Living Soil: A Grower's Guide - Paperback

by Jean-Martin Fortier (Author), Pierre Nessmann (Editor), Flore Avram (Illustrator)

Healthy soil isn't an input--it's a living system you can learn to cultivate

Strong harvests begin below the surface. Living Soil: A Grower's Guide shows gardeners and small-scale farmers how to build fertile, resilient soil that supports productive crops year after year--without relying on high-input fixes or extractive practices.

Grounded in The Market Gardener Method, this highly illustrated guide translates soil science into clear, practical decisions you can apply immediately, whether you're improving a backyard garden or managing a diversified market farm. The focus is on understanding how soil functions--and how to work with biology rather than against it.

What this Book Offers

• A clear explanation of soil structure, organic matter, minerals, and microbial life
• Practical ways to assess soil health, from simple field observations to basic testing
• Proven low- and no-till techniques that protect soil structure and biology
• Strategies for composting, mulching, crop rotation, and green manures
• Long-term approaches to maintaining fertility while reducing labor and inputs

Rather than prescribing one-size-fits-all solutions, this guide helps you make informed choices based on your soil, crops, and climate--building systems that improve over time.

Who this Book is For

• Gardeners who want healthier plants and more consistent yields
• Market growers seeking durable, regenerative production systems
• Farmers reducing tillage and external inputs
• Readers of The Market Gardener looking to deepen their soil practice
• Anyone interested in working with living ecosystems, not against them

Jean-Martin Fortier is a farmer, educator, and internationally recognized leader in biointensive, human-scale agriculture. Through decades of hands-on growing and teaching, he has helped thousands of growers improve productivity while restoring soil health.

Living Soil is part of the Grower's Guides from the Market Gardener series--practical, visually rich manuals designed to help growers take meaningful steps toward more resilient food systems.

If you want soil that grows stronger--and more productive--every season, this guide shows you where to start.

Author Biography

Jean-Martin Fortier, a distinguished farmer, author, and educator, has been spearheading a movement in ecological agriculture for over twenty years. Since 2004, he and his wife have been operating Les Jardins de la Grelinette, an efficient and productive 2-acre microfarm. This farm is often referred to as a blueprint for effective human-scale organic farming.

In 2015, Jean-Martin established La Ferme des Quatre-Temps, a research farm dedicated to training apprentices and developing new strategies for market gardening, including year-round production. His pioneering methods are taught worldwide through the Market Gardener Institute, which is present in more than 90 countries.

Jean-Martin is the author of The Winter Market Gardener and The Market Gardener, which have sold over a quarter of a million copies in nine languages. His contributions to organic farming and regenerative agriculture have earned him the Meritorious Service Cross from the Governor General of Canada. He farms and lives in Quebec, Canada.

Pierre Nessmann was born to a family of Strasbourg market gardeners and holds a degree from the École d'Horticulture de Genève, in Switzerland. He has worked as a landscape gardener and a journalist for over 40 years. He is the assistant editor of the popular French gardening magazines Rustica Pratique and Rustica Weekly, covers gardening and DIY stories for the French television Network TF1, and currently hosts a gardening segment on the show Nous Voilà Bien, on the French radio station RTL. He is the author of several books about vegetable growing, gardening, and landscaping. Pierre lives in Paris, France.

Flore Avram is a freelance artist and graphic designer specializing in scientific and botanical illustration. She has collaborated extensively with the French language children's publisher KiloWatt Editions, and with Inserm Magazine, a quarterly journal which explores health and biomedical research. Flore has earned several professional certifications in graphic design and scientific illustration from L'Ecole Estienne, the Municipal Graduate School of the Arts and Printing Industry. She also works as a Médiatrice en botanique at Jardin des Serres d'Auteuil, a unique French natural heritage site and eco-garden. She is based in Paris, France.