The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep-Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses Kindle Edition

I took a chance on buying the Winter Harvest Handbook because I trusted Coleman's work on the New Organic Grower. I would always recommend checking this book out from the library first to see what you really think before buying. I love the book's glossy color photos and details (his other two books have lovely line drawings). This book can be read by the small commercial grower and the home gardener alike. The tone of the book as in his other books in is plain English, which I love. I've always been interested in using a greenhouse to extend the growing season (yes, even here in Central Texas) however this book changed my mind about the traditional sense of a greenhouse. To me, a green house was a place to store house plants or tropicals over the winter (a sometimes heated storage room), a crowded place to grow a few summer veggies in pots or tubs, or a place to start seeds for the spring and that was it. This book and Four Season Harvest changed all that. I really liked both books they really complement each other.One caveat: if you grow veggies on 1/4 acre or more you're going to like this book more than if you grow veggies on a small lot (less than 100 sq. ft), on a balcony, or in containers. The reader will have to scale down significantly the concepts in this book. I don't think it's impossible; but it is more work for the reader. also, this is not a how-to book. Coleman gives some guidance but no step-by-step instructions.The book focuses mostly on unheated hoop-houses, cold frames, and low tunnels (in a commercial setting but again, the concepts can be modified to fit the home grower). Also important to note the focus is on cool season crops (he mentions briefly some summer veggies growing in an unheated green house but I got the impression they were in preparation for the summer, i could be wrong). He may grow tomatoes in a green house all year because of his growing zone. Keep in mind that Coleman's experience is from working on a New England farm so one must modify his suggestions to apply his techniques outside of this growing zone. As a home gardener, I would not let the fact that the book's concepts are based on small commercial farming discourage me. again, though these are unheated greenhouses he's talking about. As inexpensive as he can make them.One tiny thing that did bother me--Coleman mentions two way overpriced tools, seed planters that can be found at Johnny's Select Seeds. One seeder is nearly 600.00$ and the other seeder is 250.00$. Why do I mention this? Because at first glance, Coleman's organic labor intensive techniques or use of old hand tools may put people off (do a lot of people still use a scythe?). I know it did for me; because even at the home gardener level I'd like to increase my productivity. As a commercial grower I can see the benefit of the 6 row seeder outweighing it's 600.00$ price tag. Regardless of this tool, I think that many of the techniques are worth the effort (even if you just read them) in the long run, if you're looking to rely less on chemicals and more on organic methods. Coleman doesn't tell you to go out and buy these tools but he does encourage you to be creative. Hope this helps.lastly, i think that Coleman's other book, the Four Season Harvest has many more specific details on greenhouse growing (unheated). I liked that book more than this one, this is why i say it's a great companion book. If i bought this book alone I may have been disappointed.

Tl;dr: Fantastic book, consider hard copy over kindle version.The information in this book is excellent. The only thing keeping it from a 5-star review are some copy editing errors, which may (or may not) only be present in the Kindle version. There appear to frequently be errors surrounding temperatures written in the text. Sometimes, these are obvious, like when the book states that “26°C)” is the minimum overnight low temperature some cold hardy plants need to survive. Clearly, that’s ridiculous and the text should read “26°F”. Other times, the mistake isn’t so glaring or what the author intended to say isn’t quite clear. Normally I wouldn’t knock off a star for small formatting errors, but seeing as it’s a book entirely dedicated to winter vegetable production, these errors and the confusion they can cause are kind of significant.

Having read this author's other books, and seen his presentations in person, I was excited to add this book to my collection. But after reading it, I realized that there wasn't as much information as I expected. Actually, I didn't learn anything new that I hadn't already learned in his other books.The hoop/green house information was similar (though much less) as the info found in his book Four Season Harvest, along with cold hardy vegetable varieties.While there is great information on how he and his wife manage their land to get the most out of their land, the details were kept to a minimum, and while there were some ideas, I didn't feel that they were all inclusive. Almost as if he wants you to experiment for yourself what will work for you, which would make sense, as not everyone is in the same zone as his farm. But I don't have time or money to experiment, I need true and tried ideas that will help me make the most out of my small gardening area. The few ideas that were presented were only a tease, and I felt for the price of the book, I should have received a lot more.I think what prompted this review and only give two stars is that the text is bigger, which makes the book look bigger, but I didn't feel the information was worth the price. I realize there's a certain amount of cost associated with the actual book printing, and the size of the book will make a huge difference. It's way over priced for what you get. While I still like the author, I don't recommend this book.To be honest, I feel a bit cheated.

This book is required reading for my sustainable agriculture class. It will not disappoint! If you are considering growing for farmer's markets or using high tunnels this is a must read! I've also read The Four Season Harvest. This book does not duplicate what is in the Four Season Harvest.I'm finding I'm enjoying reading the Winter Harvest. It is very useful for planning my start-up. He describes his methods and why he chooses simple systems that don't use heavy equipment or fancy greenhouse methods. He talks about crops for winter and what is and is not a market success on his farm. He describes the effect of sunlight and cold and how you have to plan your timing carefully to address year round growing, and you get an idea of what records to keep for better success. He talks about his latest experiments and gets you thinking like you will have to think to solve your own mini-farm's issues. It also doesn't read like a textbook but instead like a story, so if you enjoy this subject you'll enjoy reading this book.I think i'll rate this book in my top five most important books about market farming.

it's not at all what I expected, i don't want to be a market gardener and grow intense crops. all i wanted was tip to grow crops through the winter, what to grow and how to grow it. it's mostly about using poly tunnels.

An inspirational book, based on decades of observation and experience by the author. He explains techniques etc really clearly, in great detail, which makes it such a practical book to use. Many other gardening writers are much more vague. He tells you what to use to cover something, how to secure it against the wind, what to use to support it and how big it should be, etc.I loved reading it and my knowledge increased tenfold. (I am a new allotmenteer, though not a new gardener).I cannot recommend it highly enough!

Invaluable purchase for the gardener. Together with the New organic grower - excellent. Best investment in a long time.

Read the book . Found nothing new . Enough to use the common sense and you will be ok without the book

It has some good advice