GOC 2024: Winter Market Gardening Workshop

The Winter Market Gardening Workshop with Catherine Sylvestre and Jean-Martin Fortier bundle includes:

• Audio Recording of 2h Workshop
• PDF of the Workshop Presentation (117 pages)

*** Disclaimer: The Guelph Organic Conference is an in person event. We have recorded the sessions and provided them to you here at a significantly discounted rate. The quality of the recordings vary and are best enjoyed when downloaded. To hear a sample recording before purchase listen to the 2024 Keynote Panel session here***

By purchasing this file, you are agreeing to the terms of sale, which means you agree not to share this report or recording.

Session Description:

Hear from Jean-Martin Fortier and Catherine Sylvestre and celebrate the launch of their brand new book, The Winter Market Gardener thanks to our Platinum Sponsor, New Society Publishers!

Ferme des Quatre-Temps in Hemmingford (Quebec) has been working to develop production methods to grow and sell vegetables 52 weeks per year in a northern climate. They can now say they achieved this goal in 2023! The aim of this workshop is to share the results of their trials and to teach the basics to get started with year-round production of diversified vegetables. Participants will leave with concrete practical information and technical guides to get started.

Topics discussed will include:

• The 5 key principles of winter growing
• Adapting to light availability
• Crop planning for continuous harvest
• Cold hardy crops, cold climate production techniques (disease, pests, irrigation, weeding, heating, etc.)
• New developments in year-round farming and research projects.

Speaker Bios:

Jean-Martin Fortier

Jean-Martin Fortier is a farmer, author, educator, and advocate for regenerative, human-scale, profitable agriculture. For over 20 years he and his wife Maude-Helene Desroches have operated les Jardins de la Grelinette, a successful 2-acre microfarm. His bestselling book The Market Gardener, which has sold a quarter million copies in nine languages, describes the biointensive principles used at his micro-farm. In 2015, he established a research farm, la Ferme des Quatre-Temps, where he trains apprentices and develops new strategies for market gardening, including year-round production. His methods of production are taught to a worldwide audience through the Market Gardener Masterclass, an online course of the Market Gardener Institute, which is tailored to small-scale food growers. He is the founder of Growers & Co., a tool and apparel company that celebrates sustainable, local, and equitable food producers. Jean-Martin farms and lives in Quebec, Canada.

Catherine Sylvestre

Catherine Sylvestre is the director of vegetable production at la Ferme des Quatre-Temps, a collaborative farm project inspired by the principles of ecological polyculture and regenerative agriculture. Leader of the market garden team, she trains program participants and develops and implements best practices for cold season growing, specializing in crop protection and greenhouse production for northern climates. She is also a technical advisor at the Market Gardener Institute, where she studies and teaches organic agriculture. In addition to her field experience, Catherine has a BSc in Ecological Agriculture and Professional Agrology and a Master’s degree in Political Science. Her academic focus has been the rich and complex relationship between human beings and nature, which meets in agriculture. Through her research, writing, and training, Catherine hopes to provide other farmers and market gardeners with the tools and knowledge to produce their own successful winter harvests. She lives in Quebec, Canada.

If you have any questions or require assistance please email communications@organiccouncil.ca .