The Living Soil Handbook

Principles and farm-tested practices for no-till market gardening--for healthier, more productive soil!

Discovering how market gardeners can meet their soil’s needs is a literal labor of love for Farmer Jesse Frost. In this comprehensive guide, he shares all he has learned through experience and experimentation with no-till practices, cover cropping, mulching, and more on his home farm—Rough Draft Farmstead—in Kentucky, and as the host of The No-Till Market Garden Podcast. 

Farmer Jesse’s basic principles of no-till market gardening are 1) keep the soil covered as much as possible, 2) keep it planted as much as possible, and 3) disturb it as little as possible. No-till practices must be based on each farm’s unique context, and thus this book guides readers in applying those principles to their own environment, with their own materials, to meet their own goals.

Beginning with soil biology and moving on to chapters on turning over beds, using compost and mulch, path management, and production methods for six major crops, Jesse provides in-depth, practical information on all the best tools and practices for growers who want to build their livelihood around maximizing the health of their soil. He also describes the methods used by many of the most successful and innovative market gardeners he has interviewed in the past decade.

Farmer Jesse reminds growers that “as possible” is the mantra for protecting the living soil: Disturb the soil as little as you possibly can in your context. He does not believe that growers should anguish over what does and does not qualify as “no-till.” If you are using a tool to promote soil life and biology, that’s the goal. Jesse’s goal with The Living Soil Handbook is to provide a comprehensive set of options, materials, and field-tested practices to inspire growers to design a soil-nurturing no-till system in their unique garden or farm ecosystem.