living at it. Eliot Coleman knows more about this than anyone I've met."
— Josh Viertel, President, Slow Food USA