Eliot Coleman on the Market Gardener Podcast

#258: What happens when one of today’s most influential market gardeners sits down with one of the founders of modern organic farming? JM Fortier interviews Eliot Coleman - author, farmer, and pioneer of soil-based organic agriculture. Their conversation explores the roots of market gardening, the central role of healthy soil, and why organic farming must remain grounded in ecological systems rather than industrial shortcuts.

This episode originally aired on The Market Gardener Podcast and is rebroadcast here as part of the Real Organic Podcast’s ongoing effort to highlight the voices that built - and continue to defend - real organic farming.

The Market Gardener Institute helps growers build successful small-scale regenerative farms through practical, online education. They’re hosting a free workshop on January 27 called “The Tools That Make a Farm Thrive in 2026,” where Jean-Martin Fortier and a panel of experts will share the systems behind efficient market gardens.You’ll find the free registration link in the show notes.

https://realorganicproject.org/eliot-coleman-market-gardener-podcast-258

The Real Organic Podcast is hosted by Dave Chapman and Linley Dixon, engineered by Brandon StCyr, and edited and produced by Jenny Prince.

The Real Organic Project is a farmer-led movement working towards certifying 1,000 farms across the United States this year. Our add-on food label distinguishes soil-grown fruits and vegetables from hydroponically-raised produce, and pasture-raised meat, milk, and eggs from products harvested from animals in horrific confinement (CAFOs - confined animal feeding operations).

To find a Real Organic farm near you, please visit:

https://www.realorganicproject.org/directory

We believe that the organic standards, with their focus on soil health, biodiversity, and animal welfare were written as they should be, but that the current lack of enforcement of those standards is jeopardizing the ability for small farms who adhere to the law to stay in business. The lack of enforcement is also jeopardizing the overall health of the customers who support the organic movement; customers who are not getting what they pay for at market but still paying a premium price. And the lack of enforcement is jeopardizing the very cycles (water, air, nutrients) that Earth relies upon to provide us all with a place to live, by pushing extractive, chemical agriculture to the forefront.

If you like what you hear and are feeling inspired, we would love for you to join our movement by becoming one of our 1,000  Real Friends:

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