Episode 182: Jean

Jean-Martin Fortier and his wife Maude-Hélène Desroches are the founders of Les Jardins de la Grelinette, a micro-farm located in Eastern Quebec, just north of the American border. Growing on just 1.5 acres, they are able to feed more than 200 families through their thriving CSA and seasonal market stands as well as supply vegetables to dozens of local establishments. Jean-Martin Fortier is a leading practitioner of biologically intensive cropping systems with more than a decade’s worth of experience in organic farming. He is a graduate of the McGill School of Environment and is a passionate advocate for strengthening local food systems, notably working with Montréal’s Équiterre to help create Canada’s most important network of CSA farms. He has also facilitated more than fifty workshops and conferences in Canada, France, Belgium and the United-States promoting the idea of micro-scale farming as an alternative lifestyle. He is also the author of The Market Gardener, where he shares his knowledge on low-tech, high-yield production methods. This program has been sponsored by Hearst Ranch.

“We’ve been managing by always focusing on little things and how to make things better.” [11:00]

–Jean-Martin Fortier on Greenhorns Radio