Mention the term “four-season gardening” and more often than not, Eliot Coleman is likely to come up. He pretty much owns the space when it comes to year-round growing in cold climates.
Eliot Coleman taking a contemplative coffee break at his sunlit kitchen table.
Along with his equally famous wife, Barbara Damrosch (author of the bestselling book, The Garden Primer), year-round growing on their Four Season Farm in Harborside, ME. The not-so-secret key to their success is the use of low and high tunnels with techniques that essentially have plants thinking they’re growing in Georgia–even in the dead of winter.
Eliot and his wife, Barbara Damrosch are a hard-working, highly talented, and well-oiled team
We get many requests for more information on the equipment Eliot uses in this show to create those rounded pipe supports for his low tunnels. The link is the first one below.
Be sure to check out Eliot and Barbara’s bestselling books. Links are also provided below.
Additional links for this episode:
- Where to purchase the “Quick Hoops Bender” seen in the episode
- The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman
- The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses
by Eliot Coleman
- Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long, 2nd Edition
by Eliot Coleman
- The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch
- Theme Gardens by Barbara Damrosch
- Joe’s Blog recounting his experience filming this episode with Eliot and Barbara: You Can’t Change the Weather; But you CAN Garden in it!
- Chef Nathan’s Recipe in this episode: Pan-Roasted Broccolette with Garlic and Red Pepper Flakes
Disclosure: some product links on this page are affiliate links, which means we would get a commission if you purchase. However, none of the prices of these resources have been increased to compensate us. While the commissions are small, any received go towards helping to offset the expenses of bringing this free content to you. Thank you.
About GGWTV
Growing A Greener World is a national gardening series on Public Television that features organic gardening, green living and farm to table cooking. Each episode focuses on compelling and inspirational people making a difference through gardening. This gardening series covers everything from edible gardening and sustainable agriculture to seasonal cooking and preserving the harvest.
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Books and other product links are affiliate links.
So I saw the show and at the end they invite people to follow you on line to find out places were people can come and join tonpick produce and be part of it!
I did that and found NOTHING!???
Gloria,
Here is a link to help you find a local CSA. Happy Gardening!
https://www.growingagreenerworld.com/find-local-csa/
Hello. I recently watched this episode and it brought a number of questions to mind. One I’d like to ask about here is, perhaps, rather obvious to everyone else; but I’d appreciate it if you could explain it a little.
All the plants that Mr. Coleman grows for winter harvest, at least all shown in this episode, appear to be those that don’t produce blossoms or require pollination. (I know nothing more about pollination than that we need bees, other insects, and some birds to perform it.) Is the winter harvest limited to this subset of plants? I’m writing from Pennsylvania and our tomato, cucumber, bean, and pepper plants still have blossoms on them in early September. I assumed that each blossom still needs to be pollinated if it is to produce? Is this correct or could adequate pollination take place between the late planting and before the cold weather arrives requiring the plants to be covered and the bees to hibernate?
I saw a program maybe fifteen to twenty years ago about people who volunteered to rappel down a mountain side in Hawaii to pollinate some type of flowering plant using Q-tips. They said there weren’t enough insects in Hawaii to do the work. Could one realistically attempt to pollinate a flowering plant, on a very small scale of course, using this method in one of these winter harvest environments? If so, how many plants would be required to get proper pollination?
It was a very interesting program and we might try it here if there is still time this season. I was just wondering about the limitations of it. Thank you for considering my question.
Where can the pipe bender be purchased?
Here you go Bobby. Scroll down and you’ll find the link: https://www.growingagreenerworld.com/winter-gardening/
I have watched this episode at least a half dozen times, and I am fascinated by the thinking and practices Elliott and Barbara use. And the way he tells the story is delightful! I got the sense, Joe, that you really enjoyed Elliott and Barbara. How could one not like them?
Joe, would love to visit a page on your site listing books and publications mentioned on your shows, as well as references to other reading you find useful. Nothing fancy, just a listing, episode references, and maybe a link?
And I have a question about Elliott and Barbara. I sort of assumed they do not till their soil, and that irrigation is installed under their houses. I am planning to have a greenhouse installed this fall and hope to start a winter harvest crop inside. I was wondering what you like as a best practice around greenhouse irrigation. Can you offer some tips?
Thanks Joe!
This is a wonderful show! My kids love it and it inspires them to get involved. We are going to try to do this in our community. We live in a small town but it is country so we have a lot of farmers. But the kids can’t be involved with the large crops. So I am going to go to the schools and the parents to see if we can start some smaller gardens in the community or at their houses. If you have any ideas on how to do this or an idea of cost as it is a lower financial community we would appreciate it. I also have a prison ministry and I work with at risk youth. I think this would be a great project for them. Thank you
Would love to have GGWTV out here in the Northwest ( Oregon). OPB only shows Victory Garden once a week. HGTV has no gardening shows on anymore!!! Eliot and Barbara had the best garden shows on TV!!!Any chances of that happening??
Me too Don. I’m surprised to know we’re not on there. We have been on in OPB and I wasn’t aware we’re not now. Have you confirmed this with our station finder page? Here’s the link: https://www.growingagreenerworld.com/tv-stations-and-schedule/ Type in your zip code and see if we show up on your station. Sometimes we come and go based on when our schedule airs in their lineup and for how much of the year they slate us for in their time slot.
But it never hurts to contact your station please! Although we are on in most of the country, we’re not in all of the country all the time. The bottom line is that the program managers at public television stations typically make the decisions of what shows to air and when. Because these stations are “member supported” people like you and me have a real say in directing what shows make it on the air. So the bottom line is, you must call, write, visit, whatever it takes to make your voice heard and let the program director or higher authority at the station know you want Growing a Greener World on their station. Then you can add all the reasons you think our show would be a great addition to their lifestyle lineup of programs.
Unfortunately, we have a lot less clout than you requesting that a station air our show, for obvious reasons. Thank you Don for writing.
It’s also important for them to know that we are distributed by American Public Television. That adds a lot of clout!
We have had many fans of the show write back with success stories using this approach. On the other hand, some get basic form letters. But as they say, the squeaky wheel gets the oil. So I encourage you to stay on top of this. One person in Jacksonville, FL was persistent enough to get a personal email from the station CEO agreeing to air the series. But it was only after her follow ups that she succeeded.
So please keep us posted and good luck.
Best regards,
My family and I created a whole new way of living for ourselves when we took on the task of creating a homestead. We built a 38 foot geodesic biodome that we grow in both dirt and aquaponic systems. We also put in a beautiful sandbox for the kids to be able to play in once the weather gets cold. Please check out our website for pictures of what our small family created in order to eat better year round. I have also helped people like Eliot Coleman and Will Allen apply SolaWrap to their high tunnels to increase their growing capabilities. We would love to welcome GGWTV to our homestead.