December 2023 MBR The Agriculture Shelf

The Agriculture Shelf

The Lean Micro Farm
Ben Hartmann
Chelsea Green Publishing Company
www.chelseagreen.com
9781645022046, $34.95, PB, 272pp

https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Micro-Farm-Embrace-Better/dp/1645022048

Synopsis: In the early 1970s, US Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz infamously commanded farmers to "get big or get out." But with the publication of "The Lean Micro Farm: How to Get Small, Embrace Local, Live Better, and Work Less", author and micro farmer Ben Hartman rejects that disastrous suggestion and instead takes up the charge of the late agrarian thinker Gene Logsdon: "Get small and stay in."

Taking inspiration from the groundbreaking ideas of E. F. Schumacher and Mahatma Gandhi, "The Lean Micro Farm" shows how small, hyperlocal farms can be both ecologically and economically superior to industrial-scale operations geared toward export and commodity markets.

"The Lean Micro Farm" also details the author's remarkable journey to downsize his farm from one acre to a third of an acre in an effort to prioritize family and community over work, all without taking a pay cut. In addition, Hartman profiles six innovative farmers from across the globe who embody this "get small" mindset. These pioneering farmers show all of us a path toward resilience in the face of supply chain disruption, globalization, and climate change. They model a gentler, more ecological approach to farming that produces less waste and uses less plastic, petroleum, and fertilizer.

Like his previous two books, "The Lean Farm" and "The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables", Hartman's "The Lean Micro Farm" doesn't just explain why smaller is better, it shows readers exactly how it can be done with step-by-step guides on how to turn a profit from a tiny, but productive, parcel of farmland.

Readers will find not just philosophical justifications for a minimalist approach to agriculture but also actionable information for starting your own profitable micro farm, including: A description of the "deep mulch" method for building fertility; Instructions on two-step bed flipping to increase production on a small footprint; A guide for choosing essential tools and technologies "with a human face"; An easy-to-follow process for making your micro farm lean and efficient; A detailed plan for selling $20,000 worth of produce from your backyard.

In "The Lean Micro Farm", Hartman makes clear how to pivot to a new kind of farming -- one that builds upon ancestral knowledge, nourishes communities, and puts human joy, and not just technology, at its center.

Critique: Profusely illustrated with full color photos throughout, "The Lean Micro Farm: How to Get Small, Embrace Local, Live Better, and Work Less" is thoroughly 'user friendly' in style, organization and presentation. An ideal and DIY 'how-to' instruction manual and guide, "The Lean Micro Farm" is a 'must' for anyone with a personal or professional interest in sustainable agriculture, organic gardening and horticulture. While a core addition for personal, professional, community, agricultural college, and university library Contemporary Agricultural Studies collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists, it should be noted that "The Lean Micro Farm" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $26.49).

Editorial Note: Ben Hartman (www.claybottomfarm.com) grew up on a corn and soybean farm in Indiana and graduated college with degrees in English and philosophy. Ben and his wife, Rachel Hershberger, own and operate Clay Bottom Farm in Goshen, Indiana, where they make their living growing and selling specialty crops on less than one acre. The farm has twice won Edible Michiana's Reader's Choice award. The Lean Farm, Ben's first book, won the Shingo Institute's prestigious Publication Award. In 2017 Ben was named one of Grist's fifty emerging green leaders in the United States. Clay Bottom Farm has also developed an online course in lean farming.

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