Compact Farms: 15 Proven Plans for Market Farms on 5 Acres or Less; Includes Detailed Farm Layouts for Productivity and Efficiency

- good variety of farms as examples - realistic examples - basic knowledge on how to start your own - not a one size fits all approach which appealed to me

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Beautifully laid out book. Josh takes you on a detailed tour of not only his successful small farm, Slow Hand Farm, but also 14 other small (less than 5 acres) farms. Many of the farms he profiles are run by the grandfathers/grandmothers of this industry: Eliot Coleman, Alex Peregrine, Jean-Martin Fortier, to name a few. The others are all run by farmers that may be nationally less-known, but are still pillars within their own farming communities. Josh effectively breaks down each farm in a manner that is easy to digest. He starts with the basic history of each farm, their hopes/needs/wants/desires from their farms and how they have changed or altered themselves in order to reach those goals. He then walks us through everything from basic tools on the farm, to bed prep, all the way through post-harvest washing and packing, and into the nuts and bolts of office organization. The best thing about this book is the diversity of farmers, their locations, and the ways they tackle their own farming ventures. Josh states at the beginning of the book that being exposed to a range and diversity of growing, harvesting, and packing methods will best inform a potential farm or farmer on how to grow their operation. He is right. I've never read such a book that details the intricate systems of so many different farms, all in one place. Even when meeting other farmers at annual conferences does not provide this kind of detail. Going over these various systems and strategies each farm uses would take way too long to explain, even when meeting these folks in person or actually visiting their farms. Having all of this information collected, stored, and ready-to-use in this book is an invaluable tool for any farmer seeking knowledge in how to improve their operation. It is my opinion that established farms will benefit greatly from this book, as seeing how other highly successful small farms operate (15 of them), is key to picking and choosing the most successful methods for YOUR farm. I also believe that new and starting farmers will benefit as well, but it may take a season or two of growing before all of the principles in this book, and how you may fit them into your own personal farm framework, begin to make complete sense. Like Josh says, there is absolutely no substitute for hands-on learning in the farming world. Get out there and do it, and make sure you have this book in your back pocket to reference. You will find it is worth it's weight in gold.

I especially liked the organization of the book. For each chapter the lessons are presented in the same order, making it easy to compare practices of the different farmers. Of special interest are the comments on garden tools, like hoes, seeders, cultivators. Reviews from folk who actually use these are invaluable. For mini farmers this book, the books by Carol Deppe and Caleb Warnock are must reads. I noted that farmers using more modern tractors all settled on Kubotas, as have we. And many on the Hoss cultivators. We've one with all the attachments. Note that many use the Jang Clean Seeder, which is the only seeder we've found that actually works. O

We really like this book. It is one of many that has helped us make a plan and create a farming business plan, bringing us that much closer to our goals.